Virginia Charter School Resource Center

Virginia first passed its charter school law in 1998. In 2010, the Virginia General Assembly approved two changes to the law. The first, HB 1390, established a new procedure for the state Board of Education to review charter applications or reconsider denied applications. The second, SB 736M, approved a new type of charter school, College Partnership Laboratory Schools, to be established by public higher education institutions with teacher education programs.

Prior changes made to the law in 2002 and 2004 were designed to help clear the way for building a stronger charter school movement, by removing obstacles and ensuring that applications get considered fairly. In 2009, Governor Kaine signed legislation authored by Del. L. Scott Lingamfelter to make these changes permanent, and also to remove the caps on the number of charter schools in the state.

Today, Virginia has 2 charter schools, with a third scheduled to open in Richmond in summer 2010. In response to both the success of charters nationwide, and to the changes that have opened up the Commonwealth's charter school laws, many communities have begun to consider charter schools as a tool to increase options for parents.

Charter schools are nonsectarian, public schools of choice. They are granted special autonomy to run independently of their traditional local school system in exchange for meeting agreed-upon levels of student academic performance. They can offer a specialized and innovative educational vision, or simply represent a new choice for parents. Charters are often smaller than other public schools, allowing them to offer certain advantages by virtue of that smallness.

Nationally, there are currently over 4,500 charter schools serving over 1.4 million students. Nearly two-thirds of these have waiting lists. Forty states and the District of Columbia have charter school laws.

Charter schools also represent a valuable restructuring tool for policymakers seeking to meet their communities' educational needs. Any Virginia school failing to achieve at least 70 percent of its students passing the SOL tests could lose its state accreditation. At that point, such a school will have to have a corrective action plan signed by its principal and superintendent, and then approved by the local school board and State Board of Education. As this deadline approaches, reorganization into charter schools offering new approaches and options for parents will make great sense.

In addition, charter schools are an integral part of the public school choice options required of school districts by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. These are options for parents of children served by schools that have been designated chronically underperforming or “in need of improvement.”

The Virginia Charter School Resource Center was created to provide information, technical and other assistance wherever possible to help energize a robust charter school movement for the Commonwealth. A project of the Lexington Institute in Arlington, the Center can be reached at info@virginiacharterschools.org.