Charter School Literature Review

Educators, Professional Organizations, and Researchers have written extensively on the topic of charter schools in general, but little research exists on the topic of charter schools in Virginia. This chapter presents a review of the literature on charter schools, including how they operate and are funded. It also provides an exploration of the history of related education reform in Virginia which informs a short discussion of the barriers to charter school proliferation in Virginia.

American Education America’s public schools were designed to put children into two groups—small thinkers and large doers—since Thomas Jefferson as Governor of Virginia defined the two roles of public education in the late 18th century (Vollmer, 2010). As shown in his directions of public schools, he did not design public education to teach all children to high levels. His main ideas about public education were that all children should

In 1619-1620 the London Company began a school to educate Indian children in Christianity following that the "East India School" was opened with the purpose of educating white children in the colony of Virginia. Virginia was a frontrunner in education during the colonial period, by continuing to establish schools and colleges, such as The College of William and Mary in 1693. Virginia’s Thomas Jefferson wanted a "Bill for More General Diffusion of Knowledge" to create a universal public education, but some of the planters at the time did not want tax money to go to educating poor children. The first free public school systems were established around 1851, and Thomas Jefferson started the first public university, The University of Virginia in 1819. Virginia has a noted place in education history, for being out front, however Illinois is where charter schools will find their