Charter Schools: Oversight Practices in the District of Columbia 
(19-MAY-05, GAO-05-490).					 
                                                                 
As required by the 2005 D.C. Appropriations Act, we examined the 
performance of D.C. charter school authorizers in their approval 
and oversight roles. In fall 2005, we will publish the full	 
results of our research. However, as required by law, we provided
Congress with an interim report on our work. For this interim	 
report, we addressed the following questions: (1) what are the	 
responsibilities specified for the D.C. charter school		 
authorizers in the School Reform Act? and (2) how are the D.C.	 
authorizers carrying out these responsibilities?		 
-------------------------Indexing Terms------------------------- 
REPORTNUM:   GAO-05-490 					        
    ACCNO:   A24397						        
  TITLE:     Charter Schools: Oversight Practices in the District of  
Columbia							 
     DATE:   05/19/2005 
  SUBJECT:   Academic achievement				 
	     Accountability					 
	     Charter schools					 
	     Performance measures				 
	     Public schools					 
	     Monitoring 					 
	     Educational standards				 
	     District of Columbia				 

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GAO-05-490

United States Government Accountability Office

GAO

                       Report to Congressional Committees

May 2005

CHARTER SCHOOLS

                Oversight Practices in the District of Columbia

GAO-05-490

United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548

May 19, 2005

The Honorable Sam Brownback
Chairman
The Honorable Mary L. Landrieu
Ranking Minority Member
Subcommittee on the District of Columbia
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate

The Honorable Joe Knollenberg
Chairman
The Honorable John W. Olver
Ranking Minority Member
Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, and Housing and Urban

Development, The Judiciary, District of Columbia, and Independent

Agencies Committee on Appropriations House of Representatives

In the 2004-2005 school year, District of Columbia (D.C.) charter schools
enrolled more than 15,000 students, or approximately 21 percent of D.C.'s
public school population-one of the highest proportions in the nation.
Charter schools are public schools that are exempt from certain
regulations in exchange for accountability in improving student
achievement. Charter school authorizers-the entities that approve and
oversee charter schools-are responsible for ensuring that charter schools
achieve expected student outcomes and comply with applicable laws. In
D.C., two entities, the D.C. Board of Education (BOE) and the D.C. Public
Charter School Board (PCSB), were established by the School Reform Act as
charter school authorizers. The law requires the authorizers to monitor
charter schools, but little information is available about the performance
of the BOE and PCSB in providing such oversight.

As required by the 2005 D.C. Appropriations Act, we examined the
performance of D.C. charter school authorizers in their approval and
oversight roles. In fall 2005, we will publish the full results of our
research. However, as required by law, we provided your staff with an
interim report on our work. For this interim report, we addressed the
following questions:

1. 	What are the responsibilities specified for the D.C. charter school
authorizers in the School Reform Act?

2. How are the D.C. authorizers carrying out these responsibilities?

To determine the responsibilities of D.C. charter school authorizers, we
reviewed the School Reform Act as well as other applicable federal and
District laws. To determine how the authorizers are carrying out these
responsibilities, we reviewed charter school application guidelines,
monitoring reports, evaluation criteria, school accountability plans, and
authorizers' renewal and revocation policies and procedures. We also
interviewed officials from the BOE and PCSB, other D.C. agencies such as
the Office of the Chief Financial Officer and the Office of the Inspector
General, and the U.S. Department of Education. We conducted our work
between January and April 2005 in accordance with generally accepted
government auditing standards.

This report formally conveys the information provided to your staff during
a briefing held on April 25, 2005. In summary, we found:

o  	The School Reform Act outlines the responsibilities of the D.C.
charter school authorizers. The law requires that the authorizers review
charter school applications and approve qualified applicants.
Additionally, the law requires the BOE and PCSB to monitor charter schools
and determine if charters should be renewed or revoked. The authorizers
are also required by the School Reform Act to create and distribute annual
reports on their activities.

o  	Although the authorizers carry out their responsibilities in different
manners, both the BOE and PCSB have developed processes to meet their
legal responsibilities. Each authorizer has established timelines,
guidance, and procedures for reviewing and approving charter school
applications. Additionally, both authorizers conduct annual and 5-year
monitoring reviews to ensure that charter schools are complying with
applicable laws, achieving student academic goals, and using sound
financial practices. The BOE has revoked charters of schools that fail to
meet required standards, and the PCSB is in the process of revoking a
school's charter. Finally, each year both authorizers have created annual
reports that include the information required by the School Reform Act.

We provided a draft of this briefing to officials at the BOE and the PCSB
for their technical review and incorporated their comments where
appropriate.

We are sending copies of this briefing to the BOE, the PCSB, the D.C.
Board of Education, the D.C. Public Charter School Board, the Secretary of
Education, appropriate congressional committees, and other interested
parties. In addition, the briefing will be available at no charge on GAO's
web site at http://www.gao.gov.

If you or your staff have any questions, please contact me or Deborah
Edwards at (202) 512-7215. Tamara Fucile, Christopher Morehouse, and
Sheila McCoy also made key contributions.

Marnie Shaul Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues

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