This report is the thirteenth annual state charter school laws rankings report produced by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. In each report, they analyze, score, and rank each state's charter school law against their model charter school law. The purpose is to determine which states have created the statutory and regulatory…

2022 turned out to be a dynamic year for charter schools, as many state lawmakers recognized the fact parents want more schooling options that fit their children's unique needs. In total, close to 50% of states with charter school laws gained at least one legislative win. Read for more details on how the charter school movement strengthened in the…

2021 was a great year for charter school students and families across the country. Several states passed legislation to allow more schools to open and promote fiscal equity. In other states, charter school advocates were able to defeat a number of bills that would have imposed significant and unnecessary burdens on charter schools. In our 2021…

This eleventh edition of "Measuring up to the Model: A Ranking of State Charter School Laws" presents the latest activity in charter public school legislation across the country. This report evaluates each state's public charter school law against the 21 essential components of a strong charter school law. These 21 components are drawn…

The impacts of the 2018 elections were felt in the 2019 state legislative sessions across the country. While charter school supporters continued to rack up legislative victories on increasing funding and facilities support, strengthening accountability, and protecting autonomy, they also faced political climates in several states that were…

This tenth edition of "Measuring up to the Model: A Ranking of State Charter School Laws" presents the latest activity in charter public school legislation across the country. This report evaluates each state's public charter school law against the 21 essential components of a strong charter school law. These 21 components are drawn from…

This ninth edition of "Measuring up to the Model: A Ranking of State Charter School Laws" presents the latest activity in charter public school legislation across the country. For the second year in a row, the 2018 rankings measure each state's charter school law against the National Alliance's updated model charter school law, "New…

This eighth edition of "Measuring up to the Model: A Ranking of State Charter School Laws" presents the latest activity in charter public school legislation across the country. This year's rankings are the first that measure each state's charter school law against the National Alliance's revised model charter school law, "A New…

This twelfth edition of "Measuring up to the Model: A Ranking of State Charter School Laws" evaluates each state's public charter school law against the 21 essential components of a strong charter school law. These 21 components are drawn from the National Alliance's "A New Model Law for Supporting the Growth of High-Quality Public…

There were a number of historic public charter school policy wins across the country in 2017. Kentucky became the 44th state (along with the District of Columbia) to enact a charter school law. Colorado and Florida provided charter school students with unprecedented access to locally raised dollars for facilities. Tennessee and Texas created new…

The coming 2016 fall elections influenced legislative activity for charter public schools during this year's state legislative sessions. This November, legislative elections will be held in 46 states, and gubernatorial elections will be held in 12 states. These looming elections became an excuse for some legislators to avoid tough votes on…

This seventh edition of "Measuring up to the Model: A Ranking of State Charter School Laws" presents the latest activity in charter public school legislation across the country. Some highlights include: (1) significant activity regarding potential enabling legislation in several of the states without charter public school laws, (2)…

2015 has proved to be another active year for public charter school legislation across the country. This report provides a summary of the state legislative highlights for public charter schools during the 2015 state legislative sessions. To detail the plethora of activity that's taking place, this summary is organized into the following…

In this revised version of the National Alliance's model charter school law, the policies outlined would increase the focus of state-level charter school laws on creating high-quality charter schools while holding underperforming schools and authorizers accountable. This report draws on best practices in state policy that have led to the growth of…

In April 2003, Colorado passed H.B. 1160, thus becoming the first state to enact a school voucher law in the wake of the landmark ruling in favor of school vouchers by the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2002. As expected, the Colorado law was immediately challenged in court. In December 2003, a state court declared the voucher program unconstitutional…