"Add another charter school to the casualty list. On Tuesday, the Minneapolis school board voted to end its sponsorship of Oh Day Aki/Heart of the Earth, which effectively closes the K-12 program for Native American kids.

Though the move is disappointing for 200 students and families who are suddenly without a school, board members made the right decision. Given the program's long history of financial and management troubles, the district probably should have taken action sooner.

The closure is the most recent example of a problem identified by the legislative auditor in a report issued last month. The study found that while many of the state's 144 charter programs are in good financial shape and coming along academically, a number need work on governance and accountability. Auditors called the monitoring provided by sponsors and the state "unclear and often quite complicated.'' Heart of the Earth's failure demonstrates why that oversight is so important.

Started back in the 1970s, the school was originally an alternative Minneapolis public school program. It was created to provide culturally sensitive schooling for Native American students in an effort to help them achieve more academic success."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Indian school closure holds lessons (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 8/14)
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Earlier Stories:
MInneapolis cuts ties to Heart of the Earth charter school (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 8/13)
Charter school director may face embezzlement charges (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 8/9)