What Makes Charter Schools Work? Part 1

Charter schools are each very different, and should be. They are designed to meet the needs of their communities.

Charter school laws are just as different. Some of them work well, and others do not. With 40 laws and nearly 20 years of experience to look to for advice, we can create the best possible charter school law for Kentucky's children.

What should it look like? There are 7 key components that are critical to the success of charter schools in Kentucky. Let's discuss the first one now.

1) We need to allow both conversions and start-ups.

Conversions are just what they seem to be: existing schools, usually failing to adequately serve their students' needs, are converted to charter schools in order to better meet the needs of the student body.

Start-ups are charter schools that present their ideas to one of the state's authorizing organizations and, upon approval of a charter contract, are allowed to open. Start-up charters are often started by groups of educators, parents, and community members. No students are ever forced to attend these schools, but students and parents may elect to attend them if they choose.

Nationally, about 90% of charter schools are start-ups. These include some of the best schools in the nation, like the KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) Schools.