Although charter schools have existed in many parts of the country for decades, such schools are relatively new to Washington. Voters passed the state’s charter school law in 2012.
The earliest of the currently operating charter schools opened in the fall of 2015. The purpose of the audit was to examine whether Washington’s charter schools have the foundations in place to help ensure they are accountable to the public. We looked at several key issues:
- Have charter schools enrolled the types of students identified in their charters
- Have they complied with certain state and federal requirements
- Do their charter agreements include appropriate performance frameworks
In addition, we looked at the extent to which the charter schools and traditional schools work together.