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Charter schools and their positive impact on public education

Claire Maloney

St. Petersburg College

POS 2041: American National Government

Randolph Lightfoot

11/12/20
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Introduction

Students deserve a schooling option that can be more individualized for their needs, and

not at a higher cost. This is where charter schools come in. The debate has gone on for countless

years as to whether or not charter schools should be publicly funded, if they are a good

investment, if they’re “better” than traditional public schools, if they’re taking away from public

schools and the list goes on. However, though there are small issues with charter schools,

overall, the positives far outweigh the negatives. These special schools are funded by the

government so they are available to students at no extra cost and can create a learning

environment that works best for them. Though there are many promising aspects of charters, they

cannot replace the public education system, they are merely a second option for a student’s

education that must be made more available. Charter schools have been proven to help inner-city

students being punished by a failing public school system. Increased autonomy, public funding,

and performance contracts are all aspects of how these schools can help struggling students.

What are charter schools?

According to the Florida Department of Education, “Charter schools are public schools

that operate under a performance contract, or a ‘charter’” (Solodev, 2020). The charter in

question frees these schools from the control of the school district and allows them to have

nearly complete autonomy. This increased autonomy means that these schools create their own

curriculum and make decisions for their school that the district it resides in cannot control. These

schools are held accountable through their performance contract. If a certain charter school isn’t

meeting the student benchmarks laid out for them in their charters, then the school board

directors it falls under will close the school. (Langhorne, 2020). According to the Florida
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Department of Education, these schools must be made nonsectarian and cannot discriminate

against any students looking to attend. Furthermore, charters must be organized by or operate

under a non-profit organization. This is so that education does not become a for-profit business

opportunity, this way the student’s education comes before profits. Though some charters do

receive private funding, most of them receive their funding publicly through the government.

Charters schools are given funds through the Florida Education Finance Program, which is the

same entity traditional public schools fall under. In addition to this, public schools cannot charge

tuition or fees to their students, must maintain an operating budget, and report to the school

district monthly with expense reports. So, not only are charter schools held academically

responsible for their students, but they are also held financially responsible. In simpler terms, a

charter school is a private curriculum with public funding and students.

How are charter schools funded?

Charter schools’ main source of funding comes from the government, more specifically,

the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP). The FEFP is the section of the Florida DOE that

funds public schools, charter schools, and magnet schools. Both public and charter schools get

their finances on a per-pupil basis. However, on average, charter schools only get about 61% of

the funding public schools get; for every student, traditional public schools get $10,771 whereas

charters only receive about $6,585 (The Center for Education Reform, 2019). Charter schools are

open to other forms of government funding as well as the potential for capital outlay. This is the

money that a school can get for the facilities it requires, this takes into account each school’s

enrollment of students in elementary, middle, and high school. There are also competitive grants

given by the government a school can apply for being a planning and implementation grant and
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dissemination grant (Solodev, 2020). The goal of the planning and implementation grant is to

provide charter schools with the funding needed for planning, program design, and initial

implementation. Charter schools can apply for the dissemination grant if they have progressed in

improving student achievement, high levels of parent satisfaction, low student withdrawal rates,

and patterns of increasing enrollment, additional criteria for the grant is the school must have

been operating for over three years and not previously received a dissemination grant. Though

charter schools receive their funding through the FEFP and potentially additional grants, they can

also receive some private funding but according to the web page on FAQ about charter schools

on the Florida DOE they must be operated by non-profit organizations and entities (Solodev,

2020). To ensure that charter schools are reaching the same standard public schools are held to,

students are still required to take state exams, the cost of this endeavor is also covered by

government funding as the school district is still required to provide charters with certain

services. These include but are not limited to; information services, meaning these schools have

the same access to a student’s information as a public school would, contract management

services, and as stated above, state exams.

Do they outperform?

The short answer is yes, and no. Charter schools cannot be the only source of education,

same with public education, as different students perform better in different environments. For

example, an article was written by CBS News states, “Charter schools benefit students from poor

families, black students, and Hispanic English-language learners more than their peers in other

groups”. It is evident that regardless of your race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, and

other traits, each student is different with their own unique set of needs. Students from low-
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income families tend to perform better in charter schools because they offer more services like

intensive tutoring with smaller groups of students, innovative teaching techniques, and more

individual-focused goals and expectations for students. In the same article by CBS News it also

states “The average charter school student showed reading gains equivalent to those that would

be expected from an extra eight days of school compared to traditional school students, the study

said. Math gains were about equal among the two groups.” This is evidence that students do tend

to perform higher in these charter schools than in traditional public schooling. Test scores are

evidently higher in charter schools than in public schools. Another example of this would be

looking at figure 1, a graph taken from a study by the University of Arkansas that represents the

data they collected. Looking at the graph one can see that scores in both reading and math are

several points higher than students enrolled in public education. However, this data only includes

data from eight metropolitan areas rather than the national averages, so this fails to include all

students throughout America. What this means is that even though students are outperforming in

these areas does not mean charter schools are the best choice for every area, they are only an

option that should be made available. Looking at figure 2, a graph taken from the same

University of Arkansas study one can observe the additional ROI rates, return-on-investment,

public charter schools observed compared to the traditional public schools within the eight cities

studied. This shows that in inner cities the students wield much higher results from the public

charter schools, in this study, there isn’t an exact cause for this occurrence, but it is concluded to

be due to an autonomous school, individualized curriculum, and greater accountability. For this

reason, the main explanation of the study is that charter schools have more “bang for the buck”

in terms of the amount of funding and student outcomes. Overall, charter schools do outperform

in urban areas and inner cities, but there is no evidence that they will wield the same results in
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other suburban or rural areas, which is another reason public and charter schools must be

available for students, not just one or the other.

