A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Appeals

An important consideration in drafting or revising charter school legislation is whether to include an appeals process for organizers whose initial proposals are rejected. The appeals process may involve only the chartering process itself, be limited to the content of the application, or include both process and content. Details of the appeals process deadlines for making appeals, number of days to render a decision and so on must be clearly defined. It is also important that the appellate body have political, as well as statutory, authority to override the initial recommendation. For example, the state board of education is an appropriate appellate body for a local school board where a city council might not be.

In states where the local board has exclusive authority to sponsor charter schools, an appeals process can stimulate the organization of charter schools. Also, the appellate process may increase the quality of applications as the appellate body often offers feedback to correct and improve the charter application.

Considerations:
Appeals Process

1. Do not provide an appeals process.

• The decision made by the sponsoring authority should be binding.

• An appeals process is lengthy, expensive and difficult to manage.

• If multiple sponsors are allowed, the charter school organizers may apply to another sponsoring agency.

2. Provide an appeals process that reviews both the chartering process and the charter application.

• An appeals process ensures a fair hearing of charter proposals, overriding a potentially antagonistic decision-making body.

• An appeals process allows a charter school application to move forward even if a local school board is opposed to the chartering concept.

3. Provide an appeals process that reviews only the chartering process.

• Charter schools should be entitled to a fair hearing according to the charter school law.

[Sponsorship (Chartering Authority and Charter Organizers)]

[Finance and Fundraising]

This page was last updated January 9, 2002 (jca)