Since their inception 25 years ago, charter schools have been greatly debated and oftentimes fall into a grey areas in terms of state law. After unionization efforts in both New York and Pennsylvania’s charter schools, the National Labor Relations Board was thrown into the debate in regards to whether charter schools should be treated as public or private entities. Because of charter schools’ use of tax dollars, as well as their tuition-free and open-enrollment nature, many supporters have dubbed them public institutions. Opponents, which include union leaders, argue that charter schools are private companies and are comparable to government contractors. The NLRB agreed, stating that charter schools are not directly established by state governments and their administrators are not controlled by voters or public officials. The decision is significant because charter school employees must now organize under the NLRA instead of other state laws that apply to public-sector employees.
See "National Labor Relations Board decides charter schools are private corporations, not public schools", Emma Brown, Washington Post, August 31, 2016