Charter schools provide public education choices to educational consumers, school-aged children and their families. As independently run and publicly funded schools of choice, charter schools straddle the line between government and private enterprise and are held accountable by a combination of market mechanisms and bureaucratic accountability. Schools that fail to satisfy public standards or consumers may close, causing disruption to students and families. Recently, some charter school closures have resulted in charter restarts, the acquisition of the assets of a closed school by a new, proven or promising school operator serving substantially the same student population. This qualitative case study examines eight charter school closures and five charter school restarts in Washington, DC between 2013 and 2016. The study aims to answer three exploratory research questions: Why are some schools restarted and others closed outright? Who decides which charter schools are closed and which are restarted? How do they make these decisions? The study finds that numerous actors are involved in decisions about charter school restarts, including the boards of closing schools, the authorizer, other government entities, and various private actors. Communities and families, however, lack proactive roles in the decision-making process. Decisions are made based on a varied combination of market and political forces, though there is often more of an illusion of process than an actual one. The study also finds that market factors, a complex set of political interactions and conditions, including varying levels of social capital among actors, and issues of race are all at work in determining why some schools close and others restart.