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The State Of Charter Schools

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To understand the state of charter schools today, it is important to know how a charter school was envisioned to be. Tell explains that charter schools, by nature, should be more accurately described as “contract” schools. These schools are contractually obligated to serve the interest of the general public by providing education opportunities using the funds provided from taxes. Traditionally, charter schools are defined as “tuition-free, publicly funded, performance-based, non-sectarian, public schools of choice open to all.”[1] These schools are considered autonomous because they are exempt from most, if not all, local and state rules and regulations regarding education. The reduction of applicable laws pertaining to these schools are supposed to liberate them from the supposedly strict regulations that bog down the education system that prevent teachers from what they were actually hired to do: to teach. Although novel in concept, this idea has been difficult to implement in reality. To better understand the state of charter schools today, it is important to understand its history. The first charter school law of the United States began in Minnesota in 1991 and has since then spread throughout the United States to 43 states, and Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. These schools today compromise of approximately 6% of public schools, and enroll 2.5 million students annually.[2] Charter schools open annually throughout these states, but more interestingly, many close as

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