About Charter Schools

Charter schools are free, public schools in Colorado that have been “freed” from some of the rules and regulations that apply to traditional public schools and other private and parochial schools, but that are held to a different level of accountability. Because charter schools are actually created by the approval of a “charter,” the terms of the charter must be met in order for the charter school to remain open.

While charter schools obtain funding from the State, they only receive a portion of the funds that go to traditional public schools. Charter schools do receive the funds that follow a student in Colorado from public school to public school, but they do not receive the transportation funds and capital funds that traditional public schools receive.

Charter schools are developed by extremely dedicated individuals whose goal is to serve a particular population of students that, in their charter, they have shown is currently underserved. Because of the dedication and vision of the schools’ founders, charter schools can fair pretty well despite the drastically reduced funding, but funding and a tight budget are always issues.