The report examines the role of states in the charter movement, describes basic characteristics of charter schools and their students, and examines why people create charter schools and what barriers they encounter. What follows are excerpts from the executive summary of the report. This summary provides highlights from the first-year report of the National Study of Charter Schools, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education as authorized by the 1994 Amendments to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Following are a few highlights of the study. The Study includes the first definitive survey of all charter schools, including 90 percent of all schools in operation as of 1995-1996.
Charter schools are extremely diverse.
Their approaches to education often vary dramatically from one another. States play a primary role in defining the possibilities of charter schools, and states vary greatly in their approaches. Most charter schools are small, but they serve the great racial and economic diversity of students that make up public education. New charter schools face challenges encountered by fledgling small business, including start-up costs, creating time for planning, cash flow constraints, and attracting students and staff. In response to widespread demands for better public education and for more choice among public schools, a number of state legislatures in the early 1990s permitted educators and local communities to develop charter schools.