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Charter Schools have increased in popularity in recent years. According to the National Education Association their origin can be traced back to two charter schools in Minnessota in 1991 (2006). According to the US Charter School Organization nearly 3,000 have lauched since then (2006). The increase in enrollment in charter schools has sparked discussion over many issues such as: what is a charter school, what types of funding should charter schools receive, how should admissions be determined, who are they accountable to, and what is the main goal of charter schools. There has been some research that has been conducted in reference to these issues and their implications to today's world. I believe that when reflected upon fully, charter schools have become the way of carrying out school reform for people with different philosophies. The whole goal of charter schools is finding more effective ways to education. The statement was made in 1996 "The time has come to close down some of our largest urban districts and start all over." (Ornstein, Hunkins, 158) Furthermore, I believe that in the future we will only see an increase in charter school enrollment until the public schools are changed to become more effecitive in educating today's youth. This can be widely seen in the case of New Orleans. Many parents have become tired of the Orleans parish school board and of the poor education their children have received in the public school system. Therefore, post Katrina they have decided to ban together to sponsor charter schools within Orleans parish instead of re-enrolling their children in the average public school under the supervision of the school board and following the same educational philosophies; these parents have decided that it is time to make a change.

It is difficult to find one agreed upon definition of what a charter school is, however, the most commonly accepted definition is "an independently operated public school of choice, freed from many regulations but accountable for its results" (Carpenter, 2006). The reason it is so difficult to agree on one definition is because each state is given the freedom to define a charter school how they chose. However, there are some federal stipulations that have been put into place as far as requirements to receive funding as a charter school.
The definition and term charter school are both very broad. It is a common misconception that all charter schools are alike. Charter schools can be divided into many categories

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