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Back to the Commissioner's Letter
- What is a Charter School?
- Why Charter Schools?
- Four Common Features
- Challenges
- What Charter Schools Mean for Public Education
What is a Charter School?
For Roger Harris, the new
headmaster at the Boston Renaissance Charter School, a charter school is an opportunity to escape the
bureaucracy of a big city school system and manage a public school by holding everyone accountable for
student achievement. Harris, who was the principal of the award-winning Timilty Middle School in Roxbury
for eight years, says, "We need to reward educators who deserve it and weed out those who just
don't measure up. That's what's possible in charter public schools like
Renaissance.
"For Jean Lythcott, a founding teacher at the Martha's Vineyard Public Charter
School, a charter school is a place where teachers have the freedom to respond to the different needs of
various students. "As teachers, we have autonomy in our classrooms. We design our own curriculum,
instruction and assessment with each kid in mind, and based on a sound framework," Lythcott says.
"I have taught for many years, and this is the most exhilarating and demanding school experience
I've ever had.
"For Nestor Torres, a parent and board member of the Community Day Charter
School in Lawrence, a charter school is "a parent's dream come true." He cancelled
plans for a family move from Lawrence to New Hampshire so that his daughter could attend the charter
school. "Parents are welcomed, we have a sense of ownership, people have rallied around the
school...it's created a wonderful sense of community."
For Elisa Sequeira, a student in
the 7th grade at the Academy of the Pacific Rim in Boston, a charter school is a place where students are
taught to "never give up." Strict rules, a longer school day, and high academic expectations
encourage Elisa and her classmates to work hard. On average, they progressed almost two grade levels in
just one year. "You don't pass here until you learn the material - they make sure you
learn." says Elisa. "They teach students not to give up, and teachers never give up on a
student."
Charter schools are new independent public schools that have been operating in
Massachusetts since 1995. Charter schools are started by parents, teachers, social service organizations,
and community leaders. These schools have freedom to organize around a core mission, curriculum, theme,
or teaching method. They are allowed to control their own budgets and hire (and fire) teachers and staff.
In return for this freedom, a charter school must attract students and produce good results within five
years or lose its charter.
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Why Charter Schools?
Charter schools were created to provide more choices in
public education, encourage competition among public schools, and spur innovation in pursuit of improved
educational outcomes. With the passage of the Education Reform Act of 1993, Massachusetts was the
fourth state to pass a charter school law. Now, nearly 35 states have passed some version of a charter
school law, and over 1,100 charter schools are currently operating nationwide. The idea for independent
"chartered" public schools grew out of the frustration many education reformers felt after the
piecemeal reform efforts during the 1980s failed to yield any improvement in how well children were
learning. Rather than tinker with individual elements of a school - akin to trying to repair a car as it
hurtles down the Turnpike - many reformers concluded that one of the best ways to create an
effective school is to start from scratch and change everything at once. These reformers also concluded
that excellence and equity cannot be achieved simultaneously by insisting that all public schools conform to
the same model. Instead, they suggested, public schools can and should be different from one another,
providing various options to families as well as to teachers.
Innovation, effectiveness, and satisfaction, they argued, are more often found in an organization where everyone -
in this case parents, students, teachers - has chosen to be there and is committed to the particular philosophy of the
organization. No family should have their child assigned or compelled to attend a particular public school.
Many people - professionals and laymen alike - have the creativity, skills, and desire to
create better schools, charter school proponents have argued, so we should allow them to do it. The term
"public school" should no longer refer only to a school managed by a school committee, but also to a school
created and managed by citizens, with the caveats that they be open to all comers, free of charge, and that
they be held accountable by a public authority for student achievement in the core academic subjects.
CHARTER SCHOOLS GIVE POWER TO:
Parents - to choose which school is right for their child, and to "vote with their feet" when
they aren't satisfied.
Teachers - to work as professionals with colleagues who share their beliefs, to have a
stake in the school's future, and to be held accountable for student performance.
Principals - to direct and lead an organization, to have control of budget and staffing decisions,
and to be responsible for results.
Students - to be in a school that matches their particular needs, and to be in a school
that must do well by them in order to keep its charter.
Taxpayers - to have their tax dollars invested in schools that must earn continued public support
by delivering good results. |
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Four Common Features
Because they are not part of a uniform school system and are granted the freedom to
pursue unique approaches, it is difficult to generalize about the experiences of Massachusetts charter
schools. Yet, in the first three years of this initiative, empirical data, observation, and anecdotal evidence
point to four central features of the Commonwealth's charter schools.
Freedom
Charter schools have freedom to focus on achieving a singular, unifying vision for education. They have the freedom
to be different from one another and from other public schools. They are free from the unrealistic expectation
that they must be all things to all people.
