In Decline, the first part of The National Center for Charter School Accountability’s three-part report, Charter School Reckoning: Decline, Disillusionment, and Cost, documented how charter school growth has stalled, with openings barely keeping pace with closures.
The second part of this comprehensive report, Disillusionment, contrasts the movement’s original aspirations with the reality of what charter schools have become today. It delves into the recurring scandals that have tarnished the brand and exposes how lax charter laws enable mismanagement, profiteering, and fraud.
Disillusionment, concludes that can still incubate good ideas, but we should do so where they belong: inside the public system, with the sunlight, stewardship, and community voice that public money requires.
The report concludes by outlining ten legislative reforms necessary to return charter schools to the vision of accountability, equity, and public purpose that inspired their creation.