The board that oversees Utah charter schools has asked state lawmakers to give them more authority saying they do not have the power to intervene before a school fails.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported Thursday that the Utah State Charter School Board made the request after one school closed and another filed bankruptcy.
Utah Board of Education members say granting more authority would be counterintuitive because if the charter board performed regular checks and analyzed school applications prior to approval then the schools would not have been in their current situations.
The state board of education oversees the state charter school board.
Education board members say the charter board has enough authority to review accounts and raise concerns, but the charter board says individual schools can undo intervention efforts.