Standards and Policy Recommendations for Effective Oversight
The Annenberg Institute for School Reform (AISR) presents standards and policy recommendations to ensure that public charter schools are transparent and accountable.
One recommendation is that public school districts and charter schools should collaborate to determine the location of schools and develop academic and extracurricular programs. To create a level playing field, traditional districts and charter schools should be unified to serve all students.
The report also recommends that charter schools be subject to the same transparency rules as traditional public schools. This includes having governing boards with parent and student members to represent the communities the school serves. Charter schools also need contracts for management services they subcontract with. These management organizations must provide full public financial disclosure of their expenses and profits since they are receiving public funds.
AISR says that if charter schools are to be a part of the public education system, they must not deny access to any student because the school chooses not to provide the services they need. Both public schools and charter schools cannot discriminate in admitting students.
The rapid growth of the charter school industry has created the need for these reforms that “will strengthen public education, level the playing field between public and charter schools, and protect the public’s investment in all our schools.”
