| Parent News for September-October2000 Feature What Parents Should Know about Charter Schools by Saran Donahoo In recent years, many parents, educators, students, researchers, and observers have reached the same conclusion: Traditional schools do not work for all students. As a result, several educational alternatives have been developed in an attempt to better meet the needs of those students who are not being adequately served by traditional schools. This article is the first in a series developed to provide parents with more information on some nontraditional education alternatives. One alternative that is now available in many states is the charter school. Although the number of charter schools has grown in the last few years, it still is sometimes unclear what they have to offer students, parents, and educators that more traditional school systems do not already provide. The following article and list of additional resources are intended to increase parentsÂ’ understanding of what charter schools are, where they came from, and how they are trying to reform public education. Regardless of how they are defined, almost all charter schools operate on three basic principles: | |
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