SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today unveiled a new Web tool to help the public more easily locate and obtain vital information on charter schools in their communities.

The new interactive charter schools map can be viewed at: Charter Schools in California Counties or through the California Department of Education (CDE) Web site at California Department of Education, keywords "charter school locator."

"A vast amount of information on California's charter schools is now available with a simple click of the mouse," said O'Connell.  "This makes the process of accessing information about public school options and choices across the state much more transparent, easy, and quick."

On the new interactive map, people can click on their county of residence.  This will produce a report on all the charter schools in that county, along with information on schools' academic performance, addresses, grade levels served, types of programs offered, and if available, links to individual charter school Web sites. Existing charter school information that was located throughout the CDE Web site is now all linked conveniently through this one Web map that is accessible online 24 hours a day, seven days a week from any location.

Charter schools are public schools that can be models of innovation. They may also meet the needs of students who are not well served by traditional school settings.  There are currently 620 charter schools in operation in California.  O'Connell has long been a supporter of such schools and created a Charter School Division within the CDE in 2003 to address the rapid growth in their popularity.

For more information on charter schools, please visit Resources - Charter Schools.