Charter school enrollment has climbed by about 14 percent since last school year, according to data from the Washington-based Center for Education Reform.
The center reported that 446 new charter schools opened their doors for the 2005-06 school year. In all, 3,648 charter schools are operating across the country, serving nearly 1.1 million students, according to the research and advocacy group, which backs the use of the public but largely independent schools.
Last school year, 3,343 charter schools served some 948,000 students. Unchanged from the 2004-05 year, the five states with the most charters this school year are California, Arizona, Florida, Ohio, and Texas, in order of the number of schools.
