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Monday, June 24, 2019

EdSource: Why California Charter Schools Have Little or No Oversight | Diane Ravitch's blog

EdSource: Why California Charter Schools Have Little or No Oversight | Diane Ravitch's blog

EdSource: Why California Charter Schools Have Little or No Oversight

Louis Freedberg of EdSource explains here why California charter schools are largely unsupervised, leading to a drumbeat of scandals like the recent indictment of 11 people charged with a theft of $80 million.
He writes:
As charter school conflicts intensify in California, increasing attention is being focused not only on the schools themselves but on the school boards and other entities that grant them permission to operate in the first place.
They’re called charter authorizers, and unlike many states, California has hundreds of them: 294 local school districts, 41 county offices of education, along with the State Board of Education.
In fact, California, with over 1300 charters schools, has more authorizers than any other state. That’s not only because of California’s size but also because it has an extremely decentralized approach to charter school authorization.
Someone wishing to start a charter school, or to renew a charter, must apply to a local school district to get the CONTINUE READING: EdSource: Why California Charter Schools Have Little or No Oversight | Diane Ravitch's blog