Teachers in charter schools have freedom to teach in a school
whose philosophy they share. They have freedom to collaborate with colleagues who are committed to the
particular educational approach of the school.
Charter school teachers often have freedom to do what they believe is best for the children in their classroom, to
design curricula, and to help establish standards for the school. Many charter school teachers have a say in how their
school is run. As one teacher has said,they have "the freedom to make choices to enhance students' learning without
having to go through lots of red tape."
Charter school principals and headmasters, too, have freedom to make changes quickly in the
design and program of their school. Unlike many of their district counterparts, most charter school leaders
have freedom to decide how all of the school's funds are spent.
Charter school leaders also have freedom to hire the teachers and staff they believe are best qualified and suited
for the job, and they have the freedom to fire those who don't perform. They have the freedom to reward success with
merit pay and bonuses.
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Accountability
Accountability is an overused word in education that really means holding people
responsible for their performance. Because there are consequences facing charter schools that
don't perform, accountability is a ubiquitous and powerful force in these schools. There is an
emphasis on results, little tolerance for "dead wood," and an urgency for helping all students
achieve.
Because students attend charter schools by choice rather than by assignment, with public
money following students to the school, parents can hold a charter school accountable as consumers who will take
their business someplace else if they are not satisfied. Charter school principals and teachers, in
general, have one-year contracts with a school. Like most professionals in the country, they must do a good job in
order to keep their jobs. Employees who do not help a charter school achieve its mission don't keep
their jobs.
Charter school trustees are held accountable by the state Board of Education for the
performance of their school. A school must prove itself worthy of continued public support by providing evidence of
affirmative answers to three simple questions:
Is the academic program a success? An
affirmative answer would be based on evidence that the school has made reasonable progress in meeting
internally established goals over four years, and that student performance significantly improved and/or is
persistently strong on internal and external academic assessments.
Is the school a viable organization? Yes would mean that the school is financially solvent and
stable, enrollment is stable and near capacity, school governance is sound, and professional staff are competent and
resourceful.
Is the school faithful to the terms of its charter? If the school's program and operation are consistent
with the terms of its charter, and if the school is within the bounds of statutory and regulatory
requirements, then the answer will be yes.
Expansion
In July of 1997, the legislature approved-and the Governor signed into law-a bill
that, among other things, expanded the cap on charters from 25 to 50. Under this law, the Board of
Education was given the ability to grant 12 additional "Commonwealth" charters and 13 new Horace Mann
charters - district schools that convert to charter schools with the approval of the school
committee and local teachers' union. The new law also increased the statewide cap on student enrollment in
charter schools to 18,000.
With additional charters to award, the Department received 61
preliminary applications in November, 1997, 48 for Commonwealth charters and 13 for Horace Mann
charters. Thirty-six applications were selected for advancement to the final round in January. The Board
of Education eventually approved 8 Commonwealth charters and 5 Horace Mann charters.
Five new Commonwealth and 8 new Horace Mann charters remain available for award in February, 1999, and
scores of potential applicant groups have already requested applications. There are still many teachers,
parents, and community leaders who want the opportunity to create their own public school.
Nearly 10,000 students will be enrolled in charter schools across the state during the 1998-99 school
year. Over 5,500 more are on waiting lists, hoping for a chance to attend one of these independent public
schools.
It would seem that demand for charter schools has not yet been met.
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 Academic Performance
The state's new test for students, the Massachusetts Comprehensive
Assessment System (MCAS), was given for the first time in May, 1998, three years after the first
charter schools began. As a result, while the MCAS results will be used to measure the progress of
charter schools in the future, it doesn't tell us anything about how well charter schools have done so
far. Charter schools, however, are using a combination of standardized tests, portfolio assessment, and
other performance measures in order to demonstrate educational results. A full report analyzing the data
from standardized tests will be available from the Department in March, 1999.
The results from such tests, of course, are more suggestive than authoritative, and more data will come over the
months and years ahead. Yet there are now sufficient data to suggest that, in general, the academic performance of
students entering charter schools was at or below district and national averages. After several years, the
test results for students in charter schools are promising, with many schools showing significant academic
gains.
For instance, the students at the Community Day Charter School in Lawrence take the
Metropolitan Achievement Test at the beginning and end of each school year. Results show that students
have progressed an average of 1.3 to 1.5 grade levels each year for the past three years. Seventy percent
of the student are minorities, and about the same number qualify for free or reduced lunch.
