| 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 | |||||||||||||
