- Ray Budde first proposed the concept of "charter schools" in a 1974 paper where he suggested giving teachers charters to explore new educational approaches, aiming to restrict school districts' control. However, the idea received little attention at the time. - In 1988, Albert Shanker, president of the American Federation of Teachers, revived Budde's idea by proposing autonomous schools led by teachers, calling them "charter schools" and popularizing the term. - Minnesota passed the first charter school law in 1991, and the first charter schools opened there and began spreading to other states, generating public discussion on school choice and reform.