¹ Finn, C., Manno, B., and Vanourek, G. (2000). Charter schools in action. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, p. 266.

² See the National Charter School Directory, 9th Edition, as reported on the Web site of the Center for Education Reform. Retrieved April 2004 from http://www.edreform.com.

³ Some states have stronger charter school laws than others, creating more supportive conditions for charter schools to launch and develop programs. See the Center for Education Reform Web site at http://www.edreform.com, "Charter School Laws Across the States: Ranking and Scorecard, 8th Edition." For discussion of how chartering has developed in different states, see especially

Hassel, B. (1999). The charter school challenge: Avoiding the pitfalls, fulfilling the promise. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution.

Vergari, S. (Ed.) (2002). The charter school landscape. Pittsburgh, Penn.: University of Pittsburgh Press.

⁴ Wallis, C. (1994). "A class of their own," Time, October 31, p. 53.

⁵ The concept of internal accountability is explored by Paul Hill and colleagues. See chapter 3 in Hill, P., Lake, R., and Celio, M. (2002). Charter schools and accountability in public education. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution.

⁶ Discussions of building civic community and social capital can be found in Finn et al., op. cit., chapter 10, and by David Campbell in chapter 13 in Peterson, P. and Campbell, D. (Eds). (2001). Charters, vouchers & public education. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution.

⁷ Finn et al., op. cit., p. 267.

⁸ Newmann, F., King, B., and Rigdon, M. (1997). "Accountability and school performance: Implications from restructuring schools," Harvard Education Review, vol. 67, no. 1, pp. 41-74.

⁹ Finn et al., op. cit., chapter 9 discusses four stages of district response to charters and provides several examples of stages 3 and 4, competing to outdo charters and accepting charters as a district asset and opportunity. According to the chapter by Finn et al. in Peterson and Campbell, op. cit., charter districts—those in which all schools are chartered—existed in California, Florida, and Georgia as of 2001. The Education Commission of the States now supports an initiative focused on charter districts. See appendix B for links to the Education Commission of the States and materials targeted to charter districts.