As part of my book research, I've been looking back on the thinking that led to charter schooling.???? An educator named Ray Budde is often credited with originating some of the basic ideas as well as coming up with the name ???????charter schools.???????
This name and the concepts underlying it gained fame in 1988 when AFT president Albert Shanker made a National Press Club speech and wrote a column on the subject.
Two things you might want to check out.???? First, this 1988 report from Minnesota's Citizen League, which organized the various ideas swirling around at the time and turned them into a cogent set of recommendations, which ultimately led to the nation's first charter school law in 1991.
Second, this case study on the development and early years of Minnesota's charter school sector (commissioned by Eduwonk in his PPI days and written by Jon Schroeder).