Reply #24: They need to improve the oversight.

[donco6]

Here's the problem I see with some of our charter schools in Colorado (SOME, not all - please don't misunderstand me).

Generally, when a charter is formed in conjunction with a public school district, it gets off to a much better start. Conversely, those that start through animosity toward the district - well, they often seem to make decisions simply to be contrary. One school, for example, ignored the district's admonitions against entering into a lease with a certain community member (with whom the district had had previous dealings). The school went ahead with the lease, got screwed on the deal, and had to be bailed out by the district. That only further soured the relationship with the district, of course. Another charter decided they would purchase their own liability and workers' comp insurance instead of participating in the district pool. Of course, they ended up having a huge premium payment which they couldn't pay - so they just didn't. Now they're swinging in the breeze with an Errors and Omissions lawsuit hanging over their head through a wrongful firing.

Here in CO, though the charters are autonomomous in many things, ultimately the district in which they are located is still the "deep pockets" that people turn to when filing lawsuits. So - going back to the O&E situation - the district did request evidence of insurance coverage from the charter (fearing that they may have let their policy lapse). The charter refused the request. The policy WAS lapsed, and now the DISTRICT is named in the lawsuit as a codefendant. They'll end up having to pay from THEIR pool, even though the charter refused training on personnel law and practice, refused to adopt reasonable policies regarding hiring and firing, and did not adequately provide coverage for these situations.

I know charters are often formed to "cut through the bureaucracy", but sometimes bureaucracy exists to cover your risk. More oversight is needed to make sure charters are following at least a somewhat rational course of action.