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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Building Excellent Schools Fellowship
The Building Excellent Schools Fellowship is a rigorous, 12-month
training program that prepares dedicated, hard-working and talented
individuals to design and manage academically excellent urban charter
schools.
Building Excellent Schools Fellows are carefully selected future school
leaders who come already focused on one goal: founding and operating a
high-performing charter school. Instead of paying BES for its training,
Fellows are paid by BES a generous professional stipend of $80,000 for
their year's work in the program.
We are currently accepting applications from Fellowship candidates with
a vision to launch charter schools in the following urban areas:
Denver, CO;
Little Rock, AR;
Los Angeles, CA;
Memphis, TN;
New Orleans, LA;
New York City, NY;
Oakland, CA;
Phoenix, AZ;
San Diego, CA;
St. Louis, MO;
Washington, DC;
New Jersey
For more information, please visit our website:
http://buildingexcellentschools.org
Eco-Charter Schools
Eco-charter schools with environment-focused and project-based programs have sprung up in at least ten states. Environment and sustainability are the integrating qualities of learning in "green," high-performance charter schools. Charter school faculty at these schools seek to improve student’s education by utilizing the environment as the integrating content for most or all curriculum areas. The Wisconsin Charter Schools Association and the Minnesota Association of Charter Schools are helping to coordinate the green/environmental charter schools initiative by fostering the creation of environmental-focused charter schools and encouraging the sharing of effective practices.
Charter School Funding: Inequity’s Next Frontier
This comparative study of school funding in charter schools and traditional public schools in 16 states and the District of Columbia finds that charters are significantly under- funded relative to district schools. The report, based on 2002-03 revenues, finds that, on average, the funding gap is 22 percent, or $1,800 per pupil. Researchers found that discrepancies are larger in most big urban school districts. In urban areas the gap widens to $2,200 per pupil. In cities like San Diego and Atlanta, charters receive 40 percent less than traditional public schools. The inequity is most severe in South Carolina, California, Ohio, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Missouri. The study finds that the primary driver of the district-charter gaps is charter schools' lack of access to local and capital funding. It includes detailed state-by-state and district financial and policy information, as well as recommendations for closing the funding gap.
Focus on Results: An Academic Impact Analysis of the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP)
Using school-level Stanford 9 and Stanford 10 (SAT) data, this study finds that 27 KIPP charter middle schools have achieved large and significant gains. The report found that 5th-grade cohorts at KIPP schools post substantially greater academic gains on the SAT than what is considered normal, a finding consistent with prior research on KIPP schools. Schools administering the tests first in the fall with a follow-up test in the spring enjoyed a mean gain of 10.1 in reading, 10.9 in language, and 17.4 in mathematics. Schools that first administered the test in the fall and then again the following fall recognized score gains of 7.5 in reading, 9.1 in language, and 11.6 in mathematics. KIPP cohorts experienced average gains of 9 to 17 points across all tests. Students are in KIPP schools at least nine hours a day, compared with fewer than seven hours in regular public schools. Three weeks of summer school is mandatory.
Results from the Tar Heel State
This latest Bifulco and Ladd study finds that students entering North Carolina charter schools in grades 4-8 made smaller achievement gains than they would have had they remained in traditional public schools. The study also finds that this negative impact is attributable to the first year primarily. Students who remained in charters for more than one year kept pace with students in traditional schools. The negative effects of attending a charter school were considerably greater for students in newly opened charter schools than for students in charter schools that are more established. The authors state that it is important to note that the negative findings apply only to students who either entered a charter school after grade 4 or exited a charter school before grade 8. They suggest that high student turnover rates in grades 4-8 may account for some of the difference between test-score gains.
Findings from the City of Big Shoulders
In a randomized study of Chicago charter schools, two economists find that charter students in K-5 outperformed their traditional school peers in reading and math. Students in charter schools outperformed a comparable group of lotteried-out students who remained in regular Chicago public schools by 5 to 6 percentile points in math and about 5 percentile points in reading. That translates into gains by 2.5 to 3 percentile points for each year spent in a charter school. This is the first significant study that used a lottery-based approach to evaluate achievement differences. The “treatment” group was comprised of applicants who drew a lottery number that earned them a place at one of the charter schools and the control group was comprised of applicants who were lotteried-out (not selected). This allowed the researchers to be confident that the groups are comparable in several ways, including race, income, and motivation.
Renewing the Compact: A Statement by the Task Force on Charter School Quality and Accountability
With more than a million children nationally expected to enroll in charter schools this year, this new report urges states to expand and support schools that have proven to be successful. The Alliance’s Task Force on Charter School Quality and Accountability details a series of key recommendations designed to create high-quality charter schools that meet growing demand while upholding the model of accountability and results. Recommendations to policymakers include: let evidence drive operations; build high-quality teacher force and charter leadership; and focus charter legislation on quality. The report establishes seven key principles for quality chartering and the Alliance is encouraging all charter school supporters to sign on to support them at http://www.publiccharters.org/taskforcereport.asp.
2006 National Charter Schools Conference
U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana is now scheduled to participate live, via satellite, on March 2 at the 2006 National Charter Schools Conference (to be held February 28 - March 3, 2006 in Sacramento, CA).* In a conversation with John Merrow (host of PBS' Learning Matters), she will discuss the impact of what is happening in New Orleans on the overall charter school movement. Other featured speakers include Bill Nye the Science Guy and a host of national charter experts and advocates who will share their perspectives on the state of the charter movement. View programming (over 170 sessions and table-talk discussions to choose from) and speaker details, as well as register and make hotel reservations at the conference web site at http://www.charterconference.org. To register by phone, call 800-280-6218. *Participation subject to Senator Landrieu's schedule.
National Association of Charter School Authorizers Conference
This year's conference of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) -- October 24-25 in Denver, CO -- will engage several hundred charter school authorizers and other education leaders. The conference will feature 40 highly interactive and practice-oriented workshops and roundtables on issues of importance to charter authorizers and others interested in charter schools. Alan Bersin, California's Secretary of Education and formerly the Superintendent of San Diego City Schools, will deliver the keynote address, sharing his vision for strengthening public education through charter schools, choice and competition. In addition, the conference will feature a grand finale by Spark Creative, a professional comedy troupe.
Charter Schools: Recent State Policies and Activities
Staff at the Education Commission of the States regularly update a list of changes to state charter school policies and legislation. They also track attempted charter school legislation that was vetoed. This site describes new charter school legislation that was recently signed into law in North Carolina, California, Delaware, Oregon, Hawaii, Louisiana, Nevada, Tennessee and Texas.
37th Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools
A recently released nationwide survey reports that an increasing number of Americans support the concept of charter schools. The percentage of public school parents who support charter schools increased from 40 percent in 2000 to 48 percent in 2005. Of those citizens without children, support has increased from 42 percent to 49 percent in the same time period. The same report also finds that while the majority of the public applauds the goals of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, they are increasingly scornful of the strategies used to implement those goals. Lack of financial support for schools is cited by respondents as the biggest problem the schools in their communities face.
Providing Quality Choice Options in Education
A new report details the number of school choice strategies governors are using to improve student achievement and raise graduation rates. The report by the National Governors Association and the Center for School Change highlights several school choice policies and includes numerous key recommendations for policymakers to consider when they create or refine new or existing school choice policies, including public charter schools. The authors encourage governors and state policymakers to adopt strategies to strengthen and broaden charter school options for families, including: eliminating caps on the number of charter schools; allowing multiple entities to authorize charter schools; establishing an appeals process for rejected charter school applicants; providing strong technical assistance; and, allowing various routes to charter school status.
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