About Charter Schools
The following are answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ) regarding charter schools and what they mean for students, educators, schools and communities.The answers to these FAQs are intended to provide only an introductory overview on key issues.
What are Community/Charter Schools?
How Do Charter Schools Differ From Traditional District Public Schools?
How Are Charter Schools Funded?
How Do Charter Schools Manage if They are Underfunded?
Do Charter Schools Take Money from Public Schools?
Do Charter Schools Work?
Charter School links
What are Community/Charter Schools? (top)
Community Schools (Ohio's legislative name for charter schools) are independent public schools, designed and operated by educators, parents, community leaders, educational entrepreneurs and others. They are sponsored by designated local or state educational organizations who monitor their quality and integrity, but allow them to operate freed from the traditional bureaucratic and regulatory red tape that restrain public schools. The Toledo Public Schools acted as the sponsor for our original 5 year charter in 1998. Freed from such micromanagement, charter schools design and deliver programs tailored to educational excellence and community needs. Because they are schools of choice, they are held to the highest level of accountability — consumer demand.
How Do Charter Schools Differ From
Traditional District Public Schools? (top)
Charter schools operate from 3 basic principles:
- Accountability: Charter schools are held accountable for how well they educate children in a safe and responsible environment, not for compliance with district and state regulations. They are judged on how well they meet the student achievement goals established by their charter, and how well they manage the fiscal and operational responsibilities entrusted to them.
- Choice: Parents, teachers, community groups, organizations, or individuals interested in creating a better educational opportunity for children can start charter schools. Local and state school boards, colleges and universities, and other community agencies interested in fostering innovation and excellence in schools sponsor them. Students choose to attend, and teachers choose to teach at charter schools.
- Autonomy: Charter schools are freed from the traditional bureaucracy and regulations that divert a school's energy and resources toward compliance rather than excellence. Instead of jumping through procedural hoops and over paperwork hurdles, educators can focus on setting and reaching high academic standards for their students.
How Are Charter Schools Funded? (top)
Charter schools are public schools. Like district public schools, they are funded according to enrollment (also called average daily attendance, or ADA), and receive funding from the state according to the number of students attending. However, in Ohio charter schools do not receive the full equivalent of their district counterparts since charter schools receive none of the revenues districts receive from property tax millage.
Unlike traditional district schools, Ohio charter schools do not receive funding to cover the cost of securing a facility. Federal legislation provides funding to help charters with start-up costs, but the facility task remains extremely challenging.
How Do Charter Schools Manage if They are Underfunded? (top)
Necessity, as the mother of invention, is inspiring innovation in this area.
- Facilities and Other Start-Up and Capital Costs:
Many charter schools improvise by converting spaces such as rented office or retail facilities, former churches, lofts and warehouses, into classroom, cafeteria, assembly and gym space. TSA has supplemented its space through collaboration with its ARTners (i.e., Toledo Zoo, COSI, and Toledo-Lucas County Library) which allows TSA to use space at other downtown or near downtown sites. Ohio has recently created a program for guaranteed loan program for the purchase and improvement of facility for charter school use. The same is true of capital needs beyond bricks and mortar. Each year that TSA expands its student body by an additional grade, more books, computers, and teaching materials are needed.
- Operational costs:
Charter schools in Ohio receive operating funds from the ODE based on student enrollment counts (ADA). The exact amount per student is determined by the state legislation and varies slightly depending on what school district the student comes from. TSA has students attending from 15 different school districts.
- Categorical aid:
Also significant in operational expenses are categorical federal education grant funds. These funds generally follows one of two routes before reaching schools: (1) either distributed directly by the U.S. Department of Education through its own application process, or (2) channeled through state education agencies that then distribute the funds in a variety of ways. Typically, state agencies distribute funds based on whether a charter school is recognized as its own local education authority or not. If it is recognized as such, then charter schools may receive the money directly. The route is ultimately determined by the state legislation.
Do Charter Schools
Take Money from Public Schools? (top)
NO--Charter schools are public schools. When a child leaves for a charter school the state money (entitlement) follows that child. Moreover, in Ohio when a student leaves his or her home district the property tax revenues stay with the home district rather than following the student.
Do Charter Schools Work? (top)
YES--In addition to the positive pressure they put on the public school system as a whole, charter schools satisfy and serve their primary constituents (teachers, parents, and students) by providing exciting and viable new educational in an inclusive, individual manner. A recent Center for Education Reform Charter School Survey found that 65% of the charters surveyed had a waiting list. TSA has always had more than enough students to fill its 7th and 8th grades with additional interested students on a waiting list. Recent Ohio Proficiency test scores confirm our fundamental belief that integrating arts into core course studies promotes excellence in education. We had 100% participation in the testing, (every student in every grade who had not passed all sections took the tests).
Portions taken from the Center for Educational Reform at
http://www.edreform.com
Charter School Links on the Web: (top)
www.uscharterschools.org
http://www.edreform.com
