Charter School vs Public School

I used to teach in a charter school. One of the things you are going to want to check out are the "extras" - school psychologist, reading/math specialists, TAG team, ESL, special education teachers/specialists/resources. Those things are not required, so if the charter school is in its early years, or experiencing some financial difficulty you may find less than adequate resources in those areas. When I taught in the charter school, we did not have ANY of the resources I listed...it was super tough. Especially in an elementary school, as the younger years are when you start to realize that the child may need some "extras".

The charter school has to abide by the state public school laws - minimum number of hours/day, minimum days/year, standardized tests. The biggest difference is that the charter school is run by a board of directors rather than the city/town board of education. There are pros and cons to that.

Just do your homework, talk to some parents of kids who are already in the school. Talk to the principal/director about budgets and programs.

There was a study released this week about our local charter schools -vs- public schools and their performance. The charter schools did not do any better on standardized tests than the public schools did. Some of the schools were actually worse.

Go visit the schools and gather your information. Make a pro/con list of each and compare the results. Brenna M. is right, be sure that your charter school is accredited and make sure all of the teachers are current in their certification.

Not an easy decision to make in your situation- it's smart of you to get started on your research! Good luck!

Typically Charter school are run by a business or a private entity. They can still be a public school and, if so, are subject to the same testing and reporting of the public school system. However, there can be some HUGE differences.

Charter schools are generally not union, so the teachers are usually employed, paid and retained based on a merit system rather than a seniority and tenure system. (I come from a business background so this is VERY appealing to me.... however to most teachers and anyone else who is pro-union this can be appalling and the subject of heated passionate debate).

Charter schools do not have to operate on the public school calendar or schedule - for example in Chicago where the CPS public elementary school day is 5 hours and 45 minutes - the charter schools here generally have a longer school day (usually around 6 1/2 or 7 hours).

Charter schools receive private funding IN ADDITION to the money they receive from the public school system, so they will *usually* have an expanded curiculum - to Michelle's point below.

Definitely go see the Charter school and get a feel for how you think it is run.
Make sure it is accredited!

Who did the principal get the award from? Make sure she got it from a reputable agency and it's not just a made-up award.

Good Luck.

Just curious if you could elaborate as to "why" you would seek a charter school for a 5 yo. Are you in a sub-par public school district?

I don't know if this is the case in your area, but my assumptions about charters are that they are more priveledged, that the parents of the students care more. in talking ot a friend, it seems like many people who don't like traditional authority think that their kids would do better in a charter school and aren't involved at all but like someone else mentioned there is less support like special ed, gifted etc etc so these kids come in and then sink.
Personally i would make a list of what i wanted to see in a classroom, small class size, qualified enthusistic teachers, extercurriculur programs, any before or after school care you might need, if parents are welcome in the classroom, what support is provided for your child or his classmate that has a learning or behavior disorder, BUSING how long would your 5 yo have to ride the bus to get to school??? a ten minute drive for you could be a 45 minute ride for him.

Basically, a charter school is a public school with some kind of special curriculum. My kids have attended a public charter elementary bilingual immersion program and a public charter middle school that has a specialty in the arts and an emphasis on the implicit curriculum - in other words, how things are taught, not just what is taught (project based learning that integrates various subjects into projects).

There is no substitute for visiting the schools and seeing which you think would work better for your son and you as a family. They vary so much (for instance: school size, class size, demographics, etc.).

Charter schools also typically have more control over how the money is spent at their school.