Opinion ID: 2051750
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: School Reform Act of 1995

Text: In 1996, Congress enacted the District of Columbia School Reform Act of 1995 (School Reform Act), Pub.L. No. 104-134, § 2002, 110 Stat. 1321 (1996) (codified as amended at D.C.Code § 38-1800.02 et seq. (2001)), in order to provide a framework for educational reform in selected areas of the public education system, particularly with respect to providing a process for conferring, renewing, and revoking charters. [1] The public charter schools were seen as a vehicle for increasing educational options for the District's students and parents by providing a more diverse mix of educational programs; testing innovative teaching approaches; promoting community and parent involvement in public education; and dispensing with regulatory and bureaucratic obstacles. The statute allows the charter schools to operate without being subject to the District's education laws and regulations, D.C.Code § 38-1802.04(c)(3)(A) and (B), and to receive funding comparable to that received by the traditional public schools within the system. Id. at § 38-1802.10. Under the statute, charters are conferred by an eligible chartering authority, one of which is the Board of Education, id. at §§ 38-1800.02(17)(A); a charter may be issued after various statutory requirements are met by the charter applicant. Id. at § 38-1802.03(d). The School Reform Act sets out requirements with which both the Board and the charter schools must comply once a charter application is approved by the Board and the charter is issued. For example, the public charter schools must submit an annual report to the Board. Id. at § 38-1802.04(c)(11). The annual report includes various forms of data concerning the school's progress in meeting programmatic and financial requirements. [2] Id. at § 38-1802.04(c)(11). The statute also requires that the public charter schools provide the Board with student enrollment data, id. at § 38-1802.04(c)(12), and a program of education. Id. at § 38-1802.04(c)(14). The Board is responsible for overseeing each charter school's operations, for ensuring that each school complies with the applicable laws and the provisions of their charters, and for monitoring the progress of each school in meeting student academic achievement expectations as reflected in its charter. Id. at 38-1802.11(a)(1). The Board may also require a public charter school to produce any book, record, paper, or document required by the Board to carry out its oversight function. Id. at § 38-1802.11(a)(2). With respect to revocations, the statute provides that a charter may be revoked within five years of its conferral when the Board determines that the school has [c]ommitted a violation of applicable laws or a material violation of the conditions, terms, standards, or procedures set forth in the charter, including violations relating to the education of children with disabilities. Id. at § 38-1802.13(a)(1)(A). With respect to fiscal mismanagement, a charter may be revoked if the school (1) [h]as engaged in a pattern of nonadherence to generally accepted accounting principles; (2)[h]as engaged in a pattern of fiscal mismanagement; or (3)[i]s no longer economically viable. Id. at § 38-1802.13(b). However, charters may not be revoked during the first five years of a charter school's existence based exclusively on its failure to meet the goals and student academic achievement expectations set forth in the charter. Id. at § 38-1802.13(a)(2). The School Reform Act provides procedures that must govern the consideration of a proposed revocation. The Board must provide a charter school with written notice that it proposes to revoke its charter; the notice must indicate the reasons for the proposed revocation; and the notice must apprise the charter school of its right to an informal hearing before a final decision is made. Id. at § 38-1802.13(c)(1). If the charter school decides that it would like an informal hearing, it must make such a written request within fifteen days of receiving notice of the proposed revocation. Id. at § 38-1802.13(c)(2). Upon receiving such a request, the Board must set a date and time for the hearing and shall provide reasonable notice of the date and time. Id. at § 38-1802.13(c)(3)(A). The notice of the informal hearing must also indicate the procedures to be followed at the hearing. Id. The Board is required to hold the hearing within thirty days of the charter school's written request. Id. at § 38-1802.13(c)(3)(B). The Board's final decision must be in writing and must be issued within thirty days after the hearing is completed. Id. at § 38-1802.13(c)(4)(A)(ii). The final decision must also indicate the reasons for the revocation. Id. at § 38-1802.13(c)(4)(B). The charter school has the right to judicial review, and the Board's revocation decision shall be upheld unless the decision is arbitrary and capricious or clearly erroneous. Id. at § 38-1802.13(c)(6).