Reporting Highlights

• An Easy Process: In Arkansas, all it took to establish a school was filling out a form on a state website, $45 and the purchase of an American flag.
• No Qualifications Needed: Having no experience running a school — or even teaching — didn’t stand in the way of founding schools.
• Fewer Barriers: We discovered that opening microschools, which are proliferating nationwide, offer an even easier route.

These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.