Public Charter Schools Publication RSS Feed

'Loophole'-Allows-for-Sweeping-Flexibility-in-Stimulus-Funds

adminUser — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This analysis of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is provided by www.schoolgrants2009.com and can also be found here.

Click here for more information.

10-Things-You-Should-Know-About-Charter-Schools

adminUser — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Back-to-school is just around the corner and now is a great time to spread the word about charter schools. Download this fact sheet and share it with members of your community, including media and policy makers.

Click here for more information.

2005-Annual-Report

adminUser — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Just 14 years since their inception, public charter schools are thriving. There are now over 3,600 charter schools serving more than a million children across 40 states and the District of Columbia. In city after city, charter schools rank among the best public schools.

Click here for more information.

2006-Charter-Dashboard

adminUser — Thu, 11 May 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Growth and Quality in the Charter School Movement: 2006 Dashboard

Click here for more information.

2006-Top-10-Charter-Communities-by-Market-Share

adminUser — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 00:00:00 GMT

With more than a million students now enrolled in public charter schools, and with long waiting lists to boot, we know that the charter school movement is succeeding in offering families new hopes and new choices.

But chartering is also beginning to work at scale, which strengthens the chances that it can be a force for broader system change. The impact of charter schools' growing "market share" may be minimized, however, because educators and policy analysts usually think of it in terms of still-modest national numbers (only 2% of all public school students) or the somewhat larger state numbers (where Arizona leads the pack, with 8% in 2005-06).

What's often neglected is the growing market share of charters in an increasing number of individual communities. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools has looked around the country to find the highest local proportions of students enrolled in public charter schools during the 2005-2006 school year. The table below shows the results. Due to numerous ties, there are actually 19 communities that made the 2006 "Top 10."

Click here for more information.

2007-Charter-Dashboard

adminUser — Fri, 04 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT

The 2007 Charter Dashboard indicates the pace of charter school openings is picking up speed. The number of charter schools that opened in each of the past three years û between 400 and 450 per year û was noticeably higher than the average of the previous four years (340) and nearly twice as high as in the 2003-04 school year (260).

Click here for more information.

2008-Charter-Dashboard

adminUser — Mon, 05 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The results of the national opinion survey and a compendium of new public charter school statistics û The Public Charter School Dashboard û were released this morning during National Charter Schools Week (May 5-9) in a Capitol Hill briefing hosted by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, the country's leading organization supporting the expansion of high-quality charter schools.

Click here for more information.

2008-Top-10-Charter-Communities-by-Market-Share

adminUser — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools today released its third annual report on public charter school enrollment in the largest communities based on market share.

A record 12 communities have at least 20% 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% of public school students in charter schools.

These numbers illustrate that charter enrollment growth at the community level remains strong.

To read the news release click here.

To download the report, click on the link below.

Click here for more information.

2008-2009-Lottery-Day-Tool-Kit

adminUser — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Each year public charter schools across the country hold lotteries to determine which applicants will attend the schools.

Schools must hold these lotteries because public demand for charters is so high. Yet many state and local policymakers continue to institute or maintain legislation which limit the growth of quality charters.

A Charter School Lottery Day Event allows families of applicant students to gather together at the school for an exciting lottery event to learn who will attend the school the following year. The Alliance has put together this tool kit with ideas for hosting a lottery day at your school.

Click here for more information.

2009-National-Poll-on-Public-Charter-Schools

adminUser — Mon, 04 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Three out of four voters (74%) support President Barack Obama's call on states to lift the limits restriction the growth of public charter schools, according to a national opinion poll recently conducted for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and released today.

The poll also found strong support for the President's overall plan to reform education (81%) and specific elements of that plan, such as rewarding good teachers with more money for improved student performance (87%), funding programs to replicate successful charter schools (82%) and creating "Promise Neighborhoods" that use charter schools as the centerpiece of integrated services ensuring safe and healthy student development (83%).

Download the results of this national poll (below) of 800 registered voters, conducted by The Glover Park Group on behalf of the Alliance. Read the news release about the poll here:

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Click here for more information.

2009-Public-Charter-School-Dashboard

adminUser — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Since 2005, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools has released an annual "Dashboard" of leading statistical indicators about the growth and quality of public charter schools. This 2009 edition of the Dashboard makes four major improvements over previous releases. It includes a more than 10-fold increase in the amount of the data, two important academic performance indicators (ACT scores and SAT scores), individual dashboards for each of the 41 jurisdictions with charter schools, and a companion on-line database of this report that allows users to create their own custom reports.

Visit the online Dashboard here.

Click here for more information.

2009-State-Legislative-Session-Highlights

adminUser — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Most states have now wrapped up their legislative sessions. While the comments in favor of public charter schools by President Obama and Secretary Duncan have been quite helpful for charters, the current economic recession created one of the most challenging state policy environments in years. Within this environment, the primary goal of many state charter advocates has been to defend what they already have, while still trying to make positive changes where possible.

Thus far, charter advocates have won more battles than we lost, a notable accomplishment given the tough state policy environment facing us. Below is a summary by major issue where charters have won and lost as well as where battles are still undecided. Following this summary, we provide more detailed wrap?ups for each state.

Download a complete breakdown of the summary of the 2009 Session Highlights:

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Click here for more information.

2011-State-Legislative-Session-Summary

charter — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

This document was presented at the 2011 National Charter Schools Conference by Todd Ziebarth, vice president, state advocacy and support and Liza Grover, senior director, state advocacy and support.

In the past year, public charter schools have garnered intense national scrutiny. Working in our favor, we’ve had increased political support from the Obama Administration, new pro-public charter school majorities in state capitols, and several recently appointed state superintendents of education that back charters. We’ve also had increased media attention from the likes of The Oprah Winfrey Show and the release of the films Waiting for Superman and The Lottery.

Notwithstanding these positive factors, we’ve also faced significant challenges as we’ve navigated the turbulent waters of charter school advocacy at the state level. Most significantly, state budgets remain strained, leaving lawmakers little room to make big financial investments in charter schools (such as through new dollars for charter facilities costs). We also still face well-funded opposition that is looking to stymie charters by imposing caps and moratoria, cutting funding, and re-regulating the operation of charter schools.

Thus far, charter school advocates have been able to achieve many positive policy gains, with several more potentially on the way before the year is finished. We have also been able to play strong defense against efforts to roll back previously made gains.

Click here for more information.

A-Blueprint-for-Quality,-Growth-and-Sustainability:-2010-2012

adminUser — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT

A Blueprint for Quality, Growth and Sustainability: 2010-2012, highlights the key aspects of the Alliance's 2010-2012 strategic plan while taking a look back at the Alliance's important work to date.

Because every charter support organization works to help high-quality charter schools thrive in a policy environment that supports their success, the Alliance is sharing its strategic direction. This strategic direction is focused on the three major hurdles facing the charter sector today inconsistent quality, legal and regulatory barriers to growth, and the challenge of sustainability in the face of inequitable public funding.

Through the end of 2010, the Alliance will align its operations and its strategic areas of focus to tackle these sector challenges on behalf of the national charter movement.
Click here for more information.

A-Framework-for-Academic-Quality:-A-Report-from-the-National-Consensus-Panel-on-Charter-School-Academic-Quality

adminUser — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The charter school idea is based on a simple, compelling bargain: greater autonomy in exchange for greater accountability for student achievement. Sixteen years after the nation's first charter school opened in Minnesota, there are 4,300 charter schools serving 1.2 million students in 40 states and the District of Columbia. Yet the quality of these schools across the country varies greatly, ranging from those that rank among the nation's finest schools to some that serve their students poorly and improve little over time. Thus, the powerful potential of the charter movement û to increase quality public school options for all children, particularly for the minority and disadvantaged students "left behind" in traditional school systems û is compromised.

A key challenge that has limited the charter movement's success to date is the broad misalignment in expectations among charter operators, authorizers, funders and other stakeholders about how to measure and judge school quality. Indeed, many believe that the vast diversity in charter school missions, educational models, and student populations -- as well as differences in state accountability requirements and individual authorizer expectations û makes it impossible to establish common standards and measures of quality that are applicable and meaningful to all kinds of charter schools. The charter sector today has no basic, universal measures of school quality other than those shared with other public schools under the No Child Left Behind Act. It is no wonder that judgments about the performance of charter schools are so frequently ill-informed.

