Charter Schools

Relative to traditional public schools, charter schools are a new organizational form of education. Charter schools educate over 1 million children in the United States, which account for a little over 1 percent of students. This number grows annually, as more charter schools continue to open their doors. The charter school movement officially began in 1991, when Minnesota became the first state to pass a law making charter schools legal. Charter schools are public schools that offer an alternative to the traditional public school by freeing the creators from oversight and many government regulations. Since 1991, 41 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico have embraced the charter school law (excluding Alabama, Kentucky, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia), and in ...