A Smarter Charter

Moving beyond the debate over whether or not charter schools should exist, this book wrestles with the question of what kind of charter schools we should encourage. The authors begin by tracing the evolution of charter schools from teacher union leaders Albert Shanker's original vision of giving teachers room to innovate while educating a diverse population of students, to today's charter schools where the majority of teachers are not unionized and student segregation levels are even higher than in traditional public schools. Int he second half of the book, the authors examine two key reforms currently seen in a small but growing number of charter schools--teacher voice and socioeconomic integration--that have the potential to improve performance and reshape the stereotypical image of what it means to be a charter school.