The Economics of Charter Schools

Charter schools, which are publicly funded schools of choice that are given autonomy in exchange for accountability, are a lightning rod of controversy with much of the debate focused on rhetoric rather than facts. In this survey of the literature, we examine the best-available research to evaluate the reality of charter-school effectiveness. Our summary suggests that neither the hopes nor the fears of charter advocates or opponents are being realized, as charter schools are neither fully living up to ideals that charter advocates hoped for, nor creating the adverse effects hypothesized by the opponents.