Transparency Advocates Unsuccessful As D.C. Council Adds Only Small Changes In New Charter School Legislation

Legislation to shore up oversight of charter schools’ finances went quietly through the D.C. Council this June, though without requirements for the schools to follow open meetings and public records laws as advocates urged at the bill’s public hearing almost a year ago.

The District’s 115 charter schools, enrolling 45 percent of the District’s students at a cost this coming year of over $720 million District tax dollars, are overseen not by the mayor or D.C. Council but by an independent “charter authorizer” called the Public Charter School Board (PCSB). Continue…

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