An appeals process to the state should be available for charter school applicants to ensure a fair hearing to applicants and a strong connection of charter schools to the local education agency. Charter schools should be required to make information available to the public. Reporting requirements in charter school laws should be specific as to the type of information that charter schools must provide to the public. While the intent of every charter school law is to have schools that are more accountable than the regular public schools, few require the types of information needed to determine the success and impact of charter schools on student achievement and systemic reform. To meet the AFT's criteria on reporting requirements, charter school laws must state specifically that charter schools report demographic information on students and staff, the number of special needs students served, the annual financial audit, the results of achievement tests, attendance rates for students and staff, mobility rates of students, teacher and staff turnover, parental outreach efforts, and graduation rates, where appropriate.
Charter schools can provide a real opportunity for reform.
If these schools are indeed laboratories where new ideas are tested, new methods pioneered, and governance structures refined, they deserve to be supported. Adobe files require the Acrobat Reader. Get it here. All rights reserved.