Are Charter Schools Public Schools?
Charter school advocates have always desperately sought to convince themselves and the public that privately-run nonprofit and for-profit charter schools that operate like businesses are actually public and similar in many ways to public schools.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. Charter schools are not public schools.
In reality, privately-operated nonprofit and for-profit charter schools differ in many profound ways from public schools that have been educating 90 percent of America’s youth for more than a century.
Below is an abbreviated list of the many ways in which privately-operated nonprofit and for-profit charter schools differ significantly from public schools.
- Charter schools are exempt from dozens, even hundreds, of state and local laws, rules, regulations, policies, and agreements that apply to all public schools.
- At least 90% of charter schools have no teacher unions—the opposite of public schools.
- Some charter school owners-operators openly and publicly insist that charter schools are private entities.
- Unlike public schools, charter schools are not governed by a publicly elected school board, but by a self-selecting, corporate-style board of CONTINUE READING: Are Charter Schools Public Schools? | Dissident Voice
