New National Report Finds Weak Charter School Laws Enable Profiteering, Instability, and Nearly $1 Billion in Taxpayer Losses

NEW YORK, Dec. 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Center for Charter School Accountability (NCCSA), a project of the Network for Public Education, recently released Charter School Reckoning: Disillusionment, the second installment of a three-part series. This sweeping national analysis concludes charter school laws require reform.  

The main argument of the 35-page report is that charter schooling has been steadily weakened by state laws that favor rapid expansion and less regulation over school quality and public oversight. These policy and legislative changes have led to predictable outcomes: fraud, mismanagement, profiteering, insolvent schools, and sudden closures. The report links these issues to weaknesses in state charter laws and regulations that enable both ill-advised practices and criminal activity. 

The report highlights examples of blatant profiteering and/or fraud, including:

• $858 million in taxpayer losses due to fraud, theft, profiteering, or incompetence as documented in news stories and state audits published between September 2023 and September 2025.
• Complex webs of related corporations that obscure financial flows and evade oversight.
• For-profit operators exploiting weak laws through insider leases, self-dealing contracts, and opaque financial reporting.

According to the report's author, Carol Burris, "Charter school authorizers are the watchdogs of finances, student achievement, and accountability. What we found, however, is that in too many states, charter school authorizing has become a patchwork of universities, nonprofits, state agencies, and even struggling religious colleges that charge fees—often 3% or more of school revenues while providing little meaningful monitoring." In states with multiple authorizers, the study notes, ''authorizer shopping" allows failing schools to avoid closure simply by switching sponsors.

The report also warns that governance weaknesses compound the problem. Most charter boards are unelected and self-perpetuating— a structure the report calls "an open door to conflicts of interest." Only three states bar board members from contracting with companies in which they hold a financial stake.

NCCSA proposes ten legislative recommendations, including banning for-profit operation, prohibiting related-party transactions, capping renewal terms, requiring elected boards, closing authorizer loopholes, and reinvesting in innovation within the public system. 

"We can still incubate good ideas," the report states, "but we should do so inside the public system, with the sunlight, stewardship, and community voice that public money requires."  The report can be found in its entirety here.

Contact:
Carol Burris
[email protected]
(646) 678-4477

SOURCE The National Center for Charter School Accountability