It's a public institution when it has debts; operating with limited public oversight otherwise

According to the Post article, "Funds Sought for Debts Of Closed Charter School," the DC Public Charter Board--fully appointed, with limited citizen input--is asking for $420,000 to pay off the debts of a failed charter school. From the article:

Baker said yesterday that the board decided to solicit the mayor's help because the school had few assets when it closed after its summer session ended in August. In addition to outstanding bills, she said, there were the extra costs of dissolving the school, such as transferring and storing student records.

"It's a public institution," Baker said. "Closing the school and asking for the money to make sure that the things that need to get taken care of to finalize the closure of the school is important to the students who were there," she said...

Charter schools are publicly funded, but they are operated independently of the system run by Superintendent Clifford B. Janey and the D.C. Board of Education.

Some public institution.

Who owns the building they were in? Why is DC left holding the bag here? Go to the federal government and ask for the money. They created the charter school system.

Index Keywords: education; privatization