Are Charter Schools Free?

Charter schools are a successful experiment of the American education system. They combine elements of private and public schools. Сharter schools are funded from public funds, which provides students with free tuition.

However, optional classes or after-school groups organized at the request of the parents are offered for additional hourly rates. All textbooks and teaching aids will be issued to schoolchildren for free and with a subsequent return at the end of the year. Pupils will be offered breakfast and lunch for payment. Those in need will be offered free food and/or discount.

However, charter schools tend to receive less funding than traditional public schools – on average, $1,800 less for each student. Some tend to spend less, while others tend to turn to a private source of income to cover the difference. If the more privileged parents and their capital leave the district schools for charter, then the district schools will have fewer students and, consequently, less funding. But there is another argument – charter schools can achieve better results with the same or less money – and this can also lead to a reduction in funding. Richard Leone explains: “Although it is impossible to deny the fact that current spending and school funding contributes to the education of low-income schoolchildren, innovations related to organizational and managerial changes seem particularly attractive because, unlike the old organizational and managerial system, they require less cost. Thus, supporters of such ideas as the introduction of vouchers, choice, privatization, the creation of charter schools and various current proposals for changes in the public education system found support from the entire public sector ”. At a charter school in Boston, funding consisted of accounting for $9,500 per student per year, but there was also private funding of $3,500. The SEED Charter School was the first boarding school and was designed for low-income families in the neighborhood. It was awarded $25 million by Oprah Winfi and Bill Gates.

Thus, charter schools are private enterprises that use public resources. At the same time, they avoid unnecessary red tape and obstacles, which are usually repaired by schools by state bodies, which allows charter schools to conduct experiments in the field of education that are completely impossible in regular schools.

Unlike public schools with a large number of students, charter schools are usually small (200-400 students). This allows them to maintain good discipline and order. Charter schools, like private ones, achieve good results in education. Parents do not need to pay big money for this like in a private school. So, charter schools are a quality free education.