Charter School Resource Center
Charter schools account for five percent of the nation’s public schools with a small but growing enrollment. There are about 5,600 charter schools nationwide enrolling approximately 2 million students. As of November 2012, 42 states and the District of Columbia have charter school laws. Washington is the latest state that passed a charter law, which voted narrowly approved on November 6.
As more state legislatures consider creating charter schools, expanding or improving existing ones, NSBA’s charter school initiative aims at providing a comprehensive online resource for school board members with two primary goals: 1) provide useful information for state associations and school board members to address charter school legislation and policy in their states; and 2) showcase school board leadership in public accountability and stewardship over taxpayers’ funds in charter school oversight.
You can find useful resources below including definitions of charter terms, NSBA’s advocacy message, research, state policy and news articles. Please contact Katherine Shek, legislative analyst for any questions: kshek@nsba.org.
Charter School Toolkit for School Board Members
Whether you are an authorizer or not, this toolkit looks at some of the issues school boards should consider when a charter school is coming to the community.
Looking for more information? See what’s Inside Charter School Resource Center
on the right.