It is almost easier to say what charter schools are not than to say what they are. Charter schools are not subject to some, most, or all state educational regulations; charters are not traditional schools; charters offer parents another choice among schools.
Ted Kolderie, "a national charter expert," describes charter schools as, "the research and development section of public education....(Charter schools) are an experiment to see what people can do when given the opportunity to create a new public school (Steven Carter, "Arizona offers lesson plan for charter schools," The Oregonian, 2/1/99)."
The word "innovation" is frequently used in The Oregonian to describe charter school methods by proponents of this latest variety of alternative schools (David Reinhard,1/17/99; Lynn Snodgrass, "The push to bring charter schools to Oregon," 3/1/99). Charter school students are children "who don't fit into traditional schools," or who want a more specialized curriculum than is available in some public schools.
To be sure, the curriculum in Oregon schools has shrunk drastically since the passage of Measure 5 in 1990. Courses in history, literature, economics, business, psychology, art, music, drama, vocational skills, etc. have been eliminated or cut back. The loss of librarians, who taught skills for independently accessing information, has reduced the ability of students to obtain broader views of subjects than those presented in their classrooms. The lack of school counselors may be a factor in some of the cases of students who "don't fit into traditional schools."
Given adequate funding, locally-elected school boards are empowered to adopt reforms and innovate in response to parents and teachers and others who are dissatisfied with established policies. Solving specific local problems does not require the expense of setting up a parallel state-sanctioned school system, requiring new facilities, redundant administrative and logistical operations, and possibly a separate bureaucracy just to monitor the new system. Currently existing "alternative" schools and summer school programs show the present system is flexible and can respond to local demands for greater diversity of courses and services.
Proponents of charter schools say they need freedom from state educational regulations. However, before resorting to the inefficiencies involved with charter schools, we must take a careful look at which specific regulations are being objected to. Perhaps these rules need to be changed for all schools.
On the other hand, are charter supporters' objections to state regulations, in actuality, objections to the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century? There have been criticisms of the 1991 school- reform law, which is only now being partially implemented with the CIM (Certificate of Initial Mastery) testing. If resistence to the 21st Century school reforms is a significant factor in the charter school issue, it needs to be revealed now.
Some charter school advocates who now want more innovation were only a short time ago supporting a "return to basics". Likewise, critics of traditional schools have called for more accountability in the public education system - and in response, the state tightened standards with the 21st Century reforms. Apparently some of these same regulations are now to be bypassed through a charter schools law.
The various goals of public school critics appear to be heading in conflicting directions. Reforms which are underway in Oregon schools have not yet been given time to take effect. Adoption of fashionable charter schools legislation is at least premature.