Charter Schools in Action —— Renewing Public Education

Chester Finn's new book is said to be the best book on charter schools yet written. And in many respects, it is. He and his two co-authors have packed in statistics and numbers, and they have reported interesting interviews and sidebars from persons who have started or implemented charter schools. They remain upbeat about the ultimate outcome of charter schools, and believe that by the year 2010 we will have witnessed a proliferation of school choice in America. I love their optimism, and I wish I could be so optimistic, too. Finn and his colleagues believe the unions will eventually accommodate to the charter schools and quit trying to kill them with thousands of small cuts. They believe that charter schools, which exemplify American inventiveness and determination, will survive the non-existent capital funding, which prevents them from building and owning their own facilities. (You do not have to have a MBA to figure out that charter school rents are paid from lower teachers' salaries.) They even believe that charter schools will eventually force, by market competition, the public schools to change. I cannot see exactly why the unions will quit their attacks, why public authorities will open the capital facilities question, or how charter schools will avoid massive re-regulation (as in special education or bilingual education). For these reasons, then, I think Finn and his colleagues are persuasive idealists, but I am not persuaded. Even 3,000 charter schools across the country will not change the face of public education in America. Only when parents receive vouchers will there really be a free-market change. Charter schools are just the way-station. Not bad ones, but not the revolutionary change that Finn imagines.

I did an in-depth research paper on charter schools for my college English class last semester, and I just happened to pick this book up from the library. I cannot believe how much it helped me. I usually try to stick with more recent books because I figure that since there are so many books on the subject of charter schools, I need to read the most recent ones because they're probably going to be the most applicable to the situation today. However, I'm glad that I broke that rule and read this book from 2001. I will say that the statistics on charter schools were of course completely wrong, and there is nothing in there about the Race to the Top initiative or anything else that has recently been put in place. Despite that major drawback, this was an excellent book to read because it gave such a good foundation (for me at least) of how the charter school movement got started, where it went, and where the authors hoped to see it go in the future. It was rather depressing to read what they hoped would be in place by 2010 - we're nowhere even close, although we are closer than we were in 2001, of course. Just as a side note: When I was doing the research for this paper, I would take small post-it notes and mark pages with interesting passages that I could quote in my paper or items that I wanted to research further. When I finished this book, I had 87 post-it notes lining the edge of the book. I think that says it all. My only complaint is the date. Would the authors consider doing a new and updated version? I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I think this book is the gold standard in charter school books. If you want to read a book to give you great background information on the subject, make this one it!

As a strong believer in charter schools, and even more as a parent of a kindergartner who attends a back to basics charter school currently in its fifth year of operation, I chose this book to learn more about this nationwide phenomenon. This is a book that I would recommend to anyone looking for the most basic information, for anyone interested in starting a charter, or for those who would just like more background. The authors began gathering their information for a research project, and three and a half years later, ended up with this book. It is packed full of details in an easy to follow and informative manner. Following a brief introduction, subsequent chapters are logically arranged. If reading the whole book is not for you, you can easily find what you are looking for. It also contains about 2 dozen tables and short surveys, if you enjoy this sort of thing. A number of things I particularly liked: 1) the 5 "field trips" where the authors visited 5 different charter schools--small/large, urban/suburban, progressive/traditional, profit/non-profit, and even a "virtual" (online) school; 2) the way the book is written, not so much in a textbook manner (which would have been boring); 3) the detailed comparisons between different state laws, which can make or break the charter schools. I do have the impression that the authors are pro-charter, although they listed plenty of negatives and accurately presented both sides of all issues. However, I may be reading into it my own favoritisms. Overall, a good, strong book that I'm glad I picked up.

Chester Finn's new book is said to be the best book on charter schools yet written. And in many respects, it is. He and his two co-authors have packed in statistics and numbers, and they have reported interesting interviews and sidebars from persons who have started or implemented charter schools. They remain upbeat about the ultimate outcome of charter schools, and believe that by the year 2010 we will have witnessed a proliferation of school choice in America. I love their optimism, and I wish I could be so optimistic, too. Finn and his colleagues believe the unions will eventually accommodate to the charter schools and quit trying to kill them with thousands of small cuts. They believe that charter schools, which exemplify American inventiveness and determination, will survive the non-existent capital funding, which prevents them from building and owning their own facilities. (You do not have to have a MBA to figure out that charter school rents are paid from lower teachers' salaries.) They even believe that charter schools will eventually force, by market competition, the public schools to change. I cannot see exactly why the unions will quit their attacks, why public authorities will open the capital facilities question, or how charter schools will avoid massive re-regulation (as in special education or bilingual education). For these reasons, then, I think Finn and his colleagues are persuasive idealists, but I am not persuaded. Even 3,000 charter schools across the country will not change the face of public education in America. Only when parents receive vouchers will there really be a free-market change. Charter schools are just the way-station. Not bad ones, but not the revolutionary change that Finn imagines.

I did an in-depth research paper on charter schools for my college English class last semester, and I just happened to pick this book up from the library. I cannot believe how much it helped me. I usually try to stick with more recent books because I figure that since there are so many books on the subject of charter schools, I need to read the most recent ones because they're probably going to be the most applicable to the situation today. However, I'm glad that I broke that rule and read this book from 2001. I will say that the statistics on charter schools were of course completely wrong, and there is nothing in there about the Race to the Top initiative or anything else that has recently been put in place. Despite that major drawback, this was an excellent book to read because it gave such a good foundation (for me at least) of how the charter school movement got started, where it went, and where the authors hoped to see it go in the future. It was rather depressing to read what they hoped would be in place by 2010 - we're nowhere even close, although we are closer than we were in 2001, of course. Just as a side note: When I was doing the research for this paper, I would take small post-it notes and mark pages with interesting passages that I could quote in my paper or items that I wanted to research further. When I finished this book, I had 87 post-it notes lining the edge of the book. I think that says it all. My only complaint is the date. Would the authors consider doing a new and updated version? I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I think this book is the gold standard in charter school books. If you want to read a book to give you great background information on the subject, make this one it!

As a strong believer in charter schools, and even more as a parent of a kindergartner who attends a back to basics charter school currently in its fifth year of operation, I chose this book to learn more about this nationwide phenomenon. This is a book that I would recommend to anyone looking for the most basic information, for anyone interested in starting a charter, or for those who would just like more background. The authors began gathering their information for a research project, and three and a half years later, ended up with this book. It is packed full of details in an easy to follow and informative manner. Following a brief introduction, subsequent chapters are logically arranged. If reading the whole book is not for you, you can easily find what you are looking for. It also contains about 2 dozen tables and short surveys, if you enjoy this sort of thing. A number of things I particularly liked: 1) the 5 "field trips" where the authors visited 5 different charter schools--small/large, urban/suburban, progressive/traditional, profit/non-profit, and even a "virtual" (online) school; 2) the way the book is written, not so much in a textbook manner (which would have been boring); 3) the detailed comparisons between different state laws, which can make or break the charter schools. I do have the impression that the authors are pro-charter, although they listed plenty of negatives and accurately presented both sides of all issues. However, I may be reading into it my own favoritisms. Overall, a good, strong book that I'm glad I picked up.