The K-12 Education team recognizes there are many strategies to reach the end goal of ensuring a quality education for every child. This includes a balanced approach to opening and supporting charter schools and other forms of public school choice. While high-quality charter schools have been a critical strategy to increase opportunity and create more good seats for students, some of the critiques of the charter sector also have merit and must be addressed. We argue that there is a progressive case for charters focused on growing and learning from successful models, while also addressing gaps in charter policy, such as the problems with for-profit, virtual charter schools.See the K-12 Education team’s other core priority areas:
Book Banning, Curriculum Restrictions, and the Politicization of U.S. Schools
State and local officials’ efforts to undermine public education by playing politics with school curricula run against the interest of most American children and families.
Understanding the Opportunities and Challenges of Charter Management Contracts for Public Schools
A review of the common failures of contracts between management companies and the charter schools they oversee suggests some changes could help protect both students and taxpayer money.
The Education Data That Matter Most to Parents and School Stakeholders
The current K-12 accountability system provides important information for education leaders, but local school communities need access to other timely and useful data to help improve the quality of education each child receives.
As the Charter Schools Program enters its second quarter-century, federal policymakers should broaden the program’s focus to embrace smart growth policies, help existing charters improve, and address challenges in the charter sector.
Switching schools can have negative effects for students and their new schools; districts and charter schools should therefore have equitable approaches to accepting new students and backfilling open seats.
11 Ways New Governors Can Lead on Education Through Executive Actions
From teacher pay to school infrastructure to workforce readiness, new governors should move quickly to advance key education priorities in their states.
For-profit virtual charter schools consistently underperform other public schools. Available financial records demonstrate that large for-profit virtual charter school operators allocate public dollars toward advertising, executive compensation, lobbying, and profit at the expense of instruction.
