What is a Charter School? A Charter School... is an independent public school designed by educators and parents to offer a powerful and humanistic learning environment to the community. is government funded and therefore is no cost to families. has a specific philosophy and vision that identifies how children learn and how we will best teach them. determines its own curriculum, recruits and hires its own staff, and manages its entire budget, in exchange for increased accountability to produce positive academic results. must be approved or re-chartered every 2 to 5 years.