Even so, not everybody has boarded the charter bandwagon. Charter schools draw students from traditional schools, along with state funding. So districts like Carbon School District that already have declining enrollments say charters suck much-needed funds from programs in traditional schools and put students in those schools at risk of losing learning opportunities.

But in larger, growing districts, many charters have long lists of students waiting to get in. American Preparatory Academy in Jordan School District has around 1,400 students on the waiting list, Summit Academy has more than 1,000, Ogden Preparatory Academy has more than 500 and the Academy for Math and Engineering in Salt Lake City has nearly 300 students waiting in the wings.

Still, most schools do extensive marketing through the media, fliers, open houses and mailers to get the word out on what programs their charters offer. The following list includes all of Utah's charter schools as of fall 2005, according to the Utah State Office of Education:

• Academy for Math, Engineering and Science, grades 9-12, Salt Lake City. Located at Cottonwood High School, AMES, one of Utah's New Century high-tech high schools, targets at-risk high school students with an emphasis on technology and engineering.

• American Leadership Academy, grades K-12, Spanish Fork. The school will use a unique method of educational reform that emphasizes accountability, character development and respect for the individual.

• American Preparatory Academy-West, grades K-9, Draper. The school will follow the classical education model of the Trivium — observing the grammar, logic and rhetorical phases of learning and applying those principles in the classroom.

• Beehive Science and Technology, grades 7-8, Salt Lake City. The school's target population includes minorities, immigrants and refugee children, and its goal is to help students prepare for college. It has a math, science and technology emphasis.

• CBA Center, grades 6-12, Delta. This school focuses on serving the at-risk population of Millard County. Plans are for the school to revert to regular, non-charter status with the school district soon.

• City Academy, grades 7-12, Salt Lake City. The school promotes democratic learning and is a First Amendment school that relies on active participation from all students, staff and parents in hopes of shaping responsible active citizens.

• DaVinci Academy, grades 9-12, Ogden. DaVinci is an alternative high school that targets at-risk students and helps them prepare for college with a project-driven curriculum.