Prominent Charter Networks Eye Fresh Territory

George Berube prepares to install cabinets in the chemistry lab of BASIS DC in Washington. The new charter school will open August 27 for 468 students in grades 5 through 8, and steadily expand until it serves students through grade 12.

—Nicole Frugé/Education Week

By Sean Cavanagh

A handful of prominent charter school networks that have won praise for their academic performance and unorthodox models are expanding to new parts of the country, in some cases after receiving recruiting pitches from state and local officials determined to bring proven operators into their communities.

Until now, organizations such as Aspire Public Schools and Rocketship Education , both headquartered in California, and BASIS Schools, Inc. , of Arizona, which have been held up as worthy of emulation, have focused their work within their states’ boundaries.

But in recent months, those organizations and others have announced plans for incremental growth, the success of which could determine whether they venture into other cities and states in...