This week is National Charter School Week and Florida, which has the 2nd largest charter school enrollment in the nation is playing up its role in the movement. Lynn Hatter reports in the decade since the state passed its charter school law, it’s seen lots of growth in that area of education.
Florida began work on charter schools in the late 1990’s and now approximately a decade later, more than 155,000 students are enrolled in more than 460 charters across the state. Charter schools are public schools, but they have more flexibility in their how they operate, and who they hire. Cheri Shannon who heads the Florida Coalition for Charter Schools, says the stakes are also higher for charters.
“If you’re a charter school and you get two F’s in a row, you’re closed. That’s it. You go away. I think the accountability piece is what is driving the increase in student achievement over the past couple of years and has gotten us to the point where we are achieving at higher levels than traditional district schools.”
In recent years, the state has worked give public schools more flexibility in how they operate. But Shannon says she’ll always see a role for charter schools as a part of the state’s public education system.
