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.
Country's Largest Public Charter School Conference Kicks Off In New Orleans
More than 3,000 pubic school educators, advocates and policymakers gathered Sunday night for the opening of the three-and-a-half day National Charter Schools Conference in New Orleans. The conference, themed "Still We Rise: Achieving Academic Excellence at Scale," will explore critical issues facing public charter schools, including how to ensure high quality with growth, and recruit and retain strong teachers. Geoffrey Canada, the president of the Harlem Children's Zone, an organization that provides a comprehensive set of social services to children, delivered a stirring address Monday to the conference's first general session. Tuesday's program featured Alliance CEO Nelson Smith's annual State of the Movement address and keynote remarks by actor and education activist Danny Glover. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal will be a featured speaker on Wednesday.
Source: The Times-Picayune, (06/24/2008)
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National Education Panel Issues "Framework for Academic Quality" for Public Charter Schools
The National Consensus Panel on Charter School Academic Quality, a group of two dozen education reform professionals and foundation executives playing leading roles in the public charter school movement nationally, has just released its inaugural report recommending key indicators of academic quality in public charter schools. The report, "A Framework for Academic Quality," is designed to be a practical resource guiding improvement in public charter schools across the country - and applicable to all schools regardless of their specific mission or student body. It is the first publication in a series of initiatives of the three-year Building Charter School Quality project funded by the U.S. Department of Education. For each of the four indicators (student achievement level, student progress over time, post-secondary readiness and success, and student engagement), the broad framework includes specific measures, metrics, targets and benchmark comparisons.
Source: PR Newswire, (06/23/2008)
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Rhode Island's Moratorium on New Public Charter Schools Expected to Expire June 30
A moratorium on opening new public charter schools in Rhode Island is expected to expire June 30. Under pressure from the state's teachers' unions, lawmakers restricted new public charter school from opening in 2004. The moratorium was extended twice, despite growing demand for the schools. Statewide, about 3,100 students attend public charter schools. This year, about 2,500 students were turned away on lottery day and were placed on wait lists. The moratorium is scheduled to expire June 30. The end of the moratorium means two public charter school proposals that have already received preliminary approval by the state Department of Education can move forward and the schools could open as soon as the fall of 2009, if money is allocated by the state. The state Education Department, which must approve all public charter applications, has also received two more within the past several months "There is real demand for charter schools and lifting the moratorium gives people real hope that this could really happen and we could have more of them in the near future," said Steve Nardelli, executive director of the Rhode Island League of Charter Schools.
Source: Providence Journal (free registration required), (06/21/2008)
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Public Charter Schools in D.C. Want Greater Share of Shuttered District School Facilities
Five recently shuttered D.C. public schools will be leased to various city agencies and two to public charter schools, Mayor Adrian Fenty's office announced last week. Public charter school advocates said that more of the vacant schools should have gone to public charters. They said the city violated a law that requires it to offer the buildings first to public charter schools. "We're looking into whether it makes sense to initiate legal action," said Robert Cane, executive director of Friends of Choice in Urban Schools, a public charter school advocacy organization. "We're really disappointed the mayor isn't following the school reform act in giving [public charter schools] the right of first offer." Deputy Mayor for Education Victor Reinoso disputed that the city is breaking the law, saying it attempted to balance the space needs of public charter schools and city agencies.
Source: Washington Post (free registration required), (06/21/2008)
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Teachers Union Launches New PR Campaign to Limit Public Charter Expansion in Delaware
The Delaware State Education Association has hired Belden Russonello & Stewart Research and Communications, a Washington public relations firm, to craft a campaign to limit the expansion of public charter schools. The firm has recommended that the union not "attack charters directly," but rather focus on making funding the main reason for restricting the number of charters and "use teachers to carry the message." "This is a jihad against charter schools," said Greg Meece of the Delaware Charter School Network. "DSEA's mission is supposed to be to support their teachers, not to bash charter schools." Rep. Deborah Hudson said she doesn't understand why DSEA puts so much focus on public charter schools when district schools have other pressing issues. "Charter schools have been for the most part very successful, and I think that it's causing some anxiety within DSEA," she said. "Maybe they fear some of their members will want to work in charter schools or the district students will go into charter schools."
