Nationwide between 2010 and 2021.

Public charter school enrollment more than doubled, from 1.8 million to 3.7 million students.

At the same time, traditional public school attendance has fallen by roughly 2 million students.

But why is this trend happening?

And how are public charters different from traditional schools?

A public charter school is a tuition free school of choice that is publicly funded but independently run.

Traditional public schools, however, are operated by local school districts, commonly serving specific students based on their residential addresses.

Both traditional and charter schools adhere to the same education standards set by the federal and state government, but in traditional public schools, decisions flow top down from the board to the superintendent and ultimately to the principal.

This chain of command is well established, regulated, and enforced at the district level.

In contrast, charter school boards report to an authorizer who monitors each charter, decides whether to renew or close them, and sets their performance targets.

Depending on the state, either the charters board of directors or their management group will hire the principal, who is then free to run the school themselves with a power to hire staff, set budgets and shape school culture.

While they are still accountable to their management group or board, they have significantly more autonomy than their district-dependent counterparts.

The idea behind charter schools started in Minnesota in the late 1900s.

Ted Kolderie is largely attributed as the godfather of the charter school movement, and was the author of a report calling for new arrangements for the state's education system.

He felt that independent schools who are accountable to parents through the free market, could potentially serve families in the state better than traditional models.

Just a few years after his report, the nation's first charter school legislation creating eight pilot schools was passed with bipartisan support in Minnesota.

In the years that followed, similar laws would be passed in other states and as of 2025, all but three have authorized public charters in some way.

However, some areas of the country have implemented them much more extensively than others.

In Washington, D.C., for example, over 45% of public school students are enrolled in a charter, whereas in a state like Iowa, that number is just 0.1%.

With only 252 students in attendance.

As public charter programs continue to expand across the country, some regions are facing challenges.

In states like Indiana, both district and charter schools compete for the same public funding, leading to tensions between the two models.

Meanwhile, states like Arizona are experiencing teacher retention issues, with 14% of educators leaving the profession altogether, a number that surges to 25% in some charters.

But whether it's a traditional, charter or private school.

Each model aims to give students the tools they need to succeed.

After all, education is a legal guarantee in all 50 states, no matter what form their schools take.

So celebrate, crack open a textbook, thank your teachers, principals, coaches, and janitors, and make an effort to learn something new every day.

Simple CIvics, brought to you in part by the Indiana State Teachers Association.