he individuality of their methods of governance, facilities, staff, families and students. Each school's board of directors maintains responsibility for the operation of their school, with individual schools in turn being accountable to the school district that approved their charter. As a condition of their charter's continuance, charter schools must meet or exceed state academic standards. I believe that this level of accountability is largely responsible for the high standard of academic excellence that successful charters have maintained thus far (Jacobsen, 1996). In addition, while charter schools are naturally subject to the same federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability, race, creed, color, gender, national origin, religion, ancestry, or need for special education services, as other public schools (Fischer, Schimmel & Kelly 1999), they may apply for waivers to specific state statutes and district regulations. Most Colorado charter schools have received waivers freeing them from the regulatory and bureaucratic hu
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