Archived Information

Exhibit 1 -- States with Charter School Legislation, by Year of First Enactment as of June 1996

1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
Minnesota	California	Colorado Georgia Massachusetts Michigan New Mexico Wisconsin	Arizona Hawaii Kansas	Alaska Arkansas Delaware New Hampshire Louisiana Rhode Island Wyoming	Connecticut District of Columbia Florida Illinois New Jersey North Carolina South Carolina Texas

Exhibit 2 shows the number of charter schools in operation as defined for the purpose of this Study ² as of January 1997 and the year they were first established.  As of January 1, 1996, 252 charter schools were operational in 10 states under the auspices of charter legislation.³ In the year between January 1996 and January 1997, charter schools have opened in six additional states and the District of Columbia and more schools have opened in nine of the ten original states. As shown in Exhibit 2, 428 charter schools were operational as of January 1997. These schools represent a small fraction of the approximately 85,000 public schools that exist nationally, but the movement is growing. President Clinton has called for 3,000 charter schools to be established by the turn of the century. However, it is difficult to predict how many charter schools are likely to be established. Their expansion depends on such state and local factors as how many additional states enact charter legislation, whether existing charter school states permit more charter schools to be formed, and whether policymakers and the public alike perceive charter schools to be successful and worth expanding.

The specific terms of states' charter legislation vary widely and reflect considerable differences in how the states view the charter school concept.  In some states, charter school legislation could be characterized as a relatively modest effort to facilitate modifications in the relationship of existing individual schools to local school districts.  On the other end of the spectrum, charter legislation in other states provides opportunities for fundamentally different schools, sponsored by groups such as state boards of education or public universities, as well as local school boards. This chapter describes differences in state charter policies and raises research issues for subsequent study.

Exhibit 2 -- Estimated Number of Charter Schools in Operation, by Initial Start Year

[I. Charter Schools in Perspective]

[Variations in State Policies]