The Learning Collective has evaluated over 100 charter school applications in states across the country. These are three areas in which many applicants need to improve:
- Prospective board members are often uninformed on the particulars of the proposed school’s education program.
- Many individuals relatively new to the charter world underestimate the time commitment necessary to be a successful charter school board member. Volunteering on a charter school board requires significantly more time than volunteering on another type of non-profit board.
- Many proposed school leaders only have experiences running schools in traditional public school settings. Running, for example, an independent charter school with no centralized support is running a school and non-profit business simultaneously. This can often be a shock to traditional public school leaders once a school launches and contributes significantly to high leader turnover in charter schools’ early years.