"We haven't quite figured out which one is better," said Butch Stolzman, a 63-year-old who owns a pellet mill in town.

More than 30 charter schools have been established in Idaho by teachers, parents and community members. For just about every one of the 11,000 students enrolled in a charter school, there is another kid on a waiting list.

They are public schools, funded with state money, but given more flexibility in how they operate. They draft charters with specific goals and their students are subject to standardized testing, just like they would be in regular schools.

They hold a smaller percentage of minorities compared with traditional schools statewide and several, like North Valley Academy, have adopted rigorous college-prep programs where students wear uniforms and adhere to strict discipline codes.

Debra Infanger wanted students in this county, where cows outnumber residents 12 to one, to have the same alternative being offered in school districts across the state. She founded North Valley Academy, which has about 162 students in kindergarten through eighth grades and will expand to include grades 9-12 this fall.

"I don't regret it at all," said Infanger, a retired owner of a glass-repair business. "I don't like to see rural kids shorted just because we live in the country and don't like a lot of traffic."

All five of her children went to regular schools here, she tutored algebra, frosted cupcakes for bake sales.

"I don't want to hurt the traditional public schools. I just believe in choice," Infanger said. "I think having two schools in town just makes both of us work harder."

About 100 miles west of Gooding, lawmakers in the state capital have set the stage for a legislative battle over a plan to temporarily freeze approval of new charter schools for the next three years, beginning in July.

Sen. Dick Sagness wants to place a moratorium on the establishment of new charter schools until the economic turmoil subsides.

Charters received nearly $60 million last year in state money, while more than half of the 115 school districts in Idaho have gone to local taxpayers and are operating with supplemental levies, Sagness, D-Pocatello, said.

"If they're in a district where the charter school resides, it's having an impact, opportunities are being reduced," Sagness said. "Tell me how that's fair, or reasonable."

At least one Republican senator vowed to oppose the bill, which is likely to fail and has also drawn criticism from public schools chief Tom Luna.

"I think it would send a signal to the parents of Idaho that we are not going to respect their demands," said Luna, who supports a plan to raise the cap on the number of new charters allowed to open each year.

In neighboring Washington state, the Legislature's approval of charter schools in 2004 was swiftly overturned by voters in a referendum at the next election.

But nationwide, efforts to stymie the growth of charter schools have largely failed and there are now 4,600 of them in 40 states with 4.5 million students, said Jeanne Allen, president and founder of the Center for Education Reform, a school choice advocate based in Washington, D.C.

"Lots of people wanted to shut down the competition, but reason prevailed and traditional school leaders learned how to do better," Allen said. "Those who didn't have either continued to suffer or they have closed."