ERIC Number: ED517168
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Mar
Pages: 44
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
District of Columbia Charter Schools: Criteria for Awarding School Buildings to Charter Schools Needs Additional Transparency. Report to Congressional Committees. GAO-11-263
Scott, George A.
US Government Accountability Office
Almost 40 percent of all public school students in the District of Columbia (D.C. or District) were enrolled in charter schools in the 2010-11 school year. The D.C. School Reform Act established the Public Charter School Board (PCSB) for the purpose of authorizing and overseeing charter schools. Congress required GAO (US Government Accountability Office) to conduct a management evaluation of PCSB. GAO addresses the following: (1) the mechanisms in place to review the performance and operations of PCSB, (2) the procedures and processes PCSB has in place to oversee and monitor the operations of D.C. charter schools, and (3) the resources available to charter schools for their operations and facilities. GAO interviewed officials from D.C. agencies and 7 charter schools and reviewed oversight procedures for PCSB and charter schools. GAO also reviewed the processes for providing resources to charter schools and analyzed data on these resources. GAO recommends that the Mayor of the District of Columbia direct the Department of Real Estate Services to disclose all factors considered in reviewing charter school offers for former D.C. school buildings and make available to schools, in writing, the reasons the offers were rejected. The District agreed with our recommendations and noted that the Department of Real Estate Services has already taken steps to improve the process for awarding former D.C. school buildings to charter schools. Appended are: (1) D.C. Charter School Characteristics; (2) Description of Academic and Nonacademic Components of the Performance Management Framework as of December 2010; (3) Comments from Public Charter School Board; (4) Comments from the District of Columbia Mayor's Office; and (5) GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments. (Contains 6 tables, 5 figures and 27 footnotes.)
Descriptors: Charter Schools, School Restructuring, Real Estate, Boards of Education, School Buildings, Interviews, Audits (Verification), Educational Assessment, Educational Indicators, Educational Resources, Resource Allocation, Delivery Systems, Performance Factors, Benchmarking, Accountability, Evaluation Criteria, Operations Research, Institutional Characteristics, Position Papers, Administrator Attitudes, Change Strategies
US Government Accountability Office. 441 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20548. Tel: 202-512-6000; Web site: http://www.gao.gov
Publication Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: US Government Accountability Office
Identifiers - Location: District of Columbia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A