New SoCal ‘Stealth Charter Schools’ Bring Confusion, Prompt Litigation

They are calling them “stealth charters” and the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper reports that “… San Diego County has seen a rise in ‘out-of-district’ charters in recent years — mostly independent-study programs authorized by small districts in the eastern reaches of the region. The arrangements can be appealing because the authorizing districts don’t stand to lose students, and they receive a percentage of the charter’s revenue in exchange for varying degrees of oversight and often administrative support services… regardless of what’s driving this trend, it has sparked bitter turf wars that have pitted districts against one another and stirred costly litigation.”
 
The challenge is that charters that are authorized in one district can set up shop in another. It’s a whole new front in the Golden State’s school wars.