Document Type
Article
Abstract
The U.S. education system, unlike other fields, has failed to encourage and learn from innovation. Charter schools—publicly-funded schools with the freedom to develop innovative practices—offered an opportunity to address the education system’s resistance to change. The hope was that charter schools could serve as laboratories of innovation for new school models that traditional public schools across the country could later adopt.
Despite these good intentions, the charter school movement has not resulted in the change early advocates hoped for. Charter schools often recycle old practices instead of experimenting with new ones. And when a charter school does develop a successful innovation, traditional schools seldom replicate it. To effectuate the promise of the charter school movement, this Article proposes that three new requirements be added to charter school accountability and authorization frameworks: (1) charter school applicants must demonstrate a commitment to implementing innovative practices; (2) charter school authorizers must evaluate innovative practices to measure their impacts; and (3) charter school authorizers must disseminate their findings in public databases of evidence-based practices for education.
Recommended Citation
Maria C. Parisi,
Charter Schools: A Missed Opportunity to Improve Education Through Innovation,
49
J. Legis.
321
(2023).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/jleg/vol49/iss2/4