This study investigates how recent policies employed under states' waivers to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) intersect with charter schools' purpose and functioning. By collecting and analyzing all ESEA waivers granted in 2013, we find that charter schools are disproportionately represented among schools as identified in the priority and focus areas in ESEA waiver states. Additionally, we find that the elements often argued to enable charters to be innovative are the very same ones being challenged by the ESEA waiver interventions associated with poor performance. Taken together, these findings suggest a need for further consideration of both how low performing charter schools come to persist as well as how states and districts may best intervene when such low performance occurs.