Advantages and Disadvantages of Charter Schools
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Advantages and Disadvantages of Charter Schools
Ever since their introduction in 1974, charter schools have been a controversial form of primary or secondary education in the USA (Weiler & Vogel, 2015). With over 6,800 institutions in the USA as of 2016, this type of educational institutions, which provide education to over 3 million students, cannot be ignored (Arsen & Ni, 2012). While some researchers, educators, politicians and activists claim that such type of education provides a more individual approach, others claim that they are highly selective among the candidates and thus, charter schools make high-quality education less accessible (Ruble & Harris, 2014).
The structure of charter schools allow their management to shape a vision, under which the educational programs of the school are created. Thus, the parents may choose the most suitable approach with a chosen emphasis, such as, enhanced studying of arts, or application-oriented sciences, which is certainly an advantage in case of some children and adolescents (Arsen & Ni, 2012). Nevertheless, the charter school system has several disadvantages, such as curbing of interests among the students, selective screening process and excessive fundraising (Ruble & Harris, 2014). Thus, charter schools may be applicable as an additional educational option, rather than a substitute for public schools.
Charter Schools: Definition and Differences from a Public School
Charter schools, or “schools of choice” were stablished as an alternative to public schools in the mid 1970-s (Doncel, Sainz, & Sanz, 2012). The idea behind charter schools was to create an educational institution, which is less bureaucratic than a public school, and thus has more freedom in creating one’s educational program (Arsen &Ni, 2012). In order to receive a chapter, the administration is to conclude a contract, which has to state the school’s mission, educational program, the main objectives and a method for assessing achievements (Doncel, Sainz & Sanz, 2012). The administration of the charter is responsible for developing an effective educational plan, which is suitable for achieving the goals of the charter, which may be different from an education in a public school in the duration of studies, learning techniques, or types of assessments (Schwenkenberg & VanderHoff, 2014). However, although the goals of the school are determined by the chapter, the students are still obliged to undergo the state-determined examination.
Originally, charter schools were meant to be completely independent of the governmental and state funding, and were aimed to be profitable and growth-oriented enterprises. However, in reality, charter schools are partially funded by the government on the per-pupil basis (Arsen & Ni, 2012). The amount of funding is determined by the state legislature, and varies largely throughout the country, but usually public schools receive more funding from the government, while charter schools rely more on their sponsors (Arsen & Ni, 2012). Consequently, charter schools have much more freedom in their educational policies, but cannot be called completely autonomous (Doncel, Sainz & Sanz, 2012).
Advantages of Charter Schools
The main idea behind creating charter schools, was to provide families …
