Types of Public Schools

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 stated that single-sex education could be provided by recipients of federal education funds, but the lawmakers left the details to be worked out in regulations. Regulations issued in 2006 clarified the conditions for providing single-sex classrooms and extracurricular activities and expanded the former rules on single-sex schools.

Traditionally, public schools, unlike private schools, did not offer single-sex education. Today, at least 366 public schools throughout the nation are either entirely single-sex or have single-sex classrooms. More and more school districts are evaluating the pros and cons of single-sex education. While most public schools will remain coeducational, there may be a good reason to make single-sex schools and classrooms available to some public school students, particularly in schools with underprivileged students and in schools showing repeated poor performance.

It Could Happen Anywhere

Parents, teachers, and students in the school district of Greene County, Georgia, were surprised to hear that their schools were embracing single-sex education in a big way. The school board unanimously decided that beginning in the fall of 2008, all classes in all county schools will be single-sex classes. The move was designed to combat the significant problems of this rural school district, such as poor test scores, increasing dropout rates, and teen pregnancies. Under the plan, elementary school girls and boys will attend separate classrooms and those in grades 7 through 12 will attend separate schools. Greene County is the first entire school system in the U.S. to

Charter schools fit in a niche between private and public schools. They are funded with public money (except for their facilities) and they are an alternative to regular public schools systems. A private group of people can submit an application for and get approval for a charter to run their own school. Charter schools receive waivers from public school districts in exchange for promising better academic results. Charters are usually given three to five years to demonstrate academic achievement, during which time officials monitor students’ academic performance. If academic performance lags behind comparable public schools, then the charter is pulled and the school is closed.

This video explains what charter schools are, through testimonials from charter school parents, students and leaders.

Since the Minnesota legislature passed a law creating the first charter school in 1991, charter schools have seen an enormous increase in number to over 5,300 by 2011. By the 2010-2011 school year, charter school legislation had passed in 41 states and Washington, D.C. This phenomenal increase in the number of charter schools proves that it is an educational innovation that is not confined to reforming existing schools but is also an avenue by which new schools can be created. Chartering gives schools the freedom to tailor programs that are reflective of the community needs. Chartering also allows the school to run autonomously of the existing public school system. Parents and educators

This article will help you better understand what magnet schools are and their role in your family’s education. We’ll first introduce the concept of a magnet school. Then we’ll go over the function of magnet schools in detail and how those functions have changed over the years. After that, we’ll share some basic facts about magnet schools as well as go over the pros and cons of magnet schools. Finally, we’ll end the article by discussing whether a magnet school is right for your family and how to increase your chances of getting your child into a magnet school.

What is a Magnet School?

Unlike charter or private schools, a magnet school is part of the local public school system. At regular public schools, students are generally zoned into their schools based on their home location - students go to the nearest school where they live. However, this may not always be true since boundaries can seem arbitrary, and in some smaller towns, schools are not zoned at all. But, magnet schools exist outside of zoned school boundaries. Whereas private schools are separate from local public school districts, and charter schools are public schools with private oversight, magnet schools remain part of the public school system and operate under the same administration and school board.

This video explains how magnet schools differ from charter schools.

According to the Magnet Schools of America, the