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Charter school students surpass traditional public school students on state test

redefinED staff
redefinED staff

Doral Academy Charter School in Miami consistently ranks among the top charter schools in Florida.

Statewide, the percentage of Florida third graders scoring at grade level or above on the Florida Standards Assessment in English and language arts decreased slightly across all student demographics this year with one notable exception.

Scores on the state test released by the Florida Department of Education earlier this week show charter school student performance was higher than non-charter school student performance by 8 percentage points – 61% versus 53%, respectively. The results follow a trend of high performance among charter schools relative to non-charter schools since 2015, when the test was first administered.

Overall, third-grade performance at grade level or above in 2021 decreased by 4 percentage points compared to 2019. State tests were not administered in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Billed by the Department as a first glimpse of valuable information that will help policymakers understand reading achievements and deficiencies of Florida’s third-grade students, the test is one aspect of overall student assessment results, including letter grades, that will be released this summer.  

Seventy-four percent of Florida’s charter schools earned an overall grade of A or B from the state in 2019 compared with 61 percent of traditional public schools.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of charter schools in Florida, a movement that began with a single charter school in Miami in 1996. Since then, charter schools have become Florida’s most popular school choice option, with nearly 700 of them serving 330,000 students.

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Commentary and OpinionCoronavirus / COVID-19Education ChoiceFeaturedParent VoicesPublic School ChoiceSchool Choice

Pandemic education tightens bonds between fathers, kids

Special to redefinED
Special to redefinED

Dylan Wood, an incoming sophomore at Land O’Lakes High School’s pre-International Baccalaureate magnet program, shows the books his father, Mark Wood, encouraged him to read this summer. Titles include John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” and John Knowles’ “A Separate Peace.”

Editor’s note: This commentary from Mark Wood, a professional writer and editor with an educator’s heart, is redefinED’s salute to all dads as Father’s Day approaches. Wood, who respects teachers, values learning and makes sure his son does all his homework, is married to Lisa Buie, senior writer for redefinED.

It was hard for me to imagine that I could possibly spend more time with my son, Dylan.

In early 2020, I was picking him up every day from school. In the car, we would perform a daily debrief through which I would hear about every class, every assignment and every homework task. After sharing dinner, I would ferry him to his Boy Scout meetings every Tuesday. Every Monday, Thursday and Friday I watched karate practice.

On weekends, we would share movie nights with mom, attend church, pursue our hobbies or compete in a karate tournament.

I always considered myself one of the lucky dads. My job as a writer and editor afforded me maximum flexibility. Dylan’s sick at school? No problem, I got this. Scouting campout starting Friday? I’ll just work remotely. Even when Dylan was a baby, I negotiated a work-at-home arrangement to keep him out of day care as long as possible. A congenital partial hearing loss was my motivator.

I spied as he pinched his first cereal puff in his tiny fingers and deposited it into his mouth. I watched as he took his first wobbly step.

Last year, when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, I learned that I only had begun to spend time with Dylan.

As eighth grade continued into the fourth quarter, all students in Dylan’s school district were required to take their classes online. I worked at home and kept watch. When the number of cases continued to spike, my wife, Lisa, and I decided that we would choose our district’s option for Dylan to learn remotely via Zoom classes. In this arrangement, his district would let students log into in-person classes via the upstart computer platform. In some cases, masked teachers would instruct students sitting at desks and peering through screens. Some teachers had all-Zoom classes and could doff their face coverings.

As Dylan now was a ninth-grader in a rigorous pre-IB magnet program, we worried about academic struggles and logistical problems. So I appointed myself principal of our little home-based school. Order would be maintained. Discipline assured. And time with my son multiplied exponentially.

Now the first year of high school is behind us. Dylan excelled, earning four A’s and two B’s in a program known for its demands.

Evidence indicates that a legion of fathers have joined me in increasing their time with their kids and taking a more active role in their education.

A new poll conducted by Pearson and its online school, Connections Academy, shows that 89% of fathers report that being involved in their children’s education has helped them grow closer to them. A similar survey that the company conducted in March showed that 76% of parents said supporting their children’s learning at home was gratifying. I suspect many dads, like me, also were required to work at home for an extended time, putting them close by as they and their kids navigated Zoom meetings and enjoyed casual environs.

