When charter schools were first launched in the late 1980s-early 1990s, it was taken as a given that charters would gain autonomy in exchange for accountability. The promise at the time was that they would save public dollars by having no bureaucracy. So they would cost less, get better results, and be held to high standards of fiscal and academic accountability. As the charters have grown into a politically powerful industry supported by deep-pocketed entrepreneurs, they have increasingly demanded more autonomy, more public money, and less accountability.
The Showdown will come at the next meeting of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board. Billionaires and Dark money have spent many millions to elect a pro-charter majority. That majority hangs by a slender thread since one of its members, Ref Rodriguez, clings to his seat despite being under indictment on multiple charges of campaign finance violations.
At its next meeting, the board will decide what to do about a recommendation by district officials to close 10 charters.
“Charter school leaders, who say they are standing up against regulations they find onerous, won’t back down and will leave it to board members to decide their schools’ fates Tuesday.
“They may get a sympathetic ear because the board majority is the first to be elected with major financial support from charter backers.
The futures of six other charter schools also are at risk over the same issues. All told, there have never been as many L.A. charter schools facing potential closure at one time — certainly never over conflicts they instigated.
If the charters don’t prevail, they still could appeal any denials to the county or state education boards.
Both the district and charter operators say they are looking out for students.
A key point of dispute is the authority of the district’s inspector general to conduct long-running investigations of charter schools. Charter operators want to narrow this power and say state law supports such limits…
The district’s charter division recommended denying renewed authorization to eight Alliance College-Ready Public Schools campuses and two Magnolia Public Schools campuses. Six KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) schools may be reauthorized on the condition that they demonstrate compliance with district rules in the near future. KIPP administrators have not agreed to that condition.
Three proposed charters, which hope to open in the future, also are at risk in this dispute: one each from KIPP, Equitas Academy Charter Schools and STEM Preparatory Schools.”
The public will soon learn whether the school boards works for the public or for the billionaires who funded their campaigns.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
This makes another clear case for claiming that charter schools not public schools.
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It is important to note that one of the changes the charters want is to be excluded from the rules regarding special education. This would be devastating for students with special needs.
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Carl,
This desire to be exempted from serving students with special needs needs more publicity. Vouchers don’t serve those kids.
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“The promise at the time was that they would save public dollars by having no bureaucracy.”
The exact opposite happened.
“Charter Schools Spend More On Administration, Less On Instruction Than Traditional Public Schools: Study”
“Controlling for factors that determine school resource allocation like student enrollment and school location, Michigan State University’s David Arsen and the University of Utah’s Yongmei Ni found that charter schools spend on average $774 more per student on administration and $1,140 less on instruction than do traditional public schools.
“Breaking down the $774 administrative surplus, about one third — $268 — went toward school administration while the remaining two-thirds — $506 — was paid to general administration and business services, like the costs of charter school boards and fees charged by charter management organizations.”
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/10/charter-schools-spend-mor_n_1415995.html
This is a formula to rob from the poor and the middle class and send that money to the already wealthy class … the Trumps, Koch brothers, Walton family, et al. of the world.
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The exact opposite has happened because the first charter schools were run by teachers and parents, but today’s charters are run by outsiders.
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