The effort by the San Francisco Board of Education to revoke the charter of the Edison Charter Academy, managed by the for-profit Edison Schools, Inc., has generated national headlines. While the Edison case is worth examining on its own merits, it more importantly sheds light on the whole question of charter school accountability. In early April, the San Francisco Chronicle ran a series of stories on the findings of an independent audit of the San Francisco Unified School District conducted by the Arthur Anderson accounting firm. Even the most jaded San Francisco politicos and pundits have had enough. The follies of the San Francisco Board of Education illustrate why people go to the trouble of starting charter schools in the first place.
True accountability is more than filling out district-mandated paperwork.
It's cleaving to the idea that the education of children is a trust. PO Box 2047, Carmichael CA 95609.