Of course, this weakness in performance evaluation is not confined to charter schools; it afflicts public education as whole, greatly hobbling and constraining efforts to improve schools. Too often, current approaches to evaluating school performance rely on data that are seriously limited and misleading, unhelpful to schools, and inappropriate for high-stakes judgments. To fulfill the promise of the charter school movement and maximize its success and impact, the charter sector nationwide needs to clarify and commit to a common set of basic quality expectations and performance measures to define and assess charter school success. This report responds to this strong need. At the same time, the framework shared in this report can help to advance standards-setting and performance evaluation for all public schools.

Read the full report by clicking on the PDF file below.

Click here for more information.

A-Framework-for-Operational-Quality:-A-Report-from-the-National-Consensus-Panel-on-Charter-School-Operational-Quality

adminUser — Thu, 28 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

A Framework for Operational Quality is designed as a guide for charter school leaders and support organizations as they establish schools that are prepared to achieve and sustain success. It recommends that leaders adopt a specific series of essential indicators, measures, metrics and targets for their operations. The report also serves to advise authorizers, philanthropists and lenders in monitoring the operational practices of high-quality public charter schools.

This framework builds on the previously published Framework on Academic Quality which made four recommendations for establishing a strong academic foundation. Both documents are meant to act as a floor, and not as a ceiling, providing essential groundwork for successful schools. Readers are encouraged to employ additional measures beyond these recommendations to reach the mission of each individual school.

The project's National Consensus Panel is composed of more than two dozen education reform professionals and foundation executives playing leading roles in the charter school movement nationally, assisted by convening partners from the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, CREDO at Stanford University, and the Colorado League of Charter Schools. A Framework for Operational Quality is the second publication in a series of initiatives of the three-year Building Charter School Quality project funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

Click here for more information.

A-Growing-Movement:-America's-Largest-Charter-School-Communities

charter — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

For the past 20 years, the public charter school movement has been a leader in innovation and education reform. By unleashing an environment of creativity in states and communities, charter schools have demonstrated that children of all backgrounds are capable of achieving high standards and that college and career readiness is a goal attainable for all. Charter schools have led efforts to narrow achievement gaps and are showing that success is possible in neighborhoods where schools have been failing for generations.

For these reasons, public charter schools have been the fastest-growing sector of America’s public education system. Beginning with a handful of charter schools in 1992, the number of charters has grown rapidly, especially in the past four years. Today, demand for public charter schools is at an all time high. In 41 states and the District of Columbia, more than 2 million students – almost 5 percent of total enrollment in public schools – now attend a charter school. The growth in public charter school enrollment presented in this report shows that parent demand for school options continues.

For seven years, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS) has tracked the growth in student enrollment at public charter schools. The enclosed report, A Growing Movement: America’s Largest Charter School Communities identifies school districts that have the highest percentage and highest number of public school students enrolled in public charter schools. In communities where families have choice, families are increasingly selecting public charter schools over the traditional public schools. The 2012 Phi Delta Kappa (PDK)/Gallup poll indicates that two thirds of Americans favor charter schools. A recent poll of Detroit residents, for example, found that more than half of them believe charters are a better option than the schools in the traditional public system. In countless other communities, parents are clamoring for more high quality public options for their children. As a result, the public education landscape is shifting in many major cities.

Today, a record number of school districts—seven–-have at least 30 percent of their public school students enrolled in public charter schools. Charter schools in New Orleans enroll an astounding 76 percent of public school students. A total of 25 school districts have 20 percent or more of their public school students enrolled in charter schools, 18 more than when we first printed this report seven years ago. More than 100 districts now have at least 10 percent of public school students in charter schools.

These numbers illustrate that demand for options within the public school system remains strong. And with more than 610,000 additional students across the country on waiting lists to attend charter schools, these numbers are likely to rise in the future.

Click here for more information.

A-Growing-Movement:-America’s-Largest-Charter-School-Communities---Fifth-Annual-Edition-|-November-2010

charter — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Charter schools have never had the opportunity we have now. In addition to ongoing support from the U.S. Department of Education and Obama Administration, a number of films focused on America’s education crisis have brought national attention to the promise of charter schools. But where in America are charter schools growing most?

Annually, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools collects public school enrollment data and examines which school districts are experiencing the biggest boosts in charter school enrollment. We look at these numbers in two ways, first by percentage of public school students enrolled in public charter schools, and second by actual number of students enrolled in charter schools.

Today, a record number of school districts – four – have at least 30 percent of public school students enrolled in public charter schools. Additionally, 16 school districts have more than 20 percent of their public school students enrolled in public charter schools, 10 more than five years ago. Ninety-one school districts now have at least 10 percent of public school students in charter schools, 27 more than two years ago.

These numbers illustrate that charter enrollment growth remains strong. And with approximately 420,000 more students across the country hoping for an additional seat in a charter school, we expect our share of the public school landscape to continue to rise in the coming years.

Read the Alliance's official press release.

Click here for more information.

A-Growing-Movement:-America’s-Largest-Charter-School-Communities---Sixth-Annual-Edition-|-October-2011

charter — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

As we approach the 20th anniversary of the opening of our nation’s first charter school, these innovative schools are providing significant public educational options for parents and students in an increasing number of communities. The enclosed report, A Growing Movement: America’s Largest Charter School Communities demonstrates that in areas where families have a choice, a growing number of them are choosing public charter schools over the traditional public schools available to them. Consequently, the public education landscape is shifting in many major cities.

Today, a record number of school districts—six—have at least 30 percent of their public school students enrolled in public charter schools. Additionally, 18 school districts have 20 percent or more of their public school students enrolled in charter schools, eleven more than when we first printed this report six years ago. Nearly 100 districts now have at least 10 percent of public school students in charter schools.

These numbers illustrate that charter enrollment growth remains strong. We estimate that there are now more than 2 million students in public charter schools across the country. And with hundreds of thousands more students across the country hoping for an additional seat in a charter school, we expect our share of the public school landscape to continue to rise in the coming years.

As a result of recent policy changes in several states, public charter schools are poised to continue their robust growth. For example, in the last two years alone, 19 states partially or entirely lifted their arbitrary caps on the number of charter schools, and Maine enacted a law in 2011 to permit charter schools to operate for the first time in its history. The numbers you see in the enclosed report are predicted to grow in the years to come.
Click here for more information.

A-Mission-to-Serve:-How-Public-Charter-Schools-Are-Designed-to-Meet-the-Diverse-Demands-of-Our-Communities

charter — Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The public charter school movement has grown rapidly in the 20 years since the first public charter school opened in 1992, with over 5,600 schools now serving more than two million students. One of the most exceptional developments within the first two decades of the movement has been the rise of high performing public charter schools with missions intently focused on educating students from traditionally underserved communities. Given that the demographics of these communities are often homogenous, it is no surprise the demographics of these schools are that way as well. In fact, the student populations at these public charter schools usually mirror the populations in nearby district schools.

While much media attention rightly has been given to these schools, the past decade or so also has seen a noteworthy rise in high performing public charter schools with missions intentionally designed to serve racially and economically integrated student populations. These schools are utilizing their autonomy to achieve a diverse student population through location-based strategies, recruitment efforts and enrollment processes.

Perhaps most notably, a growing number of cities—and the parents and educators in them—are welcoming both types of public charter school models for their respective (and in some cases unprecedented) contributions to raising student achievement, particularly for students who have previously struggled in school. This brief showcases this development in three of these cities:
Denver, Washington, D.C., and San Diego.

Click here for more information.

A-New-Model-Law-for-Supporting-the-Growth-of-High-Quality-Public-Charter-Schools

adminUser — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

It has been 18 years since Minnesota passed the nation's first public charter school law, and public charter schools have become a prominent feature of public education serving more than 1.5 million students in over 4,900 schools in 40 states and the District of Columbia.

With the number of public charter schools and students steadily growing û and the body of evidence documenting their success mounting û legislative battles over charter laws are intensifying. As charter supporters fight these battles, the time is right for a new model law that supports more and better public charter schools based upon lessons learned from experience, research, and analysis.

Our intent in developing this new law was to create a resource useful for guiding the 41 jurisdictions with charter laws as well as the 10 states that have yet to enact a charter law.

New! State Charter Law Rankings Database

Click here for more information.

A-State-Policymaker's-Guide-to-Alternative-Authorizers-of-Charter-Schools

adminUser — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 00:00:00 GMT

This issue brief from the Education Commission of the States is designed to help policymakers think through what kind of alternative authorizing structures may make sense for their states.

Click here for more information.

