The Charter School Movement (page 2) In 1991, the charter school
movement started in Minnesota. The central ideas of the charter
school movement are that: - Charter schools are public,
nonsectarian, and open to all kinds of students. Charters can be
new schools or schools converted from existing schools. - More
than one organization can authorize or sponsor a charter school
(e.g., local school boards, the state, universities, cities, and
other publicly responsible entities). - Charters are freed from
most state rules about how to run schools (other than building
safety, nondiscrimination, and statewide testing programs). -
Charters are free of local labor-management agreements. - In
exchange for the waiver of rules, charters are expected to
improve student achievement (Nathan, 1997). Between 1992 and
2005, the number of states permitting charters grew from one
(Minnesota) to forty, plus the District of Columbia. The number
of charters increased to more than 3,400. Charter laws vary from
strong to weak, with t