“Hopes, Fears, and Reality: A Balanced Look at American Charter Schools in 2006" is available from the National Charter School Research Project.
A new report examines how low- to moderate-income parents decide to send their children to public charter schools, and challenges what it suggests are some stereotypes about their decisionmaking.
The study—part of a larger report put out by the National Charter School Research Project at the Seattle-based Center on Reinventing Public Education—found, for instance, that charter school parents are just as sophisticated and well informed as parents who make different choices. This counters assertions that many charter school parents may be misled by superficial aspects of schools, rather than focusing on academic quality.
The researchers for the study, from the University of Colorado at Denver, surveyed parents in three cities that have a number of school choice options: Denver, Milwaukee, and Washington.
