Without regard to differences across states, the reported percentage of students with disabilities at charter schools is 8 percent, which is somewhat less than the 11 percent for all public schools in these states. Most charter schools aim to realize an alternative vision of schooling. Nearly seven of ten newly created charter schools seek to realize an alternative vision of schooling, and an additional two of ten were founded especially to serve a special target population of students. Four of ten public schools report that they converted to charter status in order to gain autonomy from district and state regulations. Many private schools that converted to charter status sought public funds so that they could stabilize their finances and attract students.
Most charter schools continue to cite resource limitations as a serious implementation difficulty.
Newly created charter schools were more likely to cite resource limitations as a major difficulty than pre-existing charter schools. About three of ten charter schools that were formerly public schools reported that state or local board opposition or regulations presented obstacles to their school's implementation. About one in five schools that were formerly public indicated that they had difficulty with teacher unions or collective bargaining agreements. They provide standard financial and student achievement reports to different constituencies depending on the state's approach to accountability. The majority of charter schools felt they had primary control over most areas critical to school operations.