After one year at Boston's new Academy of the Pacific Rim Charter School, students in the 6th grade
improved, on average, 1.2 grade levels as measured on the Stanford-9 Test. Students in the 7th grade
improved, on average, 1.75 grade levels. The school serves 100 students in grades 6-7, seventy-seven
percent of whom are minorities who scored at or below their Boston Public School counterparts before
coming to the charter school.
The Sabis International Charter School in Springfield had been one of the
lowest performing schools in the district before the Superintendent and others converted the school to a
charter school. In the fall of the first year of this newly converted school, 62 percent of the students
tested below grade level. Seven months later, these same students had, on average, increased 1.5 grade
levels. At the close of the second year, 62 percent of the students tested at or above grade level.
Sixty-one percent are minorities, and 54 percent qualify for free or reduced lunch. |
Each charter school must develop an accountability plan
that describes the school's objectives as well as the measures it will use to document progress toward
those objectives, including credible student assessment tools that will demonstrate the academic progress
of students. Charter schools must report on progress toward their objectives in an annual report due
August 1 of each year (followed by an independent financial audit several months later).
In addition, charter schools are subject to an annual day-long site visit conducted by a small group of Massachusetts
citizens who are not involved in the school. The purpose of these visits is to augment and verify the
information contained in the annual report and to learn firsthand as much as possible about the
school's performance.
During or after its fourth year of operation, a charter school will submit a
renewal application, which will be followed by a 3-4 day on-site evaluation of the school by an independent
review team (borrowing from the British inspection model). Based on a review of the school's
application for renewal, the findings of the renewal inspection team, and the school's previous
reports, the Board of Education will make a decision on the renewal of a school's charter. A school
that has not demonstrated satisfactory performance will lose its charter.
Innovation
Innovation is commonly defined as the introduction of something new or something that effects change.
According to a study commissioned by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, many innovative practices can be found in charter
schools, the most prevalent of which seem to be: attention to the development of character, citizenship,
respect for self and others, a positive school climate, and a variety of new or altered practices in the
curriculum and educational program.
Examples of innovative practices include: a longer school day and
year; second language instruction in the early grades; portfolio assessment; juried assessment; flexible
scheduling; and collaborative school governance. Charter schools are also using innovative curricular
materials and programs such as Success For All, Modern Red School House, and E.D. Hirsch's Core
Knowledge Sequence. However, specific practices, which can also be found in district schools, are not the
key innovation implemented in charter schools.
The most noteworthy innovation of charter schools is their
ability to quickly integrate ideas and "promising practices" into coherent, unified design, with
faculty and parents who support and are committed to that design. This is significant because research
confirms that the problem of education reform is not a dearth of ideas. To the contrary, it is systemic
impediments that make it difficult for superintendents, principals, and others to implement ideas in a
comprehensive, coherent school design that is supported by the school's faculty and
families.
Perhaps the most revolutionary innovation of charter schools, often overlooked or taken for
granted, is the concept itself: extraordinary freedom at the school level and genuine accountability for
results. It is this freedom-for-accountability exchange that has the potential to utterly transform public
education. With charter schools leading the way, perhaps the day is not far off when all public schools will
be given the latitude charter schools enjoy in exchange for real accountability for results.
Choice
Choice is such a central part of American life that we forget how empowering and motivating it
can be to have the ability-and the responsibility-to make a choice about something as
important as which school your child attends or what kinds of people you want to work with.
At charter schools, parents have the power to choose. They can choose a school that matches their own beliefs about
education and the aspirations they have for their children. Especially for those parents who can't
afford private schools or a house in a wealthy suburb, this choice is justice. It is also a choice that,
according to polls and enrollment data, many parents, including those without much income or education,
are eager to make.
Given choices and the ability to choose, parents from all walks of life are becoming
consumers of education. It seems that when there is no longer a good excuse for leaving all the decisions
about your child's education to someone else, and when you hear about others who are exercising
their right to choose, you are motivated to act, to investigate, and to get involved.
With charter schools, faculty, too, have the power to choose. Teachers choose to work in a school that
matches their beliefs. They are not just interested in the public education system but also in putting their ideas
into practice and in making their particular school work.
Choice, of course, necessarily implies that one thing is being chosen over another. As a result, choice means
competition which is a force that often hastens change and improvement in any organization or system. All schools,
district and charter, are forced by competition to examine why parents, students, or prospective teachers might be
be choosing to go to other schools.
Horace Mann Charter Schools
The idea for Horace Mann charter schools became law in July, 1997,
in an effort to create charter schools within districts. A Horace Mann charter school is a district public
school or part of a school that operates under a five-year charter approved by the local school committee,
the local teacher's union, and granted by the Board of Education.