Accelerating-the-Success-of-Kansas-Charter-Schools

adminUser — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Thirteen years after a charter school law was enacted in Kansas, these innovative public schools have yet to take root in the Sunflower State. The purpose of this issue brief is to provide an analysis of those areas of the charter school law in Kansas that need to be strengthened to create the conditions for success for the state's public charter schools.

Click here for more information.

Access-to-Available-SD-Facilities

charter — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Throughout the country, access to unused and available district space is sparse even if traditional public school enrollment is declining. There are, however, a handful of school districts that have collaborative policies and practices in allocating these spaces to charter schools and should be models to others. This conference presentation describes what this year’s National Charter Schools Conference host city, Atlanta, has done to assist charter school operators with facilities access. Session panelists will also discussed advocacy guidelines and efforts to improve access to facilities in other cities.
Click here for more information.

All-Students-Achieving-through-Reform-%28ALL-STAR%29-Act---Overview

adminUser — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

"We'll invest in innovative programs that are already helping schools meet high standards and close achievement gaps. And we will expand our commitment to charter schools."

- President Obama, February 24, 2009, Address to a Joint Session of Congress

The All Students Achieving through Reform (All-STAR) Act heeds the President's call to expand our commitment to successful and innovative education programs closing the achievement gaps plaguing our public schools. The bill creates a new competitive grant program focused on replicating and expanding the most successful charter schools, particularly in areas with large numbers of schools failing to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). As important, the program will increase the level of accountability for all parties involved in the chartering process, recognizing that increased investments and expectations require increased levels of accountability.

Senate Documents:

Read the Alliance 'Overview' of the All-STAR Act, S. 3441.

Read S. 3441 All-STAR filed May 27, 2010

Read the Alliance 'Section by Section Summary' of the All-STAR Act, S. 3441.

Read the Alliance press release on the All-STAR Act's introduction to the U.S. Senate.

Read the Alliance's letter sent to U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) in support of the All-STAR Act.

Please show your support for S. 3441 All-STAR by emailing your senators today in support of the bill.

House of Representatives Documents:

Read the Alliance summary of H.R. 4330 All-STAR.

Read H.R. 4330 All-STAR filed December 16, 2009.

Read the Alliance statement on the House Committee on Education and Labor's February 24, 2010 hearing on quality charter schools.

Read the Alliance press release on the House Committee on Education and Labor hearing on quality charter schools.

Read the testimony by Alliance board of directors chairman Caprice Young at the House Committee on Education and Labor hearing on quality charter schools.

Watch video of the House Committee on Education and Labor hearing on quality charter schools.

Read the statement on All-STAR H.R. 4330 by Alliance President and CEO Nelson Smith.

Read the National Alliance's Letter of Support for H.R. 4330 All-STAR.

Please show your support for H.R. 4330 All-STAR by emailing your congressional representatives today in support of the bill.

Show your support for public charter schools on Facebook!

Download the complete overview of H.R. 4330 here:

Click here for more information.

Alliance-Comments-on-Investing-in-Innovation-%28i3%29-Proposed-Priorities,-Requirements,-Definitions,-and-Selection-Criteria

charter — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The passage of the historic American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 enabled two competitive grant programs aimed at drastically improving public education in America.

Recently, the U.S. Department of Education released draft priorities and guidelines for the Investing in Innovation Fund (i3) grant competition. On behalf of over 4,900 public charter schools across the country educating over 1.5 million children, the Alliance strongly supports the U.S. Department of Education's efforts to use the i3 fund to scale significant education reforms and find the next generation of notable educational innovations. The current draft is a commendable start, but we do believe it can be improved further. Download our comments below to read the suggestions Alliance experts offer in the spirit of positive collaboration.

Take action to let the Department know that you believe the i3 fund should work to support true innovation and also the replication of those charter models that prove to be the very best.

Read how the Alliance has been working with the Department of Education to ensure that the ARRA benefits charter schools.

Additional Resources:

Draft Notice of Proposed Priorities
Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund Summary of Proposed Priorities, Requirements, Definitions, and Selection Criteria

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Click here for more information.

Alliance-Comments-on-Race-to-the-Top-Fund-Proposed-Priorities,-Requirements,-Definitions,-and-Selection-Criteria

adminUser — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

On July 24, President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan held a press conference to announce the release of the Administration's draft priorities and guidelines for the Race to the Top Grant (R2T) competition.

On Wednesday, August 26 the National Alliance submitted formal comments on behalf of the charter school movement in support of the strong references in the draft to the role of charter schools and criteria around states supporting high-quality charter school movements. It is now more important than ever that the public take action to support or oppose elements with which they agree or disagree by August 28, 2009.

Take action and make your voice heard today.

Read how the Alliance has been working with the Department of Education to ensure that the ARRA benefits charter schools.

Click here for more information.

An-Accident-of-History:-Breaking-the-District-Monopoly-on-Public-School-Facilities

charter — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Traditional public school districts hold a monopoly over the financing and ownership of public education facilities. With rare exceptions, public charter schools have no legal claim to these buildings. This monopoly is an accident of history. It would never have developed had there been substantial numbers of other public schools, not supervised by traditional districts, when public school facilities laws were written. The district model of facilities planning is not suited to a diverse portfolio of autonomous schools with distinct programs and life-cycles that require different spaces at different times.

What public charter schools currently receive in facilities aid is simply inadequate. Of the 42 jurisdictions with charter laws, only 17 provide any kind of direct facilities aid, either capital grants or per pupil funding, and just three of those provide per-pupil capital funding of more than $1,000. The status quo is costly both to public charter schools, which must use operating dollars to pay for facilities expenses, and to districts, which pay inordinate amounts to maintain vacant facilities and lose potential rental income in the process.

Certain principles should guide the creation of a new system: It must serve all the children in a given community; treat all public schools as equal competitors for available space; make school performance an element in decisions about occupancy; only require payment for space if public facilities dollars are provided to schools; and free educators (in both charters and traditional schools) to focus on student achievement rather than facilities.

Change must begin in the state capital by ensuring charters equitable access to both existing space and any state facilities revenue streams. Local leaders should make school facilities a municipal concern, rather than leaving it to school district officials. States and municipalities should consider at least three options for professional, third-party management of the public education facilities portfolio: real estate trusts; municipal construction authorities; and contracts with nonprofit corporations.

The transition to new modes of ownership and financing will take time—but there is no excuse for inaction on facilities inequities, even within the current legal framework.

Click here for more information.

April-10:-American-Recovery-and-Reinvestment-Act-%28ARRA%29:-Initial-Guidance-on-State-Fiscal-Stabilization-Fund,-Title-I,-and-IDEA

adminUser — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

On April 1, 2009 the U.S. Department of Education announced that the first round of stimulus funding, $44 billion, was available for states,districts, and schools from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The Alliance made several key recommendations that were incorporated in to the Non-Regulatory Guidance for funding programs administered by the Department. These include the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF), Title I, IDEA, Vocational Rehabilitation, and Independent Living programs. Download this document to read the specific recomentations.

The Alliance expects that more guidance on the use of stimulus funds will soon be released and is continuing to work with the Department on subsequent recommendations to ensure fair treatment of charters. Stay updated on our ARRA work by signing up to recieve action alerts and by checking for updates at here.

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Click here for more information.

April-17:-Guidance-on-the-Maintenance-of-Effort-Requirements-in-the-State-Fiscal-Stabilization-Fund-Program

adminUser — Fri, 01 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Purpose of the Guidance

This guidance supplements the April 2009 Guidance on the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund program and provides additional information on the statutory maintenance-of-effort (MOE) requirements and the process through which a State applies for an MOE waiver. The guidance provides the U.S. Department of Education's interpretation of the referenced statutory provisions and does not impose any requirements beyond those included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and other applicable laws and regulations. In addition, it does not create or confer any rights for or on any person.

The Department will provide additional or updated program guidance as necessary. If you are interested in commenting on this guidance, please send your comments to State.Fiscal.Fund@ed.gov.

Click here for more information.

Assess,-Coordinate,-Execute:-How-to-ACE-an-Executive-Director-Search

charter — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

This issue brief presents a meaningful strategy for how charter school boards can hire top-notch, well-suited leaders for their schools. Written by Mollie Mitchell, founder and president of The K12 Search Group, this brief is a how-to guide for managing the process of bringing on a new charter school leader. As Ms. Mitchell notes, the only thing worse than having no ED, is having the wrong ED. This brief will help boards ensure they hire the right leader for their schools.

This is the second publication in NAPCS' series on human capital. Click here for our Issue Brief on how charter schools hire the teachers they want.
Click here for more information.

