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
|
|
 |
|
|
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.
National Charter Schools Conference (New Orleans, June 22-25)
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools will host the 2008 National Charter Schools Conference from June 22-25 in New Orleans, LA. "Still We Rise: Achieving Academic Excellence at Scale" is the conference theme, reflecting the growth of quality public charter schools across America. The theme has special resonance in New Orleans, which boasts the nation's largest percentage of public charter school enrollment. Register for the conference or apply to sponsor/exhibit at http://www.nationalcharterconference.org. The conference is the largest gathering of charter school operators and proponents in the nation. Geoffrey Canada, President and Chief Executive Officer for the Harlem Children's Zone, will offer the keynote speech. Attendees will learn and share best practices, discuss national and state policy issues, have the opportunity to volunteer at local charter schools, and enjoy special events featuring New Orleans traditions, food and music! Questions? Call 206-463-3344 or e-mail nationalconference@publiccharters.org.
Source: National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, (03/01/2008)
-----------------------------------------------
Advocates Fear Court Ruling Could Force Closure of Virtual Schools in Wisconsin
The Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families is concerned that a District 2 Court of Appeals ruling requiring the state to stop funding a virtual charter school could result in many districts closing their online charter schools and distance learning programs. The District Court ruled that the Wisconsin Virtual Academy, a K-8 online school, was violating state law by allowing parents to assume the duties of state-licensed teachers. It also said the school was violating a law requiring charter schools to be located in the district that operates them. Writing for the court, Judge Richard Brown said the school may be a "godsend" for children who would not succeed in more traditional public schools, as well as a welcome option for families who want their children to receive a home-based education. "But it is also a public school operated with state funds, and its operation violates the statutes as they now stand," he wrote. Attorney Mike Dean, who represents families at the school, said the ruling "effectively shuts down the school" and threatens other virtual schools in the state. He is considering an appeal to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Source: Appleton Post Crescent, (12/10/2007)
Also See
-----------------------------------------------
Utah Policymakers Consider Charter School Funding Changes
A draft bill under consideration in the Utah legislature would require school districts to provide an allocation of property tax revenues for each resident student attending a charter school. The "money follows the child" method would enable students' home-district funding to follow them to any public school, even if it is located outside the district. The bill would also require that charter schools receive their funding from school districts -- something they were required to do before 2004. This likely would incite more animosity between charters and school districts. "This is going to hurt all the way around and probably going to cause some feelings to come up again that had probably gone away for a little while," said Marlies Burns, state director of charter schools. "Everybody is frustrated with the whole thing because this puts (charters) in a position of taking money from districts." "Some see it as reasonable, some don't like it, but it seems to be a reasonable way to fund school students to ensure that the education they receive, from a financial standpoint, is essentially the same whether they go to a charter school or a local district school," said Rep. Ron Bigelow, who drafted the bill.
Source: Deseret Morning News, (12/09/2007)
-----------------------------------------------
Florida Lawmakers to Push for Greater Academic Scrutiny and Fiscal Supervision of Charter Schools
Florida Senate Education Committee Chairman Don Gaetz said he will push legislators to begin drafting legislation to make "significant" changes in charter school policies in response to a recent study that found problems with charter school accountability. "We want charter schools in Florida to do better, to operate more efficiently and effectively," said Gaetz, a former school board member who helped approve three charters in Okaloosa County. "We want charter schools to provide more information to parents, and we want charter schools to use public tax dollars for the benefit of children." Proposed changes in the Senate's recent Charter School Accountability Study include: (1) make the public more aware of academic performance at un-graded charter schools; (2) limit funding to charter schools that exceed class-size requirements; (3) closer monitoring and quicker interventions at financially troubled charters; and, (4) prohibit charter board members from getting paid by the charter school. Gaetz said that to boost financial accountability, he hoped legislators would build "a series of trip wires" that would draw attention to poorly operating charters.
Source: Orlando Sentinel (free registration required), (12/08/2007)
-----------------------------------------------
Missouri Charter Schools "Cry Foul" Over Funding Loss
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is investigating whether millions of dollars owed to St. Louis charter schools inappropriately ended up in the coffers of the local school district. Charter school leaders estimate they were shorted more than $7 million last year, or roughly 15 percent of their state funding. St. Louis school leaders said they paid what was owed to charter schools and kept the rest. "These are not dollars that we believe should be paid to the charters," said St. Louis Public Schools CFO Enos Moss. Gerri Ogle, associate commissioner of finance for the state department, said her staff will look at the funding sent to the charter schools and if the St. Louis district underpaid the charters, the district would have to reimburse them.
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, (12/07/2007)
-----------------------------------------------
Single, Statewide Cyber Charter Funding Rate Proposed in Pennsylvania
Currently, cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania may receive 75 percent of the money a school district would spend on a student were he or she to remain in the local district classroom. In turn, the state reimburses school districts 25 to 30 percent of the cost of that student. A bill recently passed by the House Education Committee could change that funding process, limiting the school to only receive a total of $6,500 a year in taxpayer money for each child. The Pennsylvania State Education Association and many local school boards support the bill, but cyber charter school leaders say that if approved, the new funding structure would force school closures. "If this bill would ever get to the floor and get passed, it would mean cyber schools would shut down," said Jenny Bradmon, president of PA Families for Public Cyber Schools, an organization of about 1,500 parents. In addition to the funding limits, the bill sets guidelines on how teachers at the schools are certified.
Source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, (12/06/2007)
Also See
-----------------------------------------------
Children with Special Needs Attending NYC Charter Schools in Higher Numbers
In New York City's charter schools that have been open three years or more, over 14 percent of the student population are special education students. In schools that have only been open for one or two years it is only six and a half percent. Garth Harries, an education department official commented, "over the whole initiative, what that means is the small schools are absorbing higher than average numbers of special ed students."
Source: WNYC, (12/05/2007)
-----------------------------------------------
Number of Charter Schools in New Orleans May Rise to 49
Louisiana's Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) has recommended the approval of eight charter schools to open in New Orleans next year. The new group of schools, along with a previously approved high school, would raise the number of charters operating in the city from 40 to 49. Louella Givens, a BESE member from New Orleans, voted to approve the schools but expressed concern that charters still need more administrative support. "It is a great concern to me and members of my community that as we continue to grant charters, we are still not helping them," she said.
Source: The Times-Picayune, (12/05/2007)
-----------------------------------------------
Thank you for your interest:
Please be aware that publishers sometimes change URLs or no longer provide access to articles. If this occurs, access the publishing newspaper and search for the subject matter.
Submit news items on the Web:
You can view archives or submit news items at: http://www.uscharterschools.org/pub/uscs_docs/n/index.htm.
To unsubscribe or subscribe:
If you would like to be removed from this list, send an email to: cs.unsubscribe.a.16@email.edgateway.net or manage your subscription via your user profile at USCharterSchools.org. 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.
Did you receive this issue as a forward from a friend? Get your own subscription to the Charter Schools News Connection here.
Charter Schools News Connection is sponsored by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and distributed by WestEd.
|
|
