Are WA charter schools working for at-risk kids? New report weighs in
How well are Washington charter schools serving at risk-students? The answer to that query, according to a new state performance audit, “is clearly positive.”
The Office of the Washington State Auditor analyzed four charter schools across the state and found that all applied many leading practices to help and identify at-risk kids.
“While this report is not a close examination of all charter schools, it nonetheless offers examples of approaches that could serve at-risk students in Washington’s charter schools and traditional schools alike,” State Auditor Pat McCarthy said in a Nov. 17 news release.
Charter schools in Washington are publicly funded, privately run and tuition-free. Any student can join, although there has been an emphasis on charters’ ability to cater to at-risk kids such as English-language learners and homeless and special education students.
These schools are obligated to comply with most federal and state laws, but they don’t have to adhere to certain laws pertaining to collective bargaining agreements, school-district rules and curriculum requirements, the state auditor’s website notes. They’re governed by a board of directors instead of a locally elected school board. More than 4,800 students are enrolled in charter schools statewide, while traditional schools count a student population of about 1.1 million.
The Washington State Charter Schools Association states on its website that its schools enjoy more freedom to tailor curriculum and devote personal attention to students than traditional schools. The trade-off? They’re also subject to greater levels of accountability.
Critics, including teachers unions, have argued that public money shouldn’t go toward privately run organizations that voters have no control over. Supporters argue that charter schools are culturally sensitive and well-equipped to serve each and every student, meeting them where they are.
Now, charter-school advocates say the Nov. 17 auditor’s report shows that what they’re doing is working.
What did the audit report say about charter schools?
Performance audits analyze government programs for efficacy and efficiency, weighing leading practices and legal requirements to identify improved outcomes. The audits, by suggesting solutions and outlining issues, are meant to help make public services better.
Four of Washington’s 17 charter schools from the 2024-25 school year were featured in the audit: Catalyst Public Schools in Bremerton, Pinnacles Prep in Wenatchee, Rainier Prep in Seattle and Innovation High School in Spokane.
The audit found that:
- All four schools did well in encouraging collaboration between specialist teachers and general education teachers.
- All four schools engaged and communicated well with families and parents, although one could improve by boosting its engagement with families who do not speak English.
- All schools were able to support and identify at-risk students by using early warning indicators, but a couple could make their processes better.
- Each school offered opportunities for “effective small group learning settings.”
- They’d also all partially adopted a multi-tiered system of supports to aid at-risk students. The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction has described that system as “a framework for enhancing the adoption and implementation of a continuum of evidence-based practices to achieve important outcomes for every student.”
- Three schools provided time outside normal school hours for extended learning opportunities.
- The report says that all four schools “promoted a culturally responsive learning environment.”
Auditors also interviewed students and parents, who’d relayed positive stories about the support that their own kids, as well as other at-risk students, had received.
The auditor’s office notes that the results can’t be projected to apply to all Washington charter schools that were operating last school year.
Chris Korsmo, executive director of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, took the report’s findings as “really good news,” especially given that it came from a neutral third party.
“There are obviously a few things in there to learn from, and we’re happy for those things, too,” she said in an interview. “A close look at our practice should both teach us something and give us, hopefully, lots of things to celebrate, and it did both of those things.”
Korsmo thinks that the way charter schools harness their flexibility has been used to good effect. She suggested that’s something that traditional schools might think about applying, such as offering more time for struggling students outside regular hours to help get them caught up.
She also said the kind of strong accountability that charter schools face — such as additional oversight from an authorizing body like the Washington State Charter School Commission — should exist for the entire public school system.
McClatchy asked the Washington Education Association K-12 teachers union for its thoughts on the audit, too.
A WEA spokesperson replied that the report showed good news for learners, but that it only featured four of 17 schools — excluding “the most problematic schools, including Summit Charter Schools.” KUOW reported in 2022 that a state audit had found teachers at three schools in the Summit charter network lacked proper accreditation, in breach of state rules.
“It’s important that the state audit all charter schools and ensure each has adequate processes and procedures in place to ensure they can serve all students equitably,” the WEA spokesperson continued via email.
Korsmo acknowledged that there are challenges across the entire public school system, regardless of the type of school. But she’s grateful for the nod toward the positive things happening for charter students: “And we should work together to make sure that more of those things happen across the whole system.”
Fiscal challenges for charter schools
Marcus Harden, executive director of the Washington State Charter School Commission, is proud that charter schools are doing what they’re supposed to: supporting all students, particularly the historically underserved and those with a special-education designation. He also underscored that parents in the report felt seen, supported by and connected with teachers.
“Not to say traditional schools don’t do that, but I think the flexibility and the smallness of charters allows for you to know every student, every name, every need,” Harden said in an interview.
Still, some Washington charter schools have struggled with finances and declining enrollment — although that issue has also been felt by traditional public schools. Case in point: Last fall, the Summit Olympus charter school in Tacoma announced it would close at the end of the 2024-25 school year, citing enrollment and fiscal problems.
State Rep. Larry Springer has long been a champion for charter schools. A former elementary school teacher, the Kirkland Democrat said he knows what a functional classroom looks like — and the charter schools he’s visited made a strong impression.
“So this rather glowing audit report in terms of their performance was not a surprise; nonetheless, gratifying,” he said in a call.
Charter schools differ from traditional public schools, in that they can’t tap into local tax levies for supplemental funding, the Nov. 17 audit report notes. They do receive similar per-pupil and per-teaching funding but are left to bridge revenue gaps in other ways, including via private fundraisers.
Looking ahead, Springer wants charter schools to benefit from equal allotments. That could be an uphill legislative battle, though, given that a number of Springer’s colleagues don’t, as he put it, “believe in charter schools.”
Springer thinks that charter schools’ small-group instruction, robust family engagement, parent-teacher collaboration, culturally responsive approach and extended learning time should be applied elsewhere.
“Those are all things we want our public schools — period — to engage in, and charter schools are the ones that are showing the way,” he said. “And we should reward them. There should be more of them.”
.jpg)