Differences Between Charter and Magnet Schools

In my area both schools require applications.

Magnet schools have a focus, like arts or science. Charters may or may not. Magnet schools are staffed by certified teachers. Charters may of may not. Magnets are in predominantly minority neighborhoods housed in "rough" areas. Charters are in quiet suburban well-landscaped areas. Magnets must have at least 51% of their students from the nearby community (therefore minority and low SES) while charters can pick and choose their students. Magnets have the same admin as regular public schools and adhere to the same policies as others in the district. Charters are their own entities.

That's why I stated in my area. I'm not even sure my assessment is true everywhere within my state.

That is quite interesting, IRBC. DC has, basically, that format.

One question - since magnets pull resources away from traditional, neighborhood, schools, are they not sort of a 'charter-lite' or, because many standards are the same, and students 'count' for the District, are they a better option?

See, something like NYSE BOCES-run technical programs, for those not college-bound, is quite appealing, at least to me. Students attend their main school for English, Math, Science, and then get their electives, perhaps cosmetology, auto-repair, et al, through BOCES. That appears to be a bit better model than totally separate schools, especially for-profit ones!

Trying to come up with a sort of proposal to combat the Charter vampirism - and that is beyond me, but hopefully some of us can come together with one that BATs can fully support.



Nikk

Here in Arizona, charter schools are most certainly answerable to the AZ Board of Ed, which is why so many schools (at least in Tucson) are on the verge of being shut down due to the crappily-run programs on the primarily poor sides of town.

On the other hand, there are also charters in better neighborhoods. These consist of schools that skim the cream of the crop off the ever-shrinking middle class. Thanks to its ability to vet while at the same time saying, ""We accept everyone on a random lottery basis!", one school here ranks nationally. A second is widely known as "the Christian charter school." (The admin makes it clear up-front, and there's a freshly-built church adjacent to the freshly-built campus.)

That said, I'd be lying if I said I don't regularly dream about starting my own charter school, where I could teach what I thought was important to at-risk kids without all the bullshit that goes on in the massive, bureaucratically nightmarish district that is Tucson Unified, or in the nepotistic, shamelessly corrupt, public-gone-corporate district that is Sunnyside.

I wish I could say it were better here.