什么是美国“特许学校”?

What Is a Charter School? 什么是美国“特许学校”?

Last week, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump¹ nominated Betsy DeVos to be the Secretary of Education in his administration.

DeVos is an education activist². She supports school choice -- a term for policies that let students and their families choose between attending private or public schools.

Devos has been a leading supporter of charter schools.

So, what are charter schools? How are they different from traditional public schools in the United States?

In today's Education report, we explore the charter school movement.

What are charter schools?

The American state of Minnesota passed the country’s first charter school law in the early 1990s. Since then, charter schools have spread from coast to coast.

There are currently more than 6,700 charter schools, educating nearly 3 million students nationwide. Those numbers come from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, a non-profit organization.

Charter schools are a kind of public school that receives a special charter, or written rules, from a state government.

A charter is a document, or series of documents, that gives rights to a person or group of individuals.

Charter schools cannot require students to pay tuition for their education. The schools also cannot set admissions requirements. If too many young people asked to be admitted, the school must choose its students through a lottery³ system.

Charter schools are different from public schools in many ways. They often have flexibility⁴ in the kinds of classes and programs that they can offer. They often do not have to follow the rules public schools do.

Jon Valant is an education expert at the Brookings Institution, a public policy group. He says the charter school movement grew out of unhappiness with public schools.

Over time, different groups began supporting the charter cause. Civil rights groups wanted schools that broke down barriers based on race or wealth. Parents wanted greater ability to choose where their children went to school. Some Americans said that competition between schools could improve the quality of education.

The main idea was that increased flexibility in an education program would let charter schools better serve their students.

Why do Americans debate charter schools?

Not all Americans like charter schools.

For over 20 years, critics have argued that charter schools take money away from public schools, and may not serve students with special needs.

Some civil rights groups have opposed charter schools.

The NAACP and Black Lives Matter movement, for example, have released statements criticizing charter schools. They say that charter schools have exacerbated⁵ segregation⁷, increasing racial barriers. The groups have also criticized the use of suspension as a punishment in charter schools. They point to studies that suggest that charter schools are more likely to suspend minority students.

Some labor⁸ and union organizers disagree about whether charter schools are actually public schools. The National Labor Relations Board, for example, recently ruled in two cases teachers at charter schools operate under rules that govern private sector⁹ employees.* Traditionally, public school teachers are subject to laws for public employees.

What does the evidence about charter schools say?

In the United States, tests are often used to measure educational success.

When opponents and supporters of charter schools talk about a school’s performance, they are often talking about state test results. Whether current state tests are the best way to measure success is a subject of debate.

Valant, at Brookings, explains what the evidence shows about state tests and charter schools:

"The best evidence we have now is that if you look across the country, kids in charter schools perform similarly on state tests to kids who are in similar schools. So it doesn't look like there are very large effects across the board on test scores."

Valant goes on to explain that charter schools are not all the same. Some charter schools do a better job than others do.

"Having said that, the effects on test scores are more positive in urban areas, which is where there is a lot of energy behind charter schools, so that's where you do tend to see charters outperforming some of the local traditional public schools on state tests."

Another point, Valant adds, is that one of the hopes of charter school founders¹⁰ was to de-segregate American schools. This reality was one that the charter school movement hoped, but has not been able to change.

Another hope of the founders is that charter schools would increase competition with public schools. The idea was that competition would lead all schools to improve. To date, there is no proof that the competition has improved public school quality. "That evidence just isn't there," Valant says.

What does the debate over charter schools show you about America?

Michael Hansen is an education expert at the Brookings Institution. He says he thinks the debates over charter schools show that some Americans are suspicious of the idea of public money going to private interests. The idea that charter schools have ties to private organizations, such as religious groups, is one common misconception.

Valant, also at Brookings, adds that the charter movement has appealed to Americans with different beliefs. This appeal, which has not been true of other education reform ideas, helps to explain some of the growth of charter schools.

Charter schools have not unified¹¹ both political parties, Valant explains, but these schools have found enough support in the country’s two leading parties.

"I think that support" he adds, "has been important in the sustained development of what is a pretty fundamental restructuring of the way that schools are governed."

Words in This Story

charter – n. a document issued by a government that gives rights to a person or group

tuition – n. money that is paid to a school for the right to study there

flexibility – n. able to change or to do different things

across the board -- phrase adj. affecting everyone or everything in a group

misconception – n. a wrong or mistaken idea

exacerbate⁶ – v. to make more violent or severe

lottery – n. a game or event in which the final result is decided by chance

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

3 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

4 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

5 exacerbated   

v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The symptoms may be exacerbated by certain drugs. 这些症状可能会因为某些药物而加重。
• The drugs they gave her only exacerbated the pain. 他们给她吃的药只是加重了她的痛楚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 exacerbate   

v.恶化，增剧，激怒，使加剧

参考例句：

• WMO says a warming climate can exacerbate air pollution.世界气象组织说，气候变暖可能会加剧空气污染。
• In fact efforts will merely exacerbate the current problem.实际上努力只会加剧当前的问题。

7 segregation   

n.隔离，种族隔离

参考例句：

• Many school boards found segregation a hot potato in the early 1960s.在60年代初，许多学校部门都觉得按水平分班是一个棘手的问题。
• They were tired to death of segregation and of being kicked around.他们十分厌恶种族隔离和总是被人踢来踢去。

8 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

9 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

10 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

11 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。