Charter schools being targeted by lawmakers, but how can they fight back?

Recent research from Harvard and others show that charter schools are doing a better job improving the achievement and meeting the needs of students compared to regular public schools. Despite the success of charter schools, lawmakers have crafted state laws that handicap both the establishment of charters and their operation. These laws range from capping the number of charter schools to funding them at lower levels than regular public schools to giving local school boards open ended opportunities to stop charters from opening or continuing operation. To combat these attacks, charter schools will have to become more proactive in their own defense. In addition to reforming deficient charter school laws and mobilizing their grassroots supporters, charter schools are starting to use the court system aggressively to vindicate their rights.

Lars discussed this with Lance Izumi, an education policy expert at the Pacific Research Institute and co-author of the new book “A Kite in a Hurricane No More: The Journey of One Young Woman Who Overcame Learning Disabilities through Science and Educational Choice”.

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