A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

Challenging the Status Quo: The Education Record 1993-2000 - May 2000

3 Expanding Public School Choice

One of the strongest forces for positive change in American education today does not come from Federal, State, or local government, or from school officials or district administrators. It comes from millions of American families as they choose which public school their child will attend. The Administration supports public school choice as a mechanism for diversifying educational options so that students may attend schools that meet their particular needs or interests, and for increasing accountability by channeling parental demand for high-quality public schools. In particular, the Administration has provided strong leadership for the creation of public charter schools, calling for 3,000 high-quality charter schools by the year 2002.^[13]

At the start of the Administration, there was only one charter school and one State with a charter school law in the Nation. Today, there are 1,700 charters schools, and 36 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have charter school laws.

Nearly 70 percent of charter schools have a student racial or ethnic composition that is similar to their surrounding school districts. An additional 17 percent of charter schools serve a higher percentage of students of color than their surrounding districts.

The demand for charter schools remains high. Last year, 70 percent of charter schools had a waiting list—the same percentage as in 1997-98.

Most charter schools are newly created, small schools. The median enrollment is 137 students, less than one-third the median enrollment of 475 in public schools in States with charter school laws.

Charter schools are accountable for results. More than 90 percent of charter schools use student achievement tests, augmented by other measures of student performance, to make reports to their chartering agency, the school?s governing board, and community members, including parents.

The charter movement is one of the Administration's most important legacies. Its support for charter schools as a desirable and effective form of public school choice has helped convince millions of people, from State legislators to civil rights legend Rosa Parks to Arizona's teacher of the year Karen Butterfield, that the charter movement has great value. Charter school organizers consistently cite the Administration's support as a valuable tool for conveying the importance of the charter concept. This support has not been only verbal. In 1994, the President joined with then-Senator David Durenberger and Senator Joe Lieberman to enact legislation providing start-up funds for charter schools. The Administration has also managed to convince some opponents that they should rethink their views. Some professional organizations find that the strongest charter school proponents include many outstanding public school educators, eager for an opportunity to carry out their dreams. The dramatic expansion of charter schools from one State and one school to 36 States and 1,700 schools is a direct result of the Administration's vigorous efforts.

Joe Nathan, Senior Fellow and Director
Center for Social Change, Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs
University of Minnesota, April 2000

Charter schools are public schools that come into existence through a contract with a chartering entity, usually a State agency or local school board. The school?s charter frees the school from regulations that other schools must follow, in exchange for accountability for raising student achievement and meeting other goals. If a charter school fails to meet its objectives within a specified period, it can be shut down. The key features of charter schools—smallness, diversity, parental support—make them a promising movement for education reform and innovation.

Initiated by this Administration in 1994, the Federal Public Charter Schools Program helps charter school developers address the most frequently cited obstacle to opening a charter school: the lack of start-up funding. Since 1994, the program has generated nearly $400 million of support for 32 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, with $145 million to be awarded this year alone. These funds have played a key role in dramatically increasing the number of charter schools over the past seven years. Indeed, the percentage of new charter schools citing lack of start-up funds as a limitation fell from 59 percent in the 1997-98 school year to 39 percent in 1998-99.

To further fuel the charter movement, the Administration?s charter schools program allows States to use 10 percent of their funds to award new dissemination grants to charter schools with three years of experience and demonstrated success. These grants will support partnerships between high-quality charter schools and non-charter public schools, thereby ensuring that the lessons learned from effective charter schools contribute to the overall improvement of public education. Toward this end, the Administration has also convened two national conferences bringing charter school developers and operators together with officials from chartering entities and relevant Federal and

CHARTERING SUCCESS

The North Star Academy, a charter school in Newark, New Jersey, opened in 1997 and currently serves 144 students in grades five to eight. The Academy features an 11-month school year, a longer school day, class size of 18, school uniforms, and state-of-the-art technology. Student attendance is 96 percent, the student transfer rate has been less than 1 percent over three years, and 700 students are on the waiting list. North Star students have shown measurable academic improvement. Scores on the Stanford 9 Achievement Test have risen significantly. In the 1998-99 school year, 85 percent of North Star students performed at or above grade level in math, up from 37 percent the year before; 45 percent performed at or above grade level in language and writing, up from 30 percent the previous year; and 38 percent performed at or above grade level in reading, up from 28 percent the year before.

State agencies. The conferences addressed not only operational issues, but also innovative approaches to education reform and methods of disseminating effective practices.

Moreover, through the Magnet Schools Assistance Program, the Administration supports the development and implementation of new or significantly revised magnet schools designed to help reduce, eliminate, or prevent minority group isolation and to promote diversity by creating

MAGNETIC ARTS
The New Haven Arts and Humanities Cooperative High School in Connecticut has seen early success in reversing a trend of increasing racial segregation. The school attracts students by providing a program that integrates the arts into all curriculum areas, with the goal of developing critical thinkers and leaders who are highly competent in the arts. The program provides students with opportunities to take college courses and to learn from mentors who are artists and scholars. Community partnerships with the Yale School of Music, a major bank, and other local groups provide additional artistic and educational resources. Participating students have won a number of prestigious awards, including grand prizes in the Yale University Playwriting Contest, National Black Merit Scholarships, and National Hispanic Merit Scholarships.

programs that attract diverse students. Since 1992, the number of magnet schools in the Nation has increased from 2,400 to over 4,000, and approximately 150 school districts and more than 1,200 schools have participated in the Federal program. These schools and districts have implemented magnet programs that enable students to choose high-quality learning opportunities organized around special curricular themes such as science, technology, and the arts.

Choice is not a magic bullet solution for reforming our Nation?s schools. And when public funds are used to support choices to send children to private schools, choice diverts resources and attention from the important task of improving our public schools, which serve 90 percent of America?s students. However, properly implemented within our public schools, choice is a key strategy for encouraging innovation, meeting specific educational needs, and stimulating educational improvement throughout the Nation.

¹³ The data below come from RPP International (2000), The State of Charter Schools: National Study of Charter Schools Fourth-Year Report, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education.

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[ 2 Strengthening Teacher Quality ]

[ 4 Increasing Parental Involvement ]