About Charter Schools

The Benefits of Teaching in a Charter School

Charter schools are nonsectarian public schools that operate with freedom from many of the regulations that apply to traditional public schools.

Teachers and other employees working in charter schools enjoy the benefits that come with the charter school setting:

• Personalization - Charter schools are able to focus more on individual students and their needs due to smaller settings at the majority of schools.
• Customer service - Charter schools can only succeed if employees, parents and students are satisfied with the services provided by the school.
• Unique features and innovative programs - Charter schools strive to offer students and parents unique programs and services not provided by traditional public schools in order to attract students.
• Professional learning - Charter schools offer opportunities for professional learning and growth to ensure high quality teachers are employed.
• Research-based curriculum flexibility - Charter schools do not have to follow district curriculum but have the flexibility to use other, research-based curricula and programs.
• High standards for success - Charter schools are held to higher levels of performance by the state, district and parents, and must perform satisfactorily to remain open.
• Comparable benefits - Most charter schools offer employee benefits that are comparable to those offered by the school districts.

Florida's first charter school was created in 1996 and since then, the charter school movement has grown tremendously to enrich the educational options available to Florida families.

In 2024-25, there were 732 charter schools serving 406,832 students in 48 of Florida's 67 counties. These schools serve a diverse student population and focus on providing different educational options for students with special interests or needs. Many schools offer college prep programs or career tracks to ensure that students are well prepared for their future endeavors. Below are just some of the areas of focus and specialty found in Florida charter schools:

• Performing and Visual arts
• STEM Focus
• Foreign Language immersion (Spanish, Greek, Hebrew, Chinese, Russian)
• Students with Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities, including Autism
• Native Culture
• Marine Science
• Agricultural Science
• Green and Healthy Focus
• Environmental Studies
• Career Tracks (i.e., emergency response, law enforcement, education, engineering, computer science, food and hospitality, legal studies, medical studies, and many more)
• Classical Education