D.C.'s public charter school law, known as the School Reform Act, sets up a comprehensive accountability scheme that does not primarily rely on oversight by government regulators. Instead, the Act places the burden on each school's board of trustees to ensure accountability to parents and the public. Accountability is achieved in two principal ways. First, the public charter schools receive funds only for those students actually enrolled; schools that fail to attract and hold enough students will close. Second, just like independent schools, each public charter school must seek, obtain, and maintain accreditation from a recognized accrediting body. Additionally, accountability to parents is ensured by the requirement that at least two members of each school's board of trustees be parents of currently-enrolled students.
It is intended that government oversight be supplementary to these main forms of accountability. The chartering boards receive a detailed annual report and an annual audited financial statement from each school. Schools that mismanage funds can be closed down at any time, and those whose students do not show sufficient academic progress can be closed at five years.
The accountability scheme envisioned by the Act makes perfect sense, given that each public charter school is an independent non-profit corporation given exclusive control over its instruction, administration, personnel, and finances. Unfortunately, both chartering boards have turned this scheme on its head, imposing burdensome school system-like reporting and site visit requirements on the schools. What's more, both boards feel free to demand changes in any aspect of a school's program or management.
