The newspaper, television, radio and Internet are filled lately with stories about education. Regrettably, much of that discussion isn’t good news; too much of the information is presented with a bias that hides an agenda, and many of those making noise are limited in their knowledge of the facts, politicians included.

Public, private, Christian, magnet, online, home and charter schools are headliners in the list of how education is delivered in our culture. It’s no wonder people have become confused.

I was a founding member and now a board member of one of the entities that finds itself at the center of debate — Maine’s public charter school initiative.

This is the last place any of us wanted to be but it has become a pulpit from which to speak.

Eighteen months ago, I didn’t know the difference between a charter school and any other type of school. Twelve months ago, I had no idea what the price tag was to educate a K-12 student in Maine, nor did I know anything about the complex formula that funds our public school system.

I do now — and it would be helpful to having an intellectually honest discussion if more people knew, as well.

First and foremost, I am a public school advocate. I was educated in one, and all my children went to public school. By and large, our traditional public schools are populated with talented, hard working teachers and administrators who find themselves doing tough work under challenging circumstances.

Charter schools are public schools — period. Anyone can enroll. There is no tuition.

A handy way to think of their differences is a choice comparison between a quality hotel chain — for example Hilton Garden Inn, which provides clean rooms and excellent service — or, for the same money some consumers might choose a small, local bed and breakfast.

Maine’s charter schools must be authorized by the state after a rigorous application process where, thus far, only a small handful of applicants have passed muster. They are monitored and routinely held accountable by the state to provide the same standard educational curriculum as their district counterparts.

A public charter school’s flexibility comes in its method of curriculum delivery, its calendar and hours of operation, school capacity, student/staff accountability and its interaction with the community in terms of outside funding and cooperatives.

All this marks innovation and opportunity for those students who inevitably fall through the cracks at schools with large populations.

I was one of those who fell through the cracks back in the ’70s and would have had a better chance at success in a smaller environment.

The current controversy surrounds the current formula derived to fund public school districts. The axiom that “funding follows the student” when it comes to public charter schools is only partially correct. The standard argument that public charter schools siphon off large amounts of funding from existing school districts that are already strapped for money is also misleading.

In short — and without the complex funding formula minutiae — public charter schools do not receive the full amount that the school district of residence receives to educate a student. It would be conservative to say that when a student matriculates to a charter, the charter school is funded at less than 70 percent of what the district receives to educate a student. The district still retains more than 30 percent of the “per-student subsidy.”

Yes, the funding follows the student; but only a portion of it. Even at this lower funding figure, public charters gladly accept the challenge of educating our youth.

In the argument that large amounts of education money will be siphoned away from local school districts, the facts do not support the sound bite.

Yes, public charter schools will receive money previously allocated to school districts. We fully acknowledge this will affect each school district in amounts based on the number of students that opt for a charter school.

It is the scale of that loss that gets lost in the argument.

For example, after all the formula interpolations, one of our local school districts receives approximately $12,000 per year to educate one student. That same district currently has about a student population of 2,350. The annual student budget for that district hovers around $28 million.

If 50 sixth- to 12th-grade students opt to enroll in a public charter school, about $415,000 will follow them. That “siphon” amounts to less than 1.5 percent of total funding. It’s worth noting that a significant percentage of charter school enrollments are actually returning to the public education arena from private or home schools.

From Day One, our desire was to form a partnership with a local district. We wanted them to be our authorizer, our education partner that would hold us accountable to “our” collective student population.

Even though they respectfully declined, we remain together in the quest to provide quality education for as many students who desire it.

SCOTT RUPPERT, of Harpswell, is a founding member of Harpswell Coastal Academy and a member of its board of directors.