Charter schools were introduced to Indiana in legislation passed by the 2001 General Assembly. Charter schools, in theory, are schools that promote performance in return for freedom from the state mandated laws that govern public schools. Charter schools provide a choice of educational programs while staying separate from private self-interests that tend to segregate children of the community. The downfall of these charter schools is the financial aspect. Yes, parents have more of a choice in their children's education, but their choice may or may not be supported by public school funds. However the charter schools are funded, will have a direct impact on monies that public schools would normally use to support or promote their own curriculum. Therefore, in my opinion, one of the biggest changes in society (related directly to education) during my lifetime is the introduction of charter schools.
Until the early 1990's, the debate over charter schools was not discussed in much detail. However, the debate became more popular into the mid-1990's and by the end of the decade, two-thirds of the states had legislated some provision allowing the establishment of charter schools. Now, any religious organization, institution, or group of parents can easily obtain a charter that will enable them to incorporate or operate as a private school. These private schools, or charter schools, were to act as private entities within their respective states. Through ongoing legislation, the charter school has taken on more specific criteria in the last few years. Under the Clinton Administration, the definition of charter schools had been extended to a form of public nonsectarian school requiring diversity of a racial, economical, and social mixture of students.
One of the biggest controversies pertaining to charter schools is that these charter schools, under federal legislation, are exempted from state and local regulations, yet they operate under general public supervision and direction, and are also free of tuition and fees. It has been made clear under the federal legislation that the charter school is a school operating under public control. It is not a private school defined as public. The state law governing charter schools can vary widely by state. It may go from the sincere attempt to improve public schools by providing parental choice and involvement in the educational process, to the far extreme where religious groups try to capture public funds for their own religious schools.
What impact will this have on public school curriculum? In my opinion, one of the biggest impacts is directly related to the financing of these charter schools. If they are going to be funded by the states, as are public schools, then that is money that public schools will be “losing” out on. For example, if a school district loses one student to a charter school, that public school just lost on the average $6,000. The charter school gains this money for the student under the legislation. This loss of money per student is money that could be spent on materials to enhance curriculum and learning in the public school. The amount of $6,000 for one student may sound trivial. However, multiply that by 10 students, and now the district has just lost $60,00, and that is just 10 students for any given district. You can see how funding of charter schools, under the current legislation could have a negative financial impact on public school curriculum.
Finally, the states, particularly Indiana, could develop a new financial plan for charter school legislation that does not harm public schools, but also provides additional money needed to finance charter schools at an appropriate level. By developing such a plan, both the public schools and charter schools would benefit from adequate funding, and the curriculum programs would not suffer for either entity.
