Get the Facts

Charter schools are free, public, and open to all. Charter schools provide families with another choice within the public school system that has the flexibility and autonomy to meet their students' needs. These independently-operated public schools have the freedom to design classrooms that meet their students’ needs. Whether attending a virtual or brick-and-mortar charter school, these students are public school students.

Charter schools operate under a contract with an authorizer, which can be a public university, community college, intermediate school district, or a local traditional school district. Authorizers are the institutions that decide who can start a new charter school, set expectations and oversee school performance, and decide which schools should continue to serve students or not. Currently, 19 Michigan traditional districts authorize charter schools. All state-chartered schools in Michigan serve as their own Local Education Agency (LEA).

A full-service charter school management company will do everything from establishing the curriculum, to hiring teachers and principals, to handling human resources, marketing and custodial services. Other companies specialize in certain things such as human resources and/or finance.

Not every charter school has a management company, some are entirely independently-managed, while others opt for a-la-carte services, like human resources or accounting. 

Every single charter school in the state of Michigan is a tuition-free, public entity with nonprofit status - whether they work with a management company or not.

Many charter schools work with external for-profit organizations, such as management companies and other service providers, to operate their schools - just like traditional public schools who work with vendors to provide things like school lunches, books, and accounting services. However, these partnerships in no way affect the nonprofit status of any public school.

Charter schools have the flexibility and autonomy to differentiate their curriculum, facilities and school focus. Some may focus on college prep,  Montessori curriculum, fine arts and more. Some charter schools require uniforms, others have longer school days, and some teach their entire curriculum in two languages. The possibilities are endless, but charter schools aim to provide a range of options so that parents can choose the school that best fits their child.

Charter schools, like traditional district public schools, are funded according to enrollment, and receive funding from the district and the state according to the number of students attending. Charter schools, however, receive no state funding for facilities and cannot leverage local bond and millage funding for their buildings like traditional school districts can.

During the 2020-21 school year, charters reported about $12,100 in total revenue per pupil, compared with $13,400 per pupil for local traditional school districts. On average, charter school students receive about $1,300 less than traditional school students.

The board members who serve Michigan’s public schools share many things in common. Whether elected or appointed, school board members are public officials, trustees of our children’s futures and united by the belief that a high-quality education should be accessible to all. 

Charter schools serve students and families across Michigan ranging in virtually every demographic category - culturally, socioeconomically, etc. - and as such see support from many, diverse Michiganders. A recent poll showed that support for charter schools is up 5% from 2022, to 64% total, and only 22% of Michiganders have an unfavorable opinion of charters, down from 3% since 2020 (Marketing Research Group, 2022). 

Demographically, the poll showed that 54.3% of Democrats, 78.3% of Republicans, and 62.8% of Independents support charters - those numbers are up in every category since 2020. 

Simply put, Michigan families want choices in K-12 education, and charter schools are an essential piece of that puzzle.