Beyond-City-Limits:-Expanding-Public-Charter-Schools-in-Rural-America

charter — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

In only twenty years, the charter sector has grown from a single charter school in St. Paul, Minnesota to approximately 5,600 public charter schools serving more than 2 million students in nearly every state in the nation. Moreover, hundreds of thousands more are waiting for seats in charter schools to become available. The demand for public charter schools is arguably higher than it has ever been.

And, while many of our finest public charter schools are located in cities, parental demand for public charter schools is by no means limited to urban centers. In fact, nearly half of all charter schools are found outside city limits. Notably, rural charter schools are the fastest growing segment of the sector, with nearly 20 percent of all charter schools housed in rural areas.

With that in mind, we offer Beyond City Limits: Expanding Public Charter Schools in Rural America, the latest publication from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. Written by David Stuit, PhD, and Sy Doan of Basis Policy Research, this issue brief explores how public charter schools can meet the educational needs of rural communities.

We at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools understand that educating students in rural communities presents unique challenges. However, we believe that the 25 percent of public school students that live in rural areas deserve quality public school options. The flexibility afforded to charter schools can assist rural communities as they navigate complex funding, human capital and transportation obstacles. This issue brief offers practical solutions for growing the number of high quality public schools for students in rural communities.

We hope this report will be helpful in your work.

Click here for more information.

Borrowing-With-Tax-Exempt-Bonds,-Second-Edition

charter — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The public charter school movement has evolved for two decades, yet the challenge of securing affordable facilities continues to confront nearly every charter school. The landscape of solutions now includes government-sponsored, private sector, and collaborative programs that provide facilities or facilities financing. Borrowing through the issuance of tax-exempt bonds has emerged as an effective option to obtain low-cost facilities financing.

Nonprofit corporations have borrowed money using tax-exempt bonds for decades. As the tax-exempt bond market has experienced a substantial expansion in the types of nonprofits using such financing (previously dominated by hospitals and universities), individual public charter schools and groups of commonly managed public charter schools are borrowing on a tax-exempt basis. Since 1998, over 400 public charter schools have borrowed over $5 billion using tax-exempt bonds.1 Bond market access has been spurred by increasing demand for facilities, better understanding of the benefits of tax-exempt financing, and greater market acceptance of public charter school credits. Not only large, established public charter school management organizations (CMOs) with substantial financial resources need apply, but also relatively small, even start-up, public charter schools with limited credit history may be financeable under certain circumstances.

Written by: Eugene H. Clark-Herrera in collaboration with Maria C. Sazon

Click here for more information.

Career-Compass:--Discovering-Job-Opportunities-in-the-Public-Charter-School-Sector

charter — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

As the U.S. public charter school movement approaches the 20th anniversary of the first charter school opening, there is much to celebrate. There are now more than 5,000 charter schools serving nearly 2 million students across the country. Parents have demanded high quality schools that are accountable for student achievement, and unique and innovative school models have developed to answer the call.

Behind each of these schools—whether it is a standalone school or part of a network—are talented leaders and staff committed to the success of the school and its students. With the demand for high performing charter schools continuing to grow, the charter sector abounds with opportunities for talented individuals. Since each charter school or charter management organization (CMO) varies in size and school mission, there are many different skills and backgrounds that can be applied to jobs in and supporting charter schools.

NAPCS is issuing this compilation of career narratives to highlight some of the employment opportunities in the public charter school sector. The featured profiles reflect the diversity of the charter school movement—the array of ages, educational disciplines and ethnicities illustrated on the pages that follow speak volumes about the sector’s ability to attract some of our nation’s best and brightest talent. We cherish this diversity, and among this assortment of expertise and roles, there is a common current: a wholehearted belief in the work they are doing.

Whether you’re a college student, recent graduate or considering a career change, there are positions in the public charter school movement that can provide opportunities, challenges and professional growth. We hope this publication will inspire you to consider joining the thousands of committed individuals serving public charter school students.
Click here for more information.

Charter-High-Schools:-Closing-the-Achievement-Gap

adminUser — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 00:00:00 GMT

More evidence on how charter schools are raising the bar about what's possible in public education was released today by the U.S. Department of Education. Charter High Schools: Closing the Achievement Gap comes on the heels of the most important charter school story of the year in which The New York Times Magazine showcased middle-school charters for their success in closing the achievement gap among low-income and minority students. Both accounts illustrate that charter schools can, and do, work at scale.

Click here for more information.

Charter-School-Achievement:-What-We-Know

adminUser — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

"Charter School Achievement: What We Know," is the fifth annual review of studies on public charter school academic performance.

The report reviewed 140 individual studies and found evidence that many charter schools are helping to increase academic performance, graduation rates and college matriculation. It warned, however, that research is not keeping pace with the growth of charter schools and that more must be done to eliminate the gaps in research and gain clear insights into achievement.

Previous editions:

"Charter School Achievement: What We Know" (Fourth Edition) - 2007
"Studying Achievement in Charter Schools: What Do We Know" - 2005

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Click here for more information.

Charter-School-Achievement:-What-We-Know

adminUser — Thu, 21 Jul 2005 00:00:00 GMT

(none)
Click here for more information.

Charter-School-Achievement:-What-We-Know-%28Fourth-Edition%29

adminUser — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT

To provide a full and fair picture of how charter schools are actually performing, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools commissioned in July 2005 an extensive review of the available research on charter school achievement. The review is updated periodically, and this fourth edition incorporates new studies published in the past year. The report now includes 70 comparative analyses of charter school and traditional public school performance, including a study-by-study look at central findings and methodological strengths and weaknesses.

All of these studies fall into one of two categories: 1) snapshot pictures of one or more points in time; or 2) longer-term measures of change over time. In addition, they all meet four basic criteria for rigor and relevance: they are recent (2001 or later), compare charter vs. traditional public school performance, use serious (though often flawed) analytical methods, and examine some significant segment of the charter sector.

Click here for more information.

Charter-School-Authorizing:-Are-States-Making-the-Grade003F

adminUser — Thu, 05 Jun 2003 00:00:00 GMT

This report by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute is the first significant study of the organizations that authorize charter schools. The report examines 23 states and the District of Columbia to determine how supportive they are of charter schools, how good a job their authorizers are doing, and how policy makers could strengthen their states' charter programs.

Click here for more information.

Charter-School-Executives:-Toward-A-New-Generation-of-Leadership

adminUser — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

With an unprecedented increase in the number of public charter schools anticipated over the next 5-10 years, our movement must act now to prepare the school leaders of tomorrow.

"Charter School Executive: Toward a New Generation of Leadership" recommends that a new kind of leadership development system is needed in addition to improving the current pipeline. Importantly, through collaboration within the movement, we must create a new kind of leadership credential granted by highly-qualified local institutions. In the end, evaluation of this system should be based upon student achievement gains in the schools headed by the leaders who hold this credential.

Download the report below to find out more on how we can support the next generation of school leaders.

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Click here for more information.

Charter-School-Funding:-Inequity's-Next-Frontier

adminUser — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Of all the controversies swirling around the nation's charter schools, none is more hotly contested than the debate over funding.

Click here for more information.

Charter-School-Law-Deskbook

adminUser — Fri, 15 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The 2008-2009 edition of the Charter School Law Deskbook by Paul T. O'Neill and Todd Ziebarth published by Matthew Bender & Company, Inc. is available for purchase online at the LexisNexis Store: http://www.lexisnexis.com/store/us/

"This book is an essential resource for anyone dealing with the laws governing public charter schools," said National Alliance for Public Charter Schools President and CEO Nelson Smith. "The latest edition provides at-a-glance information tables that make it easy for users to compare how different states treat charter schools in statute and regulation."

The Charter School Law Deskbook is a complete reference guide to charter school laws in the United States. It is designed to provide policymakers, school leaders, and anyone interested in the charter school movement with the tools they need to evaluate and compare current state laws.New to the 2008-2009 edition:

ò State by State Tables: detailing each state's charter school environment. These tables include descriptions of how each state's law addresses such matters as funding, facilities, staffing, authorizing, and special education in an easy-to-read format.
ò 50-state Chart: allows for comparison from state to state on a number of important variables including caps on charter school growth, state reporting expectations, and teacher certification requirements.
ò CD-Rom: provides an electronic, fully searchable version of the book.

