Right now, the Rockford school board is accepting applications to bring a charter school to the district as early as 2009. So we're taking a closer look at how the system works and how it could benefit Rockford students.

"Being here has changed my life tremendously," says Kaprice Ford. Ford went from dropout to standout with the help of the Chicago charter school, Youth Connection Leadership Academy, or YCLA. Students come here after dropping out of the traditional chicago public schools. YCLA links academics with career preparation to keep kids engaged.

"We're faced with obstacles every day.so when you come here you have people who care about you, it makes it easier for you to want to come to school and be here," says Ford.

Individual attention is one of the hallmarks of charter school education. Teachers frequently offer private tutoring before and after school and charters have the autonomy to try new tactics and tailor classwork to individual students' needs.
Charters are approved and monitored by the local school board and have to meet state standards, but they're run by an independent charter board, that makes curriculum decisions.

"When something's working, we can double the efforts on it, when something isn't, we can change things mid-stream relatively easily," says Beth Purvis, Director of Chicago International Charter Schools, or CICS.

Like most charters, CICS boast higher standardized test scores and graduation rates than normal public schools. 91 percent of CICS high schoolers graduate and 86 percent of those students go on to college. Truancy and discipline problems are also minimal.

"Here it's more controlled. We get along with each other like a family," says CICS student Marroz Franklin.

At UNO Charter Schools' Ruffino Tamayo Campus, administrators credit setting high standards for their success.

Ruffino Tamayo is a neighborhood school in a vastly Spanish-speaking community. But once students walk through the doors, they're expected to speak only English.

"Parents know that English is the language of success in this country for their children," says Juan Rangel, President of the UNO Charter Schools Network.

UNO Master Teacher Tim Riff says, "We work very closely with our families. We set a rigorous curriculum, we set high expectations for our students."

Charter school operators are also motivated by the fact that if their students don't excel, the school can be shut down.

For more information on how charter public schools operate, copy this link into your browser: http://www.wifr.com/home/headlines/34971964.html
Tune in Tuesday night at ten, to see how charters could work in Rockford.