charter school

noun

Updated on: 24 Apr 2018

Definition of charter school

: a tax-supported school established by a charter between a granting body (such as a school board) and an outside group (as of teachers and parents) which operates the school without most local and state educational regulations so as to achieve set goals

See charter school defined for English-language learners

See charter school defined for kids

Recent Examples of charter school from the Web

Interim Kentucky Education Commissioner Wayne Lewis is a strong proponent of charter schools.

— morgan watkins, The Courier-Journal, "Bevin officials were likely after education commissioner's job last year, lawmaker says," 20 Apr. 2018
The nearly 450 students enrolled at the public charter school last year shared roughly 70 computers, laptops and iPads.

— talia richman, baltimoresun.com, "Computer-based tests are another challenge for low-income students, some Baltimore teachers say," 19 Apr. 2018
Until 2017, a D.C. Public Schools investigator handled fraud probes of the traditional public schools while the state superintendent hired private investigators to look into residency at charter schools.

— peter jamison, Washington Post, "Stop enrollment fraud? D.C. school officials are often the ones committing it," 16 Apr. 2018
Ian Rowe, who heads a network of charter schools serving low-income students in New York—provided a real-life example during his remarks.

— natalie wexler, The Atlantic, "Why American Students Haven't Gotten Better at Reading in 20 Years," 13 Apr. 2018
For the first time, 10 percent of the schools will have charter school pilot programs, which will be run independently from the district schools.

— the washington post, NOLA.com, "Puerto Rico to close nearly a third of its public schools as it pushes charters, vouchers," 9 Apr. 2018
When the schools were initially created, a quirk in the law allowed them to get funding from the same pool as traditional charter schools.

— dylan peers mccoy, Indianapolis Star, "The New York Times profiled Indiana’s adult high schools. Here’s why they’re getting attention.," 7 Apr. 2018
The Florida Legislature created the Schools of Hope charter school system outside the control of districts.

— jeffrey s. solochek, miamiherald, "School boards sued Florida over ‘Schools of Hope.’ Judge dismissed the case. | Miami Herald," 5 Apr. 2018
Columbia professor Sarah Cohodes studied a broader array of charter schools.

— jonathan chait, Daily Intelligencer, "These Urban Experiments Prove Charles Murray Is Wrong About Race Science," 2 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'charter school.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of charter school

1988

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

CHARTER SCHOOL Defined for English Language Learners

charter school

noun

Definition of charter school for English Language Learners

: a school that is established by a charter, is run by teachers, parents, etc., and uses tax money but does not have to be run according to the rules of a city or state

CHARTER SCHOOL Defined for Kids

charter school

noun

Definition of charter school for Students

: a public school that is established by a charter describing its programs and goals and is supported by taxes but does not have to be run according to many of the rules of a city or state