Education and Justice have an initiative underway to support local and statewide school discipline initiatives that build positive school climates while keeping students in school. Education has made school discipline reform a priority and recently launched its #RethinkDiscipline campaign to increase awareness about the detrimental impacts of exclusionary discipline. As part of this awareness campaign, Education has developed a webpage where administrators, educators, students, parents and community members can find data and resources to increase their awareness of the prevalence, impact, and legal implications of suspension and expulsion. This webpage contains, among other things, guidance for addressing the behavior needs of students with disabilities and a directory of federal school climate and discipline resources available to schools and districts. Of the approximately 87,000 public school students in D.C. in school year 2015-16, about 45 percent attended charter schools, while about 55 percent attended traditional public schools. Charter schools in D.C. serve students ranging from pre-kindergarten (pre-K) through grade 12. D.C. charter schools offer a range of focuses and specialized curricula, such as foreign language immersion or a focus on serving students who have not been successful in traditional public school settings. For the vast majority of public charter schools, students enroll through D.C.’s common lottery system, My School DC. D.C. charter schools, like all public schools, must comply with various laws governing the education of children, including those pertaining to individuals with disabilities, civil rights, and health and safety conditions. Further, in January 2014 guidance, Education and Justice stated that school districts that receive federal funds must not intentionally discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin, and must not implement any policies that have the effect of discriminating against students on the basis of race, color, or national origin. In addition, charter schools are to be held accountable for their financial and educational performance, including the testing requirements under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended. In D.C., all charter schools are nonprofit organizations and are required to be governed by a board of trustees. Members of the board of trustees are selected according to terms laid out in the school’s charter, and the board assumes a fiduciary role and sets the overall policy for the school. Some D.C. charter schools are part of larger charter school networks that have schools in other states, such as KIPP or BASIS Schools. While some charter schools are managed by charter management organizations—which may handle, for example, curriculum development, teacher recruitment and training, and operational support services for the charter school—other charter schools are single-school networks and operate without such an entity. In the 2015-16 school year, there were 114 charter schools in D.C., run by 65 different organizations. In the District, each charter school or group of charter schools functions as its own local educational agency (LEA), both for purposes of Title I of ESEA, and other purposes. As such, each charter school or group of charter schools is responsible for a wide range of functions associated with being an LEA, such as applying for certain federal grants and acquiring and maintaining facilities. PCSB officials told us that each charter LEA also has the autonomy to establish its own discipline policies and suspend and expel students. Officials from the State Board of Education also told us that, unlike D.C. traditional public schools, charter LEAs are not subject to the discipline policies and procedures in D.C. municipal regulations. As shown in figure 1, charter schools and traditional public schools in D.C. both serve a largely Black population. In the 2013-14 school year, 80 percent of the students in charter schools were Black, compared to 67 percent in traditional public schools in the District. Both charter and traditional public schools in D.C. serve much higher percentages of Black students compared to schools nationally, reflecting D.C.’s large Black population. With respect to students with disabilities, D.C. charter schools serve slightly lower percentages of these students than D.C. traditional public schools, but D.C. charter schools and D.C. traditional public schools both serve slightly higher percentages of these students than their national counterparts (see fig. 1). The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) contains specific procedures that govern the discipline of IDEA- eligible students with disabilities. In 2016, Education issued two pieces of “significant guidance” relevant to these students. The first emphasizes the importance of using IDEA’s individualized education program (IEP) and placement provisions to provide needed positive behavioral interventions and supports and other strategies to address the behavior of a student whose behavior impedes his or her learning or that of others. The guidance explains that these supports are especially important in light of research showing the detrimental effects of disciplinary suspensions, both short- and long-term, on students with disabilities. The second guidance document emphasizes that charter schools have the same obligation as other public schools to provide IDEA-eligible students with these supports, as well as all other protections under the law. In addition, Education noted in this guidance that it expects that a charter school authorizer will be able to ensure that any charter school that it authorizes complies with the terms of its charter, as well as applicable federal and state laws, including IDEA and other civil rights laws. Examples of covered disabilities under IDEA include intellectual disabilities, hearing or visual impairments, emotional disturbance, autism, and specific learning disabilities. In the District, traditional public schools and charter schools have different oversight structures. The Chancellor of D.C. Public Schools oversees the traditional public schools, which operate as a single LEA. In contrast, each charter school or group of charter schools operates as its own LEA. The District of Columbia School Reform Act of 1995 (School Reform Act) established PCSB, an independent agency which provides the primary oversight of D.C. charter schools. However, as in the states, general oversight of federal education program funding requirements—including requirements for serving students with disabilities and those related to federal civil rights—is the responsibility of the state educational agency, which in D.C. is OSSE. In addition, other D.C. education agencies are to coordinate with PCSB and interact with charter schools in various ways (see fig. 2). PCSB, as the sole chartering authority in D.C., has the power to approve, oversee, renew, and revoke charters. (See app. III for a list of PCSB’s responsibilities.) PCSB reviews applications for new charters, as described in appendix IV, and then is responsible for monitoring charter schools’ academic achievement, operations, and compliance with applicable laws. PCSB is also required to submit an annual report that includes information on charter renewals, revocations, and other actions related to public charter schools. (See app. V for more information on PCSB’s annual reporting.) The School Reform Act allows PCSB to grant up to 10 charters per year. Each charter remains in force for 15 years. After 15 years in operation, if a school desires to renew its charter, it is required to submit a renewal application requesting to renew its charter for another 15-year term. Charters may be renewed an unlimited number of times. PCSB is also required to review each charter at least once every 5 years to determine whether the charter should be revoked. PCSB itself is comprised of seven unpaid board members who are appointed by the Mayor, with the advice and consent of the D.C. Council, and who are to be selected so that knowledge of specific areas related to charter schools is represented on the board. In addition, there are 37 employees who implement the board’s policies and oversee charter schools. PCSB’s main source of revenue is administrative fees from charter schools, and its main expenditures are for its personnel and for other costs related to its monitoring activities (see app. VI for more information on PCSB’s revenues and expenditures). Students who are suspended or expelled from any public school have certain rights. These rights are derived from a number of sources, including state and federal constitutional and statutory law and court decisions interpreting them. For instance, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that all students facing temporary suspension have interests qualifying for protection under the Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution and that due process requires, in connection with a suspension of 10 days or less, that a student be given oral or written notice of the charges against them and an explanation of the evidence the authorities have and an opportunity to present the student’s side of the story. Further, students with disabilities under IDEA have specific rights afforded under that statute. In particular, if a school proposes suspending a student served under IDEA for more than 10 days, the LEA, the student’s parents, and relevant members of a child’s IEP team must conduct a review to determine whether the behavior in question is a manifestation of the student’s disability. If so, the suspension cannot proceed. Students with disabilities also have rights to educational services while suspended. District of Columbia Charter School Discipline at a Glance Discipline rates for charter schools overall dropped from school year 2011-12 through school year 2013-14 according to federal data, and continued to drop through school year 2015-16, according to D.C. data. According to federal data, in school year 2013-14: o Both charter and traditional public schools in D.C. had suspension rates that were about double the rates for schools nationally. o D.C. charter school suspension rates were slightly higher than D.C. traditional public school suspension rates overall. o Discipline rates remain disproportionately high for Black students and students with disabilities. Rates for individual charter schools varied widely in 2015-16, according to D.C. data.