Some of the results confirm what I’ve known since my son entered preschool in 2008: Taking an active role in your child’s education will draw you closer to them and help you understand them. It also will make you part of your child’s “education team.” Not everyone is a teacher, but I believe everyone, particularly parents, can be “educators.”

Results show that 90% of fathers surveyed say they understand their child better. Slightly fewer (89%) said that being part of the learning experience helped them grow closer to their child.

More than eight out of 10 dads agreed that their children adapted to online learning well and that it helped boost their child’s confidence and time management skills.

For many, including our family, pandemic-related distance learning choices will not be offered in the 2021-2022 school year. Frankly, our son is eager to get back to in-person learning to fully experience the social advantages that high school offers. We don’t blame him.

With this return to normal, nearly three out of four fathers surveyed worry that they won’t be able to maintain the same level of involvement in their child’s education. I do not necessarily share their concern.

Sure, I won’t be able to pop my head in my son’s bedroom between classes for a quick update, but you can rest assured that I’ll stay involved. I have served on school advisory councils during Dylan’s elementary, middle and now high school years. I’ll continue to quiz him in the car about classes and homework on the way to after-school activities.

Meaningful involvement will take a little more effort this fall, but I hope dads — and moms — will remember the fulfillment they got by having more access to their children’s education this past year.

Parents can continue that access and influence by talking daily with their children and keeping communication lines open with teachers and administrators.

School may be a building, but education is an endeavor. And all of us are called to play a crucial part in our child’s learning. I hope all parents will join me in being educators.

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Charter SchoolsCommentary and OpinionCustomizationEducation and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceFeaturedParental ChoicePublic School ChoiceSchool Choice

Commentary: Charter schools at 30 — looking back, looking ahead

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Special to redefinED

Orlando Science School, one of nearly 700 charter schools in Florida, focuses on science, technology, engineering and mathematics and attracts more than 1,000 Central Florida students representing diverse cultural and economic backgrounds.

Editor’s note: This opinion piece from Chester E. Finn Jr., a distinguished senior fellow and president emeritus at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, and Bruno V. Manno, senior advisor for the Walton Family Foundation’s K-12 program, appeared Thursday on The 74.

Today, 44 states — plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam — have public charter school laws on their statute books, statutes that have led to more than 7,500 schools employing 200,000-plus teachers and serving 3.3 million students.

The 30th anniversary of the nation’s first charter law June 4 inspires us to recall their fundamental purpose and bipartisan political origins; their contributions to advancing educational opportunity; and the lessons we’ve learned over these three decades that should inform what happens going forward. While recognizing its remarkable accomplishments, its impressive growth and its immense promise, we also do well to acknowledge that the charter movement has ample room to improve.

Purpose, politics and results

Why chartering?

The purpose was clearly stated in 1990 by Ted Kolderie, senior associate at the Minnesota-based Center for Policy Studies. Kolderie is arguably the foremost theoretician of chartering, and that year he authored a policy report for the D.C.-based (and center-left) Progressive Policy Institute. Two paragraphs bear quoting:

It is time to say this: Our system of public education is a bad system. It is terribly inequitable. It does not meet the nation’s needs. It exploits teachers’ altruism. It hurts kids. Instead of blaming people … we need to fix the system [and] organize public education in America on a new basis. The proposal outlined in this report is designed to introduce the dynamics of choice, competition and innovation into America’s public school system.

How can we use the powerful idea of choice to improve our schools while retaining the essential purposes of public education? This report proposes a simple yet radical answer: allowing enterprising people — including teachers and other educators — to … create new public schools, and ultimately a new system of public education, [by having] the states … simply withdraw the local districts’ exclusive franchise to own and operate public schools. [We need to undertake] divestiture, or allowing the districts to get out of running and operating public schools altogether.

To continue reading, click here.

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Commentary and OpinionEducation and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceEducation EquityFeaturedMagnet SchoolsParental ChoicePublic School ChoiceSchool Choice

Magnet school admissions policies antithetical to school choice

Special to redefinED
Special to redefinED

If a lottery on admissions were imposed at Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School in Dallas, its majority Hispanic population would change significantly.

