What is a Charter School?

Charter schools are innovative, public schools designed by educators, parents or civic leaders that are open by choice, accountable for results, and free from most rules and regulations governing conventional public schools. Today, more than 4,000 charter schools serve more than a million children in forty states plus the District of Columbia.

• A charter school is an independent public school that must perform well and attract parents to stay in business.
  
• A charter school must practice open admission policies, meet health and safety standards, and comply with civil rights laws; it is not bound to state education regulations about curriculum, personnel, scheduling and financial administration.
  
• A charter school is held accountable. Its students must show satisfactory achievement equal to or better than the state average.
  
• A charter school will often serve children whose needs, for one reason or another, are not met by conventional public schools.
  
• A charter school is typically given five years to prove itself, but its charter can be pulled back at any time by a school board if it is not performing as promised.
  
• A charter school provides freedom for educators and school founders to use curricula or programs to set up the school day in a way that is not done by conventional schools. This freedom allows a school to address the special needs of its children directly.
  
• According to a recent study, charter school students nationwide are outscoring their counterparts in neighboring conventional public schools by as much as five percent.

A charter school gives parents and teachers the opportunity to roll back regulations, roll up their sleeves and create and operate a school that they want their children to attend and in which they want to teach.