Rep. Mark Takano Introduces the Charter School Transparency, Accountability, and Quality Act
Washington DC – Earlier today, Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) introduced the Charter School Transparency, Accountability, and Quality Act, which will increase the information available regarding charter schools and improve charter laws. The dramatic growth of the charter school sector has raised many questions about the accountability, transparency, and quality of these rapidly opening charter schools.
Only 15 states and the District of Columbia have established standards for charter school authorizers, and just 3 states require authorizer and overall program accountability systems for all charter schools. Only Maine requires performance-based charter contracts.
With data showing that states with strong charter laws have more successful charter schools, the Charter School Transparency, Accountability, and Quality Act aims to bridge that gap. The legislation would strengthen standards for charter school authorizers, ensure that schools make information and disaggregated data on student performance and enrollment publicly available, encourage fiscal oversight, require charter schools to share best practices with all schools, work to recruit, enroll and retain underserved students, and research the impacts of charter schools.
“Originally, charter schools were to be hubs of innovation—outside the yoke of district bureaucracy, with the promise that if what they did worked, they would share it with neighborhood and other public schools,” said American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten. “But that goal has never been realized. Instead, charters have played by a different set of rules than other public schools. I applaud Rep. Mark Takano’s efforts to hold charters to high standards of transparency, oversight and accountability in order to reclaim their original promise.”
“As an educator for more than 20 years, I know that charter schools play an important role in our education system,” said Rep. Takano. “But over the past few decades, the original idea of charter schools has veered off course and negatively impacted the quality of education some students receive. When data shows that states with strong charter laws have better performing charter schools, we know what we need to do. I urge my colleagues to support the Charter School Transparency, Accountability, and Quality Act and look forward to it making its way through the House.
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