摘要 :
Charter schools are public schools created to achieve a number of goals, including encouraging innovation in public education and addressing failing schools. Charter schools operate with more autonomy than traditional public schoo...
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Charter schools are public schools created to achieve a number of goals, including encouraging innovation in public education and addressing failing schools. Charter schools operate with more autonomy than traditional public schools in exchange for agreeing to improve student achievement, an agreement that is formalized in a contract or charter with the schools authorizing body. From about 3,000 charter schools in school year 2003-2004 to almost 5,000 in school year 2009-20010, the number of charter schools in the United States continues to grow. Spurring this growth are parents and others desire for schools that reflect their vision of public education, and federal incentives, such as the recent $4 billion Race to the Top (RTT) competitive grant fund, which among other things, encourages the growth of high performing charter schools, and the Charter Schools Program Grants for Replication and Expansion of High Quality Charter Schools.
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The promise charter schools hold for public school innovation and reform lies in an unprecedented combination of freedom and accountability. Underwritten with public funds but run independently, charter schools are free from a ran...
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The promise charter schools hold for public school innovation and reform lies in an unprecedented combination of freedom and accountability. Underwritten with public funds but run independently, charter schools are free from a range of state laws and district policies stipulating what and how they teach, where they can spend their money, and who they can hire and fire. In return, they are held strictly accountable for their academic and financial performance. To represent what such flexibility and accountability look like in practice, this guide provides a glimpse into the inner workings of eight American charter schools whose freedom to experiment is raising the level of student learning.
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The wide variations in law and the continued rapid growth of charter legislationhave sparked the creation of this report. This publication is designed to guide policymakers through areas they need to examine in their initial consi...
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The wide variations in law and the continued rapid growth of charter legislationhave sparked the creation of this report. This publication is designed to guide policymakers through areas they need to examine in their initial consideration of charter schools or their reevaluation of existing charter school legislation. Each section briefly outlines an issue and includes a few examples of what states are doing in that area. The important points most often advanced by advocates of that position are highlighted to provoke discussion and make policymakers aware of available options.
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Almost 40 percent of all public school students in the District of Columbia (D.C. or District) were enrolled in charter schools in the 2010-11 school year. The D.C. School Reform Act established the Public Charter School Board (PC...
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Almost 40 percent of all public school students in the District of Columbia (D.C. or District) were enrolled in charter schools in the 2010-11 school year. The D.C. School Reform Act established the Public Charter School Board (PCSB) for the purpose of authorizing and overseeing charter schools. Congress required GAO to conduct a management evaluation of PCSB. GAO addresses the following: (1) the mechanisms in place to review the performance and operations of PCSB, (2) the procedures and processes PCSB has in place to oversee and monitor the operations of D.C. charter schools, and (3) the resources available to charter schools for their operations and facilities. GAO interviewed officials from D.C. agencies and 7 charter schools and reviewed oversight procedures for PCSB and charter schools. GAO also reviewed the processes for providing resources to charter schools and analyzed data on these resources.
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The number of charter schools is growing, spurred by demand for innovation and federal incentives, such as the Race to the Top Fund, which favors states supportive of charter schools. However, states often define charter schools d...
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The number of charter schools is growing, spurred by demand for innovation and federal incentives, such as the Race to the Top Fund, which favors states supportive of charter schools. However, states often define charter schools differently than traditional public schools. Some charter schools operate as a school district, while others are part of a school district and some are for-profit entities. These differences could complicate eligibility determination for federal administrators. GAO was asked: (1) To what extent do charter schools apply for federal discretionary grant programs and what challenges do they face, if any, in doing so; (2) What role has the U.S. Department of Education played in helping charter schools establish their eligibility for federal discretionary grant programs. GAO identified grant programs governmentwide for which charter schools are eligible to apply, surveyed a stratified random sample of charter school officials, and interviewed federal agency officials. We also visited charter schools, school districts, charter school associations, and state educational agencies in 3 states.
