create a charter school was Minnesota when its legislature passed the first charter school law in 1990 (For-Profit, 2000, 1).
Since the creation of the first charter school, the charter school movement has rapidly spread across the nation drawing support from teachers, parents, students, and state and federal officials alike “The number of charter schools has soared to 1,700 from fewer than 100 in 1994; it will reach 3,000 by 2002, according to U.S. Education Secretary Richard Riley” (Not-For, 2000, 1). However, the creation of charter schools has created a great deal of controversy because while these schools are able to function independently of the regulations that govern most other public schools, they receive their funding from the same source—public tax dollars.
One of the biggest forces behind choice in public education is parents. Dissatisfied with the performance of many public schools, parents increasingly wish to have an influence on how, where, when and what their children learn. The charter school movement represents an alternative to public education as do vouchers, a program where parents receive public tax money to send their child to the private school of their choice. Charter schools elicit less controversy than vouchers, but nonetheless charter schools have helped fuel the for-profit movement with respect to public education. The first for-profit ever occurred in Dade County when a private firm called Educational Alternatives was hired to manage a troubled Miami public school.
Disgusted over run-down schools, inept and indifferent teachers, and a lack of academic progress in their children, many parents are turning to charter schools as a means of assur
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