From the Arizona Republic:

December 17, 2008, 8:58 p.m.

JEFFREY JAVIER
The Arizona Republic

Since the first Arizona charter school opened in 1995, charters have seen a steady enrollment boom as parents seek alternative choices to the traditional public-school district.

Statewide, there are 478 charter schools this school year compared to 455 in 2007-08, according to the Arizona Charter Schools Association. This year’s enrollment will not be known until February, but 100,119 K-12 students were enrolled in 2007-08.

In Pima County, 14,426 students attended 80 charter schools in 2007-08.

Arizona’s charter schools are operated by private companies or agencies which contract with the state and are paid by the state for each student they educate. They are smaller than most district schools and are less regulated by the state. No tuition is charged because they are public schools.

These specialty schools are one of the reasons for the success of charter schools in Arizona.

Matthew Ladner, vice president of research for the policy-research organization Goldwater Institute, said the idea of choice is what attracts parents to charter schools.

“When parents get to choose, no one knows kids better than the parents when it comes to looking for a good fit,” Ladner said. “Choice is part of the reason why charter schools are growing the way they are today.”

Arizona is one of the leaders of the national charter-school movement, said Larry Pieratt, executive director for university public schools at Arizona State University.

“Arizona charter schools are coming into its own and have risen to a level where it’s an integral part of the system,” Pieratt said.

Though specialty education and choice are major draws, there are some drawbacks. Transportation is sometimes an issue because some charter schools don’t offer buses to pick up and drop off students. There also is the question of whether a charter school is effective. Funding is an issue because charter schools receive about $4,000 for each student enrolled from the state, which is $2,000 less than what public schools receive.

Eileen Sigmund, president and CEO of the Arizona Charter Schools Association, said the economy is a concern for charter schools like it is for district schools. But despite these drawbacks, charter schools have managed and grown throughout the Valley because of stringent laws and oversight.

“There is a measure of quality control,” Ladner said. “If a charter school has really bad test scores, then parents can say they don’t want to go to that charter school. It is a very positive phenomenon that doesn’t happen in public schools.”

Charter schools are held accountable through the same state tests, such as AIMS, under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The Arizona State Board for Charter Schools can revoke a school’s charter should it perform poorly.