"If I have to choose between optimism and pessimism," said Bruno Manno, looking ahead after ten years of the charter school movement, "I think I'd be [somewhere in] the middle . . . with hope that this thing might work out over the long term, but I think there are really some severe obstacles along the way." Manno, senior program associate for education at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and Bryan C. Hassel, director of Public Impact, an education policy consulting firm, offered mixed reviews of the charter school movement's accomplishments and future potential at a November 20 AEI conference organized by Resident Scholar Frederick M. Hess.

Charter schools enjoy high esteem among parents and students, and this has resulted in the establishment of 2,700 schools that serve more than 700,000 students in thirty-four states and the District of Columbia. Moreover, 75 percent of these schools have waiting lists. Recognizing these numbers, Manno said, "I think no matter which way you look at it there have been successes, but there have also been a lot of problems." 

Manno identified some of the challenges that charters face. "There's a three front war going on: at the state level, then on the local level, and then under the umbrella of . . . the education establishment."

Another major roadblock to charter success are the enemies within the charter movement, Manno said. These include "greedy charter operators who want to make a quick buck at public expense rather than educating children," inept operators who create institutions that are fiscally or academically disastrous, and sponsors or authorizers who fail to adequately monitor the charter schools.

Despite these challenges, Manno saw hope for the future, citing the charter movement's attempt to police itself. He identified organizations such as the California Network of Education and the American Academy of Liberal Education as pushing charters in the right direction by establishing accreditation processes for them.

Manno called the charter movement "vigorous" and said that "it has really advanced." Yet Manno saw the question of how charters might be expanded further as another major concern. Hassel, taking up this point, agreed with Manno about the high level of demand, but noted that charter school growth is decreasing. "It's not that hard to figure out why we have a supply problem," Hassel said. "Starting up a new public school is really, really hard. It's a very difficult thing to do. It requires a range of expertise--everything from educational expertise to small business startup skills to [knowledge of] public officialdom--so it's not that surprising there are only so many people who are willing to undertake what is a pretty extraordinary challenge."

Hassel discussed whether the solution to this problem could be Education Management Organizations (EMOs), which are large companies or nonprofits that seek to start many schools. Because of their size, EMOs such as the for-profit Edison Schools can acquire capital from various markets, aggregate skills, and start many schools. Yet Hassel said these advantages are only theoretical and have not yet been fully realized. Additionally, Hassel pointed out that schools founded by parents and teachers enjoy political support because of their grassroots feel, and it is unlikely that EMOs would be able to generate similar political backing. Hassel said a final reason "to be somewhat squeamish about putting all the eggs in the EMO basket is that large corporate management organizations are unlikely to be the kind of breakthrough, innovative organizations that we want at least some charter schools to be."

Continuing the discussion on charter school expansion, Hassel said the movement needed to get better at replicating success. "We have a lot of individual success stories, but they tend to remain individual success stories. They tend to brag about their giant waiting lists when . . . the fact that they have been successful ought to be a signal that we need another school like this or we need another group of schools like this." He recognized that charter schools are often successful because of the unique qualities of their founders, and thus "their success may be kind of difficult to bottle up into . . . a package that they can replicate."

Manno and Hassel focused their comments on the challenges facing the charter movement, yet both speakers were careful to hedge their criticism and note that charter schools continue to enjoy high demand from parents, while overcoming many challenges through enterprising, innovative thinking.