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LOS ANGELES — As the number of charter schools grows nationwide, school districts should make sure they are held to the same standards as other public schools, the nation’s largest teachers’ union said Thursday. 

On the second day of its national convention, the National Education Association adopted a new policy on charter schools, its first major statement on the subject since the schools began proliferating in the mid-1990s. 

NEA President Bob Chase said the policy simply clarifies the union’s position, including its opposition to granting charters to for-profit companies. 

Publicly funded but independently managed, charter schools generally operate under fewer regulations than traditional public schools, promising in their charters, or operating agreements, that student performance will improve. 

About 2,100 charter schools operate in 34 states and the District of Columbia. Most are run by parent groups, nonprofit organizations or for-profit education companies. 

About 518,000 of the nation’s 45 million school-aged children attended charter schools last spring, many in urban school districts. 

While many charter schools have been successful, Chase said, “They have been implemented poorly in some instances.” 

Among the recommendations, the proposed policy said charter schools should: 

• hire state-certified or licensed teachers; 

• have adequate startup and construction funds without relying heavily on tax revenue; 

• be subject to student assessment similar to other public schools; 

• allow teachers to keep their collective bargaining rights, such as allowances for breaks and lunch hours without work duties. 

Chris Braunlich, vice president of the Washington-based Center for Education Reform, said such requirements – especially forcing charter schools to hire only certified teachers – could inhibit innovation. 

“What they’re in essence saying is that you can have charter schools, but they’re charter schools in name only,” he said. “It’s sort of like saying, ’We favor the concept of airplanes, but we don’t want them to have wings.”’ 

Eddie Davis, a North Carolina high school teacher who chaired the NEA charter school committee, said the union was trying to balance innovation and accountability. 

“To have a school where you just grab a bunch of people because they happen to be smart and to say, ‘Well, we’ll give our children over to you,’ might not be quite as responsible as we want people to be,” he said. 

On the Net: 

NEA: http://www.nea.org 

CER: http://www.edreform.com