What they might accomplish, what the research says, and which trends to watch Freed from many of the bureaucratic constraints imposed on other public schools, charter schools provide places to develop better ways to improve student learning. If ties to regular schools in the community are strong, charter schools can be an important vehicle to improve educational opportunities for all students.
Charter schools are hot.
And they promise to get hotter. A blip on the education reform landscape in 1991 when Minnesota passed the first charter school law, charter schools have grown into a national movement. In the next few years, as many as 40 states could have charter school laws. Caps in many state charter laws that limit the number of charter schools are expected to be lifted. Advocates argue they will.