Incubators are organizations that aim to decrease the learning curve for new schools and increase the likelihood that promising school plans will succeed. Incubators offer communities an innovative new way to support locally-initiated school designs. This design guide is intended to help people who are interested in starting a school incubator…

The most important burden of charter schools is the need to demonstrate that the instruction they provide actually benefits students. They can hire their own teachers, make their own tradeoffs between spending on administration and teaching, locate anywhere in the community, and let parents know in advance what a child must do to succeed in the…

School district associations across the country have often opposed charter school legislation as strongly, or more strongly, than have teachers unions. They typically argue charter schools will threaten the tradition of local control of schools by elected officials, drain their financial resources, and distract them from pursuing…

This guide provides an overview of the school development process. It is intended for anyone starting a new school, whether it be a public, private, or charter school, but focuses on starting a school within the traditional school-district structure. Section 1, "Getting Started," discusses identifying the basis of legal authority; building a…