The Texas example illustrates the challenge faced by today's charter movement: how to meet growing demand while maintaining quality. Its considerable progress is sometimes obscured by headlines about the few schools at the top that generate enormous excitement and world-class achievement and the few at the bottom that use their autonomy for unwise or unethical ends. For charters in the middle that demonstrate both academic progress and operational proficiency, the key to quality expansion lies in eliminating the financial and regulatory obstacles discussed in this paper. Schools that have earned their spurs should be allowed to concentrate on student achievement instead of paperwork. Texas can also lead by acting decisively on schools that fail. A few have been shut down already, but mostly for financial and governance reasons. As the accountability system is refined, we will see more clearly which schools promote student growth, and which do not. Authorizers should have, and apply, the power to terminate failures. By providing more freedom at the top of the charter scale and more oversight at the bottom, Texas can enhance the contribution its charter sector is making. (Contains 3 tables and 100 endnotes.)