About the authors: Paul T. O'Neill is an education attorney, professor and author. He is President of Tugboat Education Services, which provides regulatory assistance to education organizations, and is Of Counsel to the New York firm of Cohen Schneider LLP. Mr. O'Neill spent several years as Senior Vice President, Chief Regulatory Officer and head education attorney for Edison Schools, the national school management and services organization. He now serves as a Senior Fellow in Edison's Learning Institute, where he focuses on scholarship and engagement with core education reform issues.

Todd Ziebarth is the Vice President for Policy at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, a national nonprofit organization committed to increasing the number of high-performing charter schools available to all families, particularly those low-income and minority families who currently don't have access to quality public schools.

More Publications+

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Click here for more information.

Chartering-2.0-Summit-Proceedings-Document

adminUser — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

This summer, the Alliance gathered some of the nation's top charter school leaders and education reform experts to consider and prepare for the next generation of the charter school movement. The event was extremely productive and thought-provoking. These important discussions were captured and are now available in a brief, accessible proceedings document.

Click here for more information.

Charters-As-a-Solution003F

adminUser — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 00:00:00 GMT

The restructuring provisions in No Child Left Behind (NCLB) are a Rorschach test for charter supporters. To the Market Optimists, the six brief paragraphs of NCLB Section 1116 look like the greatest growth opportunity ever. "Reopening the school as a public charter school" is Option #1 on the list of NCLB's restructuring alternatives.All those dysfunctional schools, "needing improvement" for years, all prior remedies exhaustedùwhere else would parents turn but to charter schools?

Click here for more information.

Charting-a-Clear-Course

adminUser — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMT

A guide by Bryan Hassel and Margaret Lin for schools seeking a productive, high-quality contracting relationship with school-management firms.

Click here for more information.

Charting-a-Clear-Course:-A-Resource-Guide-for-Building-Successful-Partnerships-between-Charter-Schools-and-School-Management

adminUser — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Of all the decisions made by boards of public charter schools, few are more important than deciding whether to contract for school management services. Choosing well requires balancing multiple considerations of finance, accountability, personnel, and public relations. Since the achievement and well-being of children hang in the balance, a helping hand is clearly needed.

That's why the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools is pleased to provide this updated reprint of Charting a Clear Course, originally published in 2001 by the former Charter Friends National Network and still an authoritative resource. Charting provides evenhanded, user-friendly advice for those considering contracting for charter school management. It shines a clear light on the nuts and bolts of school/management relationships. Whether a charter school is looking at comprehensive school designs, for-profit providers, or the growing array of non-profit charter management options, this publication provides clear, step-by-step guidance.

We appreciate the reprint permission granted to us by the authors, Bryan Hassel and Margaret Lin, and by Jon Schroeder, who headed the Charter Friends National Network and continues to serve our movement through his work at Education/Evolving and his service on the Alliance's board.

Please explore www.PublicCharters.org for additional publications, resources and news on issues surrounding public charter schools today.

Click here for more information.

CMO-and-EMO-Public-Charter-Schools:-Dashboard-Data-from-2007-08,-2008-09,-and-2009-10

nora — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Charter Management Organizations (CMOs) and Education Management Organizations (EMOs) play an important part in the scalability of the charter school movement by enabling the replication of models that work, creating economies of scale, encouraging collaboration between similar schools, and building support structures for schools. CMOs are nonprofit entities that manage two or more charter schools and often provide back office functions and a wider range of services—including hiring, professional development, data analysis, public relations and advocacy. EMOs are for-profit entities that manage charter schools and perform similar functions as CMOs. As policymakers and the public continue to demand quality education options for our nation’s children, it is increasingly important to monitor the growth of CMO and EMO schools as scalable models.
Click here for more information.

CMO-and-EMO-Public-Charter-Schools:-Interactive-Data-Tool

nora — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The interactive data tool (preview below) allows users to control the type of information presented in graphical form. Choose a data metric from the list (for example, Total # of CMOs); click on a state; and then move the timeline controller on the bottom to switch between years. The buttons on the bottom left allow the user to manipulate the colors on the map and the legend.

Click here for more information.

Corporations,-Chambers,-and-Charters:-How-Businesses-Can-Support-High-Quality-Public-Charter-Schools

adminUser — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

At a time when many students are not graduating from high school prepared for postsecondary education and work, two-thirds of the new jobs being created require advanced training or a college education. Business leaders believe that high-quality education is paramount to America's ability to compete globally. Charter schools, as independently operated public schools, strike many business leaders as one of the most effective ways to have a tangible effect on pre-K through secondary education.

Charter schools began in 1991 with the passing of the nation's first charter law in Minnesota. Charter schools are independent schools designed to provide tuition-free public education choices for parents and students, liberate teachers and administrators from red tape, and allow more innovation in the classroom. In exchange for this flexibility, charter schools accept high accountability, knowing that they can be closed if they fail to live up to their charter.

Today, charter schooling remains one of the nation's most promising efforts to produce more great public schools. Charter schooling has developed a variety of school models that serve the different interests and learning styles of students, and has provided an opportunity to generate successful strategies that can be incorporated and replicated within districts. Of course, many districts reacted warily to the introduction of competition in their areas, but charters have now become a fixture of the public school landscape. Some charter school innovationsùincluding extended learning time, small class and school size, and school-level teacher contractsùare finding their way into district settings. Other places have developed charter-district partnerships, co-locating charter schools with district schools or turning over failing district schools to charter organizations.

Forty states and the District of Columbia now have charter school laws, and about 4,300 schools serve 1.2 million studentsùabout 2% of the public school population. Families continue to clamor for more charter schools, lining up on long wait lists to enroll their children.

Download Corporations, Chambers and Charters: How Businesses Can Support High-Quality Charter Schools.

Click here for more information.

Creating-the-Schools-Our-Nation-Needs:-NCLB-Reauthorization-and-the-Promise-of-Public-Charter-Schools

adminUser — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has fundamentally changed the landscape of public education in America. In this report the Alliance recommends NCLB improvements.

Click here for more information.

CREDO-Reconsidered

adminUser — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

See the attached memo from Alliance President and CEO Nelson Smith explaining how methodological shortcomings in the recent CREDO Report covered up the positive performances of charter schools.

Click here for more information.

Delaware-District-and-Charter-Revenue-Analysis

adminUser — Tue, 02 May 2006 00:00:00 GMT

(none)
Click here for more information.

Delivering-on-the-Promise:-How-Missouri-Can-Grow-Excellent,-Accountable-Public-Charter-Schools

charter — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The report is a clear analysis of Missouri’s charter school sector. It offers recommendations to improve the quality of schools by creating rigorous approval systems that will allow for accountable, high-performing public charter schools. Report author Nelson Smith, senior advisor, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, examines the development and status of Missouri's public charter school sector using the following indicators: academic performance, policy environment, finance and support.

The report also takes a pronounced stance on the need to close Missouri's lowest-performing public charter schools that are not increasing student achievement.

Missouri's current charter law limits chartering to Kansas City and St. Louis. There are families in the state's suburban and rural districts that need and want other public-school options. Two options have been suggested as steps toward the kind of statewide charter law now found in 39 other states. They include limiting new growth to unaccredited districts and allowing charters at least in the immediate school districts around St. Louis and Kansas City.

Click here to read the report's official press release from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

Click on the PDF icon below to download the full report.

Click here for more information.

Details-from-the-Dashboard:-Charter-School-Race002FEthnicity-Demographics

charter — Mon, 21 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

In this Details from the Dashboard report, we examine race/ethnicity breakouts for public charter schools and traditional public schools at the state and the school district level. The data in this report indicate that in the large majority of states, the race/ethnicity student demographics of charter schools are almost identical to those of the surrounding school district.

Click here for more information.

Details-from-the-Dashboard:-Charter-Schools-by-Geographic-Region

nora — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

While a majority of charter schools nationwide operate in urban and suburban areas, charter schools exist in all corners of the nation, and are expanding into all types of communities. This Details from the Dashboard report presents statistics on the number of charter schools and students enrolled in charter schools by the four geographic regions that are defined by the National Center for Education Statistics’ Common Core of Data: urban, suburban, towns and rural areas.

Click here for more information.

Estimated-Number-of-Public-Charter-Schools-and-Students,-Dashboard-Data-from-2011-2012

nora — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

As the public charter schools movement approaches the 20 year anniversary of the opening of the first charter school, the sector continues to grow. Over 500 new public charter schools opened their doors for the 2011-2012 school year. Compared with the 2010-2011 school year, an estimated additional 200,000 students are attending public charter schools in the 2011-2012 school year. With the addition of new charter schools and students, there are now approximately 5,600 public charter schools enrolling over 2 million students across the country. The 7 percent growth in charter schools and 13 percent growth in students are demonstrations of parents’ demand for high quality educational options.
Click here for more information.

