V. Why Charter Schools Are Started and What Attracts Parents to Them

The founding of a charter school is a profoundly local event, catalyzed by but also circumscribed by state policy. Charters start from the inspiration of individual educators, groups of parents, community leaders, or teachers with a dream. They want something different for children. They gather support, overcome skeptics and political resistance if they need to--and they often do--and create a proposal that says why they want to start their charter school, what students they want to serve, and what they plan to do. Once a charter is founded, parents and students make deeply personal decisions, exercise their choice and take a chance on enrolling in this new opportunity. Their reasons vary greatly, as one might expect. Despite the variation, discernible patterns arise from the confluence of individual choices made by founders and parents. Drawing on data from our yearly telephone survey and recurrent fieldwork at 91 charter schools, this chapter describes the patterns of reasons why charter schools were founded and suggests why parents and students may be attracted to charter schools.

CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS

The majority of charter schools are newly created, and most such schools are founded to realize an alternative vision for schooling or to serve a special target population of students.

The primary reason pre-existing public schools convert to charter status is to gain flexibility and autonomy from their districts or by-pass various regulations. Private schools convert to charter status to seek public funds so that they can stabilize their finances and attract students, often students whose families could not afford private school tuition.

Focus group data suggest that parents and students choose charter schools in part because of dissatisfaction with their former public schools. They express dissatisfaction in regards to academics, a dehumanizing culture, fears about safety, and unresponsiveness to serious parent involvement.

In order to attract parents and students, charter schools tend to focus on one or a combination of the following themes--a quality academic program with high standards, a supportive environment often based on small school size, a flexible approach to educational and cultural programming approach, or, in sharp contrast, a highly structured school environment. These themes play out locally in varied ways.

A. Reasons for Founding Charter Schools

All schools serve a general education mission of helping students to be successful in life, but within this context the founders of charter schools have a wide variety of reasons why they wanted to start their charter school. Our telephone survey asked respondents to tell us the most important reasons for founding their charter schools and further asked them to rate their most important reason of these reasons.^[1] Rather than give them a list to respond to, the question was open to anything the respondents at the school, usually the principal or a key member of the staff, wished to say. We coded their responses into six broad categories, as shown in Exhibit 5-1.

EXHIBIT 5-1

REASONS FOR FOUNDING CHARTER SCHOOLS

Reason for founding charter school
The most important reason
(number in parenthesis is % that cited
each reason. Respondents could state
more than one reason)

Realize an alternative vision for schooling

55.2%

(68.6%)

Gain autonomy/flexibility

15.4%

(22.7%)

Serve special population

16.8%

(22.1%)

Attract students

4.4%

(11.7%)

Financial reasons

4.7%

(11.5%)

Parent involvement

3.6%

(9.8%)

Total # of schools

364

Reason for founding charter school	The most important reason (number in parenthesis is % that cited each reason. Respondents could state more than one reason)
Realize an alternative vision for schooling	55.2%	(68.6%)
Gain autonomy/flexibility	15.4%	(22.7%)
Serve special population	16.8%	(22.1%)
Attract students	4.4%	(11.7%)
Financial reasons	4.7%	(11.5%)
Parent involvement	3.6%	(9.8%)
Total # of schools	364

EXHIBIT 5-1 GRAPHIC

MOST IMPORTANT REASON FOR FOUNDING CHARTER SCHOOL

A group of schools cited reasons that we coded as them wanting to gain autonomy or flexibility from district or state regulations. For example, some schools cited the desire to hire their own staff, some wanted to form a feeder cluster with other schools in the same district so that they could have a coherent program, and others focused on being free of a wide variety of state regulations. These examples can be multiplied. The side box on the next page gives a sample of these "reasons," and the next chapter provides vignettes about schools that experience such obstacles to charter development. One-fifth of charter schools sought such independence and 15 percent reported autonomy to be their most important motivation for starting a charter.

What Were the Most Important Reasons for Founding Your Charter School?
A sample of answers coded as wanting to "Gain Autonomy/Flexibility"

Freedom to create progressive responses to student needs without constraint of the education codes.

To get away from bureaucracy and special interest groups. Maxed out on what we could do in current system; needed fiscal autonomy and personnel flexibility.

Flexibility in fiscal resources; flexibility in scheduling; demonstrate that without additional resources a school with autonomy can improve student learning.

Flexibility; implement new practices; community involvement.

