In the 2004-2005 school year, District of Columbia (D.C.) charter schools enrolled more than 15,000 students, or approximately 21 percent of D.C.?s public school population--one of the highest proportions in the nation. Charter schools are public schools that are exempt from certain regulations in exchange for accountability in improving student achievement. Charter school authorizers--the entities that approve and oversee charter schools--are responsible for ensuring that charter schools achieve expected student outcomes and comply with applicable laws. In D.C., two entities, the D.C. Board of Education (BOE) and the D.C. Public Charter School Board (PCSB), were established by the School Reform Act as charter school authorizers. The law requires the authorizers to monitor charter schools, but little information is available about the performance of the BOE and PCSB in providing such oversight. As required by the 2005 D.C. Appropriations Act, we examined the performance of D.C. charter school authorizers in their approval and oversight roles.