How are charter schools, private schools and homeschools held accountable?

Accountability for educational options should be considered along a continuum. At one end, charter schools issue state standardized tests because they operate and are funded within the public-school framework. On the other end, homeschooling is directly funded by and accountable to parents, which demands a much lighter touch. In the middle are private school choice programs, like vouchers and ESAs, that underwrite tuition costs. These are both publicly funded and depend on parental choice, which calls for a balanced approach of flexible academic assessment options.