More than two out of three charter schools gave a different set of reasons that spoke of how they wanted to change schooling or focus their educational program in certain specific ways. Virtually no two schools described their vision in the same way. For example, some schools focused on pedagogical practices that they thought would benefit students, others spoke of the use of technology or distance learning, and still others emphasized the behavioral and cultural environment the school was established to create. Our fieldwork experience suggests that underlying these diverse specifics is a more general theme that speaks to the school's vision leading to the desire to start a charter school. We therefore coded this group of reasons as the founders wanted to realize an alternative vision of schooling.

Another frequently cited reason for founding the charter schools was to serve a particular population of students. One-fifth of the charter schools gave this reason as important and 17 percent reported it to be their most important motivation for starting a charter. Though these schools often create educational programs suited to their target group of students, they begin with a mission toward serving these students--whether the students are dropouts, at-risk, physically or emotionally challenged, or from a particular racial, ethnic, or cultural background. Since the fundamental aim of these schools is serving their target students, the end of the preceding chapter (which focuses on the type of students served by charter schools) includes vignettes describing some of these schools.

One-third of the charter schools spoke about the three other reasons shown in Exhibit 5-1--attracting students, financial reasons, and parent involvement. Though only about ten percent of the schools felt these reasons were their most important motivation for founding, they were very clear about how the possibility of charter status enabled them to address deep concerns. A subsequent section of this chapter provides an example of a school that feels parent involvement is an integral part of their students' education.

What Were the Most Important Reasons for Founding Your Charter School?

A sample of answers coded as wanting to "Realize an Alternative Vision for Schooling"

School-to-work program/outcome based-education. Look at how to redo high school education.

To provide a high-quality education for students interested in the arts.

Unable to implement uniforms in traditional high school.

Teacher dissatisfaction with large classrooms of regular schools. Wanted to provide program conducive for student learning with a student-geared environment.

To provide innovative techniques and ways of learning. The use of technology not moving fast enough in traditional settings.

To provide a smaller school environment.

To be able to offer Montessori education as an alternative.

Provide safe environment, reduce class size, more hands-on, project-based learning.

Implementation of articulated curriculum and parental choice.

To provide a broader base of services for children in our community.

We wanted another alternative for students who didn't fit into the system.

Type of Charter School and Founding Reasons. The table in Exhibit 5-2 shows the distribution of reasons for founding the three types of charter schools--newly created schools, former public schools, and former private schools. The data show that, in our sample, three-quarters of charter schools that were begun to realize an alternative vision of schooling are newly created schools. The vignette in the side box illustrates a newly created school founded for this broad class of reasons.

EXHIBIT 5-2

REASONS FOR FOUNDING CHARTER SCHOOLS BY SCHOOL TYPE

% of charter school type by the most important
founding reason (read percent across row)

Most important reason for
founding charter school Newly
created Pre-existing
public Pre-existing
private Total #

Realize an alternative vision

77.1%

14.4%

8.5%

201

Gain autonomy/flexibility

21.4%

73.2%

5.4%

56

Serve special population

83.6%

8.2%

8.2%

61

Financial reasons

5.9%

41.2%

52.9%

17

Attract students

18.8%

12.5%

68.8%

13

Parent involvement

61.5%

30.8%

7.7%

16

Total # and %

230

88

46

364

across charter school type

(63.2%)

(24.2%)

(12.6%)

(100%)

	% of charter school type by the most important founding reason (read percent across row)
Most important reason for founding charter school	Newly created	Pre-existing public	Pre-existing private	Total #
Realize an alternative vision	77.1%	14.4%	8.5%	201
Gain autonomy/flexibility	21.4%	73.2%	5.4%	56
Serve special population	83.6%	8.2%	8.2%	61
Financial reasons	5.9%	41.2%	52.9%	17
Attract students	18.8%	12.5%	68.8%	13
Parent involvement	61.5%	30.8%	7.7%	16
Total # and %	230	88	46	364
across charter school type	(63.2%)	(24.2%)	(12.6%)	(100%)

Newly Created School Founded to Realize an Alternative Vision
Two educators founded this K-8 school to realize their educational vision. Both teachers used integrated thematic units extensively and practiced cooperative learning in their local public school. A change in school administrators, which brought pressure to teach more from textbooks, and increasing class sizes convinced the teachers to start their own charter school. They hired several other teachers who shared their educational philosophy, capped class sizes at 18 students, and openly encouraged parent participation in the school's development. Due to their experience and reputations in the community, the school's seats were quickly filled and the waiting list has grown to more than twice the school's size.

