What are "charter school"?

Question

What are "charter school"?

Answer 1

A charter school is one that is set up by a charitable organization, or a philanthropist, with its own rules for admission, conduct, and performance.  Most (or maybe all?) charter schools are open to the public, provided the applicant meets the criteria specified by the charter, in terms of passing the entrance examination, and any other requirements, such as family income or social situation (orphaned?).

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has two charter schools that I know of, Penn Charter, and Girard College.  Both are high schools.

Answer 2

Charter schools in our area are funded by the government, like public schools. They receive less funding per student than other public schools, so may not offer as much. Outside companies can help support the school.  There is no tuition cost for students to attend a charter school.  The schools usually go by the same calendar as the public school, but do not follow all the same regulations as public school.

There are elementary and high school charter schools.  The class size is usually small with only one or two classes per grade. Teachers in a charter school may or may not be certified.  Parents often volunteer in the classrooms, as not as  much money is given to a charter school to hire personnel.

The charter school movement was begun by parents and teachers seeking an alternative to public school, but not private or Christian school.

When it first began the charter schools had waiting lists and students were randomly chosen with  students who had siblings at the school getting first spots.

You can read more about it here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_sch...