Iowa families trust that public schools — including charter schools — are run honestly and openly. When a school board can accuse someone of stealing $48,000, refuse to show a single piece of evidence, and lock out the very person who built the school, something has gone badly wrong. That's not accountability. That's a board operating like it answers to no one.
That's exactly what's happening right now in Cedar Rapids. Sarah Swayze, who founded Excellence Charter School and has dedicated years to building it into a real option for families, was hit with a serious theft allegation and then denied access to the investigation report, the charges, and any supporting evidence. She had to file a lawsuit just to see the records about herself. Charter schools receive public money. Iowa taxpayers are funding a board that apparently believes it can do whatever it wants behind closed doors. If this is how these boards operate when a founder pushes back, imagine what happens to parents and teachers who have less power.
I'm asking you to support legislation that requires Iowa charter school boards to follow the same open records and open meetings standards as traditional public school districts — no exceptions. Public money means public accountability, and right now the law has a gap that boards like this one are exploiting. Require charter boards to open their records, their meetings, and their disciplinary processes to the people they serve.
Iowa families deserve to know that every school spending public dollars is playing by the same rules.
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