School Choice & Charters A State Capitals Roundup

California Schools Chief Launches Charter Audit

By Robert C. Johnston — March 15, 2005 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell has requested an audit of how the state’s largest network of charter schools spends more than $40 million this year in state funding.

The audit of the Options for Youth and Opportunities for Learning charter schools, which enroll about 20,000 students in 60 centers throughout the state, will be conducted by the state department of education, local county offices of education, and the state’s Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team.

The audit is the latest development in a long-running disagreement over how much state funding the schools should receive and how that aid should be spent.

A press release from the charter schools’ co-founders, John and Joan Hall, says they welcome the audit and hope it will help clarify state charter school policy.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the March 16, 2005 edition of Education Week

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Special Education Webinar
Integrating and Interpreting MTSS Data: How Districts Are Designing Systems That Identify Student Needs
Discover practical ways to organize MTSS data that enable timely, confident MTSS decisions, ensuring every student is seen and supported.
Content provided by Panorama Education
Artificial Intelligence Live Online Discussion A Seat at the Table: AI Could Be Your Thought Partner
How can educators prepare young people for an AI-powered workplace? Join our discussion on using AI as a cognitive companion.
Student Well-Being & Movement K-12 Essentials Forum How Schools Are Teaching Students Life Skills
Join this free virtual event to explore creative ways schools have found to seamlessly integrate teaching life skills into the school day.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School Choice & Charters The Federal Choice Program Is Here. Will It Help Public School Students, Too?
As Democrats decide whether to opt in, some want to see the funds help students in public schools.
9 min read
Children play during recess at an elementary school in New Cuyama, CA on Sept. 20, 2023. Can a program that represents the federal government’s first big foray into bankrolling private school choice end up helping public school students?
As Democratic governors decide whether to sign their states up for the first major federal foray into private school choice, some say they want public school students to benefit. Here, children play during recess at an elementary school in New Cuyama, Calif., on Sept. 20, 2023.
Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP
School Choice & Charters Where Private School Choice Enrollment—and Spending—Is Surging
States have devoted billions of dollars recently in public funds families can use on private schooling.
13 min read
20260203 AMX US NEWS COULD TEXAS SCHOOL VOUCHER PROGRAM 1 DA
Enrollment in private school choice programs has grown quickly around the country in recent years. Applications open this month for Texas' newly created private school choice program, the largest such program in the country. Private "microschools"—such as the Humanist Academy in Irving, Texas, shown on Jan. 8, 2026—could benefit.
Juan Figueroa/ The Dallas Morning News via Tribune Content Agency
School Choice & Charters Federal Program Will Bring Private School Choice to At Least 4 New States
More state decisions on opting into the first federal private school choice program are rolling in.
6 min read
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee speaks during a news conference Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn.. Lee presented the Education Freedom Scholarship Act of 2024, his administration's legislative proposal to establish statewide universal school choice.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee speaks in favor of establishing a statewide, universal private school choice program on Nov. 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. Tennessee lawmakers passed that proposal, and Lee is also opting Tennessee into the first federal tax-credit scholarship program that will make publicly funded private school scholarships available to families. Tennessee is one of 21 participating states and counting.
George Walker IV/AP
School Choice & Charters As School Choice Goes Universal, What New Research Is Showing
New analyses shed light on the students using state funds for private school and the schools they attend.
Image of students working at desks, wearing black and white school uniforms.
iStock/Getty