Ember Reichgott Junge, the Minnesota state senator who authored the first charter school law, candidly shares her personal and challenging journey of pioneering chartering through its early origins, its tumultuous legislative passage in Minnesota, and its explosion onto the national stage. By all accounts, it shouldn’t have happened. Chartering succeeded because it was a bipartisan initiative from the middle of the political spectrum that arose from visionary citizens outside the political system.
With never-before-published historical documents and first-person accounts by supporters and opponents, this book informs both the past and future of public education. It is an eye-opening and stimulating inside look at policymaking. Zero Chance of Passage is the seminal reference on the history of this unique and inspiring redesign of public education.
Today, nearly 35 years after passage of the 1991 chartering law, over 3.7 million students attend over 8,100 chartered schools (2022-23 data) in 46 states, District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
The book has been used as an expert resource on chartering around the country and was cited in multiple briefs to the United States Supreme Court in the 2025 St. Isidore Oklahoma case.
"In Zero Chance of Passage, Ember Reichgott Junge delivers a
fascinating and detailed account of the bipartisan movement
to revive the American education system."
- PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, Founder of the William J. Clinton Foundation and 42nd President of the United States
