Charter schools are independent public schools that operate under a performance contract, or a “charter”, which frees them from many of the regulations created for traditional public schools, while holding them accountable for academic and financial results. The charter contract between the charter school governing board and the sponsor details 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 five years.
The Florida Legislature, in authorizing the creation of public charter schools, established the following guiding principles: high standards of student achievement while increasing parental choice; the alignment of responsibility with accountability; ensuring parents receive information on reading levels and learning gains of their children. Charter schools are intended to improve student learning, increase learning opportunities with special emphasis on low performing students and reading and measure learning outcomes. Charter schools may create innovative measurement tools, provide competition to stimulate improvement in traditional schools, expand capacity of the publich school system and mitigate the educational impact created by the development of new residential units.