Estimated-Number-of-Public-Charter-Schools-and-Students,-Dashboard-Data-from-2012-2013

charter — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Twenty years after the first charter school opened in St. Paul, MN, the sector continues to grow. Over 500 new public charter schools opened their doors for the 2012-2013 school year. Compared with the 2011-2012 school year, an estimated additional 275,000 students are attending public charter schools in the 2012-2013 school year. With the addition of new charter schools and students, there are now approximately 6,000 public charter schools enrolling over 2.3 million students across the country. These increases continue five years of significant growth for public charter schools. Since 2007-08, the public charter sector has added 1,700 schools – almost a 50 percent increase – and is serving an additional 1 million students – an increase of 80 percent.
Click here for more information.

Facilities-Financing--Selecting-the-Best-Option-for-your-Charter-School-or-CMO

charter — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

This presentation describes different methods to finance or refinance land acquisition, new construction, renovation costs and equipment purchases. Panelists will discuss the basics of various bond options like Tax-Exempt Bonds, New Markets Tax Credits (NMTCs) and Qualified School Construction Bonds (QSCBs), and bank loans.
Click here for more information.

Familiarity-Breeds-Content:-As-the-Charter-Movement-Grows,-So-Does-Public-Approval

adminUser — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A review of recent national and state-level polling data suggests that as the movement is expanding and people are becoming more familiar with charter schools, support is growing as well. "To know them is to love them" may overstate the case, but the trend is moving in that direction.

Click here for more information.

Federal-Charter-Schools-Program:-A-New-Model-for-Quality-Growth

adminUser — Wed, 09 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Over the past year, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools has engaged in a nationwide dialogue with charter school operators, key stakeholders, and other supporters to consider what changes ought to be considered as the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, and the CSP as part of it, approaches reauthorization in 2007.

Throughout our dialogue, we asked charter school supporters to identify their top goals for the CSP. Four such goals emerged regularly:

1. Supporting quality start-ups
2. Providing incentives for the passage of strong state laws
3. Helping expand and replicate successful models
4. Developing long-term support infrastructures, including authorizers

Our own observations, along with feedback from charter school advocates in the field, suggest that the CSP has performed well in addressing the first two of these goals û although more work should be done to advance strong state laws. The last two goals, however, have not been addressed well under the CSP; nor is the program currently designed to have a significant impact in these areas.

Click here for more information.

Financial-Impact-of-Public-Charter-Schools-Brief

adminUser — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

In addition to providing families with much-needed public education options, a new analysis shows that quality public charter schools can have positive effects on a community's finances, that many of the financial arguments against charter schools are flawed, and that creating more high-performing charter schools is a fiscally sensible path to take.

Click here for more information.

Free-to-Lead:-Autonomy-in-Highly-Successful-Charter-Schools

charter — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Written by Public Impact’s Joe Ableidinger and Bryan C. Hassel, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools issue brief, Free to Lead: Autonomy in Highly Successful Charter Schools, identifies seven distinct ways autonomy impacts operational and academic performance at five highly successful charter schools.

Autonomy has long been regarded as crucial to charter school success because it gives principals, school leaders and teachers authority to make decisions that directly enhance student achievement. However, in order to protect and truly encourage autonomy for charter schools, this publication illustrates its critical role in the success of high-performing charter schools. The Alliance selected five schools in separate states, each with a unique culture, and interviewed their leaders about how autonomy helps them better serve their students. The seven types of autonomy revealed are: freedom to develop a great team, freedom to manage teachers as professionals, freedom to change (or not to change) curriculum and classroom structure; autonomy in scheduling, financial freedom, board freedom to focus on education and freedom to define a unique school culture.

This issue brief takes an important first step in explaining autonomy and how it works in highly successful charters. Readers are encouraged to share this work with your community to ensure autonomy remains a pillar of the charter school movement.

Read the Alliance's official press release.

Click the icon below to download a copy of the issue brief.

Click here for more information.

Fulfilling-the-Compact:-Building-a-Breakthrough,-Results-Driven-Public-Charter-School-Sector

charter — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT

In 2005, the Task Force on Charter School Quality and Accountability issued Renewing the Compact, a position statement for the charter school sector that presented recommendations for achieving the goals of growth and quality. This report evaluates the sector’s progress on those goals and recommends bold actions to capitalize on its successes while confronting persistent challenges. By taking these bold actions now, critical stakeholders can build a breakthrough sector and create a results-driven culture, which will improve the impact of charter schools on student outcomes and the education system.
Click here for more information.

FY09-Funding-for-Federal-Public-Charter-Schools-Programs

adminUser — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

$216,031,000 appropriated to the Public Charter Schools Program, State Facilities Incentive Grants Program, and the Credit Enhancement for Charter School Facilities Program for FY2009, a $5 million increase over FY2008.

On March 11th, the President signed into law HR 1105, the omnibus appropriations act that finalizes federal funding levels for FY2009. This bill provides the remaining 6 months of federal funding for many agencies and their programs. Last year, Congress failed to pass the specific bill to fund the Department of Education (among many other appropriations bills), and thus was forced to pass a continuing resolution which flat-funded a substantial number of agencies, including the Department of Education through this week. That Bill was HR 2638.

President Bush signed HR 2638, the FY2009 Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, into law on September 30th providing the first half of this fiscal year's funding. HR 1105 provides the remaining 6 months of funding for federal programs this year. Importantly, the legislation increases federal funding for the three charter school programs by $5 million dollars.

The federal government funds three charter school specific programs: the Public Charter Schools Program (CSP), the State Facilities Incentive Grants Program, and the Credit Enhancement for Charter School Facilities Program. These three programs were appropriated a total of $216,031,000 for FY2009. Of that amount, at least $195 million must be allocated to the CSP to continue funding the start up grant program. Thus, states looking for new funding in 2009 will have a sizeable amount of money available to them. Additionally, the Department will be able to fulfill its obligations to states in their second or third year of CSP grant funding. The remaining $21,031,000 is to be allocated by the Department among the three programs to best meet the charter sector's needs.

The Alliance has already begun efforts to secure increased federal charter funding in the FY2010 budget. The President released an initial FY2010 budget overview on February, 26th that prominently called for taking steps towards doubling federal funding for the charter school programs. For information on the FY10 budget release, click here. A more complete budget will be released in early April.

Click here for more information.

House-Resolution-382:-National-Charter-Schools-Week-2009

adminUser — Thu, 07 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

House Resolution 382 recognizes the 10th annual National Charter Schools Week held May 3-9, 2009 and the significant impacts, achievements and innovations of charter schools. By passing this resolution, the House shows its support for the students, parents, administrators and teachers across the United States working to strengthen public education through the development of high-quality charter schools and calls on the people of the United States to demonstrate support for charter schools as well.

Co- Sponsors of the resolution are:

Democrats: Shelley Berkley (D-NV 1st), Betsy Markey (D-CO 4th), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC At Large), Rush Holt (D-NJ 12th), George Miller (D-CA 7th), Tom Perriello (D-VA 5th), Ron Kind (D-WI 3rd), Patrick Murphy (D-PA 8th), Jared Polis (D-CO 2nd)

Republicans: Michelle Bachmann (R-MN 6th), Mike Coffman (R-CO 6th), Buck McKeon (R-CA 25th), John Boehner (R-OH 8th), Vernon Ehlers (R-MI 3rd), Pete Olson (R-TX 22nd), Charles Boustany (R-LA 7th), Virginia Foxx (R-NC 5th), Thomas Petri (R-WI 6th), Anh Cao (R-LA 2nd), Peter Hoekstra (R-MI 2nd), Glenn Thompson (R-PA 5th), Bill Cassidy (R-LA 6th), John Kline (R-MN 2nd), Frank Wolf (R-VA 10th), Michael Castle (R-DE At Large), Doug Lamborn (R-CO 5th), Jason Chaffetz (R-UT 3rd), Patrick McHenry (R-NC 10th)

Click here for more information.

How-Charter-Schools-Can-Survive-the-Financial-Crisis

adminUser — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

How can public charter schools best survive the current financial crisis? That's the question many in the charter school movement are asking themselves these days. It's also the question that three distinguished experts addressed in a recent teleconference hosted by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. The answers are worth knowing...

Read a summary of the event (PDF below) or listen to the teleconference at www.publiccharterschools.org/listen.

