A charter school is a tuition-free independent school working within the public school system. Charter schools can design their own innovative curriculum, hire their own staff, and control their own budget. They are publicly funded like other public schools.

A charter school is usually created or organized by a group of teachers, parents and community leaders or a community-based organization and is usually sponsored by an existing local public school board or county board of education.

Specific goals and operating procedures for the charter school are detailed in an agreement (or "charter") between the sponsoring board and charter organizers. The charter establishing each such school is a performance contract detailing the school's program, goals, students served, methods of assessment, and ways to measure success.

A charter school is generally exempt from most laws governing school districts, except where specifically noted in the law. For example, California public charter schools are required to participate in the statewide testing program. The law also requires that a public charter school be nonsectarian in its programs, admission policies, employment practices, and all other operations, and prohibits the conversion of a private school to a charter school. Public charter schools may not charge tuition and may not discriminate against any pupil on the basis of ethnicity, national origin, gender, or disability.

Some of the goals of the charter school movement are to:

• Increase opportunities for learning and access to quality education.
• Create choice for parents and students within the public school system.
• Provide a system of accountability for results in public education.
• Encourage innovative teaching practices
  Create new professional opportunities for teachers.
• Encourage community and parent involvement in public education.
• Leverage improved public education broadly.