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.
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)
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Researcher Finds Charter Schools Accelerate Student Performance & Strengthen Traditional Public Schools
Last week, Stanford University economics professor Caroline Hoxby explained the findings of three charter school studies in a presentation at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. She said charter schools accelerate student performance while creating a competitive environment that strengthens traditional public schools. "They aren't a silver bullet, but I do think charter schools are an important part of school reform in the United States." She said recent research finds that charter schools raise the bar of competition for other public schools around them, causing a subsequent increase in student test scores. A study of New York City public schools found that traditional schools nearly doubled their yearly gains in math and reading comprehension after charter schools opened.
Source: Arkansas News, (02/25/2008)
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Poor Attendance at New Orleans School Fair Bemoaned by Recovery School District Superintendent Paul Vallas
This past weekend's New Orleans Schools Fair was intended to provide parents of more than 32,000 New Orleans public school students with a one-stop shop to learn about the dozens of schools that will be open next fall, including charter schools and schools run by the Recovery School District and the Orleans Parish School Board. When only 30 people attended, Recovery School District superintendent Paul Vallas lamented what he described as a poor outreach effort to make parents aware of a new streamlined application process that covers most of the city's public schools. "If you provide choices, but nobody knows there's choices, is it really a choice?" Vallas said. "Freedom is information." "We should have standing room only . . . because there are more choices than this district has ever offered in the past. Before this window closes, we need to get the word out. People should be begging for those common application forms," Vallas said. Sixty-nine schools set up booths at the fair organized by the Urban League of Greater New Orleans, offering information about their programs. The deadline for the new common application was set for February 27. Vallas has called for pushing back the deadline until more outreach can be done.
Source: The Times-Picayune, (02/25/2008)
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New Indianapolis Mayor Voices Strong Support for Charter Schools
In a recent address to charter school leaders, the new mayor of Indianapolis, Greg Ballard, said he supported charter schools, planned to continue creating new ones as warranted, and would lobby the state to protect the movement already under way. "One thing I found out very quickly is charter schools are an antsy little group, a little nervous, and given the history in Indiana, I understand that," he said. "Take heart: In Indianapolis, you're safe. No question." He said charter schools offer a much-needed choice for parents in the community and can improve the public education system overall. Former Mayor Bart Peterson created a system of 17 charter schools before losing the November election to Ballard. The mayor of Indianapolis is the only mayor in the country who can authorize charters.
Source: Indianapolis Star, (02/22/2008)
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Families Push for More Charter Schools, but Officials in Nevada Not Ready to Lift Moratorium
Families in Nevada are eager for more public school choice, including more charter schools, but the state is not yet ready to raise the moratorium on charter school development. State Board of Education President Marcia Washington said staff is overwhelmed by monitoring responsibilities that charter schools add to their regular workload. Members of the Legislative Committee on Education met February 21 at Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy and discussed the possibility of creating a new entity to oversee charter school authorization.
Source: Las Vegas Review Journal, (02/22/2008)
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New Hampshire House Education Committee Approves State Support for Charter Schools
A bill that would give charter schools $6,500 per pupil has won approval from the New Hampshire House Education Committee. While state legislators have been slow to embrace state funding for charters, Rep. Kim Casey, one of the architects of the bill, said more lawmakers are changing their minds. She said they're following the lead of local districts, which are showing more support for charter schools now than they did in 2004, when the first ones opened. "These charter schools are successful in what they're doing, and that's obvious," Casey said. Under current law, all charter schools will receive just $3,800 per pupil next year. Charter school advocates said the bill is a good first step towards finding a sustainable funding source for charter schools. "We're very excited," said Bill Wilmot, head of the Seacoast Charter School. "It's a first step, but it's an important first step." The bill will now go before the House Finance Committee.
Source: Concord Monitor, (02/21/2008)
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Charter Leaders Question Reliability of Study That Finds California's Alternative Charter Schools Have Highest Drop-Out Rates
According to a recent UC Santa Barbara study, 25 school sites, including many alternative charter campuses, account for a fifth of dropouts in the state. The report, issued as part of the California Dropout Research Project, used state data to compile a list of every high school in the state ranked by the number of students listed as dropouts last year. Some educators and school advocates, including charter leaders, criticized the report for relying on questionable data, as well as releasing potentially explosive statistics without context. Buzz Breedlove, director of John Muir Charter School, a Sacramento-based organization that operates programs for at-risk students at 43 locations throughout California, described an example of the unreliability of the report. His school was listed as number one on the UC Santa Barbara list, with 1,856 dropouts -- more students than are enrolled at the school. "To reconfigure numbers and come up with a dropout rate of 149 percent, which on its face is ludicrous, doesn't suggest to me that very much thought went into these numbers," said Breedlove, a former nonpartisan policy analyst for the California Legislature.
Source: LA Times (free registration required), (02/21/2008)
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Alliance Makes "Lottery Day Toolkit" Available
As charter schools across the nation gear up for lotteries, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools is offering a free "Charter School Lottery Day Tool Kit." Lottery days can present a wonderful opportunity to: draw media attention to the demand for quality charters; grow awareness among families of the availability of quality schools of choice, and create an opportunity for charters to communicate their quality and success. Charter school staff can use the guidebook to create their own lottery day event. Materials on preparation, messaging, recruitment, media outreach, timeline, and costs are included.
Source: National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, (02/21/2008)
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Louisiana Charter Schools Form Alliance
Several charter school leaders have formed the Louisiana Charter School Alliance with the intention of improving school operations in areas such as legal services, financial reporting, teacher recruitment and group purchasing. "We expect savings from the cooperative to be redirected to the educational programs of our schools," said Kathy Riedlinger, alliance president. Under the management of the School Leadership Center of Greater New Orleans, the alliance plans to tap into the resources of the Center for Leadership Training and School Improvement Planning, said Rose Drill-Peterson, executive director of the alliance. "The major goal of the cooperative is to ensure the sustainability of the charter school movement by decreasing back office costs and providing a unified voice as we work with other local, state and national agencies," said Drill-Peterson, who will help connect members to available resources and guide their long-range planning.
Source: New Orleans City Business, (02/12/2008)
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