Editor’s note: This commentary is an exclusive to redefinED from Sean-Michael Pigeon, who recently graduated with a B.A. in political science from Yale University. He works as a journalism mentor at a magnet school in New Haven, Conn. His writing has appeared in USA Today, the Washington Examiner and the Washington Times.

The number of magnet schools has grown steadily over the last two decades, further increasing the control parents have over their child’s education. Many argue the most important point of magnet schools is that they allow parents to choose where and how their child is taught.

But in response to recent critiques, selective magnet schools have begun restricting enrollment by implementing zip code quotas. Not only does this cut against the goal of magnet schools; its focus is misguided.

One of the critiques levied at magnet school is that magnet schools are not diverse enough, either racially or economically. This is an important criticism for magnet schools to address, given that they were implemented in part to help desegregate school systems.

Yet the most recent evidence suggests magnet schools incorporate more ethnic minorities than traditional public schools or private schools. A 2019 U.S. Department of Education report found that a higher percentage of public charter school students were Black or Hispanic (See Figure 2.3.) In this case, “public charter” includes both magnet schools and charter schools. The report also found that “chosen public schools” had a higher percentage of poor and “near-poor” students than either traditional public schools or private ones (Figure 4.3).

This means there is no evidence that magnet schools, on average, do a better job of integrating different racial and socio-economic communities than either assigned public schools or private schools. Nevertheless, certain highly selective magnet schools have come under fire for using test scores to determine whether a student is admitted.

Some parents argue that changing magnet schools’ admissions to a lottery system is long overdue. It is true that the student body of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (the top high school in the nation, and a magnet school), skews disproportionately Asian. However, there are many minority-majority magnet schools that also are high-performing magnets.

For example, Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School (ranked No. 15 in the nation and No. 2 in Texas) has a student body that is overwhelmingly Hispanic, at 79%. If a lottery were implemented for Irma Lerma’s admission based on Dallas County, which is majority white, the ethnic makeup of the student body would change significantly.

Equity advocates should be wary that their efforts do not undermine the ability of magnet schools like Thomas Jefferson and Irma Lerma to nurture a school environment that has proved effective. Just because a school has a minority-majority student population, it doesn’t necessary follow that its admissions process needs dismantling.

We do not need to imagine what instituting racial quotas would do for magnet school admissions. Take, for example, University High School of Science and Engineering, a magnet school in Hartford, Connecticut. To promote desegregation and racial equality, the school is required to limit Black and Hispanic enrollment to under 75%. Connecticut courts have upheld the policy that schools like University High cannot decrease the percentage of white students required for diversity, causing widespread frustration.

One city mom was devastated that her son could not attend University High. “I was told,” she says, “‘Well, white kids from the suburbs have to apply for him to get in.’”

A recent lawsuit lobbied by Virginia parents that argued the new practices set up by Thomas Jefferson High School purposefully discriminated against Asian Americans was allowed to proceed. While those parents await the outcome, we must ask why parents must appeal to the courts to send their children to a school they would otherwise be qualified to attend.

Chosen public schools, like magnets, have proved effective in achieving learning goals while serving more minority and low-income students than any other form of schooling. Throughout the difficult 2020-21 academic year, many magnet schools led the way in transitioning to virtual learning. Other magnet schools helped students deal with mental health problems by crafting innovative solutions to isolation.

Barring high-performing and/or willing students from attending a magnet school simply because of where they live or their ethnicity is antithetical to the very point of such schools. It would be foolish to sacrifice the success of magnet schools across the country to target a problem not in sight.

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Charter SchoolsEducation and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceEducation LegislationFeaturedNewsParental ChoicePublic School ChoiceSchool Choice

New Florida law streamlines higher education charter school sponsorships

Lisa Buie
Lisa Buie

Alexander D. Henderson University School is a public elementary and middle school on the campus of Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, established in 1968 to enhance instruction and research in specialized subjects to improve outcomes for all students.

State colleges and universities now will be able authorize the creation of charter schools and sponsor those schools after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the measure into law Tuesday.

SB 1028, which included a ban on transgender females competing in women’s school sports, started out as a charter school bill before becoming an omnibus bill late in the legislative session. The new law allows higher education institutions, after approval from the Florida Department of Education, to solicit applications from charter schools.

