Reprinted from October Op Ed: In response to Oct. 21 article More Magic Valley schools consider charter option, by Damon Hunzeker

In the article Hunzeker says “Charter schools, while accountable to federal, state, and district authorities, offer less rigid curricula than traditional schools, because each charter is governed by its own school board.”

The fact is that Idaho charter schools are accountable for teaching and testing the same state curriculum standards as traditional public schools. Charter schools do not offer a less rigid curriculum simply because they are operated by their own school board. In fact, many charter schools in the state offer advanced, college prep, or even professional technical curriculums IN ADDITION to addressing the same state standards as traditional public schools.

The fact that charters are operated by their own board often gives them flexibility with scheduling, staffing, and resource allocation as well as the ability to be more responsive and nimble. At the end of the year, students in charter schools take the same state standards-based tests as those in traditional public schools and if the level of rigor in the charter school is low, so too, will be the students’ performance on these tests. This holds true for traditional public schools, business and aspects of everyday life as well. Less rigor in the input = less quality in the output. It is not a charter school issue or an issue that is in any way related to charter schools being operated by their own board.

Let’s stop perpetuating myths about Idaho public charter schools– there are plenty of accurate resources available from the Idaho Charter School Network or the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools– free for the “Google-ing”.

Parental Choice . Parents