Charters Hit by Facilities Funding Woes

By Darcia Harris Bowman

After spending the first month of the school year meeting for lessons in a municipal park, the 75 students at the Redwood City, Calif., charter school now attend classes on the showroom floor of a former furniture warehouse.

"Our kids want a traditional school setting—they want a real high school experience," Alice M. Miller, the school's founder, said. "I actively follow any and all possible leads, almost on a daily basis. It is time-consuming, demoralizing work, with virtually no hopes for success."

Aurora High's trials are not uncommon among the more than 2,000 charter schools operating in 33 states and the District of Columbia, according to a new report from the U.S. General Accounting Office, the...