I confess to not being that familiar with chartering laws or regulations that may constrain true creativity in this area, but it is certainly possible to imagine highly efficient and effective charter schools that have no facilities beyond the shared spaces provided by social and cultural institutions in the local community. I mean to be suggesting a form of organization that is different than home schooling or virtual schools, although it would have some attributes in common with well designed versions of those known types. The best "home schooling" arrangements take full advantage of learning environments offered by museums, parks, libraries, etc. in the community and charter schools without walls could take this a step further by entering into more formal agreements for regular use. The best virtual schools not only take full advantage of online resources and communication capabilities to deliver instruction, but also create systems that support, manage, and enhance learning in ways seldom found in brick and mortar schools.
Charter schools without walls could adopt such systems to support, manage and enhance face to face learning in community-based learning environments. This concept of communities as schools supported by community-wide education and information services is something I've been advocating since the early nineties when I got involved in the community networking movement.
Posted as a reply to:
Facilities Issues by Bob Montgomery 
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