Bryan Hassel, Education Commission of the States
May 2002
The Education Commission of the States has just published a trio of short papers (drafted mostly by Public Impact's Bryan Hassel, one of the country's foremost charter-school experts), dealing with various aspects of the charter-district idea. If you don't know much about charter districts, check out these papers. The longest of them, a ten-page policy brief called "Charter Districts, The State of the Field," explains and illustrates the concept, using a generous definition that encompasses five categories. These range from tiny districts that have converted all their schools into charters, to state-takeover situations (Philadelphia, for example) that include the outsourcing of some schools, to municipalities (like Indianapolis) that have become charter sponsors themselves. I'm not sure the categories add up to a coherent whole and there aren't many real-world examples of any of them. In other words, charter districts are more idea than reality. But in this and the two companion papers, the authors explain their possible benefits and "challenges," offer initial impressions of how they're working (mostly dwelling on autonomy and accountability) and pose questions by which state and district officials can determine whether this reform might suit them. See "Charter Districts, The State of the Field" http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/37/04/3704.htm; "Key Questions for State Leaders in Creating and Supporting All-Charter Districts" http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/35/79/3579.htm; and "Key Questions for District Leaders in Creating and Supporting All-Charter Districts" " http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/35/80/3580.htm.
