California Charter School Locator

My friend Beverly kindly sent me a link to the California Charter School Association, which has a handy charter schools locator that you can use to find charter schools in your area.

I haven't found a national charter schools locator, but the U.S. Charter Schools web site seems to have some interesting basic information about charter schools. I didn't even really know what a charter school is, so this definition was helpful:

Charter schools are nonsectarian public schools of choice that operate with freedom from many of the regulations that apply to traditional public schools. The "charter" establishing each such school is a performance contract detailing the school's mission, program, goals, students served, methods of assessment, and ways to measure success. The length of time for which charters are granted varies, but most are granted for 3-5 years. At the end of the term, the entity granting the charter may renew the school's contract. Charter schools are accountable to their sponsor -- usually a state or local school board -- to produce positive academic results and adhere to the charter contract. The basic concept of charter schools is that they exercise increased autonomy in return for this accountability. They are accountable for both academic results and fiscal practices to several groups: the sponsor that grants them, the parents who choose them, and the public that funds them.

It looks like there are several charter schools within our area, so I'll be adding them to mix in deciding where to send the boys to school.