April 1998 Charter Schools: How Policy Can Help Ensure Reform
Charter school advocates see vast potential in this emerging public-school experiment. Among the claims made for charter schools is that they will stimulate change in existing schools, becoming a catalyst to school reform. Other observers go further: They expect charter schools to spark a total reorganization of schools, leading to an overhaul of the system. Still others view charter schools as an avenue to educational equity, both for individuals and groups.
If charter schools are to fulfill one or more of these visions, education policymakers must lay the right groundwork, argues a policy paper from the Northwest Laboratory. The paper, Choice Matters: Policy Alternatives and Implications for Charter Schools, examines the assumptions and values underlying each of these visions. It then discusses the implications for education policy, answering the question, What must policymakers do to ensure that charter schools work as their founders and supporters intend?
Take systemwide change as an example. Those who hold this vision argue that charter schools, by offering an attractive alternative to the status quo, will bring needed competition to the neighborhood school. Faced with the threat of losing students to charter schools, educators will be forced to innovate. Schools will revamp their programs, probably dismantling their organization and governance structures in the process.
"The basic assumption held by advocates of systemwide change," writes author Brett Lane, "is that a majority of parents and students will actively choose the school that best fits their requirements and, in doing so, force traditional public schools to change."
This assumption-that all or most families can or will make an active choice of schools-is not borne out in the research, Lane reports. Simply having a choice of schools does not ensure that parents will act upon that choice, studies have found. In fact, charter schools (and other school choice options) can widen the gap between rich and poor, minority and nonminority, unless policymakers take steps to ensure that all families can exercise their option to choose.
"Charter school policy should aim to guarantee that all parents and students-especially those in poor-performing schools-have the equal ability (knowledge, education, understanding, and so on) to choose," Lane writes.
Besides making sure all families can choose a school, policymakers need to write laws and regulations that allow and encourage the start-up of large numbers of charter schools offering a wide range of educational options. Existing schools, too, should be given the latitude to make changes in how they operate and what they offer to students. Finally, policymakers need to ensure that charter schools live up to their promises of improved student performance and that they clearly demonstrate their effectiveness.
"Accountability," Lane emphasizes, "is the defining element of charter schools and the key to any type of education reform or systemwide change."
To order a copy of the paper, Choice Matters: Policy Alternatives and Implications for Charter Schools, please go to the Order Form.
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