Archived Information

Charter Schools and Students with Disabilities: Review of Existing Data - November 1998

Coordination with LEAs and SEAs

The GAO presented a report to Congress in 1995 (Charter schools: New model) following an analysis of 83 charter schools in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, and Minnesota. The analysis was based on reviews of charter proposals, instructional programs, accountability systems, and financial relationships with sponsoring districts and included telephone interviews with principals and local and state officials. A lack of connection between some charter schools and their school districts was found to present significant barriers to effective implementation of special education and other federally sponsored programs, because districts typically acted as the conduit between schools and state and federal agencies in reporting and technical assistance. The lack of clear communication and accountability channels appeared to be contributing to insufficient technical expertise of charter school operators. Although focused more generally, the report raises concern about those schools that are considered to be LEAs. The report also has implications for determining which institution (the charter school or sponsoring district) is legally responsible for meeting the federal special education mandates and for securing sufficient funds to provide services. The report recommended that the U.S. Department of Education provide clarification on determining charter schools' legal responsibility for providing special education services.²

² The 1997 Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act clarify these issues for charter schools that are considered to be part of an LEA [Section 613 (a)(5)]. For those schools, the LEA must serve children with disabilities "in the same manner as it serves children with disabilities in its other schools" and provide "funds under this part to those schools in the same manner as it provides those funds to its other schools." A charter school that is considered a freestanding LEA must be treated by the state the same as other freestanding LEAs. Thus, all charter schools must participate in identifying potentially eligible children, assessing them to determine whether or not they have disabilities and whether they need special education and related services, and developing and implementing an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for each child found eligible. The children have due process protections in relationship to the IEP and the educational services that they receive.

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