For nearly 30 years charter schools in California have been designed to be flexible and innovative educational laboratories. Just like traditional district schools, public-school charter schools offer tuition-free learning options for families in California. The flexibility in curriculum, school calendars, and learning themes are some of the ways charter schools differ from traditional public schools. In exchange for the freedom and flexibility in curriculum and design, charter schools face higher accountability measures than traditional public schools. Charter schools are required, like traditional public schools, to hold public board meetings, practice transparent and ethical business transactions, and follow all the same Federal and state laws that govern public schools. However, The Charter School Act of 1992 in California has allowed any legal adult, regardless of experience, education, or background to petition open a charter school. This means that, unlike traditional public-school principals who are required to have time teaching before clearing an administrative credential, charter school principals are not required by law to have any work experience or background in public schools. Without mandates requiring leadership qualifications for charter school principals, this sparks interest in understanding how charter school principals are prepared for their leadership roles if they are not required to have any prior training. This study first sought to find out what experiences prepare charter school principals for school leadership. By interviewing current charter school principals in California, the researcher discovered that non-traditional school leaders have various backgrounds, although all are in education, and have at least a master's degree or doctorate in education. Secondly, this research sought to find out how charter school principals view the support and development, if any, of their charter school's authorizer. Lastly, because each principal interviewed held an active charter school petition with the County Offices of Education the researcher sought to discover the perceptions of authorizers and their role in developing charter school leaders. This study found charter school principals are fully-qualified, under-supported, and in need of more guidance from their authorizers. This study found Oversight Directors working at County Offices of Education are left to design their own oversight strategies with little to no guidance, or regulatory requirements from The Charter School Act of 1992 in California. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]