Drawing on the Los Angeles Unified School District's experiences with charter schools, this brief highlights the difficulties in balancing the twin needs of charter-school autonomy and accountability, and their implications for the way in which charter schools and districts can work together. It identifies key challenges in district-school relationships and outlines some ways in which districts and charters can work with each other more effectively. It is hoped that the examples provided by a large urban district have relevance for other developing charter schools and the districts that sponsor them. The text discusses the parameters of the district/charter-school relationship, detailing the types of charter schools that various states allow. The document describes the challenges in the district-school relationship, such as finding the balance between autonomy and accountability and administering, supporting, and communicating with charter schools. It explains how districts can work better with charter schools and how they can plan for the different needs of conversions and start-ups, and explores charter-school sponsorship as well as the need to set clear expectations for charter approval and renewal. The importance of establishing a liaison between school and district and encouraging and supporting interaction between charter and other schools is likewise presented. (Contains 11 references.) (RJM)