A fresh, educational reform is sweeping the U.S. and leaving Vermont in the Jurassic period of traditional public schools. What is this reform and why haven’t many MMU students heard of this?

            The terms public school and private school are terms that are familiar to all of us. There is nothing foreign to us about the concept (or the practice) of public schools. Something that is not so familiar is the idea of a charter school. Many MMU teens have no idea what a charter school even is. An interviewed sophomore asked if charter schools were “private schools that public people went to,” that student was by far closer than most MMU students. There has been a fast-paced change in education over the past several years and while many states have jumped on the bandwagon, Vermont hasn‘t even come close. That change is the development of charter schools.

            The U.S .Charter Schools website defines charter schools as “innovative public schools providing choices for families and greater accountability for results.” In other words, they are schools that have been granted a charter exempting themselves from selective state or local rules, while still adhering to the basic educational laws. Their purpose is to build strong communities, to focus on the kids and their needs as well as the make sure each child has the access to a quality education.

            The first charter school opened in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1992. Since then, many schools have popped up, predominantly in areas of large population. Funded by the public, US Charter Schools are founded on the main principles of choice, accountability, and freedom. Charter schools give parents and students a choice of which school to go to. We would be able to pick the school that focused on our own educational needs or interests. Unlike public schools, charter schools are freed from the traditional focus of a public school. Charter schools can focus if they want, on arts or music, although you could be enrolled into some charter schools and not notice the difference between that school and MMU.

            Because of the freedom given to these schools there is a huge effort to maintain the quality and standard of education. To keep credibility among these schools which are given a greater freedom regarding curriculum, charter schools are judged on how they meet the student achievement goals that are established within the schools charter contract. If a charter school cannot meet these standards it has to be closed. Furthermore, the Center for Education Reform (CER) releases a yearly accountability report concerning charter schools.

            Why doesn’t Vermont have a charter school? To open a charter school there has to be, primarily, a state law. Vermont along with Alabama, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, north Dakota, South Dakota, Washington and West Virginia have no laws concerning charter schools. These laws, like most laws concerning education, center at the state level. The CER states that just about anyone can submit an application to open and operate a charter school once the laws are in place. This includes business leaders, parents, and educators.

            While all of this makes it look easy to open a charter school, there are several factors more important than just laws that come into play concerning charter schools. These are the factors that may be prevented such change in Vermont education. For Vermont the biggest factor is the population, or rather, lack thereof. To run successful charter schools that give people a choice and a voice in their education, there has to be a variety of schools. The problem with Vermont is that, even in Chittenden County we are all so spread out that transportation would be a huge issue. With our current population we just might not have the population to make it feasible the way that states like Florida and New Jersey have been able to. This is not surprising considering how many towns attend MMU alone.

            What is surprising is how little we know about it. The educational reform of charter schools is all over America and yet, many of us barely know what a charter school is. If Vermont wants to keep up with the changing means of education in the United States, it’s going to have to begin at the state level, which can’t happen if we don’t even realize the alternatives that there are to the traditional public school our parent’s went to. While charter schools may be changing the way that teenagers around the country go to school, Vermont might not be jumping into this reform for a while to come.

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