How much each Indiana charter school authorizer earns

Caroline Beck, Indianapolis Star
·2 min read

Charter authorizers in Indiana can receive up to 3% in administrative fees to fund their operations, which in some cases add up to millions for the oversight bodies.

Not all of the state's eight authorizers collect the full 3%. The Indianapolis Mayor’s office and the Indiana charter school board do not collect the full 3% fee.

Authorizers can determine how much administrative fees to collect based on their own authorizing philosophy, James Betley, the executive director of the Indiana Charter School Board, told IndyStar

“Our philosophy is we’re not here to tell you what to do,” Betley said. “So you get to keep all your money and we're just going to take what we need to exist.”

State statute doesn’t lay out specifics on what those fees are to be used for except for “fulfilling authorizing obligations.”

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Some authorizers like the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation, which currently oversees two charter schools, do not collect any administrative fee. Nor does this authorizer provide any services, according to their 2021-2022 accountability report.

Ball State collects the full 3% fee on most of its schools except for three on which they collect only 2% because those schools were granted contracts for seven years instead of the usual three years and therefore receive less frequent intervention and monitoring.

In the 2021-2022 school year, Ball State collected $2,992,520 in administrative fees, according to their 2021-2022 accountability report, far more than any other state authorizer. Much of the money comes from the Indiana Connections Career Academy, a virtual charter school, which brought in $1,082,795 for Ball State in the 2021-2022 fiscal year.

Here's the range of how much in administrative charter authorizers collect:

According to its most recent accountability report, Ball State uses the funds to help support its staff of seven full-time employees, one part-time employee and one graduate assistant. For the 2021-2022 school year, Ball State spent $2,048,342 on authorizing expenses with one of the largest expenses listed being "overhead and support services" on which they spent $896,505.

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Correction: An earlier version of the story misstated why the Indianapolis mayor’s office does not collect a 3% administrative fee. This is due to a mayor’s office decision.

Contact IndyStar reporter Caroline Beck at 317-618-5807 or CBeck@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @CarolineB_Indy.

Caroline’s work is supported by Report for America and Glick Philanthropies. As part of its work in Marion County, Glick Philanthropies partners with organizations focused on closing access and achievement gaps in education.

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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: A look at how much charter authorizers earn from their schools