Statement on Charter School Accountability
The MN Association of Charter Schools is committed to supporting our member schools in being leaders
in innovation, quality and accountability.
We believe that the public interest, the interest of the individual school and the charter school
movement is best served when accountability is rooted in public disclosure rather than bureaucratic
reports that rarely ever see the light of day or the eyes of more than one or two human beings.
We believe that public disclosure at its best provides a format and forum for providing information in an
easy to understand, transparent way, especially for an organization that depends on public trust for its
existence.
We also believe that the intent of the charter school law was to provide charter schools the autonomy
to establish their own standards of accountability. This autonomy requires that the charter school
community establish internal standards and expectations of accountability –rather than have external
legislatively mandated accountability measures imposed.
It also requires that the charter school community hold its members to those standards and
expectations, and that the charter school community speak out when community members violate
those standards and expectations.
Based on these beliefs the MN Association of Charter Schools recommends that all charter schools
undertake the following:
1. Board Transparency
A. Post the biographies of every board member on the school’s website1
B. Post the date (month/year) each member was seated on the board and his/her the term
of office ends (month/year) 1
C. Board meetings are to be held at a time of day that maximize access for parents and
legal guardians of students, and the general public for attending the meetings.2
1
All members of the school community and the public (citizens of MN) have a right to know the names, background and length
of service and term of office of the individuals who have been entrusted with a public charter to educate Minnesota’s young
people and with public funds.
2
The purpose of public meetings is to provide an opportunity for the members of the community and the public to learn firsthand of the issues a board is dealing with that affect the school and provide parents and legal guardians an opportunity to
present their concerns or opinions to the board directly –so board meetings need to be held at a time that has the potential to
maximize stakeholder participation, not the convenience of the board members or school employees.
1
October 2012
2.
School Directors Salary/Benefits Transparency
A. Disclose the total compensation package (salary and benefits) of the school director or
co-directors in the school’s annual report.3
B. Disclose the total severance package (dollar amount and scope of benefits) provided
when a school director or co-director’s employment agreement is bought out or when
employment is involuntary terminated whether through firing or a provision to allow
the individual to resign, in the school’s annual report.
Further, we recommend schools adopt a policy that requires charter school director/co-director(s) to
disclose to the board any outside employment, consulting or other economic activity in related
professional work or businesses and the total compensation received through those outside activities.
Adopted, October 10, 2012
MN Association of Charter School Board of Directors
3
Nonprofit organizations are required to list the salary of the top five management employees in their IRS Form 990. We believe
that information about the total amount of compensation and/or severance packages should be available to members of the
schools community and the public, especially given public funds are spent on compensation and severance packages.
2
October 2012