The responsibility to make a free appropriate public education available to all students with disabilities applies to ALL public schools under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Charter schools are public schools; therefore, they bear the same responsibility. Who is actually responsible for ensuring that special education services are available to students with disabilities in a charter school? The answer depends on how the charter school is legally identified in the state. If a charter school is considered to be an independent Local Education Agency (LEA) under its state's law, that charter school bears the exact same legal requirements for providing special education services as any other LEA (or district). A charter school is a public school. There are state-specific rules around who can start a charter, who oversees the charter, and how the funding flows, and they are responsible for serving students with disabilities in keeping with state law and the charter school's status as an LEA or a school of an LEA. Many parents of students with special needs crave a nontraditional setting to best service requirements set forth in the IEP. This study provides input on their perceptions. [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.]