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.
Charter Enrollment Surges in District of Columbia
The number of public charter schools in D.C. has grown to 57 with this year's opening of two startup charters and the expansion of seven campuses. The schools are expecting to enroll as many as 24,000 students, up from approximately 19,600 last year, an increase of 22 percent. Although enrollment figures will likely drop slightly when the official count is tallied in October, this year's public charter school enrollment will approach 30 percent of the total D.C. public school enrollment.
Source: FOCUS DC, (09/03/2007)
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Culturally Specific Charter Schools Spark Debate
Charter schools focused on Muslim culture and Arabic language, as well as Jewish language and culture, have worked hard to ensure their curricula are free from religious doctrine. But some, particularly those in the Jewish community who have a long history advocating for the separation of church and state, think such schools could face constitutional challenges. These culturally specific schools have company, including a German-culture charter school in Alaska and Hmong, Chinese, and Dakota Native American culture charter schools in Minnesota. While a charter school by law cannot endorse one religion, the courts have granted schools latitude in accommodating religion. "Charter schools offer parents an opportunity to create schools that meet their needs and religious needs are some of the most profound and important needs that people have," says Lawrence Weinberg, author of "Religious Charter Schools."
Source: Wall Street Journal, (09/02/2007)
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Charter Conversion Plan Moves Forward in Los Angeles
In a 5-2 vote, the Los Angeles Board of Education signaled its intent to enter an agreement that would make Locke High School the first Los Angeles campus managed by an outside charter school organization, Green Dot Public Schools. The board action calls for the Locke conversion petition to come before the school board for an up-or-down vote in two weeks. "I intend to vote for it," said board member Richard Vladovic, who represents the Locke area. Steve Barr, the founder of Green Dot Public Schools, said "When all is said and done, we're going to work together and make Locke a great school. People around the country are going to come to Watts and see what a great urban turnaround school looks like."
Source: LA Times (free registration required), (09/01/2007)
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Jewish Day School Leaders Fear Charter Competition
A Hebrew-English public charter school that opened last week in Hollywood, Florida is increasing fears among some Jewish day school administrators nationwide that these types of charter schools could attract students away from their institutions. The school's founder, former Rep. Peter Deutsch, said he is hoping to open 100 such schools, including one in New York in September 2009. Deutsch insisted that the competition from charter schools "is going to make [Jewish day schools] stronger and better; they are going to have to work harder." Elaine Cohen of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism agrees there may be a silver lining. "We have to turn it into an opportunity. The impact of this may help the Jewish day schools crystallize their religious mission. They would have to make a compelling case for it as a way of differentiating themselves" from charter schools.
Source: The Jewish Week, (09/01/2007)
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Utah Charter Students Granted Right to Participate in Sports and Activities at Traditional Public Schools
The Utah High School Activities Association has voted 19-4 to allow charter school students to participate in sports and activities at traditional public high schools. No longer will districts be able to use the UHSAA rules as a reason to deny eligibility to charter school students.
Source: Salt Lake Tribune, (08/31/2007)
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NCES Commissioner Publishes Book on Charter Schools
Mark Schneider, Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, has co-authored a book on charter schools. Schneider says the book presents a mixed record on charters. "If you read the book, it's very much driven by data," he said, calling it "non-ideological." The co-author is Jack Buckley, who like Schneider, moved from academia to the NCES, where he is the deputy commissioner. Work began on "Charter Schools: Hope or Hype?" in the late 1990s, and the first draft was largely completed by the time President Bush nominated him as NCES commissioner in mid-2005. The authors have taken steps to avoid having their NCES duties linked with the book. The publisher, Princeton University Press, has not used their NCES affiliations in marketing it.
Source: Education Week (subscription required), (08/29/2007)
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D.C. Public Charter School Board to Play Bigger Role in D.C. Public Education
The move by the D.C. Board of Education to give up its charter authorizer responsibilities has increased the charter school oversight role of the D.C. Public Charter School Board. With the new school year, the seven-member appointed board now has responsibility for all of the city's 57 charter schools, rather than sharing the workload with the Board of Education. The Public Charter School Board expects to hire more staff, as well as receive more funding to handle the increased workload.
Source: Washington Post (free registration required), (08/24/2007)
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Districts in Massachusetts Seeks Authority to Audit Charter Schools
Saying that they need more accurate charter school enrollment data, districts in Massachusetts are seeking the authority to require charter schools to tell them the names and addresses of students filling their rosters. Charter school proponents say that they already report enrollment information to the Massachusetts Department of Education on an annual basis, and districts are primarily interested in getting contact information to pressure families to stay within the district. "School districts across the state want to contact families to persuade them to return to the district, which is entirely inappropriate," said Marc Kenen, executive director of the Massachusetts Public Charter School Association. "The state should protect the privacy of families and ask the districts to refrain from contacting charter school families."
Source: Boston Globe, (08/12/2007)
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