Abstract: Charter schools are publicly-funded entities that enjoy freedom from many of the regulations under which traditional public schools operate. There are, however, state and local variations in charter legislation and implementation. The Charter School Landscape offers a discussion and comparison of charter school politics, policies, and significant issues in eleven key U.S. states and the Canadian province of Alberta. The first charter school opened in Minnesota in 1992. Within nine years, there were more than 2,000 charter schools in operation across thirty-four states, Washington, D.C., and Alberta, Canada. Public discourse on charter school reform is often passionate and politically motivated. Sandra Vergari has assembled a group of experts to present a more reflective and scholarly discussion of the reform, its performance to date, and implications for public policy. Each of the twelve chapters focuses on a single state or province, and systematically address such issues as charter school laws, the politics of policy implementation, charter school accountability, controversies and trends, and prospects for the future. In addition, each chapter emphasizes significant issues specific to that state which offer lessons for analysts and policymakers everywhere. As a whole, The Charter School Landscape suggests that the reform is having a significant impact on the institution of public education and how we think about the concept of the real public school.
Publication Year: 2002
Publication Date: 2002-01-01
Language: en
Type: book
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 36
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot