The number of school districts authorizing charter schools increased by 37 percent over the last three years, according to a report released by the Chicago-based National Association of Charter School Authorizers.
School districts accounted for 857 of 955 charter school authorizers nationwide in 2010.
Having a school district as an authorizer for a charter schools has pros and cons, according to the Jan. 27 report. It says that school districts are more likely than other types of authorizers to provide support for buildings, but are also more likely to “inappropriately intervene” in the operation of a charter school.
The reports findings were based on a survey with 162 respondents who were authorizers for 52 percent of the nations charter schools.