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.
South Florida Charter Growth Slowed by Lack of Facilities
About one of every three approved charter schools in Florida has not opened since 2004, according to the state Department of Education. Securing a school facility remains one of the biggest hurdles to opening. Finding sites became a major problem beginning in 2002 as the demand for charter schools grew rapidly while the commercial real estate market started to shrink. Competition is so fierce that charter leaders are reluctant to discuss potential locations out of fear someone else will offer a landlord or seller more money. Charter schools not only have to compete against each other for space but also against other businesses, said Donna Korn, a commercial real estate agent in South Florida. "They're going after the same space, but a typical retailer is going to be able to pay more than a charter school," she said. "I don't think this issue is ever going to stop the movement, but it's slowing it down," said charter consultant Ron Renna.
Source: Sun Sentinel, (05/19/2007)
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L.A. Charter Schools Sue Los Angeles Unified District
Two charter school operators and a group of parents have filed suit against the Los Angeles Unified district stating that district officials have violated state law by failing to provide classroom space. In separate lawsuits, Green Dot Public Schools, one of the state's largest charter operators, and PUC Schools, which operates seven L.A. area schools, claim the district has not complied with Proposition 39 which requires districts to offer space to charters. The lawsuits also claim that the district has failed to spend about $85 million earmarked for charter schools in school bonds. "These parents and these children...have a right to have safe, clean, adequate facilities on a basis that's fair," said Caprice Young of the California Charter Schools Association, which also is a plaintiff in the lawsuits. "In most cases, we've been able to find relatively easy ways for them to comply with the law and they simply refuse to."
Source: San Francisco Chronicle, (05/18/2007)
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Missouri State Board of Education Authorizes First Charter School
Until last week, active charter authorizers in Missouri were limited to colleges and universities and local school boards. The Missouri Board of Education is now joining that group of authorizers, sponsoring a charter school for dropouts and students at risk of dropping out in St. Louis. While St. Louis Schools Superintendent Diana Bourisaw said the announcement was a "disappointment," mayoral aide Robbyn Wahby called the future school a bold move to "rescue children from a life on the street." According to state figures, the dropout rate in the St. Louis schools last year was 20.6 percent for males and 16.4 percent for females. The district's graduation rate in 2006 was only 55 percent. Jim Morris, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, said the "serious dropout problem" in the city schools led to the state's decision to sponsor the charter school.
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, (05/18/2007)
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Hawaii Considers Changes to Charter Application Review Process
Proposed changes being considered by Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle have been given the green light from state Board of Education members. The state's Charter School Review Panel would run the application review process and use a scoring system to grade charter applicants on their proposed curriculum and campus, enrollment projections, budget and management plans. The Legislature created the nine-member advisory panel last year to help formulate evaluation standards for charter schools. It includes teachers and directors from various charters, representatives from the University of Hawaii and a school board member. This session, lawmakers are seeking to expand the panel's duties because of concerns that charters have not been given enough attention. Linda Smith, the governor's senior policy adviser, said the new duties of the review panel fits into the Governor's effort to give charters more autonomy.
Source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin, (05/17/2007)
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D.C. Board of Education to Lease Public Buildings to Six Charter Schools
The D.C. Board of Education announced last week that six charter schools will be allowed to move into four District public school buildings for short-term leases. The board's unanimous vote to make some space available marks the school system's latest effort to comply with directives to use space efficiently in the face of declining enrollment. Building Hope, a foundation that assists charter schools with real estate purchases and financing, told D.C. School Superintendent Clifford B. Janey that more than 23 charter schools were looking for temporary space in D.C. public school buildings while they completed construction or searched for a permanent facilities. The foundation asked Janey for space in buildings that were being underused or were slated to close under the school system's Master Facilities Plan.
Source: Washington Post (free registration required), (05/17/2007)
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CER Honors 53 Charters as Charter Schools of the Year
At a May 16 awards ceremony, the Center for Education Reform honored 53 charter schools from 24 states. The organization recognized them for "exemplify(ing) the innovation, achievement and dedication of a charter school movement that has changed the face of American education." All U.S. charter schools were eligible for the honor. The selection process began in the fall of 2006, with all schools asked to respond to CER's annual survey. A small percentage of survey respondents were invited to submit detailed information for consideration. Evaluation of the schools considered four areas: achievement; planning and execution; satisfaction; and policies and programs. Additional criteria included improvement over time; percentage of at-risk students served; meeting mission and goals; and parental involvement.
Source: Center for Education Reform (CER), (05/16/2007)
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Charter School Leaders in New Jersey Lobby for More Funding Support
Charter school supporters in New Jersey are calling for increases in state aid, arguing that charters have produced positive results for students, but lack fair financial support. The state's charters receive roughly 48 to 65 percent of the funding per pupil that other public schools receive, said Jessani Gordon of the NJ Charter Public Schools Association. New Jersey's charter law requires 90 percent funding, but local districts keep many of the monies that should be passed on to charters, Gordon said. "The people of New Jersey's charter schools deserve equity," said Mary Jo McKinley, president of the association and director of Academy Charter High School. Richard Vespucci of the State Department of Education said charter school funding is getting a comprehensive review as part of the new funding formula development process. Charter supporters are actively lobbying legislators. "We have to make sure our voice gets heard," Gordon said.
Source: Home News Tribune, (05/15/2007)
Also See
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Detroit District Opposes Mayor's Plan to Create More Charters
Claiming more charters would threaten Detroit Public Schools system's efforts to improve achievement and stabilize finances, board members and teachers union officials have said they will fight Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's plan to open 25 charter schools in the city. DPS Interim Superintendent Lamont Satchel said his schools have a better track record than charters. "The Detroit Public Schools system remains the best educational option for children in this city," Satchel said in a release. For Kilpatrick to create more charters in the city, a law would have to be passed to lift the state's cap on the number of charter schools that can be authorized by universities, or the district would have to agree to charter the additional schools, or existing charter schools could be expanded. The Governor's office confirmed that the mayor has talked with the governor about increasing the number of charter schools but would not discuss details.
Source: Detroit News, (05/15/2007)
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L.A. District Attempts to Stop Teacher-Led Charter Conversion
Earlier this month, Green Dot Public Schools surprised the Los Angeles school district when it announced it had collected signatures of interest from a majority of the tenured teachers at Locke High School, clearing the major legal hurdle toward converting the low-performing Watts campus into 10 small charter schools beginning in 2008. Faced with the prospect of losing control of the campus to Green Dot, district officials are scrambling to put together another proposal to present to Locke staff. Kathi Littmann, a senior district official, said the proposal focuses on giving Locke teachers and administrators charter-like autonomy. Zeus Cubias, a math teacher at Locke, said those attempts are "too little, too late." Green Dot founder Steve Barr dismissed the district's last ditch effort, saying, "teachers would see through it as an attempt to dilute the idea of real autonomy at small schools that are led by teachers."
Source: LA Times (free registration required), (05/15/2007)
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