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
|
|
 |
|
|
Seven Strategies for Success: School-Business Partnerships
Business is becoming increasingly involved in charter and other public schools. The Daniels Fund has researched why some school partnerships are more effective than others. The report highlights seven strategies for successful partnerships based on the findings. These include: ensure student learning and achievement are the focus of every partnership; create a meaningful process for communicating about the program and recognizing the contributions of business partners; and, regularly monitor and evaluate each partnership and the overall program. Best practices, success tips, and barriers to avoid are also included in this online guide.
Mixed Use Facilities: Charter Schools' Innovative Classroom Choices
This document released by the Low Income Investment Fund, which has provided over $100 million in loans to support the development and operation of high quality charter schools, summarizes the benefits and challenges charter schools may experience when sharing facilities with other organizations. Mixed-use facilities can provide significant cost savings and efficient use of available space for charters. They can also provide unique learning experiences and increase the interaction between schools, parents and community members, as well as strengthen neighborhoods. The document offers several strategies for success including seeking support from people with experience in construction management, land-use planning and architectural design; finding good partners who are collaborative and share a common vision; and integrating flexibility into the planning process.
The Bottom Line: Six Myths About the Financial Impact of Public Charter Schools
While many districts may experience short-term financial pain when a new charter school opens, a new report confirms that high-quality public charter schools have positive financial impacts for communities that more than offset the obvious and immediate revenue losses to district budgets. It finds the presence of charter schools actually increases the total spent on public education for a community's children. Because charter schools typically receive less than full funding, districts are actually left with more money per pupil when a student transfers to a charter. Charter schools can be a boon for districts by revitalizing dilapidated neighborhoods, decreasing the number of dropouts, and increasing the number of college attendees. The report encourages policymakers to look at charter schools as investments, to give charters the resources they need, and to reduce short term impacts of charters by updating the district budgeting process to use multi-year budgeting and planning.
Charter School Growth Fund: Applications for the 2008 Business Planning Cohort
The Charter School Growth Fund (CSGF) is now seeking applicants for its 2008 business planning cohort. The Charter School Growth Fund is a philanthropic venture firm founded to make early-stage grants and loans for the development and expansion of charter management and support organizations that provide a quality education option to underserved students nationwide. CSGF seeks to accomplish its mission by providing proven charter school operators with the guidance and resources necessary to create self-sufficient networks of high-performing schools. The application will be available on the CSGF website starting August 20th, 2007.
New York City's Charter Schools Overall Report
This federally-funded report compares the performance of New York City students who were accepted at charters through a random lottery to students who were rejected (lotteried-in vs. lotteried-out). Researchers found that NYC charter schools performed better than traditional public schools and teach a much higher percentage of minority students. Charter students gained about an extra 12 percent of a performance level in math each year over the comparison group. In reading, the growth was approximately an extra 3.5 percent each year. Charters in the city served a larger percentage of Hispanic and black children, and charter school applicants were less likely to be white or Asian than the average New York City public school student.
What Americans Think about Their Schools
A new national survey of U.S. adults conducted by researchers at Stanford and Harvard Universities found that three-quarters of Americans believe public charter schools should be given at least the same amount of funding per child as district-operated schools. Forty-four percent of respondents support the formation of charter schools, and another 42 percent neither support nor oppose them. Only 14 percent of respondents said they oppose charter schools. Support for charter schools is highest among those who know more about them, while opposition is highest among those who know less. The findings are based on a nationally representative, stratified sample of 2,000 adults.
LEAP Test Results, 2007
State test results released by the Louisiana Department of Education showed New Orleans charter school students generally scored higher in English and Math than their fourth and eighth grade counterparts in traditional public schools. Eight of the city's top 10 schools in both English and Math at the two grade levels were charter schools.
EdWeek Chat: Charter School Achievement
On Wednesday, August 15th research expert Bryan Hassel will answer questions about public charter school research and discuss the challenges for improving and expanding charter school achievement studies. Education Week is hosting this "live chat" from 3-4 pm and is accepting questions to be asked. Hassel is a co-author of Charter School Achievement: What We Know, a review of scholarly studies comparing charter vs. district school achievement for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
National Association of Charter School Authorizers Conference, October 22-23
The National Association of Charter School Authorizers will host its seventh annual conference October 22-23, 2007, at the Hyatt Regency Savannah on the Historic Riverfront in Savannah, GA. Steve Barr, Founder and CEO of Green Dot Public Schools, and James Forman, Jr. of Georgetown University are keynote speakers. With the theme of "Cultivating the Charter Garden," the conference will offer numerous interactive and practice-oriented sessions.
New York Charter Schools Conference, November 9-10
The New York Charter Schools Association will hold its annual conference, November 9 and 10 at the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan. Registration is now available online.
Arizona Charter Schools Association, Annual Conference, October 10-12
The Arizona Charter Schools Association will host its annual conference at the Glendale Renaissance Hotel & Spa in Glendale, Arizona, October 10-12, 2007. Conference information and exhibitor/sponsorship information will be available on the organization's website.
National Education Writers Association's Charter Schools and School Choice Meeting, October 5-6
The Education Writers Association, the national professional organization of education reporters, is hosting a two-day event in Milwaukee this fall to discuss the impact and effectiveness of charter schooling.
North Carolina Charter Schools Annual Conference, September 20-21 in Research Triangle Park
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction is hosting the 10th annual state charter school conference in the Research Triangle Park on September 20-21. Sessions are geared toward charter school teachers, administrators, board members, and finance officers. Online registration is available.
Navigating Special Education in Charter Schools: Part I and II
These two issue briefs are designed to help charter school authorizers understand the critical issues related to special education in charter schools and identify key sources of support. The author provides specific steps authorizers can take to ensure that charter schools are aware of their responsibilities related to special education and are held accountable for providing quality.
Suggest resources for this newsletter:
http://www.uscharterschools.org/pub/uscs_docs/n/index.htm.
To unsubscribe:
To be removed, send an email:
FROM: your email address
TO: cs.unsubscribe.a.19@email.edgateway.net.
Or you can manage your subscription via your user profile. For assistance, please contact us at uscharterschools@wested.org.
To subscribe:
Get your own subscription to Charter Schools Resource Update at: http://www.uscharterschools.org/pub/uscs_docs/n/index.htm.
We respect your right to privacy. Please read our privacy policy. To subscribe or contribute news items you will need to register with USCharterSchools.org.
Charter Schools Resource Update is sponsored by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and distributed by WestEd.
|
