Minnesota
Most Minnesota charter schools are failing to make good on their promises
“It’s usually the small charters that are less stable because they are like a small business,” Ulbrich said. “Small businesses always just have their heads barely above the water.”
Eagle Ridge’s authorizer is Friends of Education, which oversees many of the state’s other top-performing charters, and has also taken a tough-love approach. No other authorizer has shut down as many schools for failing to meet expectations.
Of the 23 charters approved by the group, half were closed or never opened. Some were terminated because of low academic performance. Others weren’t allowed to open because they didn’t attract enough students.
“Operating a charter is a privilege, not a right,” said Beth Topoluk, executive director of Friends of Education. “And it is a privilege that must be continuously earned.”
Third-graders Najma Wiadow, from left, Ebla Hussein, Asma Fuad, Hamda Abdi, and Koos Ismail discuss a reading during class at Horizon Science Academy, a charter school in Richfield. Horizon Science Academy came close to shutting down in 2022 when enrollment fell to 62 students and the school’s deficit topped $200,000. But because the school is part of a network operated by Concept Schools in Illinois, it was able to borrow $1.8 million to subsidize its operations while hiring a recruiter to boost enrollment in the Somali community. (Leila Navidi/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
According to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, Minnesota operates more independent charters than any other state with a significant number of such schools. That means they don’t have partners that can provide the financial safety net and operational expertise that is far more common in other states where large school networks dominate.
It didn’t start that way. Initially, only traditional districts could sponsor a charter school in Minnesota, and some were early and enthusiastic partners. But after a wave of charter school scandals forced the state to tighten regulation and increased scrutiny of authorizers in 2009, most traditional districts dropped out.