Like previous editions of Hopes, Fears, & Reality, the 2007 report explores some of the most challenging issues currently facing the charter school movement. This chapter addresses three main areas of charter governance: teacher involvement, community partnerships, and charter boards. The authors find that charter schools have produced some notable innovations especially in the areas of community partnerships, teacher empowerment, and formal board operations, yet despite these pockets of innovation the movement as a whole employs fairly traditional governance models. The authors conclude that charter movement leaders should encourage more experimentation and work to connect different governance practices to outcomes.
