School franchising (defined as the replication of a particular product or service across a wide geographic region) marks a radical departure from the traditional view of the community-based neighborhood school. This paper reports on a study of a growing niche of charter school private management contracts in Massachusetts. The focus is on the factors facilitating these schools' growth so as to provide a description of two of these unique partnerships (Edison Project and the Sabis School Network). The report is driven by four questions: 1) how are for-profit management firms gaining contracts with charter schools in Massachusetts?; 2) why are private management firms' contracts with charters growing in Massachusetts?; 3) how are the private management firms operating the charter schools in Massachusetts? and 4) how do charters managed by private firms compare to more traditional charters? Through these questions, information regarding ways in which contractor and charter are linked to policy makers interested in the growing population of charters schools managed by for-profit firms is presented. An analysis of the operation of public charter schools by two for-profit firms in Massachusetts shows how private management and charter schools are overlapping, revealing the implication for future opportunities to "franchise" an educational model. The analysis includes an investigation of the regulatory issues dictating the relationship between private management firms and public schools. (Contains 58 references.) (RJM)