The Regulatory Styles of Statewide Charter School Authorizers: Arizona, Massachusetts, and Michigan

Charter schools are immersed in two accountability processes: They are accountable to public entities (bureaucratic accountability), and they are accountable to the parents, students, and teachers who have chosen the schools and who may exit them if dissatisfied (market accountability). This study focuses on bureaucratic accountability and examines the regulatory styles of active statewide charter school authorizers (CSAs) in Arizona, Massachusetts, and Michigan. Key features of the legal design, task and political environments, and leadership of the CSAs are examined. The findings suggest that the CSAs tend to favor a “negotiated compliance” regulatory style rather than an “enforced compliance” approach to the oversight of charter schools. The study also raises questions about the appropriate mechanisms for holding public schools accountable for performance.