America’s system of government education, operated by the states, has for decades functioned as a public utility, with guaranteed clients and funding. That funding has continued despite poor performance and widespread dissatisfaction among parents, students, and politicians alike. In 1983, the federal Department of Education saw the problem as sufficiently serious to release the self-explanatory book, A Nation at Risk. Since that time there has been little change, as American students continue to fall behind their foreign counterparts. But America’s education establishment, despite its record of resisting and co-opting reform, has not been able to contain a powerful new movement that is expanding the options of parents and students.

Despite much opposition, charter schools—deregulated public schools run by community groups, including parents and teachers—are mounting a challenge from within the government system.

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