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.
Districts in Utah Protest Requirement to Share Funds with Public Charter Schools
School district officials in Utah are asking lawmakers to find a statewide method of funding public charter schools. They complain that they have to raise taxes to support schools over which they have no authority. Public charter school advocates, however, say it is reasonable that districts pay money to educate children they would be educating anyway if public charter schools did not exist. "Parents who send their kids to charter schools pay property taxes, and they ought to be able to benefit from those taxes the same as any other child," said Brian Allen, chairman of the State Charter School Board. Public charter schools in Utah are increasingly popular with families. During the 2006-07 school year, 51 public charter schools were in operation serving 19,211 students.
Source: Salt Lake Tribune, (09/20/2008)
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Public Charter School Expansion Possible in Detroit
Detroit could see more public charter schools in the city if official enrollment counts fall below 100,000 this week as expected. The enrollment drop may also diminish the local school board's powers. Dropping below 100,000 students means Detroit Public Schools would no longer be considered a first-class district under state law -- unless the state legislature changes the definition. Currently, a first-class district, which is allowed to have unique financial powers and restrictions public charter schools, must have 100,000 students. State lawmakers are being asked to change state law so the district can remain the state's only first-class school district. Last week, Republican leaders discussed allowing a new and potentially larger public charter school system as an alternative to failing districts. The idea (called "Neighborhood Public Schools") would allow corporations and community groups to open schools without an authorizer. It would target all underperforming districts, not just Detroit.
Source: Detroit Free Press, (09/19/2008)
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D.C. District School Enrollment Declines but Public Charters Grow
D.C. district school enrollment has dropped more than eight percent since last year, the steepest decline since the district first hired an outside auditor to verify the student population in 1999. The drop comes as the number of the city's public charter schools continues to grow. Although charter officials will not undertake a count until early next month, they are projecting a 20 percent gain, to 26,494 students. A significant portion of that increase is attributable to the conversion of seven financially struggling Catholic schools that reopened this month as secular public charter schools, adding about 1,200 students to the public charter school system.
Source: Washington Post (free registration required), (09/19/2008)
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Independent Study Finds Students at Bay Area KIPP Public Charter Schools Perform Better
An independent study of the Bay Area's five public charter middle schools operated by KIPP (the Knowledge Is Power Program) finds that the program's intense focus on the academic and social success of each individual child does have measurable benefits beyond what traditional schools have achieved. "Four out of five KIPP schools outperform their host district," says the report by researchers at SRI International, which studied two KIPPs in San Francisco, two in San Jose, and the one in Oakland. Students in most grades also made above-average progress compared with the national average, the researchers found. At three of the schools, KIPP's fifth-graders scored significantly higher on California Standards Tests than non-KIPP fifth-graders, with the difference ranging from 6 to 33 percentage points. Researchers also found that Bay Area KIPP schools do not appear to attract higher-scoring students. Fifth-graders entering the five schools scored worse than 40 to 91 percent of fifth-graders nationwide. Mathematica Policy Research Inc. has begun multiyear study of KIPP schools nationally that is expected to be the most detailed look at the achievement results of a public charter school organization ever attempted.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle, (09/18/2008)
Also See
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New Regional Superintendent Position Created to Oversee Philadelphia's Public Charter Schools
The Philadelphia School Reform Commission voted last week to create a top-level regional superintendent position to oversee and work with the district's 63 public charter schools. There are now 10 regional superintendents, who meet with district Superintendent Ackerman each week. "I think the intent of creating the office of charter schools as a 'region' was to elevate it to the position where it would clearly have the direct and consistent attention of Dr. Ackerman," Sandra Dungee Glenn, commission chairwoman, said. "It clarifies . . . the importance of charter schools as a part of our system of public schools."
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, (09/18/2008)
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Observers Closely Watching Transformation of Locke High School in L.A.
For the first time in the Los Angeles Unified School District, a traditional school is being run by an outside organization, Green Dot Public Schools. The L.A. Times reports that observers are closely watching whether the public charter operator can transform a large, troubled urban school and whether Green Dot can replicate what it has done in small schools nearby (significantly raise scores, increase safety and graduate more students). Just one in nine Locke students has scored proficient or better in English on state tests. In math, it's fewer than 1 in 25. And more students drop out than graduate. "The task Green Dot's taking on is monumental," said A.J. Duffy of United Teachers Los Angeles. "The school district has shown for 20 years or more they can't do this job."
Source: LA Times (free registration required), (09/18/2008)
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Many New York City Public Charter Schools Receive Top Scores
One-half of New York City's 42 rated public charter schools recently received an "A" under the state's grading system. That is a significantly higher proportion of A's than the 37.3 percent of traditional public schools receiving the top grade. Three public charters made it into the top five schools overall. The top scorers included the KIPP Infinity Charter School in Harlem, which for the second year running was rated the best school in the city.
Source: New York Times (free registration required), (09/17/2008)
Also See
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