To date there is no evidence of discrimination based on high academic performance requirements, but this bears watching as the number of charter schools expands. Two things about this list are noteworthy. First, the kinds of programs being conducted in charter schools are in some measure also present in public schools. It is too early to make any definitive statements about the success of charter schools. Some of the available data support initial claims of advocates, while other data give cause for concern of what the ultimate impact of charter schools will be.
Most reformers agree that change takes time.
Legislation for charter schools gives from three to five years for charter schools to demonstrate their efficacy. Only a handful of schools have been operating for three years or more, and it is too early to know whether the student achievement in these schools is greater than if the children had remained in their traditional public school settings. Charter schools will be innovative and provide models that stimulate the public schools to change . Although charter schools have a wide range of programs, they do not represent choices that have never been tried before. Virtually all of the approaches being employed in charter schools are or have been implemented in regular public schools.