Charter schools are publicly funded schools freed from some of the regulations placed on traditional public schools (TPS). In exchange for that greater level of autonomy, public charter schools are required to meet performance goals contained in their authorizing charter or face the prospect of closure. Most public charter schools may enroll students from a wide geographic area, not just a neighborhood school zone. Such "independent" or "open enrollment" charter schools must admit students by lottery if oversubscribed. Over 7,500 public charter schools enrolled over 3.3 million students during the 2018-19 school year. The researchers of this report examine the differences in cost-effectiveness and return-on-investment (ROI) for public charter schools and traditional public schools (TPS) in seven major U.S. cities: Camden, Denver, Indianapolis, Shelby County (Memphis), New Orleans, San Antonio, and the District of Columbia. They determine how much money is invested in public charter schools and TPS, what levels of student achievement are attained across the two public school sectors, and how much economic payoff society can expect to receive as a result of the educational investments in each sector.