The promise of quality education is a cornerstone of American culture. Why, then, is this not the experience of every child in our nation? In the 1990s, the charter school movement began under the auspices of an avenue to address the disillusionment of education policy, the sense of powerlessness felt by parents and teachers, and the disparities of achievement between different races. With many supporters from all levels of government and the community, it is important that we still turn a critical eye to charter schools to accurately and fully assess their impact on individual students as well as the system at large. This paper focuses on two important and interconnected questions related to charter schools: First, how are charter schools claiming to close the achievement gap? Second, what does the charter school movement indicate, represent, and change for American public education system? To truly have long-lasting, transformative change in American education system, the reforms must delve further into the intricacies of the system, acknowledge and account for the interconnectedness between the economic structure of the United States and schools, and expose and change the underlying culture that perpetuates its existence.