Dive Brief:

• The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General audited 33 charter schools run by charter management organizations in six states, and found they posed "a significant risk" to department objectives.
• U.S. News & World Report reports specific risks were found at 22 of the schools included waste, fraud and abuse, lack of accountability over the use of federal funds, and the possibility that school implementation of federal programs weren’t in line with federal requirements.
• The report further found the Education Department did not have the structures in places to monitor, evaluate or mitigate those risks and it didn’t make sure state departments were monitoring the organizations either.

Dive Insight:

Not all charter schools are run by charter management organizations, and these entities have been particularly scrutinized in the charter sector. Some states allow for-profit charter management organizations to run schools, prompting concern from critics that their priority is making money rather than best serving students. In other cases, critics point to large, sometimes multi-state, charter management organization bureaucracies that are similar to those of traditional school systems that charters were invented to avoid.

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools is waging a campaign to hold low-performing charters more accountable. It has been particularly aggressive about virtual charter schools, which often have for-profit management companies at their helm. Troubling data about aggressive school discipline policies that disproportionately impact black students and evidence that some charters push out students with disabilities have added fuel to the fire for critics.