Universities previously were allowed to sponsor charter developmental research schools, often referred to as lab schools. Three charter lab schools now exist in the state: Florida State University Charter Lab K-12 School in Broward County; Florida Atlantic University Charter Lab 9-12 High School in Palm Beach County; and Florida Atlantic University Charter Lab K-12 School in St. Lucie County.

State colleges also have been authorized to work with school districts to help develop charter schools that offer secondary education and an option for students to receive an associate degree upon graduation. They additionally were allowed to sponsor one charter school under certain conditions.

The new law expands that authorization and allows colleges and universities to sponsor and operate charter schools inside any school district within its service area, with the higher education institution taking “full responsibility” for overseeing the charter school.

The bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Travis Hutson, R-Palm Coast, said his proposal would streamline charter school applicants’ process of seeking approval, especially for “charter schools-in-the-workplace,” which are sponsored by local school districts in partnership with a company or business. Such schools typically target the children of employees of a company or business.

“Where we’re seeing some issues … is where we want to have multiple workforce applicants from a region itself, and you’ve got different school districts,” Hutson said. “So, we’re saying, instead of trying to go through three approval processes, you can go right to the state for that approval.”

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Advocate VoicesCharter SchoolsCommentary and OpinionCustomizationEducation and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceFeaturedParental ChoicePublic School ChoiceSchool Choice

30 years strong: Charter schools and America’s education landscape

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Special to redefinED

Starting with a single charter school in Miami in 1996, the charter school movement has gained momentum in Florida and is now the state’s most popular school choice option, with nearly 700 charter schools serving 330,000 students.

Editor’s note: Today’s commentary comes from Nina Rees, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, the leading national nonprofit organization committed to advancing the charter school movement.

Nina Rees

In 1991, Amazon and Google didn’t exist. Neither did smart phones. The internet was a fledgling idea, and a small band of teachers and school leaders in Minnesota were about to change America’s education landscape forever.

The state passed the first charter school law in the country, creating a new type of public school independent of the school district, focused on the individual needs and interests of students and propelling them to academic success. With the law’s passage, Minnesota became the model for flexible, student-centered, innovative public education options.

Fast forward 30 years to today, and 44 states have public charter school laws serving 3.3 million students. Nearly 220,000 dedicated teachers deliver education at 7,500 charter schools. Now that’s something to celebrate.

This month, National Charter Schools Week 2021 was a time to reflect on those 30 years of work to close the opportunity gap and deliver an excellent education to every student. The innovation that charter schools bring to education lies within the built-in flexibility and autonomy to design and implement classroom instruction. Simply put, teachers and leaders have the freedom to do whatever it takes. They can meet students where they are and provide the best learning methods for them to gain the knowledge and skills needed to be successful in college, career and life.

That model works. Millions of students and thousands of teachers and schools make up the dynamic charter school community. Some schools focus on college prep, some follow a STEM curriculum, and others integrate the arts into each subject. All are focused on students and their unique learning needs.

Again this year, U.S. News & World Report released the 2021 Best High Schools ranking which included data on nearly 24,000 public high schools. And once again, charter schools outperformed. Charter schools made up 10% of public schools in the ranking, but they made up 24% of the top 100 best high schools.

Charter schools in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina and Texas were represented on the top 100.

Charter schools overwhelmingly serve underserved students: urban students and those who are Black, Latino or come from low-income families. And they do it exceptionally well. Students in urban charter schools gained 40 additional days of learning in math and 28 additional days of learning in reading per year as compared to their district school peers. Low-income Hispanic students gained 48 additional days in math and 25 additional days in reading, while low-income Black students gained 44 additional days in reading and 59 additional days in math per year.

And four or more years of enrollment in an urban charter school led to 108 additional days of learning in math and 72 additional days of learning in reading per year.

While it is important to look back at how far charter schools have come in three decades, it is even more important to look ahead. The pandemic has shown us that now more than ever, American families want more high-quality public education options.

Education is not a fixed place, a person, or a system – it is a right. Charter schools are a critical part of public education, and our movement to bring better options to more families who need it is growing. New schools are opening and enrollment is increasing, signaling that parents and communities want and need the educational options that charter schools provide.

