In the US, where the concept originated in the free market era of the Ronald Regan presidency, 4,600 charter schools across 40 (of 50) states with an aggregate enrolment of 1.4 million students, are up and running currently. Charters are defined as publicly funded schools “freed from some of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to other public schools, in exchange for some type of accountability for producing certain results which are set forth in each school’s charter”.
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The charter schools movement began in the US in 1988 when the American Federation of Teachers agreed to reform the deteriorating public school system through the establishment of parallel ‘charter schools’ which would operate on business principles: free of government control and processes, but accountable for delivering guaranteed learning outcomes. In 1992, the first charter school became operational in Minnesota and since then the number of charters has multiplied with accelerating speed.
While charter schools provide an alternative to government-managed public schools, they are part of the public education system and are not allowed to charge tuition fees. Instead the per pupil expenditure of the state and/or government is paid to private managements in expectation of them improving learning outcomes in charter schools. The ‘charter’ establishing each school is a performance contract detailing the school’s mission, programme, goals, students served and methods of performance assessment. The period for which charters are granted varies, but most are three-five years duration. At the end of the term, the local/ state government authority granting the charter has the option of renewing a charter contract.
According to a study conducted in 2003 by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, charter school students in the US are outscoring their neighbouring public school counterparts in math and reading tests. The nationwide study found that students of charter schools on average exceed the scores of public school pupils by 3 points in maths and 2 points in reading.
Although on the whole the charter schools experiment has been successful, some studies have questioned the efficacy of charters. For instance, a 2009 study by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University found that 17 percent of charter schools reported learning outcomes that were significantly better than traditional public schools, 46 percent reported no difference and 37 percent significantly worse outcomes. In the first detailed national assessment of charter schools, the study analysed 70 percent of students attending charter schools and compared their learning with demographically matched students in neighbouring public schools.
While the debate over whether charter school pupils do better in tests than public school students continues in the US, there’s conclusive evidence that parents prefer charters to public schools. In a 2008 survey of charter schools, 59 percent of them reported that they had waiting lists averaging 198 students. Moreover with President Barack Obama and his education secretary Arne Duncan strongly committed to charter schools, they are there to stay — and multiply.