Charter schools enhance Utah education

The tuition tax credit bill (SB34), recently rolled into the education "omnibus" bill (SB154), has received wide public debate as an important means for expanding school choice. While public educators strongly oppose tax credits for private school tuition, many parents and other groups, including Gov. Leavitt's Employers' Education Coalition, favor tuition tax credits to encourage competition and student and parental choice in education. Largely overlooked in this discussion, however, is a significant innovation in American public education that provides meaningful school choice without promoting tuition tax credits — the charter school movement.

Charter schools are tuition-free public schools authorized by the local school district or the State Board of Education to provide distinct educational services based on their approved charters. Charter schools are innovative, accountable, hire certified teachers and administer the same standardized tests as traditional public schools. Yet with strong parental guidance and participation, they employ creative instructional techniques and curriculum options not available at the local public school.

Utah currently has 13 operating charter schools that serve about 1,400 students. Each school is unique. Some are designed to serve specific populations, while others focus on the environment, the creative arts, science and technology, or sequential learning through a core knowledge curriculum. They are funded largely through receipt of the weighted pupil unit (WPU), the same as other Utah public schools. Nationally, there are nearly 2,500 charter schools with a combined enrollment exceeding 500,000 students. California has 436 charter schools, Arizona 400, Colorado 90 and Idaho 11.

"Charter schools are no longer an experiment. They have made worthwhile contributions to school choice," said U.S. Secretary of Education Rodney Paige. "Our goal is to help ensure these innovative schools continue to thrive so that parents can offer their children more choices in education." National research indicates that charter schools are successful because they provide what many parents want and students need — smaller schools with lower class sizes, innovative choices in curriculum and more personalized relationships among teachers, students and parents.

The Utah Employers' Education Coalition recommends expanding the charter school initiative to promote school choice. Their report says charter schools "may develop new efficiencies or methods of education . . . and show techniques for delivering high-quality education for lower costs." A recent report of the Center for Education Reform views charter schools as providing a vital R&D function, creating new learning opportunities for the children who attend them.