Can someone tell me the difference between charter school and public school?

[Mskanga]

I'm wondering what the difference is , we just had a brand new charter school open in town and they offer full day kindergarten and no tuition...what does that mean? anyone know?

[amid chaos]

A charter school is a public school but they "govern" themselves rather than having the public school administration do it.

They do get the money that regular public school would get for educating your student.

I would send my child to a charter school if the opportunity was there. Test scores tend to be a bit higher. I'm not sure whether it is the caliber of students or teachers however.

[tc]

The charter schools here use core curriculum to teach. They basically follow the guidelines in the books "Everything you should know by the time you're ____ years old". I've heard a lot of good things about them, but they can be a little political. Usually there is a board with parents and staff on it that chooses curriculum and staff. The school you are looking at should have some sort of open meeting explaining how they work. I'd look into it. The scores here are also higher than normal public school.

[Kermit]

Each charter school is different. For kids that young, it's probably not too different, but at the high school level, a charter school can be very different than a regular public school. Some charter schools are a lot like magnet schools. I'd ask questions, because a lot of charter schools use really good teaching philosophies.

[Mskanga]

Thanks for the replies, I knew that someone here would know , it would be nice for DD to go to kindergarten all day but truthfully I don't want to be the guinea pig to see how this one works since it's new and I'm happy with the public school here so I will leave DD in the public school. thanks again!

[Disneymomma]

In some parts of the country, I understand some are wonderful, here the results are mixed, with the very goods ones impossible to get into, and many problems, in the others. I say do your research before making a final decision. research the test scores, pupil to teacher ratio,% of certified teachers, retention rate of teachers,(If their leaving in droves, something is wrong.) and also try to find someone who knows anyone with a child that goes there. Public schools here are very bad, charters unpredictable, so now I had to send DD to a Christian school whose kids are scoring at least two grades ahead of the local public school. I hated to have to pay tuition, but I could not sacrifice her education in any way. Please check them out before making a choice.