Minnesota enacted the First Charter School Law in the United States in June, 1991. In May 2009, the Minnesota Legislature enacted a comprehensive "second generation" charter school law that focused on strengthening accountability & innovation. Minnesota's 2009 law has been rated as the nation's best charter school law.
Minnesota Statute 124D.10 - Minnesota's Charter School Law
Minnesota Statute 124D.11 - Minnesota's Revenue for Charter Schools Law
In January 2010, Minnesota's charter school law was named the Top State Charter School Law in the nation by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
In its report on all of the nation's charter school laws the Alliance stated; "Although it has long been recognized as having a good law in several regards, it (Minnesota)enacted several changes this year (2009)to strenghten school and authorizer accountability - proposed by charter advocates - that vaulted it to #1."
In 2010, Minnesota' law received an A grade in the Center for Education Reform's 2010 Charter School Law Ranking and Scorecard for its charter school law.
In 2009, Minnesota's law was cited as the "nation's strongest charter school law" in The 2009 Accountability Report on Charter Schools published by The Center for Education Reform.
In 2000, Minnesota received the Innovations in American Government Award from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government for its charter school law. As the first state to pass a charter school law in 1991 and the first state to open a charter school in 1992, Minnesota has been a pioneer in charter school public policy.