Here is a list of do's and don'ts when it comes to writing a charter.

Don'ts:

Don't include broad, sweeping generalities, such as "It is our goal to improve students' self-esteem."

Don't include target academic achievement goals that are too optimistic, but do not make them any lower than those currently being achieved by the local public schools from which the students came.

Don't write your governance statements so specifically that you are prohibited from streamlining your decision-making process should you discover you are bogged down in process and can't get anything done.

Don't write unnecessary personnel-selection criteria into the charter. You may discover that you've found just the right person for the job only to find your charter regulations prohibit his or her hiring.

Don't write hard-and-fast student-behavior rules into your charter. You simply cannot anticipate all of the conditions surrounding a student's behavior which might require non-standard discipline. Place such rules in your school's handbook or bylaws instead.

Don't create multiple layers of individuals or groups in governance (governing board, principal, advisory committee, staff, parent advisory group, or student advisory group); you left the public schools because, among other reasons, there was too much bureaucracy. Schools are very vibrant, alive institutions. Decisions must often be made quickly. Don't junk the process up with endless democracy. It sounds great but works badly. A school is a workplace for both staff and students. It is not a legislature.

Don't include in your contract wishful thinking you cannot reasonably achieve, such things as required parent participation or promises that students will "emerge" as independent thinkers, socially aware, self-motivated, lifelong learners or the like. The job will be hard enough to do without setting contractual traps for yourself.

Don't write into your charter union-like contract promises that require expenditures you may find yourself unable to pay, such as free time during school hours for teachers' preparation, attendance at conferences, special personal equipment like computers, days off for R and R, money for college class fees, etc.

Do's:

Do create a streamlined "mean and lean" governance process led by a strong visionary leader; a brand-new school will need a quick response attitude. You will face countless unexpected problems daily.

Do write clear goals that are challenging (modestly higher than the public schools you are competing with) and measurable in a way that is indisputable (standardized tests).

Do have your students take the same standardized tests given to your state public school children. It will prove to the world that you are succeeding (you must prove this to survive) and will force your staff to focus on the core subjects tested by the state test.

Do limit your curriculum as defined in the charter to fewer, rather than more, subjects. Teaching fewer subjects in depth will not only increase your chances for success (remember, you are a new business that statistically has a greater chance to fail) but is better, more-focused education.

Do build an amendment process into your charter to allow for quick, easy, mutually acceptable amendments to the charter by both the charter school and the school board. Do the same, if possible, with the employee unions if you are required to hire union members of the granting public school system in order to establish your charter school.

Do include specific budgetary procedures in your charter. It will be inhibiting, but unlike streamlined governance or curriculum, you'll thank your lucky stars that your business officer was given very clear direction when it comes to accounting for every tax dollar. And do require monthly budget reports and read them. Your job and more may be on the line!

Do include in your charter a non-discrimination policy for both staff and students, and make sure your enrollment procedures can withstand a test of the fairness of those procedures.

Do say what you mean and mean what you say. If you feel strongly that a certain practice is at the heart of your school, such as writing individual learning plans or having high academic standards of achievement or assigning extensive out-of-school homework or maintaining small class size or whatever, include it in your charter. Because it is now part of the contract you have agreed to, it will force the staff to give it their highest priority and thus increase its chances for achievement.

Do include in your charter some sort of executive committee or board for your charter school, one that plays a role similar to that of a public school district board of education, i.e. policy making, hearing of disputes, hiring, dismissal (if within the scope of the law and charter). Do not imply, however, that this group is in any way the day-to-day manager of the school. The size of the board should be an odd number, usually five to seven members, and be comprised of a combination of parents/teachers and perhaps a citizen-at-large and/or a student, if your charter includes secondary students. Warning: Boards like to micromanage. The charter should guard against such behavior, perhaps by referring to the regulations in state law that restrict such behavior (i.e., in California, by referring to the duties of the Superintendent VS the duties of the Board of Trustees, California Education Code #35035 A-G).

Do include basic rules of employee rights if the employees are not covered by the granting school district's union contract. The most important of these are those rights granted by the United States Constitution, such as the right to a hearing under due process and the right to equal treatment under the law. In short, the right to some reasonable due process must be provided. Warning: Do not fall into the trap of expanding rights beyond those basic rights, or soon your charter will become a union contract (which, by the way, is usually 50-200 pages long).

Do be sure that all employees and possibly volunteers have been checked through a fingerprinting process via the local/state police for a criminal record. Do not allow anyone to work with students until this process is completed. One child molestation will close you down!