Charter Schools

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorUniversity, Bachelor's November 2001

download word file, 11 pages 0.0

Foreword Public education stands at the forefront on the agenda for social improvement. Over the years, public education has seen only marginal pockets of improvement nationwide, and urban school districts have been met with worse results. The crusade for education reform began catching the public eye in 1983 when then President Ronald Regan commissioned A Nation at Risk, which warned, "a rising tide of mediocrity [in our schools] threatens our very future as a nation."� Charter schools were birthed as an alternative to public schooling. The Charter School Movement is quickly becoming what many are beginning to call the Civil Right's Movement of today.

Our public statement on charter schools works to inform the greater community and help guide them in ways that can positively influence education policy. Based on our research, we have strategically focused our efforts on the following key areas: q Holding charter schools to their originating intent and purpose of being models for innovation, positive competition for public schools, and schools of choice for parents q Clearly defining the role of the school system and school board as it relates to approaching charter law in preparation of receiving and reviewing charter petitions for their soundness in providing a quality education for young people q Persuade local school systems to embrace charter schools, with a sense of esprit de corps, as a part of the district's school inventory that can be used as strong research and development sites q Persuade charter schools to share assessments with local systems as an effort to address public accountability q Call for the local school system to develop a uniform mechanism to monitor the academic performance of charter schools to be prepared to celebrate successes and close charters not meeting agreed to standards It is too early for us to judge...