Partnership, Not Adversary
Some charter schools view authorizers as adversaries—regulators to be managed or evaded. The most successful schools view authorizers as partners with shared goals: student success, organizational excellence, and responsible stewardship of public resources.
When Lakeside Charter faced declining enrollment, they debated whether to tell their authorizer. "If we share bad news, they'll be watching us more closely," one board member argued. The school leader disagreed: "If we hide it and they find out later, we've lost their trust."
They chose transparency. The authorizer responded not with sanction but with support—connecting them to resources, sharing best practices from other schools, and working together on an enrollment strategy. Trust built through honest communication paid dividends.
Understanding Your Authorizer
Authorizer Types
Different authorizer types bring different perspectives: school district authorizers (may have mixed incentives), state education agencies (often larger portfolios, standardized approaches), independent charter boards (dedicated focus), and universities (academic perspective, research orientation).
Authorizer Capacity
Understand your authorizer's resources: How many schools do they oversee? What's their staffing? How do they conduct oversight? What support do they provide? Authorizer capacity shapes their approach to accountability.
Authorizer Priorities
What does your authorizer emphasize? Academic performance? Financial management? Compliance? Specific metrics? Understanding priorities helps you focus resources appropriately.
State Accountability Monitoring
Stay ahead of CSI/TSI designations and meet authorizer requirements with real-time monitoring.
Building Productive Relationships
Proactive Communication
Don't wait for problems to surface. Maintain regular communication: scheduled check-ins, timely reporting, and advance notice of challenges. Authorizers prefer to hear about issues from schools rather than discovering them independently.
Transparency
Share information openly—including challenges. Schools that hide problems lose trust; schools that share problems early build credibility. Transparency demonstrates confidence and integrity.
Responsiveness
When authorizers request information or raise concerns, respond promptly and thoroughly. Delayed or incomplete responses signal organizational problems.
Professionalism
Treat authorizer interactions professionally: prepared materials, organized presentations, respectful engagement. Professionalism builds confidence in school capacity.
Managing Accountability Processes
Site Visits
Prepare thoroughly for authorizer visits: ensure documentation is organized, brief staff on expectations, have key personnel available, and present the school authentically (don't stage—authorizers see through it).
Reporting
Submit required reports on time and complete. Chronic late or incomplete reporting creates negative impressions regardless of actual performance.
Renewal Preparation
Begin renewal preparation well in advance. Understand the timeline, requirements, and evaluation criteria. Ask your authorizer for guidance—they want successful renewals too.
Success Stories
See how Michigan charter schools are achieving results with AcumenEd.
When Issues Arise
Responding to Concerns
When authorizers raise concerns, respond constructively: acknowledge the issue, explain your understanding, describe your response, and follow through on commitments. Defensiveness rarely helps.
Disagreements
Sometimes you'll disagree with authorizer positions. Engage respectfully, present your perspective with evidence, and seek mutual understanding. If disagreements can't be resolved, document your position while complying with authorizer requirements.
Appeals
Most accountability systems include appeal processes. Understand your rights, but use appeals strategically—not reflexively. Sometimes accepting feedback and improving is more productive than fighting.
Lakeside Charter's transparency paid off. Their enrollment recovered, and when renewal came, the authorizer highlighted their responsiveness and improvement as evidence of organizational capacity. The relationship they built through honest communication made accountability a partnership rather than an ordeal.
Key Takeaways
- View authorizers as partners with shared goals rather than adversaries to manage.
- Build relationships through proactive communication, transparency, and responsiveness.
- Share challenges early—hiding problems until they're discovered destroys trust.
- Respond constructively to concerns; defensiveness rarely helps.
Dr. Emily Rodriguez
Director of Student Support Services
Expert in student intervention strategies with a focus on early warning systems and MTSS implementation.
