Charter schools change policies

Report reveals ‘illegal’ enrollment practices

An ACLU charter-school report that exposed “clearly illegal or exclusionary” enrollment practices in Arizona has forced documentation and policy changes at nearly 100 charter schools in six months, state officials said.

The Arizona Board for Charter Schools — which is charged with ensuring the publicly funded schools comply with the law and their charter contracts — has also revised its review and advisory processes to prevent enrollment violations going forward.

“The Board took the ACLU’s analysis seriously,” Executive Director Ashley Berg said by email. “As of today, 97 percent of the schools the ACLU claimed were not in compliance with the law have been (deemed) compliant by the Board.”

Berg said the remaining schools with violation letters from the ACLU

“continue to work with Board staff to ensure their enrollment documents and policies adhere to the law.”

“The sense we got was that many charter operators appreciated the opportunity to review and, if necessary, to update their enrollment policies and documents,” she said.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona released its sweeping analysis of charter school enrollment practices in December as part of its Demand 2 Learn campaign, which aims to reform unfair admission and disciplinary policies.

ACLU officials, which have also reviewed enrollment materials at district schools, said the non-profit chose to focus on charters last year after receiving a disproportionate number of charterrelated complaints.

After examining enrollment materials at 471 charter schools, the ACLU concluded that more than half the schools had policies or materials that excluded or deterred students with disabilities, weak grades, low test scores, behavioral problems, little money or parents without legal status.

Among other findings, the report identified:

❚ At least 88 charter schools that required essays or interviews as part of the enrollment process. Others turned away low performers more explicitly, saying students with “academic problems” shouldn’t apply.

❚ Nearly 60 schools that either openly disqualified students who had been suspended or implied that prior suspensions could affect enrollment.

❚ At least 46 schools that required parents to commit to a specific number of volunteer hours. Six schools offered “buyout” options, where parents could pay to avoid volunteer commitments.

❚ At least 35 schools that charged fees for essential materials, such as textbooks, without giving parents a waiver option.

State law does not permit any of those practices.

The report also found violations of federal law, such as explicit enrollment caps on the number of students with disabilities some charter schools would accept.

“Many schools have been able to get away with exclusionary practices for years without accountability,” the ACLU said then.

Jacque Salomon, a parent of twin sons turned away by a charter school based on their special-education needs, said she felt the issues raised by the ACLU’s report fell “on deaf ears for months.”

But once things started moving at the state-board level, they moved quickly, she said.

On April 5, the board contacted the schools with enrollment violations cited by the ACLU and gave them 30 days to correct problems.

It also contacted the roughly 70 charter schools that did not respond to the ACLU’s initial request for enrollment information and reviewed their materials and policies.

Subsequent changes required by the board included abolishing special education caps, changing policies that prevented students with past suspensions from enrolling, eliminating inappropriate fees and removing volunteer requirements for parents, among others.

Going forward, the board will review enrollment documents and policies whenever a school wants to be placed on a board meeting agenda; when a complaint about a school is received; and at each school’s one-, five- and 10year marks.

“After months of what seemed like a stalemate, the board produced a valiant effort,” Salomon said. “The (review) framework seems driven toward reform and accountability of the charters they authorize.”

Though ACLU of Arizona Executive Director Alessandra Soler called the charter board’s response “a step in the right direction,” she said there is “still much work to be done to ensure that charter schools do not discriminate and are subject to meaningful oversight.”

“It took the Arizona Charter Board five months to act on our report, and during this time, we saw more examples of the damage that can be done when accountability for charter schools is lacking,” she said. “We will keep fighting to make sure public charter schools are open to all Arizona families and are accountable to the public.”

Arizona Charter Schools Association President and CEO Eileen Sigmund described compliance as “a process of continuous improvement.”

“Essentially, what we found out (after the ACLU report was released) is what may have been in writing was not in practice by our schools,” she said.

“They were happy to update policies and enrollment because our charter doors are open for all students,” she said. “That is actively what our leaders want to do. They want to make sure that everything they present is for all students — on their websites, in their greetings with schools and families.”

Both the Charter Schools Association and state board have issued detailed guidelines, including legal briefs and FAQ sheets, to help schools develop and scrutinize enrollment documents and processes. The association also offers free training sessions.

“Our school leaders are busy educating students, so we just want to be a bridge and make sure there’s communication about what needs to be in place,” Sigmund said.

In the weeks ahead, parents said they will continue to push for a more user-friendly complaint process to report compliance issues or unfair treatment at charter schools — an area they feel charter officials have yet to adequately address.

Many parents don’t know they can submit complaints online on the state charter board’s website, Salomon said, and those who do find the process to be a convoluted “disaster.”

“I’m hoping we can work together on this, both from their perspective being the ones who have to receive and review these complaints and from our perspective as parents who have to go through the process,” she said. “I’m really proud that our efforts are finally manifesting something.”