Our thanks once again to our panelists: Susan Harper, Vice President of Merrill Lynch Community Development Company; Tom Nida, Executive Vice President, Community Development Group, United Bank; and David Umansky, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder, Civic Builders.

Please note: Information presented during the session reflects the opinions on the panelists, based on their experience. The session audience should obtain appropriate legal and financial advice before initiating changes in policy or practice for their individual organizations.

Click here for more information.

How-Do-Charter-Schools-Get-the-Teachers-They-Want003F

charter — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The latest publication issued by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "How Do Charter Schools Get the Teachers They Want?" examines the practices public charter schools employ to hire the teachers they need. Report authors Betheny Gross, Ph.D, and Michael DeArmond of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, explain that like all public school leaders, charter leaders want to hire talented and passionate teachers that will boost student achievement and contribute to a thriving school culture. Charter leaders are also attuned to whether a teacher is a good fit for the unique mission of their public charter school.

This publication is the first installment of a year-long campaign to spotlight human-capital issues and opportunities in the charter movement. Over the next several months, we’ll share a variety of publications and tools that will introduce supporters to the people that comprise the sector and the professional growth opportunities that exist. But more importantly, we want to hear from you. We want to know about your school, your job, your greatest successes, your biggest challenges and your ideas for how to improve public education.

To begin, we’re kicking of a social-media campaign called “Charter People” that will highlight individual charter school staffers who make this movement work. Help us by nominating a charter school teacher that is significantly impacting their school. Post a 140-character description of your nominee on our Facebook wall or send a tweet with the hashtag #charterpeople. If your nominee is selected to be profiled on our website, you will be eligible to win a free registration pass to this summer’s National Charter Schools Conference in Atlanta, Georgia scheduled for June 20-23. Every single tweet and Facebook post will make users eligible
Click here for more information.

How-Innovative-School-Districts-are-Learning-to-Share-Public-Education-Facilities-with-Charter-Schools

diana — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

This report examines the public school facilities landscape in seven major cities and profiles the best practices for improving public charter school access to the existing stock of public school buildings.

The case studies describe the innovative, affirmative policies and practices that are making public facilities available to all public schools. Our hope is that reading about these efforts will spur productive relationships and collaborative practices in many more communities around the allocation of school facilities. For each city, the report describes the policies and practices in place, the processes used, the lessons learned, and the challenges that remain—even where laws are favorable to charter schools.

To guide future advocacy toward fair and equitable allocation of public school buildings, this report also identifies strong policies to ensure charter schools have equitable access to surplus school district space. We hope that charter school advocates will use these model principles as they tackle facilities challenges in their own states and communities.
Click here for more information.

How-State-Charter-Laws-Rank-Against-The-New-Model-Public-Charter-School-Law

adminUser — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

It's very important to have better, clearer charter laws û laws that enable innovation, promote transparency about how charter schools perform and how they are held accountable, and provide fair access to public funds and facilities. We're encouraged that the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools supports creation of better charter school laws as models of learning, and we encourage authorizers to hold charters accountable for student performance.

-U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, January 2010

Dear Colleague:

I'm writing to share with you How State Charter Laws Rank Against the New Model Public Charter School Law, a new resource from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

In June 2009, the Alliance released A New Model Law For Supporting The Growth of High-Quality Public Charter Schools. Lawmakers and advocates in numerous states are using it to inform their efforts to enact a charter law for the first time, while those states with existing charter laws have it on hand as a roadmap to improve certain aspects of their status quo.

Soon after the release of the model law, we began receiving questions from these folks about how their existing charter laws stack up against the model law, particularly in light of the role of public charter schools in the U.S. Department of Education's $4 billion Race to the Top (RTTT) competitive grant program. They also wanted to know who had the strongest laws, especially in the critical areas of authorizing, accountability, funding, and facilities. We henceforth enlisted the individuals who helped craft the model law, rolled up our sleeves, and started analyzing and ranking existing laws.

The result is this report, the first to accurately gauge a state's public charter school law with respect to its commitment to the full range of values in the public charter school movement: quality and accountability, funding equity, facilities support, autonomy, and growth and choice. This report looks at each individual state that has a charter school law, assesses the strengths of its law against the 20 essential components of the model law, and ranks them from 1 to 40.

It is closely aligned with the original intent of public charter school law, which is to establish independent public schools that are allowed to be more innovative and are held accountable for improved student achievement.

We hope the report is useful to lawmakers and advocates in the 40 jurisdictions with charter laws as they work to improve them as well as to those in the 11 states without laws as they push to enact them. We look forward to supporting them in the months and years ahead in this important work. We hope you find it to be a valuable guide in your work.

Register to attend the official policy briefing event describing the report findings and their relation to the U.S. Department of Education's Race to the Top competition.

Visit the new State Charter Law Rankings Database

Read the Alliance's June 2009 release, A New Model Law for Supporting the Growth of High-Quality Public Charter Schools.

Sincerely,

Todd Ziebarth

Vice President, Policy

Click here for more information.

Investing-in-Innovation-%28i3%29-Fund-Summary-of-Proposed-Priorities,-Requirements,-Definitions,-and-Selection-Criteria

adminUser — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

On October 9, the U.S. Department of Education officially released the Investing in Innovation (i3) fund's summary of proposed priorities, requirements, definitions and selection criteria. The i3 fund is a $650 million dollar fund authorized under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to support emerging innovative education reforms. The Alliance has created this summary to explain how the i3 fund will likely work and how it will potentially impact charter schools and the charter school movement.

We will be formally submitting comments on these proposed priorities, requirements, definitions, and selection criteria to the department by November 9th, 2009. Please [email] us your opinions on the draft and ideas for our comments. Please note that as the Department seeks public comments, it is especially interested in hearing if this notice of proposed priorities adequately supports innovation while still meeting the Department's requirement to be good stewards of tax payer dollars.

Download the analysis here.

Click here for more information.

Key-Items-Included-in-FY2010-Appropriations-Conference-Agreement

charter — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The House-Senate Conference Report agreed upon on December 9, 2009 appropriated funding to several different Department and Agencies, including the U.S. Department of Education. And within ED's finding $256 million for the federal charter school programs is the highest amount ever appropriated and a $40 million increase over FY2009.

Additionally, the total includes a key Alliance priority that $50 million can be directly competed out by the U.S. Department of Education to CMOS and other non-profit entities to support the replication and expansion of successful charter models; over $23 million to support the Credit Enhancement for Charter School Facilities Program and the State Facilities Incentive Grants; and up to $10 million dollars to support National Activities grants to further develop a sound infrastructure of support for high quality charter schools.

Download a complete overview of the agreement here.

"
Click here for more information.

March-2009-ARRA-Overview

adminUser — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Click on the file below to download...
Click here for more information.

Measurement-and-Metaphor:-Comments-on-Hopes,-Fears,-and-Reality,-What-Do-I-Still-Want-to-Know003F

adminUser — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Bruno V. Manno, senior fellow in education, Annie E. Casey Foundation and vice chairman, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, asks and answers a question provoked by Hopes, Fears, and Reality: What do I still want to know about chartering after reading this report? He focuses on two issues inspired by this publication. One is about measurement and the other is about metaphor.

Click here for more information.

Measuring-Charter-Performance:-A-Review-of-Public-Charter-School-Achievement-Studies

charter — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Measuring Charter Performance: A Review of Public Charter School Achievement Studies is the sixth annual research synthesis which continues to assess the available research on charter school achievement. Sixty-three new studies were added this year, making a total 203 research studies in the report. These studies all meet the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools’ (NAPCS) standard for inclusion in the report: all compare student achievement in charter and traditional public schools, use in-depth research methods and examine a significant segment of the charter sector. NAPCS classifies these studies according to their methodology and rigor, and uses the results to describe charter school achievement.

The analysis shows no single study can definitively describe how charter schools are performing in a district, state or at the national level. However, the emerging picture is largely positive for charter school advocates: The findings from studies using the best data and most sophisticated research techniques suggest that more often than not charter school students are experiencing similar or greater achievement gains than students in comparable traditional public schools.

It is with great pleasure that we share these profiles with members of the education-reform community who should reference them, confidently, to better inform their work.

Click here for more information.

Measuring-Up-to-the-Model:-A-Ranking-of-State-Charter-School-Laws

charter — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Measuring Up to the Model: A Ranking of State Public Charter School Laws analyzes the country’s 41 state charter laws and scores how well each supports charter school quality and growth based on the 20 essential components from the NAPCS’s model charter school law. This report captures state legislation affecting the charter school movement in the last year, including moves states made to be more competitive under the U.S. Department of Education’s Race to the Top program.

