15 years ago, students all across the United States were not getting the education they deserved. Too many children were attending failing schools, struggling to learn with outdated materials and curriculum. Expectations were dismally low and even so, too many children were not graduating or worse, coming out of schools, unprepared for higher education and unqualified for the workforce.

The answer to this crisis in public education came in the form of state legislation supporting Charter schools--- free public schools, funded by tax dollars. Charters schools could more quickly embrace innovation, unique school cultures, curriculum, and governance. By design, Charter schools operate outside the box.

Charter schools offer alternative education options for parents and children. They don't discriminate and like traditional public schools, they are accountable to academic standards set by state and federal governments. Still, their opening 15 years ago, opened polarizing debates. Despite the controversies, charter schools are here to stay. Those opposed have had no success in slowing the growth of charter schools, or killing the state laws that support them. New Charter schools open every year, sometimes with the financial encouragement of charter school incubators which help fund those critical first years.

How much do you really know about charter schools and how they operate? Join us for Outside the Box, a documentary that will help you better understand how charter schools operate and learn why some say charters are helping raise the bar on what is possible in education. We'll talk to a national expert who is helping make sense of the data. We'll discover how charters are monitored and learn who decides if they're not making the grade and if and when to close those that fail. We'll learn some of the challenges of starting a charter school from scratch. We'll also visit some nationally recognized transformational schools closing the achievement gap between rich and poor.