Who teaches in American charter schools? Findings from secondary analysis of the 1999–2000 Schools and Staffing Survey

Abstract

Charter schools have been in existence for 20 years in the USA and their effectiveness has been heatedly debated. Despite a growing literature on charter school administration, research on charter school teachers in comparison with their counterparts at traditional public schools is scarce. Using secondary data from the 1999–2000 Schools and Staffing Survey, this study aims to compare the demographic and qualification characteristics of charter school teachers versus traditional public school teachers. Cross-tab analysis, bivariate, and multivariate logistic regression analyses were applied. The results show that charter teachers were considerably younger, more likely to be from minority groups, much less experienced, less likely to have earned a bachelor's degree, to have qualified for full certification, and to be teaching in-field than traditional public teachers. However, charter school teachers were also more likely to graduate from more selective colleges. It is concluded that the reduced regulation at charter schools helped lower the entry barriers to teaching for non-traditionally certified but academically qualified candidates. This study is limited by the fact that the secondary data used are around 10 years old. Therefore, the results should be treated primarily as ‘snapshot’ views of the US charter school teachers in early 2000s.