Charter Schools and School Discipline Policies

A recent Education Week article titled, Charter Schools' Discipline Policies Face Scrutiny raises some important and currently unanswered legal questions concerning the ability of charter schools to develop and enforce their own school disciplinary standards separate from district-level disciplinary policies impacting regular public schools.  An analysis of recent 2009-10 data collected by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights revealed no overall significant difference between the student disciplinary expulsion rates between charter schools and regular public schools.  However, higher student discipline rates in charter schools were observed in a few select large urban school districts throughout the country, including Washington, D.C., New Orleans, San Diego, and Newark, N.J. (See a comparison chart of student discipline data rates in charter schools compared to public schools in these selected cities).

  According to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, approximately 55 percent of today's charter schools are located in urban areas.  Moreover, charter school student populations represent a "huge market share" in cities cited in this particular study, including New Orleans and Washington, D.C.  From a legal perspective, Paul T. O'Neil, an education attorney and author of the Charter School Law Deskbook comments in the Education Week article "...most state laws exempt charter schools from district disciplinary policies, typically allowing them to devise their own standards, with authorizer approval."  Despite this relative autonomy, all public schools, including charter schools must provide students with minimum levels of procedural due process as well as follow federal guidelines regarding disciplining students with special needs and disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004).  

Disparities in student disciplinary rates between charter schools and regular public schools have caused some districts, including Newark, N.J. to require charter schools to adopt the district's language in its student disciplinary policies. Given the current growth in charter schools nationwide, it is interesting whether charter school discipline policies will align more closely to district-level policies or move away and develop their own student disciplinary standards and practices.  Since there are quite a few followers of the EdJurist blog with an expertise in charter schools, I welcome your thoughts and insights related to student discipline policies in today's charter schools.

On another note, it is great to be back blogging on the EdJurist after a LONG hiatus.  I look forward to contributing on a regular basis.  

Comments

[Michelle Sears-Ward]

I believe you bring up very valid concerns. My hope would be that charter schools use fair discipline practices otherwise charter opponents will continue to claim that charter schools "cherry pick" their students. I too have witnessed some extreme consequences for such small insignificant infractions. I think there should be some sort of balance. For example if more traditional public schools started to expel or suspend children for behavior issues maybe we wouldn't see so many behavior problems in schools and parents could be held more accountable for their child's behavior. In addition to this I believe many charter schools ask parents to withdraw their student rather than expel them thus making the data of expulsion rates compared to traditional public schools in accurate. With that said if we continue to ask charter schools to follow all of the policies of their district and they become no different than a traditional district public school. Charter schools are known for their autonomy and representing a difference in the model of education for children.