Most states have audit provisions written into their statutes. Giving charter schools budgetary freedom is less problematic with these yearly audits. Charter schools should be limited in their ability to spend resources. Some control is needed to ensure that public funds are not being used negligently through the term of the schools charter. Given the need to hold charter schools accountable for performance, standards and assessments are of prime importance to districts, other sponsors and charter schools.
Standards set targets for performance, and assessments are intended to measure results.
States are evenly split between whether state standards and assessments should apply to charter schools or whether content and performance standards should be defined in the charter petition. Some states attempt to combine these two choices by allowing charter schools to select their own assessment instruments to meet state-determined education goals. Texas, for example, allows charter schools to set their own standards using statewide assessment instruments. Rhode Island s and Wisconsin s state education goals and standards apply to charter schools, but assessments are not defined in the law. To measure the success of charter schools relative to other schools, the same standards and assessments should be used.