What Is a Charter School in Louisiana: Types, Funding, and Rules

A charter school in Louisiana is an independent public school that operates under a performance contract, called a charter, with an authorizing body such as a local school board or the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. It is tuition-free and open to the public, but it runs outside the direct management of the local school district, with its own board setting curriculum, hiring staff, and managing the budget. In exchange for that freedom, it has to produce the academic results promised in its charter or risk being shut down. As of the 2023-2024 school year, 148 charter schools served roughly 93,870 students across the state.¹

The Rules That Apply to Every Charter School

Louisiana law defines a charter school as an independent public school established to improve student achievement through a program of elementary or secondary education.² A few basics apply across the board.

Charter schools cannot charge tuition. With the single exception of Type 4, they must be organized as nonprofit corporations.³ Because they are public schools, they must remain secular; the U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed that charter schools, as government entities, must abide by the constitutional separation of church and state and cannot use religion as a basis for admissions, employment, or instruction.

What they get in return is unusually broad freedom to run themselves. State law gives charter schools autonomy over programming, instruction, curriculum, materials, calendars, schedules, personnel decisions, salaries, benefits, educator certification, budgeting, procurement, food service, and transportation.² That is the trade at the heart of the model: room to innovate in exchange for measurable results.

The Six Types of Charter Schools

Louisiana recognizes six categories of charter schools. The practical differences come down to who approved the school and which students can enroll.

Type 1. A brand-new school created through a charter between a nonprofit and a local school board. Only students eligible to attend a public school in that same city or parish can enroll.²
Type 2. A new school or a converted existing public school authorized directly by BESE. Any Louisiana resident can attend, so these schools have statewide reach.²
Type 3. An existing public school converted to charter status through a contract between a nonprofit and the local school board. Conversion requires approval from the school’s professional staff and from parents of enrolled students.⁴
Type 3B. A former Type 5 school that has been transferred out of the Recovery School District and returned to the local school system. This is now one of the larger categories, with 28 schools serving nearly 20,000 students in 2023-2024.¹
Type 4. A new or converted school operating through a charter between a local school board and BESE. This is the only type that does not require a separate nonprofit corporation.³
Type 5. A failing school transferred to the Recovery School District and operated by a nonprofit under a BESE charter. Only five Type 5 schools remained active in 2023-2024.¹

For a family deciding where to apply, the type matters mainly because it tells you two things: whether residency outside the parish matters, and which body (local board or BESE) holds the school accountable.

How Enrollment Works

Charter schools in Louisiana are open-enrollment public schools. They cannot screen applicants based on academic ability, test scores, or disability status. When more students apply than there are seats, the school must run a lottery. Waiting lists do not carry over from one school year to the next, so families need to reapply each year.⁵

Federal civil rights law reinforces the open-enrollment rule for students with disabilities. Under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a charter school cannot deny admission because of a disability, discourage a student with a disability from applying, or reject a student because the school does not want to pay for required services. That bar includes “counseling out,” where staff steer a family away from enrolling by suggesting the school is not a good fit for the child. A school also cannot refuse admission simply because it does not currently provide a particular related service, such as transportation.⁶

Teachers and Certification

Hiring is one of the places where charter schools look most different from traditional public schools. Through Act 2, Louisiana removed state teacher certification requirements for charter school educators, which means a charter can hire teachers who do not hold a Louisiana teaching certificate.⁷

Federal law still sets a floor. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act requires teachers of core academic subjects in all public schools, including charters, to demonstrate competency in their subject area. Elementary teachers must pass a rigorous state test on elementary content. Middle and high school teachers must pass a content-area exam, hold a degree in the subject, or have equivalent coursework. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act imposes similar requirements on special education teachers who serve as the primary instructor in a core subject and whose salary is paid with IDEA funds.⁷

Special Education Rights

A charter school student with a disability keeps every right and protection they would have at a traditional public school under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The school must provide a Free Appropriate Public Education, delivered through a properly developed Individualized Education Program, at no cost to the family.⁸

A charter cannot unilaterally limit the services it will provide to a particular student. If the IEP calls for speech therapy, occupational therapy, or a one-on-one aide, the responsible entity has to deliver those services in the least restrictive environment possible. Whether the school itself or its authorizing district bears that responsibility depends on whether the charter operates as its own local education agency under state law.⁸ The Louisiana Department of Education evaluates each school’s organizational performance partly on how well it serves students with IEPs, individualized accommodation plans, and limited English proficiency plans.⁹

How Charter Schools Are Funded

Funding follows the student. The per-pupil amount comes through the state’s Minimum Foundation Program formula and is based on what the student’s home district receives, adjusted for the student’s characteristics and needs. Weighted student membership counts take into account factors like grade level and special needs.¹⁰

Students who qualify for special education bring additional money. Any state special education dollars beyond the MFP amount, plus federal special education funds allocated to that student, follow the child to the charter. Charter schools are also eligible for federal and state grant programs and must receive at least their per-pupil share of any program where funding is distributed per pupil. The chartering authority has 15 days after receiving state or federal funds to make them available to the school.¹⁰

Accountability: Renewal, and When a Charter Can Be Revoked

An approved charter runs for an initial five years, with a mandatory review after the fourth year. After that, the authorizing body can renew for additional periods of three to ten years.¹¹

Renewal is not automatic for most schools. The applicant has to show, using standardized test scores, that student academic performance improved over the life of the charter. The authorizing body evaluates renewal using academic performance indices and distinguishes between schools with selective admissions, schools with open admissions, and alternative education models. A high-performing school that has met its accountability benchmarks for three consecutive years, shown growth in student achievement, and had no significant audit findings during its charter term receives automatic renewal.¹¹

A charter can also be revoked before its term ends. The authorizing body needs a majority vote, and the statutory grounds are:

A material violation of a significant condition, standard, or procedure in the approved charter.
Failure to meet the academic results specified in the charter within the agreed timelines.
Fiscal mismanagement, meaning failure to meet generally accepted accounting standards.
Any legal violation by the school, its officers, or its employees.¹¹

This is what gives the model teeth, and it is also what families should factor into any choice. A traditional public school that struggles academically might be restructured. A charter school can close.

Oversight sits with BESE for Type 2, Type 4, and Type 5 schools; the Louisiana Department of Education evaluates each annually on academic, organizational, and financial performance and publishes the results.⁹ For Type 1 and Type 3 charters, the local school board that granted the charter handles oversight, though the same statewide accountability standards apply. Every charter school is treated as a local auditee by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor and must file an annual financial report.¹² Serious audit findings can trigger corrective action and, in the worst cases, meet the standard for revocation.

1
Louisiana Department of Education. 2023-2024 Annual Report on Type 2, 4, and 5 Charter Schools
2
Justia. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 17 RS 17:3973 – Definitions
3
Justia. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 17 RS 17:3991 – Charter Schools Requirements and Limitations
4
Cornell Law School. Louisiana Admin Code Title 28 CXXXIX-107 – Types of Charter Schools
5
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 17:3991 – Charter Schools Requirements and Limitations
6
U.S. Department of Education. Frequently Asked Questions About the Rights of Students with Disabilities in Public Charter Schools Under Section 504
7
Louisiana Department of Education. Teacher Certification Requirements Charter Schools
8
U.S. Department of Education. Rights of Students with Disabilities in Public Charter Schools
9
Louisiana Department of Education. Charter School Performance Compact
10
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 17:3995 – Charter School Funding
11
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 17:3992 – Charter Revision and Renewal
12
Louisiana Legislative Auditor. 200-1130 School Boards and Charter Schools