In 2011, the New Mexico legislature passed changes to the Charter School Act that provided more accountability for both charters and authorizers in New Mexico. As part of that law, the Public Education Department (PED) is asked to submit an annual report on the status of charter schools in New Mexico. This is the first report submitted under that law. Charter schools are public schools, and, like traditional public schools, they do not charge tuition for students to attend. However, they differ from traditional public schools in that they are authorized to open by presenting a charter proposal to one of the New Mexico charter school authorizers. If authorized, the school then operates under the charter which contains the school's vision and mission for their school and how the school intends to implement that vision. Charter schools are publicly funded under the same funding formula as regular public schools, less a 2% administrative fee and are subject to all of the same laws and regulations. Charter schools are schools of choice. Students and their families can decide to enter into a lottery for submission to a charter school unless the school does not have a waiting list. In that case, admission is based on a first come, first serve basis or by lottery if more students apply than there are spots available. Many charter schools have waiting lists for students who want to attend them, but who were not selected in the lottery. Many charter schools in New Mexico have a stated mission to serve target populations of students that are in need of specialized services. The PED has created a separate category for schools serving special student populations, called "SAM" schools. These are schools that serve over 10% of older adult students or over 20% of students with special needs. Twelve percent of New Mexico charter schools are SAM schools. There are presently 98 charter schools in New Mexico, serving over 15,000 students, or approximately 5% of New Mexico's public school students. These schools are authorized by either the state authorizer (the Public Education Commission or the PEC) or a local authorizer (the local school board). 57% of charter schools are authorized by the PEC, 16% are authorized by the Albuquerque Public School Board and 28% are authorized by all other local schools boards collectively. This annual report presents: (1) Comparison of Performance between Charter and Non-Charter schools in New Mexico; and (2) Assessment of Successes, Challenges, and Areas of Improvement. The following are appended: (1) Three View of Final Grades from School Grading from school year 2012-2013; and (2) Three Views of A-F School Grades from 2012-2013 Albuquerque Schools Compared.