View Resource: The Role of Charter Restarts in School Reform
Public Impact report profiles charter-to-charter restarts as an intervention strategy for low-performing charter schools. The report offers recommendations for board members and charter authorizers interested in pursuing a restart strategy, drawing on lessons learned from the school profiles and discussions with leaders in the field. The report provides brief profiles of five charter restarts in different cities.
The report emphasizes that restarts should not be implemented as a last-ditch effort to avoid closure, but as a strategy that responsible boards and authorizers initiate when needed. Several of the restart examples highlight how the existing board of the failing charter school played an active and productive role to pursue a restart strategy. Board decisions were motivated by the credible threat of non-renewal and the desire to better serve students and families.