Charter School Legislation: Data Tables

Published January 1, 2004

States With No Charter Laws
Alabama Kentucky Maine Montana North Dakota Nebraska South Dakota Vermont Washington West Virginia

Growth of Charter Schools
Year	# of Charter Schools
1991	0
1992	1
1993	36
1994	84
1995	251
1996	442
1997	778
1998	1128
1999	1689
2000	2036
2001	2372
2002	2699
Source: Center for Education Reform

Top 15 Charter School States
State	Number of Schools
1 Arizona	465
2 California	427
3 Florida	227
4 Texas	221
5 Michigan	196
6 Ohio	132
7 Wisconsin	130
8 North Carolina	93
9 Colorado	93
10 Pennsylvania	91
11 Minnesota	87
12 New Jersey	56
13 Massachusetts	46
14 District of Columbia	39
15 New York	38
Source: Center for Education Reform

Ranking of State Charter School Laws
Grade – State	Rank 2002	Rank 2001	Number of Charters Fall 2002 (total 2,699)	Year Law Passed	Total Score	Number of Schools Allowed	Multiple Chartering Authorities	Eligible Charter Applicants	New Starts Allowed	School May Be Started without Evidence of Local Support	Automatic Waiver from State and District Laws	Legal/Operational Autonomy	Guaranteed Full Per-Pupil Funding	Fiscal Autonomy	Exempt from Collective Bargaining Agreement/District Work Rules
A Arizona	1	1	465	1994	46.50	4.50	4.50	5.00	4.75	5.00	4.50	5.00	3.50	5.00	4.75
A Minnesota	2	3	87	1991	45.25	5.00	4.50	5.00	4.75	3.50	5.00	4.50	3.50	5.00	4.50
A Dist. of Co	3	4	39	1996	44.75	4.50	4.00	5.00	4.75	3.00	5.00	4.50	4.50	4.50	5.00
A Delaware	4	2	11	1995	44.50	5.00	4.00	5.00	4.50	3.50	3.50	4.00	5.00	5.00	5.00
A Michigan	5	5	196	1993	44.45	4.50	4.50	5.00	4.75	5.00	2.70	5.00	5.00	5.00	3.00
A Indiana	6	6	10	2001	41.25	5.00	4.50	4.00	4.75	3.00	5.00	3.00	4.00	5.00	3.00
A Massachuset	7	7	46	1993	40.30	3.30	3.50	4.30	4.50	4.00	3.00	4.70	5.00	5.00	3.00
B Florida	8	8	227	1996	39.25	4.00	1.75	5.00	4.50	3.00	3.00	3.50	5.00	5.00	4.50
B Colorado	9	9	93	1993	39.00	4.50	3.00	5.00	4.50	3.00	3.25	2.75	4.00	4.50	4.50
B New York	10	10	38	1998	38.30	2.30	4.00	4.00	4.50	4.00	5.00	5.00	2.50	4.00	3.00
B Ohio	11	14	132	1997	37.50	3.00	4.50	5.00	4.50	5.00	3.00	3.00	3.50	3.00	3.00
B North Carol	12	12	93	1996	37.25	3.00	3.00	5.00	4.75	3.00	4.00	3.00	4.50	4.00	3.00
B Pennsylvani	13	13	91	1997	36.75	5.00	1.75	5.00	4.50	3.50	3.00	3.00	3.00	3.50	4.50
B Missouri	14	15	26	1998	36.00	2.00	3.50	4.00	3.00	4.00	4.00	3.50	4.00	4.00	4.00
B California	15	11	427	1992	35.75	5.00	4.00	5.00	4.75	3.00	2.00	2.00	3.00	3.00	4.00
B Oregon	16	16	25	1999	33.00	3.25	1.50	5.00	3.50	5.00	2.50	3.00	2.50	2.50	4.25
B New Jersey	17	17	56	1996	32.50	5.00	3.00	4.00	4.50	3.00	1.00	2.00	2.00	5.00	3.00
B Wisconsin	18	18	130	1993	32.05	5.00	3.50	5.00	4.75	2.50	2.50	2.50	2.00	1.80	2.50
B Texas	19	19	221	1995	30.75	3.00	3.25	4.25	4.75	3.50	0.00	2.00	3.00	3.00	4.00
B New Mexico	20	20	28	1993	30.00	3.50	1.75	5.00	4.50	3.00	2.00	2.75	3.00	2.00	2.50
C Illinois	21	21	29	1996	29.25	1.50	1.75	4.00	4.50	1.00	3.00	3.00	3.00	3.50	4.00
C Oklahoma	22	23	10	1999	29.00	2.00	1.00	4.00	4.50	5.00	2.50	1.00	2.00	3.00	4.00
C South Carolina	23	24	13	1996	28.75	5.00	1.75	4.00	4.50	2.00	2.50	2.00	2.00	2.00	3.00
C Louisiana	24	25	20	1995	26.25	2.00	1.75	3.50	4.50	2.00	2.50	1.00	3.00	4.50	1.50
C Georgia	25	22	36	1993	25.00	5.00	1.50	5.00	4.50	2.50	0.00	1.00	2.00	2.00	1.50
C Utah	26	29	12	1998	24.00	1.50	4.00	4.00	4.50	2.50	0.60	1.60	0.30	1.00	4.00
C Idaho	27	26	13	1998	23.70	2.60	1.30	5.00	4.50	1.00	4.30	0.00	3.00	1.00	1.00
C Connecticut	28	27	16	1996	23.00	1.50	2.50	1.50	4.50	1.00	2.50	0.50	3.50	3.00	2.50
C Nevada	29	28	13	1997	23.00	2.00	1.00	2.00	4.50	5.00	2.50	1.50	3.50	1.00	0.00
C Wyoming	30	30	1	1995	21.75	5.00	1.75	5.00	4.50	2.50	0.50	0.00	1.50	1.00	0.00
C New Hampshire	31	31	0	1995	21.50	5.00	0.50	3.00	2.00	0.00	4.00	2.00	0.00	0.00	5.00
C Tennessee	32	N/A	0	2002	20.75	2.00	1.75	4.00	4.00	2.00	0.00	0.00	3.00	1.00	3.00
C Hawaii	33	33	25	1994	20.00	2.00	1.00	3.00	4.50	2.00	4.50	0.50	1.50	1.00	0.00
D Alaska	34	32	15	1995	18.80	2.30	1.00	5.00	5.00	1.00	0.00	0.00	3.50	1.00	0.00
D Arkansas	35	34	8	1995	15.00	2.00	2.50	2.00	4.50	2.50	0.00	0.00	1.50	0.00	0.00
D Rhode Island	36	35	8	1995	15.00	1.00	1.00	2.50	4.50	0.00	0.50	0.50	3.50	1.50	0.00
D Virginia	37	36	8	1998	13.10	1.60	1.00	2.00	4.50	2.50	0.50	0.50	0.50	0.00	0.00
D Kansas	38	37	30	1994	13.00	1.00	1.00	4.50	4.50	1.00	0.50	0.00	0.50	0.00	0.00
F Iowa	39	N/A	0	2002	6.50	1.00	1.00	0.00	0.00	1.50	3.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
F Mississippi	40	38	1	1997	2.30	0.00	1.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	1.30	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
Maryland	N/A			2003