Charter schools are born out of a community need for more and better, with passionate educators and parents who are committed to giving more kids the opportunity to have a great education, taking up the mantle and making it a reality. It is common to see charter schools led by former teachers who wanted to take the lessons they learned in the classroom and apply those lessons to an entire school. And that’s the beauty of the chartering model.

Charter schools across the country have the strong support of their local communities and people across the political spectrum. In Florida, the Legislature this year passed a law allowing Florida’s colleges and universities to issue charters, making the process easier, but not less accountable, to start and expand charter schools. This will lead to more education options and learning opportunities for Florida students.

What started with one law and one school in Minnesota has blossomed into a nationwide movement.

Student-centered, tuition-free, and always public, charter schools have changed the American public education landscape for the better. The celebration this month of National Charter Schools Week has been a time for everyone to highlight and celebrate the schools, students, education leaders and advocates that have demonstrated the strength and promise of the charter school movement over the last 30 years.

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Charter SchoolsCommentary and OpinionDemographic ResearchEducation and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceFeaturedParent VoicesPublic School ChoiceSchool Choice

Federal Charter Schools Program provides access, equity for all students

Keith Jacobs
Keith Jacobs

Steve Jobs, the late co-founder and CEO of Apple, Inc., once said that “Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity, not a threat.” He understood that if a good or service does not innovate, it never adapts to the ever-changing needs of the consumer. 

That principle applies to the current state of public education. 

Of all the issues surrounding the changing status of public education, none has rocked the boat like charter schools. The Fordham Institute recently highlighted the increase in families choosing tuition-free public charter schools because they desire innovative programs that meet their children’s specific needs.

The financial assistance to support that innovation is provided by the federal Charter Schools Program, which rewards high-performing charter schools with money to identify new facilities and fund national initiatives.

Unfortunately, opponents such as the Network for Public Education want to eliminate the program, and thus hinder the creation of charter schools despite their popularity and success. These charter school opponents use the same rhetoric employed by other education choice opponents, blaming many of the issues plaguing traditional public schools on the creation and expansion of educational options. 

They often ignore how charter schools and other choice options are raising the success of all students in public education while eliminating socioeconomic barriers that contribute to achievement and opportunity gaps. They propagate the notion that students in a particular ZIP code have a lesser likelihood of being successful in school and moving on to post-secondary education.

This is most evident in Florida. Florida in 2020 received $78.3 million in Charter Schools Program funding over five years.

Florida demonstrates how increasing education options for parents will result in higher performance for all students. Approximately 1.5 million students in Florida (45% of all K-12 students) exercise some form of education choice, and charter schools are the most popular alternative for families (more than 329,000 students). 

Over the last 25 years in Florida, charter school students have outperformed district students on state and national tests.  Additionally, according to the Florida Department of Education, in 2018, 94% of charter schools scored a “C” or better, and 189 schools were considered high performing. Of the state’s 655 charter schools, almost half (47%) scored an “A” on the accountability school grade report.

Charter schools fulfill the individual needs of underserved populations with greater success rates. In fact, according to the Florida Charter School Alliance, 62% of charter students are black or Hispanic, and 55% of charter students receive free or reduced lunches.

This success would not be possible without the federal Charter Schools Program.

As a former charter school principal who opened a brand-new charter school, I can attest that the Charter Schools Program grant was essential to offset the mounting costs of operating expenses. The school provided families the opportunity to explore science, technology, engineering, arts, and math, in addition to a dual-language immersion program tuition-free to families and irrespective of ZIP code. These funds allowed me to market our innovative program while also attracting a highly qualified and diverse teaching staff.

Even stronger than my passion as a 14-year K-12 educator and administrator in both traditional and charter public schools is my desire for my two sons to have equitable options that meet their individual needs and are adequately funded. 

I recall being a student who qualified for free- and reduced-price lunch with limited education choice options. I remember not being pushed by high expectations and being in classes where teachers were satisfied with the status quo. Education choice saved me from mediocrity and inspired me to achieve postsecondary education.

I have the same expectations for my children.

We live in a suburban neighborhood with high-performing public schools. But it was evident early on that these schools would not be able to meet the unique needs of my children. 

Both of my sons are in schools of choice, but for different reasons.  My older son has autism; my younger son is gifted. I remember his kindergarten teacher calling and stating he was misbehaving in school. During that conversation, we realized that he was finishing his work early and becoming disengaged while she was helping the students who struggled. He was acting out of boredom. He was disconnected from the school learning environment.

