A charter school is an independent public school. A group of people, such as educators, parents, community leaders, educational entrepreneurs or others, write the charter plan describing the school's guiding principles, governance structure, and applicable accountability measures. If the state approves the charter, the state funds the charter on a per pupil basis. Because they are schools of choice, they are held to the highest level of accountability, consumer demand.

Charter schools provide better opportunities for child-centered education and more educational choices for their children. Operators have the opportunity and the incentive to create schools that provide new and better services to students. Charter schools are bound by the high standards they have set for themselves, which inspires the rest of the system to work harder and be more responsive to the needs of the children.

Accountability: Charter schools are held accountable for how well they educate children in a safe and responsible environment, not for compliance with district and state regulations. They are judged on how well they meet the student achievement goals established by their charter, and how well they manage the fiscal and operational responsibilities entrusted to them. If they fail to deliver, they are closed.

Choice: Parents, teachers, community groups, organizations, or individuals interested in creating a additional educational opportunities for children can start charter schools. Local and state school boards, colleges and universities, can sponsor them. Students choose to attend, and teachers choose to teach at charter schools.

Autonomy: Charter schools are freed from the traditional bureaucracy and regulations that some feel divert a school's energy and resources toward compliance rather than excellence. Proponents of charter schools argue that instead of jumping through procedural hoops and over paperwork hurdles, educators can focus on setting and reaching high academic standards for their students.

By law, charter schools must have a fair and open admission process, conducting outreach and recruitment to all segments of the community they serve. They are public schools and therefore cannot "choose" which students attend. Charter school students are admitted on a first-come, first served basis, or by lottery when applicants exceed available slots.

Charter schools are public schools and like district public schools, they are funded according to enrollment, and receive funding from the district and the state according to the number of students attending. However, in a number of states, they do not receive the full equivalent of their district counterparts: New York charters only receive about 70% of a district school's total per-pupil allocation. Recent federal legislation provides grants to help charters with start-up costs.

No. Charter schools are public schools. Education tax dollars do not belong to any one school or district. When a child leaves a traditional public school for a charter school the money follows that child. This benefits the public school system by instilling a sense of accountability into the system regarding its services to the student and parents and its fiscal obligations.

Charter schools provide a variety of services to children which places healthy pressure on the district to provide equal or better services. In 2001 the U.S. Department of Education released a major study called The Impact of Charter Schools on School Districts. They reported that more than half of traditional districts created new educational programs in response to charter schools. Charters schools also increase accountability in many districts.

There are more than 4,900 charter schools in the United States that educate more than 1.7 million children. New York, in 1998, was the 38th state to pass a charter school law. There are about 203 charter schools in New York State. 151 of those are in New York City and the rest are scattered around the other cities in New York State.