Minn. Law Spurs Some Districts to Rethink Sponsoring Charters

A major overhaul to a Minnesota law aimed at strengthening accountability for those who sponsor charter schools is drawing both praise and criticism and spurring some districts to consider getting out of the business of authorizing such schools.

Among the districts contemplating leaving authorizing behind is St. Paul, where the nation’s first charter school was enacted in 1991.

The state legislature approved a slew of changes last year that increased the responsibility of authorizers for the oversight and renewal of charter schools, which are publicly funded but largely...