California sets few rules for charter school oversight. A new report offers improvements.

"California lawmakers have been told over the past two decades that it needs to improve how it oversees charter schools, but the state has not yet made significant changes to its laws and policies about how to hold a charter school accountable while it's operating. Those shortfalls have cost the state, which has seen recent cases of fraud and other improper spending by certain charter school networks."

"A new 83-page report published last week highlights what it describes as long-standing weaknesses in California's charter oversight and argues for lawmakers to make improvements, including setting clearer and higher standards for the authorizers that oversee charter schools and changing how much funding authorizers receive for oversight. The report was produced by California Charter Authorizing Professionals, a nonprofit group that provides support and professional development for charter authorizers in the state, as well as the National Network for District Authorizing."

"Charter schools are publicly funded and privately run schools that are independent of school districts. The premise of charters is that they get more operating freedom than traditional public school districts do in exchange for higher accountability. To open, they have to get approved by an authorizer most often a school district, sometimes a county education office or the state Board of Education."

California's charter oversight has long-standing weaknesses, including unclear standards for authorizers and inadequate funding for oversight. Lawmakers have not enacted significant policy or legal changes in roughly two decades to strengthen accountability during charter operation. Those shortfalls have enabled fraud and improper spending by some charter networks, including a 2019 A3 scheme that siphoned $400 million in state funding. Charter schools are publicly funded and privately run, receiving more operating freedom than traditional districts in exchange for higher accountability. Authorizers—usually school districts, county education offices, or the state Board of Education—vet petitions, monitor compliance and performance, and decide charter renewals, prompting calls to raise standards and change oversight funding.

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