Here are the key findings of the Minnesota Star Tribune’s new review of more than 200 charter school evaluations:
- Overlooking academic problems: About 75% of the contracts were renewed despite reviews showing charter schools failed key academic goals, often by large margins.
- Lack of standardization: Each authorizer creates its own criteria for grading performance. A few authorizers set the bar high for academic achievement and penalize schools that fail to make the grade. Other authorizers set the bar low and overlook even extended periods of underachievement.
- State oversight is minimal: The Minnesota Department of Education reviews each contract for compliance with state laws, and it found problems in 80% of the renewals. But MDE has never sanctioned an authorizer for poor oversight.
- Inherent conflict of interest: In Minnesota and 13 other states, authorizers are paid fees for each charter school they oversee, which may create an “inappropriate incentive” to renew contracts for “low-quality charter schools,” according to the National Association of Charter School Authorizers.