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D.C. has a larger percentage of students in charter schools than any state. To help oversee D.C. charter schools, Congress established two authorizersthe Board of Education (BOE), which has an Office of Charter Schools responsible...
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D.C. has a larger percentage of students in charter schools than any state. To help oversee D.C. charter schools, Congress established two authorizersthe Board of Education (BOE), which has an Office of Charter Schools responsible for oversight, and the independent Public Charter School Board (PCSB). Congress required the GAO to conduct a study of the authorizers. This reportwhich completes GAOs May 2005 studyexamines the (1) authorizers resources, (2) oversight practices, and (3) actions taken once charter schools close. GAO examined BOE and PCSB monitoring reports, revenue and expenditure documents, and closure procedures.
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Two prominent reforms proposed to improve education are the use of 'vouchers' publicly funded scholarships that students may use for private-school tuition- and the creation of 'charter schools'-schools of choice that are funded b...
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Two prominent reforms proposed to improve education are the use of 'vouchers' publicly funded scholarships that students may use for private-school tuition- and the creation of 'charter schools'-schools of choice that are funded by public money but operate autonomously, outside the traditional system of public-school governance. Vouchers and charter schools both represent the leading edge of the movement to promote parental choice in education, and they present similar challenges for the traditional system of government-operated schools. Supporters of these proposals have great hopes that the proposals will provide significant benefits for the education of the nation's children, and opponents have large fears about what the proposals will do.
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Efforts to offer parents the opportunity to select their childrens schools are211 widely debated. The federal government currently supports public school choice 211 through the Magnet Schools Assistance program, the Public Charter...
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Efforts to offer parents the opportunity to select their childrens schools are211 widely debated. The federal government currently supports public school choice 211 through the Magnet Schools Assistance program, the Public Charter Schools (PCS) 211 program, state systemic reform under the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, and 211 Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Legislation providing 211 additional federal support of school choice has been considered by the 105th 211 Congress, including proposals to provide private and public school scholarships 211 for low-income pupils in the District of Columbia, to authorize tax-advantaged 211 education savings accounts for private and public elementary and secondary 211 education expenses, to authorize the use of block grant funds for private school 211 scholarships, and to expand the PCS program. This report provides background 211 information on school choice programs throughout the Nation, federal aid to those 211 programs, plus discussion and analysis of current legislation regarding school 211 choice. This report will be updated regularly, to reflect congressional action on 211 legislation regarding school choice and related developments in state and local 211 educational agencies.
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This report presents findings from the Common Core of Data (CCD) 'School District Finance Survey.' These data are collected annually from state education agencies through the U.S. Census Bureau's 'Survey of Local Government Financ...
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This report presents findings from the Common Core of Data (CCD) 'School District Finance Survey.' These data are collected annually from state education agencies through the U.S. Census Bureau's 'Survey of Local Government Finances: School Systems.' Data in the 'School District Finance Survey' include revenues by source, expenditures by function and object, long-term and short-term debt, and student membership for each school district in the United States. This short report on school district revenues and expenditures is a companion to the state-level E.D. TAB, Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 2001-02 (NCES 2004-341), which presents total state and national spending on public elementary and secondary education. These data were collected and edited between March 2003 and March 2004. These data are final.
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Charter schooling began in 1991 with an enticing promise: new public schoolswith the freedom to be better and held accountable for resultscould offer excellent choices for families and stimulate the entire public school system to ...
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Charter schooling began in 1991 with an enticing promise: new public schoolswith the freedom to be better and held accountable for resultscould offer excellent choices for families and stimulate the entire public school system to improve. Now, more than 15 years later, charter schools are no longer an idea but also a reality. The sector has expanded to over 4,300 schools in 40 states and the District of Columbia, serving more than 1.2 million studentsabout 3 percent of all public school children. In some cities, charter schools market share is even higher, exceeding 50 percent in New Orleans and 25 percent in Washington, D.C. And charter schools have not yet filled the demand for quality school choice options; tens of thousands of families are on waiting lists to enroll in charters.
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