Charter schools willing to be held accountable to higher standards
When charter school operators accept the challenge of opening a new school, they do so knowing that every five years they must demonstrate high levels of student progress in order to keep their doors open. The renewal process – the process that all charter schools go through every five years, during which they are required to show their authorizing entity how they have met the performance benchmarks outlined in their charter documents – is a hallmark of the charter school movement. It shows how charter schools embrace the fundamental charter school proposition: higher levels of accountability than are found in other public schools in exchange for higher levels of autonomy and flexibility.
The charter school movement in California is experiencing a period of positive momentum, with unprecedented numbers of new schools opening, promising trends in overall academic performance, and an impressive increase in the awareness of and support for charters from