Virtual Charter Schools and Home Schooling By Carol Klein

This dissatisfaction leads to one or more of the following, a desire to: (a) operate a school more effciently, (b) enjoy greater freedom from the cumbersome public system, (c) provide educational choices for parents and students, (d) stimulate healthy competition into the public system, and (e) model innovative practices (Stuart Wells & Research Associates, 1998). School missions may envision student remediation, emphasize academic giftedness, and/or promote character development (though religion per se may not be taught). Further reasons for this reform include increased academic achievement, teacher empowerment, and hope for those who would otherwise fail in a traditional setting (Marshall et al., 2001).

Arguments Surrounding The Controversy

The best school governance system for today is cause for debate by many. Some support public schools as the symbol of democracy, being the most comprehensive means of providing an equitable education for all students. But opponents support “privatization and school choice as free market mechanisms designed to rid the educational system of waste and inefficiency and to empower consumers” (Stuart Wells et al., 2002, para. 12). Though perhaps hidden in terms of the new global capitalism, according to some critics, the latter view also embraces democracy. At any rate, charter school proponents are those who desire to remain within the public system but under a new set of guidelines that allow for a greater degree of choice and privatization.

The theoretical claims of both sides must also be understood. Most school choice proponents, according to Fowler (2003), believe that mar-kets operate both more effectively and efficiently than government bureaucracies and that many of the existing problems in our contem-porary educational system result from the bureaucratic, government-operated monopoly that dominates. According to this view, student achievement is higher in private schools because they respond to consumer demands, thus leading to superior results. Ineffective private schools go out of business, hence quality is maintained (the market position).