Charter Schools: Public Education With a Twist

They’re not private schools. They’re not public catchment schools. Charter schools are somewhere in between.

Since charter schools receive funding from the School District of Philadelphia, they are technically public schools. But they’re operated by individual charter boards, not by the School District, so they’re nimble enough to implement unusual educational models to serve their students. That freedom makes them similar to private schools.

The independence and flexibility means that parents and even students have more opportunities to influence the way the school is run, according to Deborah Valentine. Valentine is a PhD candidate in childhood studies at Rutgers Camden, a veteran teacher, and the mother of a third grader and an eighth grader at Wissahickon Charter School.

Valentine said Wissahickon Charter has made commitments to smaller class sizes, a specialized disciplinary system, and a focus on environmental stewardship. Khepera Charter School in Mt. Airy draws from cultural traditions rooted in Africa. Independence Charter School in Center City is well known for its Spanish immersion program, and for an interdisciplinary teaching style that connects related fields of study such as music and math. There are dozens of other charter schools in the city.

“One of the challenges with charter schools is that they can be very uneven in terms of quality,” Valentine said.

She recommends that parents look at test scores, even though Valentine herself is “not a big proponent of evaluating things based on test scores.”  Another good way to measure a school’s academic success rate is to look at where graduates of K-8 charter schools go to high school. If they’re getting into magnet schools like Central or Masterman, that’s a good sign.

Valentine also recommends that parents consider factors like class size, who’s on the board of directors, what kind of professional development opportunities the teachers have, and how receptive the school is to parent involvement.

“If they’re hesitant to let parents in, that would concern me,” she said.

Applying for admission at charter schools is one off the big stressors for parents in Northwest Philadelphia. Although charter schools are supposed to admit students through a straightforward lottery, Valentine said, “every charter school is strategic about how they do their lottery in ways that influence who they get.”

For example, Green Woods Charter School only makes its applications available to parents who come to their open houses, and families must hand-deliver completed applications, according to the school'swebsite. This logically limits their applicants to those families who find out about the open houses and can arrange to be there on the appointed evening. Most charter schools offer spots to the siblings of children already enrolled in the school, and many also admit children whose parents work at the school or serve on the board of directors.

Charter schools have been criticized for drawing resources (money, innovative teachers, involved parents) from the public school system. But some people feel that charter schools have a positive impact on more traditional schools. The Center for Education Reform cites instances when experimental practices in charter schools have been adopted by entire school districts, benefiting kids in the entire public school system. 

Another common criticism of the charter school system is that charter school teachers often lack union representation. Although the Public School Notebook has reported that a handful of charter schools in Philadelphia are unionized, the vast majority are not. Valentine said many charter school compensate for the lack of union representation by offering more support to their teachers and paying attention to quality of life issues.  

Application procedures are available on the websites of specific schools, and open houses are usually held in the late spring and early fall. If your child needs something out of the ordinary, you might just find that a charter school is the answer.