"If Rip van Winkle woke up out of deep sleep after a lot of years, he would see today's school system is being run
essentially as it always has," explains Harold M. Lane, co-chairman of the Legislature's Education Committee.
"The charter schools are shaking up that structure, and we should give the public schools the opportunity to do the
same thing."
To the extent provided by the terms of their charters, Horace Mann charter schools may be exempt from local
collective bargaining agreements, provided that employees of the school will remain members of the local
collective bargaining unit, continue to accrue seniority and receive, at minimum, the salary and benefits
established by the local collective bargaining agreement. (Commonwealth charter schools do not need
approval from the local school committee or teachers union, and the collective bargaining agreement in a
district does not apply to charter school teachers.) |
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Challenges
Taken together, the charter school initiative has made a promising start, but this early success
does not mean that charter schools in Massachusetts can claim to have achieved all of their goals or that
the waters ahead will be smooth. Many of these young organizations have accomplished these great things,
all still have room for improvement, and a few simply may not cut it. All charter schools still face many
challenges, such as managing future growth; refining and strengthening curricula that are aligned with the
state's new curriculum frameworks; and, sustaining the energy and enthusiasm that attends new ventures.
Perhaps the single greatest challenge charter schools face, however, is a lack of access to capital
for the acquisition, expansion, or improvement of adequate school facilities. Most schools have either already
encountered or still face the problem of facilities that are too small, lack outdoor space or play areas, or
are inadequate in other ways. This problem is made worse by the fact that commercial banks have been wary of
lending even small amounts of money to these entrepreneurial schools.
In response to this problem, the Commonwealth is providing charter schools with facility funding for the
1998-99 school year equal to $270 per student. Nevertheless, because charter schools are currently prohibited
from receiving school building assistance funds that districts receive from the state, it will not be easy for
schools to finance the purchase or renovation of suitable, permanent homes.
SPECIAL EDUCATION
Like other public schools, charter schools must be open to all students and serve
students with special needs in accordance with state and federal law. In general, charter schools have
enrolled and are serving the same proportion of special needs students as district schools.
Charter schools are also working within the law to redefine what "special" education really means. The
"regular" education programs offered to all students at many charter schools are much like the
"special" education services in many other schools. Most charter schools report a fierce
commitment to inclusion. Schools report a similar commitment to not labeling or stigmatizing special needs
students in any way. "Parents have indicated that they feel more comfortable when their child
receives special education services without the child being labeled," says a special education
administrator from a Boston charter school.
The most significant factors in charter schools that make
their "regular" education seem "special" are smallness and a very individualized
approach to student learning. For instance, at the Community Day Charter School in Lawrence, all 196
students have a Personal Education Goals plan designed and modified, as needed. This plan includes areas
where "special efforts" are required of teachers, specialists, parents, or others. Small classes
lead to more individual instruction for students, too. While none of the school's students have
formal IEPs, over 30 percent have identified special needs for which they receive special support services,
which include, among others, tutoring, pull-out instruction, and small group instruction. Students also
receive speech, language therapy, counseling, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and work with
learning specialists as needed.
Special education has also posed challenges to these new public schools.
Several of these new schools have been slow to establish the procedures and paperwork that attend special
education's legal requirements. Charter schools have also had difficulty in not being informed about
a student's special needs by parents and districts. A number of schools believe their staff members
could benefit from additional training in special education. Perhaps the biggest challenge is one that all
public schools face: the cost of providing special education services that, in some cases, can be
staggering. |
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What Charter Schools Mean for Public Education
Demonstrating What is Possible
What have we learned from the charter school initiative
so far, and what might those lessons mean for other public schools?
The most powerful element of charter
schools is that, at a time when others are explaining why things can't be done, charter schools are
showing what is possible in public education:
poor, uneducated parents can and do make good choices about their children's education;
poor, urban students can meet high academic standards;
teachers can be treated as professionals;
parents can be motivated to become involved in their children's education;
competition can cause change;
schools can be purposeful, mission-driven organizations;
school leaders don't need to be told what to do or how to do it; and,
bad public schools can be closed down.
The Massachusetts charter school experience suggests that there may be big advantages for students
when standards and accountability are paired with pluralism and choice. There seem to be big advantages,
too, when power is moved from systems to individual schools.
The ultimate lesson can be borrowed from Immanuel Kant: The actual proves the possible. What can be done in 25 or
50 public schools can be done in
all public schools.
"The charter school movement should not be seen as a threat to public schools. It
should be seen as a liberation of public schools, and particularly teachers and administrators who for many
years have known what should be done, but have felt unable to do so," explains Hillary Rodham
Clinton. "The President wants every school, whether it is formally called a charter school, or not, to
act like a charter school."
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last updated: January 1, 1998
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