Charter schools in California

This chapter summarizes a series of studies that evaluate the effectiveness of California charter schools. California has been an important state in the debate over charter schools. At present more than 210,000 students attend about 550 charter schools there—the largest charter sector in the nation. Because charter schools are schools of choice, it is important to examine whether they are serving the full range of the student population and whether they are doing so in integrated settings. Charter school critics argue that charter success might be illusory if charter schools are simply recruiting the best students from traditional public schools or if they further stratify an already ethnically or racially stratified system. The charter school movement grew out of a hope that by providing greater autonomy to schools, charter schools would be able to cut through bureaucratic frustrations and offer innovative, efficient, and effective educational programs; provide new options to families; and promote healthy competition for traditional public schools.