Charter Schools

[R]ight now, there are many caps on how many charter schools are allowed in some states, no matter how well they're preparing our students. That isn't good for our children, our economy, or our country. President Barack Obama March 10, 2009

North Carolina families currently have a limited form of public school choice in the form of public charter schools.

Public charter schools are innovative, outcome-based public schools that provide parents a choice within the public school system. Charter schools are government-funded and must adhere to approved curriculum standards and take all state mandated tests. Charter enrollment is tuition-free and nondiscriminatory.  When applications exceed available seats, admission is determined by lottery.

Putting a Cap on Innovation
Despite waiting lists of more than 16,000 students, public charter schools in our state are currently capped at 100. In a review of charter laws, The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools ranked North Carolina 32nd of 40 states, citing the state's arbitrary cap as one of the main restrictive issues.  The cap also was cited by federal reviewers with the U.S. Department of Education as one of the main reasons why North Carolina recently forfeited millions of dollars in the first round of the Race to the Top initiative.

Performance Double Standard
A 2009 policy by the State Board of Education would revoke the charter of any public charter school that does not meet or exceed expected growth and has fewer than 60% of its students at or above grade level for two of three consecutive school years.

Using 2008-2009 test scores, those standards would force an estimated 7,700 students to reenter traditional public schools--even though many traditional public schools perform worse than the charters being targeted for revocation.

In fact, one report shows that districts across North Carolina would be forced to close more than 150 traditional public schools if all public schools were held accountable to the same performance standard.

Charters Serving Minority Populations
Alarmingly, public charter schools serving high densities of minority students are especially vulnerable under the performance guidelines. Of the 88 North Carolina charter schools serving at least 25% minority populations, the disadvantages of the policy are clear.

Accountability
Charter school advocates long have supported high accountability and performance standards. But those standards should not hinder the innovative ability of charter schools to offer a safe, structured learning environment for academically and/or economically disadvantaged students.

More importantly, charters are accountable to the families they serve because they are schools of choice.  And choice is the ultimate accountability measure.