But, the charter school concept is deceptively simple. Furthermore, the line between autonomy and accountability is not a clear one, and as the legislative debates and implementation histories surrounding charter schools indicate, making those distinctions has proven to be a very sticky wicket indeed. These and other difficult questions have been answered differently in different jurisdictions and, in some instances, have been avoided altogether in the framing of the laws and guidelines regarding charter schools. Thus, contentious issues remain. Because these schools can and do take so many different forms, charter schools appeal to a broad base of public school critics, including those who want to improve public education as well as those who want to dismantle it.
Charter schools can be any of the above, depending on how legislation is structured.
Of course, determining the success of charter schools is very dependent on how one defines their purpose. If they are to create greater choice for parents, then their mere existence is the measure of success. If they are to empower teachers, then the extent to which teachers organize them, set policy, and implement educational programs determines their success. In 1994, in response to the legislative developments, public interest in and professional concerns about charter schools, the AFT developed a Charter School Research Project whose mission is to monitor legislation and school district implementation, build a data base concerning the characteristics of charter schools, identify schools that work, identify issues and problems related to charter school development, and provide information on charter school performance to AFT members, the news media and the general public. This is the first report of the Charter School Research Project.