The Role of Charter Restarts in School Reform

This report explores a variation on school closure — charter school “restarts.” Charter school restarts represent a relatively new strategy for intervening in charter schools when performance does not meet expectations — not just as a last-ditch effort to avoid closure, but as a proactive strategy that responsible boards and authorizers can initiate when the conditions are right. In a charter school restart, the school’s operator and governance (board) changes, while the school continues to serve the same students.