Yesterday, we featured charter school expert Dirk Tillotson's advice [link] for voicing complaints to charter schools. Today, he explains the rights of students with special needs in the charter system:

My child is in special education and an English language learner and we're applying to a charter school. What are my rights?

First off, charter schools are public schools and have to admit students without regard to their special education status or their English proficiency. The only reason that school staff should even ask about the special education issues is to apply positive enrollment preference for a particular category.

Furthermore, charter schools are required by the charter law to make good faith efforts to recruit special education and English language learners. Charters should provide parents and children with multilingual support during the application process.

Plans for serving special education students and English language learners are required under law, but charters are also required to include such plans in their charter. Once a student is enrolled, there are a host of legal and practical issues around how students get services and whether a particular charter school is fulfilling its obligations.

How do I complain if I am dissatisfied with the application or admissions process?

If you have a complaint about the recruitment or admissions processes, it probably relates to violations of the law or the charter. These issues should be sent directly to the school’s Board of Directors.

Issues of discrimination in recruitment and admissions should be brought to the attention of the school’s authorizer as well -- information on how to contact an authorizer can be found in my previous post [link].

Finally, charter schools are public schools, and every student has a right to be admitted. Charters must give preference to students from the local district and siblings, and some schools give preferences for categories of at-risk students. Outside of those conditions, every child should have an equal chance to apply to a lottery and have an equal chance of being admitted. If you feel that yours did not have an equal chance, you have every right to complain.