Challenges and Charter Schools: How Families with Special Needs Perceive and Use Charter School Options

This report addresses choices made at the intersection of two very important trends in education: special education and charter schools. Advocates of school choice contend that the diversity of the student population requires a diversity of schools to allow parents to select the right “fit” for their children. Students with special needs are at the far margins of diversity, and their needs by definition are above and beyond those of their more typical peers. In both school choice theoretical frameworks and special education legal frameworks, it is intended that parents are full partners and advocates for their children in making educational choices. The responsibility of the family for making positive choices is thus magnified when families of students with special needs consider a range of school choices, including charter schools.