Fast Facts

Question:
What are charter schools? How common are they, and who do they serve?

Response:
A charter school is a publicly funded school that is typically governed by a group or organization under a contract or charter with the state; the charter exempts the school from selected state or local rules and regulations. In return for funding and autonomy, the charter school must meet accountability standards. A school抯 charter is reviewed (typically every 3 to 5 years) and can be revoked if guidelines on curriculum and management are not followed or the standards are not met.

In the 2004� school year, there were 3,294 charter schools in the jurisdictions that allowed them (40 states and the District of Columbia), compared with 90,001 conventional public schools in all of the United States. Charter schools made up 4 percent of all public schools. The population of students served by charter schools differed from the student population served by conventional public schools. Charter schools enrolled larger percentages of Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaska Native students and lower percentages of White and Asian/Pacific Islander students than conventional public schools. A larger percentage of charter schools (27 percent) than conventional public schools (16 percent) had less than 15 percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2007). The Condition of Education 2007 (NCES 2007�4), Indicator 32.

Related Tables and Figures:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2007, Number of public schools in the United States and other jurisdictions with membership, by type of school and state or jurisdiction, and number and percentage of students in charter, magnet, Title I eligible, and Title I schoolwide schools, by state or jurisdiction: School year 2004�
  
• 2006, Digest of Education Statistics 2005, Table 98. Public charter schools and students, by school origin status and selected school characteristics: 1999-2000
  
• 2006, Digest of Education Statistics 2005, Table 99. Traditional public and public charter elementary and secondary schools, by selected characteristics and percentage distribution: 1999-2000
  
• 2003, Number and percentage of public elementary and secondary schools and students in magnet and charter schools in the 100 largest districts in the United States and jurisdictions: School year 2001-2002
  
• 2003, Number of Title I, magnet, and charter schools and percentage of students served, by state: School year 2001-2002
  

Other Resources:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2006, Public Elementary and Secondary Students, Staff, Schools, and School Districts: School Year 2003-04
  
• 2005, America's Charter Schools: Results From the NAEP 2003 Pilot Study
  
• 2005, Public Elementary and Secondary Students, Staff, Schools, and School Districts: School Year 2002-03
  
• 2004, America's Charter Schools, NAEP Charter School Pilot Study: 2003
  
• 2003, Overview of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools and Districts: School Year 2001-02
  
• 2002, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1999-2000: Overview of the Data for Public, Private, Public Charter, and Bureau of Indian Affairs Elementary and Secondary Schools