While the federal Every Student Succeeds Act allows states to design their own accountability policies, dissecting how the DeVos-backed Michigan law does, and doesn’t, hold schools accountable may help illuminate how she could approach the issue from the bully pulpit. Provisions from the law appear below in grey, with explanations of the resulting loopholes immediately following each passage. DeVos declined to comment for this story, with a spokeswoman for the Trump transition team writing, “The Secretary designate is not granting interviews at this time.”

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Sec. 507 (5) Except for a public school academy that is an alternative school serving a special student population, if the state school reform/redesign officer determines that a public school academy site that has been operating for at least 4 years is among the lowest achieving 5% of all public schools in this state for the immediately preceding 3 school years, as determined under section 1280c, not to include any individualized education plan subgroup, the state school reform/ redesign officer shall notify the public school academy’s authorizing body. Also, except for a public school academy that is an alternative school serving a special student population, after the accountability system under section 390 has been in effect in the community district for at least 3 full school years, if the state school reform/redesign officer determines that a public school academy site located in a community district has been assigned a grade of “F” under section 390 for the immediately preceding 3 school years, and is not currently undergoing reconstitution under this section, the state school reform/redesign officer shall notify the public school academy’s authorizing body. Subject to subsection (6), if an authorizing body receives notice from the state school reform/redesign officer under this subsection, the authorizing body shall amend the public school academy’s contract to eliminate the public school academy’s authority to operate the existing age and grade levels at the site and the public school academy shall cease operating the existing age and grade levels at the site, effective at the end of the current school year. Subject to subsection (6), if the public school academy operates at only 1 site, and the authorizing body receives notice from the state school reform/redesign officer under this subsection, the authorizing body shall revoke the public school academy’s contract, effective at the end of the current school year.

If a charter school in Detroit gets an F grade three years in a row, the state must notify the school’s authorizer. (Authorizers in Michigan are entities tasked with overseeing charters, such as a school district, public university, or community college. They get up to 3 percent of the state aid each charter school receives, in exchange for their sponsorship.) The law does not not say the authorizer must close the charter once it learns of the status. Rather, it instructs the authorizer to amend its contract with the school to eliminate the current age and grade levels it is currently teaching. Hypothetically, this could mean if a failing charter teaches grades kindergarten through five, rather than close the school the authorizer can just amend the contract to let the school teach grades six through nine.

Sec. 507 (6) For a public school academy or site that is subject to a notice to its authorizing body under this subsection, the state school reform/redesign officer shall consider other public school options available to pupils in the grade levels offered by the public school academy or site who reside in the geographic area served by the public school academy or site. If the state school reform/redesign officer determines that closure of the public school academy or site would result in an unreasonable hardship to these pupils because there are insufficient other public school options reasonably available for these pupils, the state school reform/redesign officer may rescind the notice. If the state school reform/ redesign officer rescinds a notice subjecting a public school academy or site to closure, the state school reform/redesign officer shall do so before the end of the school year. If the state school reform/redesign officer rescinds a notice subjecting a public school academy or site to closure, the state school reform/redesign officer shall require the public school academy or site to implement a school improvement plan that includes measures to increase pupil growth and improve pupil proficiency, with growth and proficiency measured by performance on state assessments.

If the state’s School Reform/Redesign Office, which was placed under the Republican governor’s purview in 2015, decides that closing a charter would “result in unreasonable hardship” for students or that there are “insufficient other public school options” available, the office can rescind a closure notice and instead put the failing charter on a school-improvement plan.

Sec. 507 (7) Except as otherwise provided in section 502 or 503, the decision of an authorizing body to issue, not issue, or reconstitute a contract under this part, or to terminate or revoke a contract under this section, is solely within the discretion of the authorizing body, is final, and is not subject to review by a court or any state agency. An authorizing body that issues, does not issue, or reconstitutes a contract under this part, or that terminates or revokes a contract under this section, is not liable for that action to the public school academy, the public school academy corporation, a pupil of the public school academy, the parent or guardian of a pupil of the public school academy, or any other person.

Unless the charter school is authorized by a traditional public-school district (which applies to fewer than 15 percent of the charters in Detroit), the authorizers’ decision to close a school is “solely within the discretion of the authorizing body.” This means the accountability—i.e., the decision to close a failing school—is up to the authorizer. Authorizers have a monetary incentive to keep schools open, as they get a percentage of a school’s state aid.