Why do charter schools outperform in this area?

There aren’t one clear reason why inner-city charters outperform inner-city public

schools but there is speculation for what causes these trends. The number one reason is school

choice and school autonomy. State governments set benchmarks that every school district and

students must meet, however, a student’s education should not be controlled by a politician or

someone elected into a school board’s position of power. Education is always evolving, and

every student has their own set of needs that the state government should not control. For

example, the students of New York City will have drastically different needs than the students of

suburban upstate New York. However, because of the state government's standards, both public

schools are run by using the same curriculum, same teaching methodologies, and the same

teachers. The autonomy that charter schools possess helps the teachers give the students the

resources they really need and present it in a way the students will respond to. Another expected

reason for the change in numbers is that students are not trapped by their ZIP codes to go to a

public school they don’t want to go to. School choice allows the students to pick a school they

want to go to and will actively participate in. If a student is willing to go and excited to attend a

school, they will perform better there than anywhere else they could’ve gone. Lastly, another

reason it is expected that these charter schools are outperforming is that they are held

accountable for their test scores and student achievement. School board directors almost never

shut down failing public schools because it is seen as political suicide, no matter how poorly a

public school may be performing, the closing will almost always result in public outcry,
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(Langhorne, 2020). On the contrary, if a charter school is underperforming the district will

almost always close it down. If a charter school were to get shut down, all public funds go back

to the district. There is greater accountability for charter schools which causes the schools to care

that much more about student success. However, one negative charter schools face is the lottery

system for student enrollment. Looking at figure 3, a political comic shaming the lottery system,

a depiction is made of how random the student selection process is. If a student does not receive

a spot in the charter school of their choice, they either have to look at a different charter school

or return to public education, which may be a bad fit for the student. There are issues that charter

schools face but ultimately, there is evidence of greater student success and higher ROI.

Conclusion

These schools will create equal opportunity for inner-city children and level the playing

field for students of all backgrounds and socio-economic backgrounds. These schools should be

greater advertised as an option for students and make sure parents are aware of the option.

Increased autonomy should be implemented in all schools which will overall help the students.

Charter schools will help bridge the gap of students in inner cities and create an individualized

curriculum that will truly help the struggling students of America see success rather than make

them meet state requirements. In these schools, they are still held academically accountable but

have a greater opportunity for a different teaching approach. Overall, charter schools should not

be seen as an alternative to a public-school system, merely a second option.

Appendix

(Figure 1)

(2019, April). A Good Investment: The Updated Productivity of Public Charter Schools in Eight

U.S. Cities [Review of A Good Investment: The Updated Productivity of Public Charter

Schools in Eight U.S. Cities]. Uaedreform.org; University of Arkansas.

http://www.uaedreform.org/wp-content/uploads/a-good-investment-public-charter-

schools-in-8-us-cities.pdf

(Figure 2)
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(2019, April). A Good Investment: The Updated Productivity of Public Charter Schools in Eight

U.S. Cities [Review of A Good Investment: The Updated Productivity of Public Charter

Schools in Eight U.S. Cities]. Uaedreform.org; University of Arkansas.

http://www.uaedreform.org/wp-content/uploads/a-good-investment-public-charter-

schools-in-8-us-cities.pdf

(Figure 3)

You are being redirected... (n.d.). Www.Cartoonistgroup.com. Retrieved November 12, 2020,

from https://www.cartoonistgroup.com/cartoon/Signe+Wilkinson

%27s+Editorial+Cartoons/2010-09-28/52553
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References

Solodev. (2020, October 16). Frequently Asked Questions. Www.Fldoe.org.

http://www.fldoe.org/schools/school-choice/charter-schools/charter-school-faqs.stml

AP. (2013, June 25). Minority and poor students gain from charter schools, study shows.

Cbsnews.com. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/minority-and-poor-students-gain-from-

charter-schools-study-shows/

(2019). The Center for Education Reform. https://edreform.com/2011/09/how-are-charter-

schools-funded/

(2019, April). A Good Investment: The Updated Productivity of Public Charter Schools in Eight

U.S. Cities [Review of A Good Investment: The Updated Productivity of Public Charter

Schools in Eight U.S. Cities]. Uaedreform.org; University of Arkansas.

http://www.uaedreform.org/wp-content/uploads/a-good-investment-public-charter-

schools-in-8-us-cities.pdf

Langhorne, E. (n.d.). Five Reasons Why Independent Charters Outperform In-District

Autonomous Schools. Forbes. Retrieved November 12, 2020, from

https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilylanghorne/2018/08/23/five-reasons-why-independent-

charters-outperform-in-district-autonomous-schools/?sh=a6af63759dae