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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Transform My School
The California Charter Schools Association, a membership and professional organization which supports more than 700 public charter schools that serve over a quarter million students has launched the "Transform My School" website for schools considering public chartering as an option for addressing school improvement under NCLB. With funding from the U.S. Department of Education, the site provides multimedia stories and resources from the recent transformation of three public charter schools in the San Diego Unified School District: Keiller Leadership Academy, Gompers Charter Middle School, and King-Chavez Academies.
San Francisco Bay Area KIPP Schools: A Study of Early Implementation and Achievement (Final Report)
The Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP), begun in 1994, now comprises a national network of nearly 50 middle schools and a small but growing number of high schools and elementary schools. KIPP has attracted considerable attention in the last few years and is often praised for strong student performance. This study identifies specific features of KIPP schools in California’s Bay Area that support higher student achievement. Examining the implementation and impact of KIPP in five middle schools over a three-year period, the authors find the following characteristics lead to higher performance: a culture of high expectations for student academic performance and behavior; more time for learning than traditional schools and support for struggling students; a focus on tracking student progress and careful instructional planning; and a philosophy of continuous improvement in which school leaders and teachers revisit and revise strategies for implementing KIPP’s principles.
Youth Build Grant
The U.S. Department of Labor soon will award $47 Million to various community organizations under the Youth Build program. The initiative provides education and training to high risk youth, giving them tools to compete in today’s quickly changing job market. This alternative education program provides a path to higher education in addition to tools for immediate work in high demand fields such as construction. Additional information is available online. Applications are due by January 15, 2009.
Public Charter Schools: A Great Value for Ohio's Public Education System
This policy brief from the Buckeye Institute examines Ohio's public charter school finance and the impact of public charter schools on the finances of nearby traditional schools. The authors find that the state's public charter schools are creating a net gain per pupil for traditional public
schools despite their disproportionate share of state revenues. Most districts' gains are substantially larger than their losses when a student chooses to attend a public charter school. The authors predict that the state's large urban school systems would face a significant decline in per pupil spending levels should the state's public charter school program end.
Top 10 Charter Communities by Market Share: 2008
For the third year in a row, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools has gathered public school enrollment data from around the country to find the highest local proportions of students enrolled in public charter schools. This year's report shows 12 communities have at least 20 percent of their public school students enrolled in public charter schools, double the number from just two years ago. Additionally, 64 communities now have at least 10 percent of public school students in charter schools. New Orleans remains number one, with 55 percent of all public school children enrolled in public charter schools. The percentage of public school students enrolled in D.C.'s public charters in jumped from 27 percent in 2006-07 to 31 percent in 2007-08. Because of the surge in enrollment, D.C. pulled away from the two other communities with which it was tied at the second spot last year (Dayton, OH and Southfield, MI). Other communities with a large market share of public charter school students include: Pontiac, Michigan; Youngstown, Ohio; Phoenix Union High School District, Arizona; Kansas City, Missouri; Detroit, Michigan; and, San Antonio, Texas.
Closing the Achievement Gap—Creating Quality Choices: Charters
For nearly a decade, the Annie E. Casey Foundation has invested in 17 individual public charter schools in Atlanta, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Washington, DC. This brief provides an overview of the Foundation’s investments in chartering along with selected results and lessons learned. It also presents stories about two successful charter efforts and Casey’s contribution to them. The Casey-supported schools enroll a total of 6,100 students, of which 91 percent are ethnic minorities and 69 percent qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Students have demonstrated improved performance—81 percent showed increased achievement in reading, and 59 percent showed increased achievement in math—between the time that Casey started investing in the school and the end of 2006. In addition, students in more than half of these public charters outperformed their district peers, with 71 percent performing better than their district average in reading and 59 percent performing better than their district average in math. The Foundation calls for scaling up successful charter efforts, increasing the supply of quality teachers and leaders, solving the facilities problem, and fostering effective authorizing and accountability systems.
National Charter School Conference, Washington, DC, June 21-24
The National Charter Schools Conference, the only national gathering of the entire public charter school community, offers opportunities to hear from new administration, education policy and movement leaders, to learn new ways to reach students and improve academic achievement, and to network with public charter school professionals from across the nation. Education Secretary Arne Duncan will present a keynote address at the opening general session on Monday, June 22. DC Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and New York City Department of Education Chancellor Joel Klein are confirmed speakers. Pre-Conference Workshops include the National Charter Schools Teachers Institute, School Board Boot Camp, and How to Become a Green Charter School. June 24 is Advocacy Day. More information available at the conference's website.
California Charter Schools Conference, March 10-12
The 16th Annual California Charter Schools Conference will be held March 10-13, 2009 at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, California. The theme of this year's conference is "Quality Charter Schools Strengthen Communities." In addition to keynote speakers, student performances, networking events, more than 150 breakout sessions will be offered. For questions and more information about the conference, e-mail charterconf@continue.uoregon.edu or call 1-800-280-6218.
Final No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Regulations
In late October 2008, the U.S. Department of Education released final No Child Left Behind regulations. New regulations require states keep track of students from when they enter high school until they receive a regular diploma, counting as non-graduates any students who leave school before that time. The regulations also require states to report graduation rates by race to ensure that black and Latino students, who have higher dropout rates than whites, get the special services they need. Another new regulation requires schools to provide parents with more information about supplemental services required under NCLB and available for students with special academic needs. Parents must be told what tutoring providers are available, how these providers are approved and monitored, and how effective they are in helping students improve. Finally, parents must receive timely information about choices they have in where they can enroll their child in a public school.
Hopes, Fears, & Reality: A Balanced Look at American Charter Schools in 2008, Washington, DC (December 8)
On December 8, "Hopes, Fears, & Reality 2008," the fourth annual report from the National Charter School Research Project (NCSRP) at the University of Washington’s Center on Reinventing Public Education will be released at the Urban Institute. Presentations will include:
"Charter Schools and Student Achievement: A Review of the Evidence," by Julian Betts and Y. Emily Tang, University of California San Diego; "How Charter Schools Organize for Instruction," by Betheny Gross, Center on Reinventing Public Education; and "New Options for Serving Special-Needs Students," by Joanne Jacobs. Edited by Robin Lake, this year's report focuses on how public charter schools are more different than alike. The report also examines public charter school college-prep programs, public charter school options for special-needs students, and mapping public charter school demand. Reservations are requested by November 21 [email Karina Kepach at ncsrp@u.washington.edu or call (206) 616-4641].
Florida Charter School Conference, Orlando (November 20-21)
The Twelfth Annual Florida Charter School Conference, hosted by the Florida Department of Education’s Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice, will take place November 20-21 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Orlando. The theme is "Charters: Providing Choice, Creating Change.”
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