Private and charter schools in the US: What’s the difference?

Twenty years ago, parents had the option of sending their kids to either a public (or government) school, private school, or international school.Today, it’s not as cut-and-dry, as different types of school are regularly cropping up, from magnet schools to charter schools, and even home schooling.Parents today are increasingly looking at alternative forms of education and school systems for their children. In the US and Australia, charter schools have been on the rise, and it’s slowly becoming a trend in the UK too, where they call them ‘charter-type academies’.According to a report by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, enrollment in charter schools  across the US over the past 10 years has nearly tripled from 1.2 million students in 2006-07, to an estimated 3.1 million in 2016-17. It said, “The estimated 7 percent growth in charter school enrollment between fall 2015 and fall 2016 demonstrates continued parental demand for high-quality educational options.” Charter schools are public schools that receive funding from the government, but operate independently. They are usually founded by parents, teachers or community organisations.They are normally called ‘public school of choice’, as parents can choose to send their child there as opposed to normal public schools, whereby children are usually designated to a particular neighbourhood.But what really is a charter school and how are they different from a private school?