Dear County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators:
Acting upon information provided by the United States Department of Education (ED) in its non-regulatory guidance entitled, “The Impact of the New Title I Requirements on Charter Schools” (dated July 2004), the California Department of Education notified county and district superintendents and direct-funded charter school principals of the roles and responsibilities of the charter school authorizer under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) as it relates to charter schools in Program Improvement (PI). We would like to provide clarification of our letter dated May 31, 2005, on this matter (copy enclosed).
As you may know, a direct-funded charter school is, for fiscal purposes, recognized by both federal and state law as a local educational agency (LEA). However, the non-regulatory guidance issued by ED indicates that for purposes of PI, charter schools (whether direct-funded or not) are to be treated as a school rather than as an LEA. This has led to some confusion about who is responsible for the sanctions placed on a direct-funded charter school when one (or more) of its schools is identified as PI and must implement requirements such as parent notification, school choice, supplemental educational services, and school restructuring
Although the July 2004 federal Charter School Non-Regulatory Guidance (questions A-3, A-4, and A-5) states that for accountability purposes, direct-funded charter schools identified for PI will be treated like a school, that does not diminish a direct-funded charter school’s ability to operate like an LEA when it comes to implementing PI requirements on its own. In other words, the role of the charter school authorizer, in this case, would be to work with the charter school to ensure that it has taken the appropriate steps in compliance with NCLB, rather than to take direct responsibility for actually implementing those requirements.
If you have questions about charter schools and Program Improvement, please contact Maria Reyes, Consultant, Title l Policy and Partnerships Office, at (916) 319-0380, or via e-mail at Mreyes@cde.ca.gov. Questions about charter schools may be directed to Deborah Probst, Consultant, Charter Schools Office, at (916) 445-1014, or via e-mail at DProbst@cde.ca.gov.
Sincerely,
Camille Maben, Director
School and District Accountability Division
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1430 N Street
Sacramento, CA 95814