New overseer for charters urged
State board too consumed by charter petitions
Charter schools have become a time sink for the State Board of Education, with a third of its time spent dealing with schools serving 5 percent of California’s students. Relieving that burden is one reason that the Little Hoover Commission, a state oversight body, is recommending that California establish an independent body to directly authorize and oversee charter schools.
A California Board of Charter Schools would not replace local districts and county offices of education, which are still the primary authorizers of charters, but it would offer an alternative path for charter applicants, and, under the Little Hoover Commission’s plan, it would have the ability to revoke the authorizing power of local districts that are either too lax in monitoring charters or discriminatory in keeping them out. The Little Hoover Commission heard
