On average, the funding gap between charter schools and traditional schools is 22 percent, or $1,800 per pupil. The average charter school ends up with a total funding shortfall of nearly half a million dollars.
Source: Charter School Funding: Inequity’s Next Frontier
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How Do I Start a Charter School?
This document, for those new to the charter school movement, provides a "road map" through the five general stages of charter school development: getting started, developing the school, writing the charter, approval, and opening the school. It was created for California charter school founders, but individuals in other states may find it offers a good framework for understanding the efforts required to create and open a charter school.
Illinois Charter School Developers' Handbook: A Resource Guide for Getting Your Charter School Off the Ground
This handbook, published by Leadership for Quality Education, provides potential charter school developers with practical advice for the essential phases of planning, designing, and operating a charter school. Guiding principles and tips for the following are included: drafting a charter proposal; gaining community support; developing an educational program and accountability standards; recruiting and enrolling students; designing a school governance structure; recruiting and selecting staff; making personnel policies and contracts; fundraising and budgeting; finding and financing facilities; and complying with laws that apply to charter schools. While the document was crafted for developers in Illinois, charter founders in other states will find the advice valuable.
Fund Development for Charter Schools
This primer on crafting a charter school fundraising strategy instructs readers on how to become familiar with funders' giving patterns, fundraising trends, funding sources, and fundraising methods. It guides readers through types of funding available and the disadvantages and advantages of working with each type of funder. Several tips on how to create a "hot proposal" are included.
Tips on Improving Grant Proposals
This document, part of a National Charter Schools Conference session on "Leveraging NCLB to Increase the Supply of Charter Schools," offers a list of tips for improving grant proposals to access federal funds. It encourages charter school fundraisers to adopt measurable goals. (Example: "We intend to increase the number of students scoring at the proficient level in reading by X% each year" is better than "We intend to improve reading proficiency.") And, it offers caution, with advice like "Do not pad your application with unnecessary flowery prose. A sentence like 'We intend to adopt a rich, developmentally appropriate curricula design that will engage critical thinking and encourage self-concept integration' will not impress."
How to Finance a Charter School Purchase and Construction: A Case Study
This five-page case study of a Minneapolis charter school, El Colegio Charter School, examines the complex processes for initial financing and refinancing of a charter school building. The founders of this school believed it was important to build equity in the community by owning rather than renting a building. Initial financing through lease revenue bonds, while costly and unsustainable, gave them the opportunity to open their doors and begin to meet their missions. The refinancing process through more traditional means was achieved at minimal costs and great long term savings and gave added capacity both in the short and long-term to meet their missions and goals.
State Charter School Funding Systems
This outline, one of a series of documents produced for the Charter School Leadership Council as part of its effort to document the various policy challenges and solutions, examines the complexity of state charter school funding systems. The authors find that states have a "crazy quilt" of financing arrangements, some which work well for charter schools and some which do not. They predict that opponents, unable to stop charter schooling altogether, will seek to staunch the outflow of funds to charter schools. They suggest that as many low-wealth school districts have challenged state school finance systems on equity grounds, charter schools in states where charter school funding is below district levels may be able to make similar claims.
Charter School Achievement on the 2003 National Assessment of Educational Progress
This analysis provided by researchers at the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the nation's second largest teachers' union, finds that fourth graders in the participating sample of charter schools had lower achievement in grade 4 (six scale points lower in math, seven scale points lower in reading) when compared to students in traditional public schools. The analysis used data from the 2003 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) which tests a nationally representative sample of students in grades 4, 8 and 12 in a variety of academic subjects.
Florida Charter Schools: 2002-2003 Annual Accountability Report
In Florida's inaugural charter school accountability report, the state applauds charter schools' performance. In 2002-2003, 34 percent of the state's charter schools made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), as defined by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Only 16 percent of Florida's traditional public schools made AYP the same year. Seventy-one percent of charter schools received a C or higher in the state's A+ Education Accountability System. Charters have experienced dramatic growth since their inception in the state. Five charter schools operated during the 1996-1997 school year; by the 2002-2003 school year, there were 222 charter schools in operation.
