Charter Schools

Charter schools are independent public schools. As opposed to traditional public schools, which are operated by a local school district with oversight from the state education agency, charter schools are created and supervised by a group of founders. Founders can include parents, community leaders, and/or for-profit managers. The school's charter documents how the school will be operated; it includes the school's mission, philosophy, program and curriculum goals, assessment methods, and standards of performance.

The charter is provided to the founders according to state-specified guidelines. The state may authorize universities, local school boards, or a chartering board to issue charters. Charter schools typically receive funds in the same manner as traditional public schools, although they frequently have broader flexibility in overall management. For example, states often allow charter schools independence in matters related to budgetary and fiscal management, curriculum development and implementation, teacher credentialing and staffing, and measurement of outcomes. Standards for academic performance are usually negotiated and included in the charter before the school's opening.

Like traditional public schools, charter schools are held accountable for achieving performance standards; however, charter schools are often exempt from many of the restrictions that impact traditional public schools. Charter schools generally have an overall smaller census and class size than their public counterparts, and may even have nontraditional grade arrangements. The two most common characteristics shared by all charter schools are that they are free from significant state oversight and they have a different means of resolving administrative appeals. The methods for evaluating the effectiveness of charter schools vary across states.

There are two basic types of charter schools—conversion schools and newly created schools. Conversion schools are those that once were public or private schools but have been converted to charter schools. Newly created schools are developed in facilities that had no previous educational history.

Charter schools have grown rapidly since they were first established in 1992. By February 2004, there were approximately 3,000 charter schools in 40 states and the District of Columbia; however, most of the nation's current charter schools are concentrated in five states—California (500 schools), Arizona (491), Florida (258), Texas (241), and Michigan (210)—with no other state having more than 150 schools. Ten states do not have any charter schools (Alabama, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia).

Even with these considerable numbers, only approximately 1% of all U.S. school children attend a charter school. It appears likely that charter schools will continue to grow in number and variety in the coming years, increasingly making this an option for parents and families of school-aged children.