Charter schools are schools that are run independently and differently from public schools . They are all funded by taxpayers. Most of the charter schools are k-12. In 1970 a new england educator named Ray Budde mentioned that all teachers should be given a chance from there local school to explore more chances. The first charter school law in the united states was passed that in minnesota. The second state that passed the charter school in the united states was in california . The first charter school opened was named city academy charter school that is located in st.paul,minnesota. Later in 1998 new york also passed the charter school law . Around december 2011 approximately 5,600 public charter schools had about 2 million or more students