Charter Schools and Public Schools in Texas

Across the United States (U.S.), education is at the forefront of reform and reinvention. A popular form of reinvention is publically-controlled charter schools (Funkhouser, 2000). In Texas, the charter school option allows students to receive the state mandated education without the bureaucracy, hierarchy, and authoritative rule of the traditional public school (Cowen, 2008). Entities can start a charter school for varying reasons, which makes each school unique. Independent school districts, entrepreneurs, community groups, and educational organizations can all apply for and receive a charter (Cowen, 2008). Three to five years is usually the length of time a charter is granted and then the applying entity must reapply (Funkhouser, 2000). The reasons for applying and receiving a charter vary from one school to another, even if the same entity is starting multiple charter schools (Cowen, 2008). The students who attend charter schools vary as well. The motivating factor for starting a charter school is the idea for a new way, or innovation, in teaching and curriculum, classroom organization, and methodology of teaching students (Cowen, 2008). Accountability is a considerable aspect of charter schools. While public schools are held to high standards based on state requirements and testing, charter schools are given a much looser accountability procedure at the state level. The individual and specific contact with the charter school will detail the accountability expected, so that each school is unique in the accountability reporting and procedures (Funkhouser, 2000). Charter schools are still held to the same laws and regulations regarding health, safety, and nondiscrimination practices. The most important thing to remember about charter schools is that no one is forced to attend, unlike compulsory attendance in public schools (Funkhouser, 2000). While it may seem that charter schools are less structured, which could lead to a less than favorable learning environment where the students might not be learning what they should, the opposite of this appears to be happening. Charter schools do not receive the same types of funding as public schools. They do receive the money that the state would have spent on the student at the public school, but they cannot tax or take out loans. This means that they have to account to the parents. If the parents are not happy with the charter school, they will take their child to the public school that is available to them, thereby taking funding away from the charter school (Gronberg, Jansen, Taylor, 2012). Not only do parents choose to send their children to charter schools, students choose to continue attending the school, as opposed to the public school that they can attend that is filled with children with whom they have grown up. Deciding to continue to attend a charter school that is probably farther away from their home and has much more demanding expectations and disciplinary actions, is a choice. The reasons that the students continue to attend charter schools is an indicator of the success of these schools (Successful Charter Schools, 2011). Problem Although charter schools in Texas have been in existence for eighteen years, there is not a plethora of studies available to determine if charter schools are better than public schools at providing education for all students. Accountability and reporting vary, depending on the type of charter and the entity that has the charter, which makes data collection difficult. Parents and students cannot make a well-informed decision easily about whether or not a charter school would be a better option than a public school. Some charter schools that have a larger student population have a high rate of success. They may have published their own literature about their schools and they may advertise for students. Many charter schools cannot afford to do that and rely on word of mouth to get students into their schools. …