SACRAMENTO, CA - The 17th annual California Charter Schools Conference opened in Sacramento Tuesday as charter schools are seeing significant growth in California.
"There's a huge momentum in charter schools right now", said Jed Wallace, President and CEO of the CSSA. "The key thing is we're generating higher levels of student achievement."
According to Wallace, nearly 20 percent of charter schools statewide are scoring in the top 10 of all public schools in California, and last year charter schools in the state grew to 809with some 341,000 students attending.
Charter school proponents say the schools offer choice while meeting the demand for education options. The Obama administration is promising to significantly expand the flow of federal aid to charter schools as part of his school reform plan.
Charter schools are public schools funded by the state, but unlike traditional schools they are freed from many regulations in exchange for accountability set forth in each schools charter. Many charter schools are not unionized.
"We have a lot of flexibility in the way we operate our programs," said Casey Taylor, Principal of a K-8 charter school in Paradise, CA. She said teachers in core subjects are fully credentialed, but non-core subjects such as art, music, and foreign language can be taught through independent contractors, which she calls more affordable.
Opponents of charter schools claim they have hijacked the education system and could eventually lead to the death of the public education system by drawing off public funds and good students.
The Charter Schools Association Convention wraps up Thursday at the Sacramento Convention Center with Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and Dr. Don Shalvey of the Gates Foundation as speakers.