Charter Schools & Background Checks

I hate it when the media doesn't accurately report situations relating to charter schools. They rarely get the facts straight and it doesn't help students to have their school or a particular situation exploited in the media.

That said, it's a good time to point out that charter schools are required to conduct background checks on all staff in the same manner a non-charter public school would. Some charter schools conduct background checks themselves, rather than doing it through their school district. Further, some school districts require that charter school board members submit fingerprints for a background check prior to board service.

Last year there was legislation submitted that erroneously assumed charter schools with waivers from the background statutes weren't conducting background checks. This was simply false. I called all the charter schools with this particular waiver and they were, indeed, conducting their own background checks. Charter schools with these waivers are delegated the authority in statute (a delegatory waiver) rather than doing something completely different (a substantive waiver).