What is a Charter School?
A charter school is a type of public school that operates based on an agreement, or “charter” and is authorized through state or local governments, universities or community colleges, or non-profit organizations. State legislation determines who may authorize and oversee charter schools in collaboration with the education agency of each state.
Are Charter Schools Public Schools?
Charter schools are considered a type of public school because they receive public funding from state and local governments. Just like traditional public schools, Paula Permenter explains that charter schools are funded according to the number of students that are enrolled. While they may not follow the exact curriculum of the district in which they reside, they are still public institutions because they receive tax-payer money. They are also overseen and regulated by local and state governments, bringing them further into the public domain. Although the first charter school opened in Minnesota over 30 years ago, she still receives a lot of questions from people on whether they are public or private schools and how they are funded. Beyond that, though, their funding depends on a host of other local, state and federal regulations. Very few states provide financial support with the expense of acquiring a building or making a building available to charter schools, so they must pay for facilities out of their operating budget. Some states such as Texas, Colorado, Utah and Arizona have a program where schools can qualify to borrow through the issuance of tax-exempt bonds and receive some type of guarantee or enhancement based on the state’s credit quality. Each state program has different requirements, but the majority require that the borrower is rated investment grade by one of the nationally recognized statistical rating organizations.
How are Charter Schools Funded?
Every state that has passed charter school legislation has its own requirements and regulations for funding. A determinant in how a charter school is funded depends in part on who authorizes the charter. In some states, the state education agency or state school board is the authorizer and the funds flow directly from the state to the charter school, in other instances where the local school district is the authorizer, the funds flow through the school district and then to the charter. Each state is quite different, but regardless of the state, funds are always based on the number of enrolled students. Currently, there are only five states that do not have laws that provide for charter schools.
Are Charter Schools Underfunded?
The question of whether charter schools are underfunded is widely debated. Studies have shown that on average, charter schools receive approximately twenty percent less funding than traditional district schools. However, just as previously noted, each state is different, and each state has different funding streams to level the playing field. Some argue that charters should be funded less than traditional district schools, because they have the flexibility to make changes to curriculum or the teaching staff quicker than a traditional school district. The charter schools that have figured out how to be successful both academically and financially given their fixed operating budgets are flourishing as the number of charter school students has doubled since 2009.
Final Thoughts
Charter schools provide a choice to parents and students. All children do not learn in the same way, so “one size fits all” learning is not optimal. Giving parents the option of finding the correct educational solution for their children makes sense.