Two examples of the rapidly changing rules around charter schools illustrate an “institutional bypass” of the present system. In New York City, with 25 charter schools, the sytem plans to create 50 more chartered schools as “seeds of change” for the remainder of the district. The only mayor in the U.S. with the authority to create charter schools is Bart Peterson in Indianapolis. He has opened or has plans to serve 4,500 students in charters in the next year and is seeking more beyond that. Another report, The Rugged Frontier: A Decade of Charter Schooling in Arizona describes the conditions in Arizona which has more charter schools than any state, about 500 sites.
