Although charter schools have experienced steady and robust growth over the past five years, they’re still not in the mainstream of American public education, a new report says.
The report is the fifth in a series of annual publications on the status of charter schooling produced by the Center on Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington, Bothell. It notes that the number of charter schools operating in the United States grew from 3,300 in 2004-05 to 4,662 in 2008-09.
The reports chapters, written by various authors, raise questions about the charter movements ability to turn around failing traditional schools, incorporate teachers unions, shut down ineffective charters, and seize opportunities opening up through federal initiatives, such as the U.S. Department of Educations Race to the Top Fund.
