Charter schools are created and managed by an entity composed of parents and/ or teachers, community and/or business leaders, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit businesses. Many people believe that charter schools can provide a high quality education without the regulatory constraints of the conventional public schools. This digest reviews many reports on the approximately 350 charter schools in the United States to show the various ways that charters approach funding, curriculum and instruction, assessment and accountability, parent involvement, and staffing. It focuses on the ability of charter schools to serve urban students. Many charter schools have been granted unprecedented freedom to implement their plans for a higher quality and more equitable educational system, and they have also tapped into funding sources previously unavailable to educators. Critics of charter schools are of the opinion that the freedom will not result in educational improvement, and that the lack of accountability may mean that a school's ineptitude will go unrecognized. It is too soon to evaluate the performance of students in charters, but it is apparent that charters are attracting urban students, in part because of their location. However, they are not attracting the most vulnerable and disadvantaged students. They are attracting dedicated and talented teachers but may not be able to offer them wages comparable to those of the public schools. Whether charter schools can provide a more effective public education remains to be seen, but their presence is at least serving to dramatize the need for educational improvement and increased community and business involvement and financial support. (Contains nine references.) (SLD)