This finding sharply contrasts with the case for schools that cited autonomy as their primary founding reason--about 73 percent of those in the sample were former public schools that converted to charter status. Many implications flow from these contrasting origins. Pre-existing public schools that seek autonomy generally have their educational program, governance and relationships to the community in place before seeking charter status, but have specific political and/or bureaucratic obstacles in their district context that prevent them from offering a better, more focused, and/or more cost-effective program. The founders of newly created schools who were motivated by a vision of better education did not have to struggle to obtain freedom from district bureaucracy, but had to face the difficult issues of implementing a new school and business. The next chapter on the barriers to implementation discusses and provides examples of these issues.

Newly Created School Founded to Serve a Special Population
Newly created school founded to serve a special population. This newly created 9-12 school was founded to serve students who either have or are at risk of dropping out of school. After their district turned down their proposal to start a district-sponsored alternative school, a pair of educators took their experience running computer-assisted instruction and school-to-work programs and founded the charter school. Some students come to this school to catch up on credits in order to return to their traditional high schools and others stay on to graduate from this accredited institution. The school's educational program consists of the Josten's computer-assisted instruction program supplemented with teacher created units and a work internship program. Students work at their own pace and attend school four hours a day in one of three shifts.

Exhibit 5-2 shows a very clear pattern for schools aiming to serve a special population. More than 80 percent of these schools are new schools conceived, founded, and implemented--in the view of their founders--to better address their target students' needs and aspirations than the local public schools.

Newly Created School Founded for Parent Involvement
Newly created schools founded for parent involvement. Educators, parents, and community activists founded this K-4 school. It is based on the belief that parental and community involvement are fundamental to raising students' academic achievement. The school creates strong parent-school partnerships by involving them on the school's governing board and providing English as a second language, family literacy, parenting, and citizenship training. The school has extensive partnerships with local organizations to supplement the school's academic program and extend its school day. Educationally, the school features small class sizes, thematic curriculum that integrates technology and values, and a dual bilingual immersion program in English and Spanish.

Financial reasons and attracting students are both motivations primarily given by pre-existing schools. Charter legislation in those states that permit conversion of private schools represents an opportunity for them to receive public funds. In cases in our field sites, two motivations were obvious. Some private conversions sought to enroll students from low-income backgrounds who could not afford the tuition before the school became a public charter school. They thus deliberately sought to diversify their student body. A related motivation was the financial opportunity that chartering represents for schools to increase their enrollment and stabilize their funding source, thus enabling long-range planning and investment. In this regard, such for-profit organizations as The Edison Project and Sabis operate charter schools, and some charter schools (in Arizona, for example) operate as for-profit organizations.

The schools citing parent involvement as the most important reason for initiating a charter are distributed in proportion to the overall balance of newly created, pre-existing public, and pre-existing private schools; but, the story of parent involvement is more significant than these numbers reveal. A later section in this chapter describes the central role parent involvement plays in many charter schools.

Exhibit 5-3 summarizes the distribution of founding reasons by calculating percentages from the same data as shown in Exhibit 5-2 but this time in terms of the perspective of the three types of charter schools. From this perspective the findings are:

Newly created schools, which represent more than 60 percent of all charter schools, are founded primarily to realize an educational vision (67 percent) or to serve a special student population (22 percent).

Pre-existing public schools convert to charter status to gain autonomy (47 percent) or to seek an educational vision that they felt unable to realize as a standard public school.

Private schools that convert to charter have mixed motives, with one-third aiming at an educational vision and over 40 percent seeking to attract students or obtain financial support.

EXHIBIT 5-3

TYPE OF CHARTER SCHOOL BY REASONS FOR FOUNDING

% of charter school type by the most important founding reasons
(read percent across row)

Charter
school type
Realize an alternative vision

Gain autonomy

Serve special population

Financial reasons

Attract students

Parent involvement

Newly created

67.4%

5.2%

22.2%

0.4%

1.3%

3.5%

Pre-existing public

33.0%

46.6%

5.6%

8.0%

2.3%

4.4%

Pre-existing private

37.0%

6.5%

10.9%

19.6%

23.9%

2.2%

Total

55.2%

15.4%

16.8%

4.7%

4.4%

3.6%

	% of charter school type by the most important founding reasons (read percent across row)
Charter school type	Realize an alternative vision	Gain autonomy	Serve special population	Financial reasons	Attract students	Parent involvement
Newly created	67.4%	5.2%	22.2%	0.4%	1.3%	3.5%
Pre-existing public	33.0%	46.6%	5.6%	8.0%	2.3%	4.4%
Pre-existing private	37.0%	6.5%	10.9%	19.6%	23.9%	2.2%
Total	55.2%	15.4%	16.8%	4.7%	4.4%	3.6%

