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.
New York City Public Charter Schools Outperform District Schools for the Fifth Year in a Row
Test scores released last week show New York City's public charter schools, on average, outperformed their public school counterparts. On the English test, 67 percent of public charter school students in grades 3 through 8 scored at or above grade level, versus 54 percent in local district schools and 58 percent citywide. In math, 85 percent of public charter school students achieved proficient scores, versus 71 percent in local districts and 74 percent citywide. Approximately 40 of the 50 public charter schools whose students took the exams beat the citywide averages, a number that is all the more astonishing because the schools are located primarily in the poorest neighborhoods. "This is not a fluke," said James Merriman of the New York City Center for Charter School Excellence. "This is the fifth year in a row that charters have outperformed the district."
Source: New York Daily News, (06/30/2008)
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New Georgia Public Charter School Facility Funding Law Takes Effect this Week but Lacks Monies
A new public charter school financing law takes effect July 1 in Georgia, but it will not make an immediate impact as the General Assembly failed to place any money in the budget for the program this year. The law is designed to help public charter schools receive a dollar-for-dollar match for any contribution they receive toward buying or constructing a new building. Tony Roberts of the Georgia Charter Schools Association said the biggest obstacle facing most charter schools is getting the required permission from local districts to begin offering classes. "The second greatest challenge for a charter school is having a place to have school." The new law "gives hope that they can begin planning toward better facilities," Roberts said.
Source: Augusta Chronicle, (06/29/2008)
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District Officials in D.C. Looking for Funds to Support Conversion of Catholic Schools to Public Charter Schools
District officials in Washington, D.C. say they do not yet have the money to support the conversion of eight of the District's 28 Catholic schools to secular public charter schools. They have told the nonprofit operator, Center City Public Charter Schools, that its first quarterly payment from the city -- due by July 15 under District law -- will be delayed. Public charter school advocates say the situation underscores the poor level of coordination between Mayor Adrian Fenty, the D.C. Council, and D.C. Public Charter School Board. This month, the D.C. Council approved $366 million for 63 public charter schools as part of its fiscal 2009 budget. Officials said that it did not include Center City Public Charter Schools in their budget planning because its application was not approved by the D.C. Public Charter School Board until June 16 -- three months after the District's spending blueprint was completed. The Catholic school conversion was also atypical, they said, because of the quick turnaround involved. Most new public charters spend 12 to 15 months finding a building, hiring staff members and enrolling students. Center City's plan involved a set of existing schools ready to re-open as secular institutions in the fall. Public charter school supporters said the mayor and the council had significant lead time to prepare given the Archdiocese's announcement about conversion early last fall. "This couldn't have been to anyone's surprise," said charter board Chairman Thomas Nida. The schools will open as planned, using lines of credit and foundation grants to meet any immediate cash needs.
Source: Washington Post (free registration required), (06/29/2008)
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Public Charter Schools Seek to Join School Funding Suit in Tennessee
Several Memphis public charter schools are seeking to join the Memphis City Schools in a funding battle against the local city council. The school district filed suit following a city council vote to lower the property tax rate by cutting $66.2 million from the school district's anticipated $93.5 million allocation from the city for next fiscal year. The Tennessee Department of Education said the council's action was illegal and it plans to cut the $423 million in state funding the district receives if the money is not restored. City officials claim that the money given city schools is simply a "gratuity" and that responsibility for funding lies with the Shelby County Commission. For public charter schools, the issue is more pressing, said State Rep. G.A. Hardaway, a member of the governing board for a public charter school. They do not have a healthy reserves fund to help keep things afloat like the school district. "It's a lot more life-and-death," he said. "We are trying to keep the urgency in front of the chancellor."
Source: Memphis Commercial Appeal, (06/27/2008)
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Chicago's Urban Prep Charter Academy for Young Men Featured on CNN and in The Economist
Urban Prep Charter Academy for Young Men, a public charter school, was featured on CNN last week and also last month in the international newsmagazine, the Economist. The mission of the school is to provide a comprehensive, high-quality college preparatory education to young men that results in graduates succeeding in college. The school is receiving a good deal of attention because of student achievement and family satisfaction. The school works with a student population where 90 percent come from single-parent, female-headed households and many begin the program years behind grade level. While it is still too early to judge the program fully, students are making significant gains in reading and math and achieving higher attendance rates than schools across the district.
Source: CNN, (06/25/2008)
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Rhode Island Choice Advocates Seek Funding for Mayoral Academy, a Regional Public Charter School
The 2009 Rhode Island state budget approved by the General Assembly includes a plan for a "mayoral academy," a new regional public charter school serving several communities. However, the budget makes no commitment that the state will pay for the academy. "We built our case to the General Assembly that we could raise money," said Mayor Daniel McKee. "We have said publicly that there is interest. Now we need to show evidence of that." McKee says he has met with a number of nonprofit groups that run public charter schools elsewhere in the nation, among them the Knowledge Is Power Program, Achievement First and Democracy Prep Charter School. These nonprofit groups, he says, have been successful in establishing their names nationally, but have never come to Rhode Island because of restrictions in the state's current public charter school law. McKee hopes that the mayoral academies, as approved by the General Assembly, will attract such organizations to Rhode Island. The academies would be unique under state law because their teachers would not be part of the state pension system and their salaries would not be subject to agreements between public school districts and teachers unions. It is a cost-saving step that McKee believes is crucial to the new school's flexibility and the state's educational future. "This is a huge step," he said. "This changes policy in Rhode Island and allows for innovation in education that is currently not allowed."
Source: Providence Journal (free registration required), (06/24/2008)
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