Tips for Charter Schools in Community-Building
This document, part of a presentation on "Successful Parental Involvement Models," a session at the 2004 National Charter Schools Conference, offers a three page checklist of ways to include parents, enlist community support, celebrate students, and improve staff morale. The document also offers ways to "get noticed," such as reaching out to the local media and promptly responding to requests for information.
Highly Qualified Teachers & Charter Schools
This presentation, delivered at the 2004 National Charter Schools Conference, helps charter school stakeholders to understand the "highly qualified teacher" requirement of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. The general definition of a highly qualified teacher is one that has achieved full state certification; holds at least a bachelor's degree; and had demonstrated subject matter competence. There is some nuance in the law as charter schools in some states do not have the same restrictions as other public schools in hiring teachers. The law states that all Title I teachers and teachers teaching core subjects in charter schools must meet the certification and licensure requirements contained in their state's charter school law. The presentation details the specific requirements found in the law and how it applies to specific charter school faculty members.
National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition & Language Instruction Educational Programs
The percentage of English language learners (ELL) being served by charter schools and traditional public schools is approximately the same, however there are some individual communities where the percentage of ELL is much higher in charter schools. This website offers free information products including a large collection of evidence-based research, assessment and accountability, and guidance resources; a weekly e-newsletter of updates and related news; and,
an online reference and referral service.
Critical Issues Related to Charter Schools and Special Education
This document, prepared for the 2004 National Charter Schools Conference, is derived from a set of technical assistance materials known as Primers that were developed by the Special Education Technical Assistance for Charter Schools Project (SPEDTACS) and published in June 2004. It examines which federal laws are most relevant to special education in charter schools. The policy tension between charter schools and special education is discussed. Because the charter school concept is driven in part by the desire to allow educators the freedom to be innovative about teaching and learning, compliance can be a challenge particularly with a highly prescriptive statute such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). As a result, charter schools must strive to successfully juggle autonomy and compliance.
Charter School Information: Just For Parents
This site serves as as comprehensive resource for parents interested in charter schools. It provides information about the charter school movement, tips for finding and selecting a charter school, and ways families can support learning.
The Value of Quality On-Site School Reviews: Seeing Is Believing
This issue brief for authorizers identifies the major elements to consider when designing site visits as part of a comprehensive oversight system. While on-site reviews cost in terms of time, money and personnel, they can provide rich information not available through documents and allow schools to know that accountability is real and active and that the authorizer is both serious and supportive in that role.
How Can Virtual Schools Be a Vibrant Part of Meeting the Choice Provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act?
This white paper, created for the 2004 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Leadership Summit, explores how virtual schools can be a powerful innovation for meeting the choice provisions of the NCLB Act. While parents express a strong interest in transferring their children to better-performing schools, many districts use the lack of school capacity to deny families choices of higher performing schools. Virtual schools are an acceptable, legal option for districts and states seeking to increase their capacity. The paper cites research that suggests virtual charter schools are able to provide a solid education to children who have been historically under-served by traditional school environments and programs. The authors examine the challenges for districts and states seeking to use virtual schools to fulfill the federal choice requirements and make a series of recommendations to local and state education agencies, and federal policymakers.
Keynote Address: National Charter Schools Conference 2004
U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige celebrates charter schools in his keynote address to the June 2004 National Charter Schools Conference. He applauds the partnerships charter schools have created between parents, teachers, and the community at large, and the great success charter schools have made with at-risk students. Paige encourages the charter school community to "not stop until we have a quality charter school on every street corner in every community in the United States of America."
No Child Left Behind: A Toolkit for Teachers
This updated guide provides teachers with an overview of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act and an explanation of its "Highly Qualified Teacher" requirements. The booklet is designed to clear up misconceptions about the law through numerous "Myth vs. Reality" sections. The report makes available a chart-style comparison of federal, state, and local responsibilities under NCLB, and an overview of initiatives to promote teacher quality through professional development, recruitment, and retention. There is also information on resources and rewards available to teachers.
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