Basically imagine how a private school is run as opposed to a traditional public school . Charters are basically a private school that ' s publicly funded . If I had to pick one main difference it ' s the thought process behind their management . A private school is results based , good teachers are rewarded with performance based pay , and if the students aren ' t excelling that ' s an existential problem for the teachers involved . By contrast Public schools are mired in bureaucracy and unionization , it ' s virtually impossible to fire a shitty public school teacher short of catching them in some form of sex scandal . School Vouchers basically let a parent take the money set aside for their kid ' s public education and put it towards a private school .