B. Racial Concentration and Reasons for Founding

Is the racial composition of charter schools related to the reasons for which the schools were founded? Table a in Exhibit 5-4 answers part of this question by displaying the distribution of racial concentration at charter schools for the different reasons they were founded. Table b looks at the same data but calculates percentages in terms of racial concentration to illuminate the question: What reasons did charter schools with different levels of racial concentration have for being started?

EXHIBIT 5-4

ESTIMATED RACIAL CONCENTRATION FOR DIFFERENT FOUNDING REASONS

A. Distribution of Racial Concentration for Each Founding Reason

% of charter schools within categories of racial concentration (read percent across row)

Most important reason for founding charter school

<1/3 White students

1/3-2/3 White students

>2/3 White students

Realize a vision

19.6%

19.6%

60.8%

Gain autonomy

35.2%

25.9%

38.9%

Serve special population

45.9%

18.0%

36.1%

Financial reasons

43.8%

18.8%

37.5%

Attract students

6.3%

37.5%

56.3%

Parent involvement

27.3%

18.2%

54.5%

Total #

96

74

182

and %

(27.3%)

(21.0%)

(51.7%)

	% of charter schools within categories of racial concentration (read percent across row)
Most important reason for founding charter school	<1/3 White students	1/3-2/3 White students	>2/3 White students
Realize a vision	19.6%	19.6%	60.8%
Gain autonomy	35.2%	25.9%	38.9%
Serve special population	45.9%	18.0%	36.1%
Financial reasons	43.8%	18.8%	37.5%
Attract students	6.3%	37.5%	56.3%
Parent involvement	27.3%	18.2%	54.5%
Total #	96	74	182
and %	(27.3%)	(21.0%)	(51.7%)

B. Distribution of Founding Reasons for Each Racial Concentration

% of racial concentration across the most important founding reasons
(read percent across row)

Proportion of White students

Realize a vision

Gain autonomy

Serve special population

Financial reasons

Parent involvement

Attract students

< 1/3

39.6%

19.8%

29.2%

7.3%

3.1%

1.0%

1/3-2/3

51.4%

18.9%

14.9%

4.1%

2.7%

8.1%

> 2/3

64.8%

11.5%

12.1%

3.3%

3.3%

4.9%

Total

55.1%

15.3%

17.3%

4.5%

3.1%

4.5%

	% of racial concentration across the most important founding reasons (read percent across row)
Proportion of White students	Realize a vision	Gain autonomy	Serve special population	Financial reasons	Parent involvement	Attract students
< 1/3	39.6%	19.8%	29.2%	7.3%	3.1%	1.0%
1/3-2/3	51.4%	18.9%	14.9%	4.1%	2.7%	8.1%
> 2/3	64.8%	11.5%	12.1%	3.3%	3.3%	4.9%
Total	55.1%	15.3%	17.3%	4.5%	3.1%	4.5%

Table a in Exhibit 5-4 shows that 61 percent of those schools started to realize a vision serve predominantly White students, whereas about 40 percent of schools seeking autonomy serve predominantly White students. About one-third of schools seeking autonomy enroll predominantly students of color. This finding reflects the reality that public conversion schools are likely to be large schools that serve a diverse student body.

The next row of the same table also shows that almost one-half of the schools that target special populations have predominantly students of color, but one-third of the schools in this category serve predominantly White students. The distribution of schools founded for financial reasons reflects nearly equal proportions of schools that enroll predominantly White students and those predominantly non-White students. This distribution may reflect the two distinct financial motivations we uncovered in the field--namely, some schools seek the financial resources to serve a more diverse population while others see charter status as a way to maintain or expand their operations. The few charter schools whose primary founding aim was to attract students are likely to be serving predominantly White students.

Finally, the schools started with a paramount aim of parent involvement are distributed across the racial concentration categories in a proportion similar to the distribution for all charter schools--this motivation occurs for schools that operate in the range of different racial situations.
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[IV. Students of Charter Schools (part 3 of 3)]

[V. Why Charter Schools Are Started and What Attracts Parents to Them (part 2 of 2)]