And then we received hope.

A new charter school was opening in our neighborhood that touted rigorous curriculum, innovative programs, and a diverse environment. 

The issue? Like most families who are looking for alternative educational options, we were forced on a waiting list because the school was at capacity. It was disheartening.

Charter schools at full capacity illustrate why Charter Schools Program funds are so essential. More funding would permit the construction of additional high-performing charter schools so parents would not have to wait for a quality education.

It took two years on the waiting list for our son to receive this opportunity. Some families, particularly low-income ones, may have a longer wait. 

We must support the federal Charter Schools Program because it provides the resources to build more charter schools so marginalized families will have equitable access and funding for programs that meet their children’s individual needs. It will fuel the innovation that is necessary to adapt public education to the changing landscape.  

If not, opportunity will stay on the waiting list.

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Charter SchoolsCommentary and OpinionEducation and Public PolicyEducation ChoiceFeaturedParental ChoicePublic School ChoiceSchool Choice

Oklahoma should follow others and say okay to equal funding for equal teaching

Special to redefinED
Special to redefinED

College Bound Academy, an Oklahoma charter school, prepares students in grades K-4 to graduate from college and access the career of their choice.

Editor’s note: This commentary is an exclusive to redefinED from Sean-Michael Pigeon, a student majoring in political science at Yale University. He works as a journalism mentor at a magnet school in New Haven, Conn. His writing has appeared in USA Today, the Washington Examiner and the Washington Times.

K-12 schooling is one of many things that has been dramatically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many traditional public schools across the country opted to teach virtually and some are still grappling with how to reopen. Many parents have turned to charter schools for more flexibility during this time of uncertainty.

Oklahoma families are among them. However, despite the fact that charter schools have provided a service equal to traditional public schools, public school officials are trying to strip them of equal funding.

For years, Oklahoma charter schools have been denied access to funding from property taxes, which puts them at a significant financial disadvantage. Epic Charter Schools, a self-paced, individualized program accredited by the state of Oklahoma, has been fighting for equal funding within the state board of appeals.

A 4-3 decision by the Oklahoma State Board of Education ended a lawsuit after four years of litigation, finally allowing public charters access to the same funding public schools have.

Oklahoma parents should welcome more competition and more choices for them to take control over their child’s education. In one decision, Oklahoma rejected the onerous one-size-fits-all policy for charter schools which, to this point, has been called “a damn mess.”

A bill introduced in the Oklahoma Legislature seeks to overturn this decision. The bill would restrict property taxes to only public schools while tying charter school funding to medical marijuana funds. Furthermore, in response to the Oklahoma State Board of Education’s decision, the Oklahoma City Public School Board of Education is taking legal action against the state.

In other words, Oklahoma’s public school apparatus wants to provide unequal funding to public charter schools, despite equal work.

Not only is this proposed policy unequitable in theory; it will harm students in practice. Property taxes have been used historically to fund schools because they are stable sources of income, and because they help tie a community around the local school. Revoking charter school’s access to stable sources of taxpayer money will limit the options for parents by treating charter schools like second-class educators.

But charter schools are not second-class educational institutions. In fact, they have responded admirably to the difficulties of remote learning. Oklahoma should follow South Carolina, which is increasing its contributions to well-run charter schools.

Others, like Travis Hutson of Florida’s seventh district, have introduced legislation which would help solidify charter school funding. His bill adds language ensuring that charter schools sponsored by a public university will be compensated “as if they are in a basic program or a special program in the school district.” Furthermore, the bill stipulates that this compensation must be appropriated from state funds.

Oklahoma lawmakers should look to the work being done in South Carolina and Florida as an exemplar for their own situation. Across the country, parents are rejecting the public school system and its administrative rigidity. This is a good, healthy, process that helps to cater to the unique needs of students.

The government should not play favorites, especially when it comes to children’s education. Upholding charter schools’ access to funding will help state leaders better serve the 105,000 school-aged children in Oklahoma. Rather than penalizing parents who opt for a more flexible teaching experience, they should uphold the legitimacy of their local schools.

Charter schools provide an equal education to public schools; they should be given equal resources.

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