What is a Charter School?

A new charter school has opened up in our community, and I realized that although I’ve heard of the concept, I didn’t know exactly what the definition was. So I looked it up on Google:

“Charter schools are public schools that must implement open enrollment, employ educators who hold valid teaching licenses, and comply with most of the same regulations as other public schools. The purpose of charter schools is to (1) continue to improve student learning, (2) encourage the use of different and innovative teaching models, (3) create new professional opportunities for educators to design and implement learning programs, (4) increase choice of learning opportunities for students, (5) establish new models of public schools and a new form of accountability, and (6) provide for greater parent involvement.”