Last week, New Orleans made news as the first city to have a district composed entirely of charter schools. After Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, the state took over the city's school district, and over the course of the last decade, all of the traditional public schools have either closed or been taken over by charter management companies.
This shift marks a change in the structure of New Orleans' school system. While some proponents of the charter movement argue that many of the new schools have shown promising academic gains, opponents are fearful that the elimination of traditional public schools means the termination of the community's voice. Additionally, opponents are concerned that the decentralization of power also means an obscured sense of who is in charge.
To help mediate some confusion surrounding the structure and operation of charter schools, we've created a quick and simple explanation of the various levels of power.
A charter school is authorized by the board of a public body. While each state has different laws, this is typically a public university board, community college board, city school district board, or an intermediate school board. In New Orleans' case, the state has been the authorizer since it took control of the city district post-Katrina.
The authorizer (public body) enters a contract (charter agreement) with the charter school’s board, creating the school. Charter contracts are typically set for 3, 5, or 10 years, after which the school must be reassessed. The decision to do so depends upon whether or not the school is making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and other agreed-upon stipulations in the contract.
Once the contract is in place and the school is a go, the charter school board contracts a management company to run the school. These are typically called EMOs (Education Management Organizations) or CMOs (Charter Management Organizations), and they can be either for-profit or non-profit. In 2010, New York state created a law requiring all future charter schools to only contract non-profit management companies. This is not the case with all states. According to a 2013 report by the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado, Michigan has the highest number of for-profit management companies running its schools. Arizona and Florida follow in second and third place.
The EMO (or CMO) then contracts the charter school employees — the principal, superintendent, teachers, and any additional staff. The EMO also, typically, gets to decide if/who it wants to contract as vendors for things such as food services and technology support. The fact that the charter staff is contracted by the EMO and not the board, school, or district means that the charter staff are “private” employees and not covered by the Public Employment Relations Act. It also means if there is a change in EMO (employer), the entire staff is laid off and it is up to the new EMO to re-staff the building.
Let's break it down a little further to better understand the responsibilities of each group.
Authorizer: The fiscal agent of the charter school. The authorizer receives all school aid payment from the state and federal government and then forwards it to the charter school. Authorizers typically retain 3% of the state aid as an authorizing fee, though this number varies depending on the state. The authorizer gets to appoint the school’s board of directors and oversees whether the school is meeting educational goals, upholding its mission, complying with the law, and meeting accepted accounting principles.
Charter School Boards: The decision-making body of a charter school. Charter school board members are appointed by the authorizer and suggested by the founding school team (which sometimes ends up being the management organization). The board is responsible for ensuring the school is operating in accordance with its mission and is fiscally responsible for school operations. Charter boards are public entities that hold monthly meetings and are subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
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