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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Note: Please be aware that online publishers often change URLs or no longer provide access to articles after 7 days. If any of the below links no longer work, access the publishing newspaper and search the archives for the keywords in the subject matter. Good luck.
Jon Meacham, Editor of Newsweek, to Keynote at 2007 National Charter Schools Conference
Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham will be the kickoff keynote speaker at the 7th National Charter Schools Conference, set for April 24 – 27 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. More than 3,000 charter school colleagues will convene in the "Land of Enchantment" to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the movement and to hear Meacham's global outlook for educating students in the next 15 years and beyond. Meacham joins Kevin Johnson, former NBA basketball star and Founder/Chairman of the Board of St. HOPE Academy Charter School, as conference keynotes. Go to the conference website to register, make hotel reservations, and find out how to sign up for graduate credits/CEUs or to participate in the Virtual Career Fair. Hosted by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, the conference will feature more than 120 breakout sessions, focusing on Quality, Policy, Advocacy and Capacity. For questions, e-mail nationalconference@publiccharters.org or call 206-463-3344.
Source: National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, (11/09/2006)
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Florida City Seeks to Convert District Schools to Charters
The city of Pembroke Pines wants to expand its 5,300-student charter school system by taking over 13 district schools. Pembroke Pines City Manager Charlie Dodge has been researching how to take over schools in the city and city attorney Sam Goren and state Rep. Ralph Arza have indicated the city has the legal ability to do so if a majority of parents and teachers in the schools support the change. Dodge's proposal follows years of fighting between city and school district officials about charter school development and funding. The City Commission will discuss the idea for the first time this week and a majority of commission members say they are interested in researching a take-over. "We do a damn good job at our charter schools," said Commissioner Iris Siple. "I'd like to know a lot more details. I'd like to know the community's response. I think they are pretty tired of some of the school board shenanigans."
Source: Miami Herald (free registration required), (10/14/2006)
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Number of Open-Enrollment Charter Schools in Arkansas May Double
The number of open-enrollment charter schools in Arkansas will more than double in 2007-08, if all 11 applications recently submitted to the state Department of Education are approved. The number of applicants could have been greater, said Caroline Proctor of the new Arkansas Charter School Resource Center. In August, 20 organizations sent letters of intent to the Education Department. "We asked some to delay to '08-09 because of the current legal cap of 24 schools," said Proctor. "We are hoping the cap on open-enrollment schools will be lifted or raised next year by the Legislature." The increase in charter proposals this year is partly due to Proctor's efforts to recruit aspiring charter developers and let them know that the center, which is funded by the Walton Family Foundation in Bentonville, is available to help. SBE action on the charter school proposals is expected in December or January.
Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, (10/13/2006)
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National Charter Advocacy Groups Call on Ohio to Strengthen Charter Schools
In a report requested by Gov. Bob Taft, and education and legislative leaders, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute call on Ohio to close its poorest performing charter schools by the end of the school year. "Charter schools are under a microscope for their performance, and they signed up to be held accountable for their results," said Chester Finn Jr. of the Fordham Institute. "This gives Ohio a chance to become a national leader instead of a state just slightly ashamed of its charter movement." The report also finds that Ohio's charters are underfunded compared with district schools, receiving an average of about $2,500 less per pupil. The report contains 17 recommendations for improving charter schools and the infrastructure that supports them. State education officials said they embrace most of the report's findings.
Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer, (10/12/2006)
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NYC Charter School Students Continue Trend of Out-Performing District Students
New York City public charter school students continue to outperform students in district schools in math, according to a NY Post analysis of state math exam results. Overall, 65.8 percent of children in grades 3-8 in city charter schools were proficient in math in the 2005-06 school year compared to 57 percent in district schools. The results cheered charter advocates lobbying state lawmakers to lift the cap on the number of charter schools allowed. "There is every reason on the merits to provide this opportunity for more kids, and that means lifting the cap," said Peter Murphy of the New York Charter Schools Association. "The reason not to do it would be purely political and selfish."
Source: New York Post, (10/12/2006)
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Gates Foundation to Help Build 200 New Charter Schools
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is spending $30 million to help support as many as 20 charter networks that are expected to start 200 schools and eventually educate 100,000 students in low-income urban communities including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C. The grant to the NewSchools Venture Fund is the foundation's second donation to the organization that supports nonprofit charter management organizations. The foundation's support for charter schools will focus on high schools, especially preparing low-income students to succeed in college. "The charter school movement holds the promise of improving radically the quality of public schooling in America," said Ted Mitchell of NewSchools Venture Fund. "These schools are proving that all children can meet high standards if given the right tools and the right environment."
Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, (10/10/2006)
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