Source: News Journal, (06/20/2008)
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Public Charter School Enrollment Nearly Triples in Minnesota
Total enrollment for Minnesota's public charter schools nearly tripled since the 2001-02 school year and stands at 28,206, according to a new public charter school study conducted by the Center for School Change at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs The number of Minnesota public charter schools has increased from two in 1992-93 to 143 last year. "We knew that many families were selecting charters, but were surprised to learn that there was a record increase last year," said Joe Nathan, one of the report's authors, and a public charter advocate. Nathan cited several reasons for the boost in public charter school enrollment. "First, small size of the schools," he said. "Secondly, safer schools. Third, distinctive programs, whether they're language immersion ... the arts, things like that. Fourth, there's a feeling of great respect from teachers to parents and from teachers to students."
Source: Star Tribune, (06/19/2008)
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New House Bill Would Give D.C. Mayor Power to Appoint Members of the Public Charter School Board
A bill introduced by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) would do away with the federal government's role in nominating members of the D.C. Public Charter School Board and put all the power in the hands of city officials. Since 1996, D.C's mayor has appointed members of the seven-person board, but his appointments are based on a list provided by the U.S. Secretary of Education. Norton said in a statement that the process is no longer appropriate given the phenomenal growth of the public charter system. She said there is resentment that board members do not have to live in D.C. yet are making decisions there. Two current board members reside outside the District. "The board cannot be appropriately accountable if its members are chosen from outside the accountable jurisdiction," she said. "Because the mayor is not permitted to select members other than those submitted by the secretary, the federal government inserts itself into critical decision making about an important local education matter."
Source: Washington Post (free registration required), (06/19/2008)
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Oscar De La Hoya Donates $3.5 Million to L.A. Public Charter Schools
In a graduation ceremony June 19 at the De La Hoya Animo Charter High School, world champion boxer and Olympic gold medalist Oscar De La Hoya presented a $3.5 million donation. The funds are directed for new facilities on campus and to help develop other public charter schools in Los Angeles. De La Hoya started a foundation in 1995 to help poor families in East Los Angeles.
Source: Mercury News (free registration required), (06/18/2008)
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Utah Conference Speaker Urges Public Charter Schools to Put "Helicopter Parents" to Work
Last week, about 400 public charter school teachers, administrators, parents and officials gathered at Utah Valley State College to celebrate Utah's growing public charter school movement at the second annual Utah Charter School Conference. Keynote Speaker Utah Valley State College President William Sederburg told attendees that one thing that makes public charter schools successful is parental involvement. He said putting "helicopter parents," those who stay close to their children and schools, to work to help public charter schools is a great idea. "It is the decade of the child," he said, noting that some public charter schools require parents to put in volunteer hours." More parents are choosing public charters in Utah. As of fall 2007, Utah public charter schools served more than 22,000 students - about 4 percent of all students in public schools. This school year Utah will have more than 60 public charter schools.
Source: Deseret Morning News, (06/18/2008)
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School Officials in Georgia Celebrate State Decision to Approve Four Bids for Public Charter Districts
Marietta officials sighed with relief once the Georgia Board of Education voted 8-2 earlier this month to approve Marietta's public charter system petition. District leaders say the public charter status will give them more flexibility in the number of students per class and the number of hours students must spend behind a desk, among other things. The state board also approved the charter petitions of Decatur and Gainesville districts and Warren County. The four approved systems will be the first public charter districts in the state under the Georgia Charter Systems Act, signed into law in 2007. Each of the systems was approved for a five-year trial period that will begin this fall.
Source: Marietta Daily Journal, (06/13/2008)
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