What is a charter school, anyway?

Frederick News Post: What is a charter school, anyway?

As one of the founding families who is starting the Frederick Classical Charter School, I am asked one question more than any other: "What is a charter school?" Since what a charter school is confuses some parents and even an occasional teacher, I thought I'd offer a quick explanation. Indeed, my experience has been that once people know what a charter school is, not only do they support the concept, but their next question is "Why aren't there more charter schools?"

Simply put, a charter school is a public school. It is not religious and does not screen applicants in any way. It does not cost taxpayers more money or drain resources from the regular public schools. (Indeed, charters in Frederick receive $10,500 in cash and in-kind services from Frederick County Public Schools, compared with $12,500 that regular public schools get.)

Charters are free, public schools that any parents in the county can choose to send their child to. Any FCPS employees who choose to work at a charter school maintain their current salary, benefits, pension, labor representation, and every other aspect of their current employment contract. Teachers can move back and forth between a regular public school and a charter school with no change because doing so is merely a lateral transfer done under the larger FCPS umbrella.

Charter schools are allowed to offer innovative programs that aren't currently available in the regular public schools. There are many different kinds of charter schools, ranging from progressive to traditional, math- and science-focused to arts-focused, to schools featuring Junior ROTC or peace studies. The promise of charter schools is that if enough different charter schools are started within a district such as ours, parents will be able to choose one that fits their children's unique interests and needs...

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