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Given the fundamental role of public education in the foundational framework of equity and social justice leadership, as well as the demonstrated shortcomings of the current system of education, the primary goal of this chapter is to explore issues of social justice, leadership, and equity, in the context of charter schools. A corollary purpose is to build on the work of Wells, Slayton, and Scott (2002) who called on progressive supporters of charter schools and public schools to couch their arguments for democratic schooling in a call for social justice and equity as opposed to greater “liberty” for educational consumers.

Literature reveals that charter schools were established to improve learning, support low-achieving students, offer innovation and school choice, and create greater competition within the public school system to stimulate continued educational improvement. However, charter schools have political, organizational, and financial challenges that are unique to their settings. Unlike traditional schools that depend on district central offices, charter schools must identify their own sources to sustain organizational needs (Smith, Wohlstetter, & Hentschke, 2008a, 2008b). Conzemius and O’Neill (2001) argue building a community of collaboration among faculty is a key component of charter school success. Studies reveal that the development of school–family–community partnerships is a key component of education reform and school improvement (Bryan, 2005; Sanders, 2003) and building partnerships is necessary for charter schools to acquire much-needed resources. The intent of this chapter is to provide urban charter school and autonomous leaders with the knowledge, skills, and tools to build collaboration among school faculty, engage a variety of community stakeholders, and build and sustain strong community partnerships in ways that lead to school improvement.

The term Instructional Leader is often given to the leader of the school, even if she/he doesn’t deserve it. Instructional leadership consisting of four “main ingredients”: (1) a true understanding of and appreciation for the craft of teaching on the part of the site administrator, (2) the capacity to gauge the quality and effectiveness of instruction by individual teachers as well as teacher groups, (3) a practical, consistent, and ongoing teacher support and development system, and (4) the ability to remove teachers who prove to be ineffective from the classroom, is provided to guide the behaviors and actions of the school leader in becoming an Instructional Leader. Components of this “recipe” include the administrator teaching in classrooms, creation, implementation, and monitoring of a framework for instruction, as well as the teacher evaluation as an extension of the implementation of the framework. Instructional Leaders are made and the authors identify ideas from Fullan's Motion Leader (2010) to support a manager's change to becoming an Instructional Leader.

School leaders often feel compelled to safeguard, manage and promote the mission and vision of the school in order to keep staff on task and on track. An alternative approach is to do just the opposite. This chapter examines school leadership at an innovative charter school that believes that the mission and vision of the school belongs to the school community, is organic and needs to evolve over time. Teachers have created the framework and design for the curriculum, have planned and implemented professional development to support the design, and essentially have re-shaped the structure and format of instruction, leading to a stronger sense of ownership and increased engagement within the school community.

Special education issues and considerations often perplex and confuse many educational institutions, regardless if they are traditional or autonomous organizations such as charters. However, research indicates these issues tend to be more complicated with charters because the realm of special education is highly regulated and in many cases, in direct conflict with charter core tenets of autonomy, innovation, curriculum, and accountability. Since the emergence of charter schools in 1991, researchers have investigated the relationship between charter law and the highly regulated domain of special education. The literature has evolved as charters have become more prevalent and established. But one thing remains the same, charter law and federal regulations are often in conflict with one another and cause great tension for autonomous leaders who strive to improve educational practices and learning for all the students they serve. Thus, this chapter focuses on important leadership considerations when building, improving, and maintaining an effective charter organization with regards to working with students with special needs. Essentially, the tension between autonomous leadership and federal regulations can be eased by planning for students with special needs. The key to successful planning and implementation is through alignment that goes beyond the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) Standard.

The national educational landscape shows exponential growth of charter, independent, and autonomous schools. Lake and Gross (2012) states that, “According to the most recent numbers available, 5,275 charter schools now enroll about 1.8 million students-about 4 percent of all public school students creating a similarly expanded need for specialized resources to train an expected 7,000 to 23,000 new charter leaders over the next ten years (p. 10). Most educational leadership books focus on skills needed for leaders in traditional public schools; the charter and autonomous school pathway is the road less traveled; asking us to think anew about what leadership on this less-traveled road should look like. Leading a charter or autonomous school in these tough economic times is much like riding a bicycle for the very first time without training wheels, on an unknown road. Those who lead in such an environment will need more than passion and conviction for improving the educational opportunities for our nation's disenfranchised youth. This chapter focuses on the unique realities that confront leaders of smaller autonomous schools. It is designed to give perspective and furnish aspiring, new, and veteran small-school leaders with ideas, skills, and tools to deal with the myriad challenges that confront all urban public school leaders.

The school leader of today needs to be a passionate individual with the ability to stay focused on multiple areas to ensure the students achieve in their learning community. Leaders with a skill set that includes successfully understanding and managing the operations and finance of the program is critical in a time of increased pressure on schools to accomplish more with limited revenues and resources.

Great school leaders understand and embrace the elements of Educational Leadership Policy Standards (2008) while regularly engaging in the areas of operations and finance to keep a pulse on the backbone of the organization. Understanding the “business side” of operating a school is key for a leader to balance academic outcomes for students, while managing the business of education within their organization.

Leaders with a willingness to grow can harness their educational backgrounds and connect key elements of business fundamentals to achieve the balancing act necessary for success that benefits students, parents, and the school community.

Driving home from my 10th YCSC high school graduation in less than two week's time, having just seen our 1000th graduate walk the stage, I reflected on the joyous cheers of families and friends celebrating a victory they never thought they would know. Basking in their happiness, I started thinking about the last five years and what it had taken to achieve this dream of mine.