Overall, the charter movement gained more than it lost across the country in 2010, but the road ahead remains long. The biggest task is to create more supportive policy environment —particularly in providing funding equity, increasing facilities support and strengthening authorizing environments. The movement will need to fight new and more intense battles in state capitals across the country in 2011 and beyond. We hope this report, and the model law it is based upon, are useful tools to charter school supporters in this critical work.

In October 2010, the National Association of Charter School Authorizers gave the Alliance its 2010 Award for Excellence in Advancing Knowledge. At the time of its release, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan praised the Alliance’s work —a statement that was highlighted in the Washington Post’s exclusive coverage of the report’s inaugural release. Throughout the year, charter school supporters used the report’s results to advocate successfully for policy changes in several states.

Read the NAPCS' June 2009 release, A New Model Law for Supporting the Growth of High-Quality Public Charter Schools.

Download a PDF version of the report's press release here.

Click here for more information.

Measuring-Up-to-the-Model:-A-Ranking-of-State-Charter-School-Laws

charter — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS) is pleased to release its annual rankings of state charter school laws across the country, which found that many states took significant steps to strengthen their state laws. The report, and the NAPCS model charter school law it is based upon, is designed to support the creation of high-quality public charter schools, particularly for those students most in need of better public school options.

The rankings now include 43 states and the District of Columbia, due to Washington state voters for the first time ever approving a statewide charter school initiative last fall. This leaves eight states that have still failed to enact a charter school law: Alabama, Kentucky, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and West Virginia.

Now in its fourth year, Measuring Up to the Model: A Ranking of State Public Charter School Laws ranks each of the country’s 43 state charter school laws. Each state receives a score on its law’s strength based on the 20 essential components from the NAPCS model law, which include measuring quality and accountability, equitable access to funding and facilities and limited caps on charter school growth.

The top 10 states with laws best positioned to support the growth of high-quality charter schools are: Minnesota which this year recaptured the top spot, followed by Maine, Washington, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, California, New York, Indiana and New Mexico. Rounding out the bottom of the list, the five states with the weakest charter school laws include: Mississippi, which continued its hold as having the nation’s worst charter school law, followed by Maryland, Kansas, Alaska and Virginia.

Click here for more information.

Measuring-Up-to-the-Model:-A-Ranking-of-State-Charter-School-Laws,-2012

charter — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

2011 has been a significant year for charter school policy across the country.

At long last, Maine enacted a charter school law, becoming the 42nd jurisdiction that allows this innovative public school option.

Ten states lifted their caps on charter school growth (either partially or entirely). Most notably, North Carolina eliminated its cap of 100 charter schools, Michigan phased out its cap on the number of charter schools that can be approved by public universities, and Indiana and Wisconsin removed their limits on virtual charter school enrollment.

Seven states strengthened their authorizing environments. Most significantly, four states created new statewide charter boards (Illinois, Indiana, Maine, and Nevada), while New Mexico and Rhode Island passed major quality control measures setting the stage for the future growth of high-quality public charter schools in these states.

Ten states improved their support for charter school funding and facilities. Of particular note, Indiana enacted legislation that creates a charter school facilities assistance program to make grants and loans to charter schools, appropriates $17 million to this program, and requires school districts to make vacant space available to public charter schools to lease for $1 a year or to buy for $1. Also, Texas enacted a law that allows state-authorized charter schools that have an investment grade rating and meet certain financial criteria to apply to have their bonds guaranteed by the Permanent School Fund.

As of this writing, there were bills with major charter school improvements pending in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. In addition, we expect to see big pushes for strong legislation in several other states in 2012.

What’s most encouraging about the charter school movement’s legislative efforts is that they’re more frequently marrying growth and quality. As we’ve long argued at NAPCS, the longterm viability of the charter school movement is primarily dependent on the quality of the charter schools that open. It’s critical that state lawmakers recognize the importance of charter school quality – and the impact that their laws have on it. We are glad to see that they are increasingly doing so.

We hope this report, and the model law it is based upon, continue to be useful tools to charter school supporters as they push for laws that support the creation of more high-quality public charter schools, particularly for those students most in need of a better public school option.

Click here for more information.

Moderate-Senate-Democrats-Working-Group-Letter-on-Education-Reform

adminUser — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

(none)
Click here for more information.

National-Alliance-2007-Progress-Report

adminUser — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Toward Quality and Growth: The National Alliance and the Charter School Movement 2007

After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, city and state leaders took the unprecedented step of rebuilding the New Orleans public education system largely as a network of public charter schools. Today 57 percent of New Orleans' students attend charters, the highest percentage of any city in the nation. And according to state data, their achievement is gaining by leaps and bounds.

This bold effort is demonstrating that chartering can deliver high quality public education at scale. Across America, public charter schools are showing that autonomy and accountability produce both new choices and new horizons of achievement. But public charter schools cannot do it alone. They need sound policies and innovative support organizations that advance their work; high quality teachers and leaders for their schools; and greater public awareness of all that charters offer to students, parents, and communities.

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools continues to lead the charge in these vital areas. Since the Alliance was launched just two and a half years ago, we have served as a "town square" for the diverse charter community, creating a unified voice on national issues and supporting local and state charter leaders as they work to achieve equitable funding and eliminate arbitrary caps on the growth of public charter schools. This year, as Congress works to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act, we've been educating federal policymakers about the benefits chartering offers to all children, particularly those from underprivileged backgrounds.

Since public understanding is key to gaining wider support, the Alliance also conducts national opinion surveys and disseminates the movement's many achievements through a broad range of media.

Fifteen years of evidence shows that public charter schools have a unique power to improve achievement, particularly for disadvantaged students. The Alliance remains committed to providing every American family, whatever its circumstances, access to high quality public education options.

Sincerely

Johnathan Williams
Chairman of the Board

and

Nelson Smith
President

Click here for more information.

National-Charter-Schools-Week,-2009:-A-Proclamation

adminUser — Mon, 04 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

On May 4, 2009 the President of the United States of America issues a proclamation stating:

"The best public charter schools and their students are thriving in States that have adopted a rigorous selection and review process to ensure that autonomy is coupled with greater accountability. The growth of effective public charter schools benefits our children, and States have an important role to play in their expansion.

"During National Charter Schools Week, we recognize these public charter schools for their dedication and commitment to achievement in education. They are models of excellence and are promoting the interests of our children, our economy, and our Nation as a whole."

Download a complete PDF of the proclamation here:

Click here for more information.

National-Poll-on-Public-Charter-Schools

adminUser — Tue, 06 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

More than three out of four voters (77%) favor giving parents more options when choosing a public school for their children, with minority voters (82%) and parents (81%) most strongly expressing a desire for greater public school choices. After hearing a description of public charter schools, three in five (60%) parents expressed interest in enrolling their children in a charter school. These results and others reflect wide iinterest in public charter schools as an alternative to traditional public schools that are failing to meet students' needs.

Download the results of this national poll (below) of 800 registered voters, conducted by The Glover Park Group on behalf of the Alliance. Read the news release about the poll here.

Click here for more information.

National-Student-Enrollment-in-Public-Charter-Schools-%282007-08-School-Year%29

adminUser — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Get the latest information on student enrollment in public charter schools across the country in the 2007-08 school year. Find the most up-to-date information on our state page.

Click here for more information.

New-Jersey-Suffers-from-Severe-Inequities-in-Funding

adminUser — Mon, 01 May 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Public charter schools in New Jersey receive nearly a quarter less in revenue per pupil than the state's traditional school districts, according to a new report released today by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. The data pinpoints Newark and Trenton charter schools as facing the most severe inequities in the state, with each receiving 44 percent and 38 percent less, respectively, per pupil than the cities' school districts.

Click here for more information.

New!-Download-the-National-Charter-Schools-Week-Toolkit-Here

adminUser — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Since their inception 17 years ago, charter schools have grown at a fast pace and demonstrated great results in raising student achievement. Charter advocates across the country will celebrate this success during National Charter Schools Week 2009, set for May 3-9.

How will your community celebrate National Charter Schools Week?

Download this toolkit to read:

Goals and objectives of National Charter Schools Week
Ideas for activities and events
Tips for planning National Charter Schools Week events
Ways to measure your success
Sample materials including talking points, news releases and fact sheets

Please, let us know what you are planning and how we can help... Write to antwaune@publiccharters.org.

Click here for more information.

Number-of-Charter-Schools-and-Students-in-the-2006-07-School-Year

adminUser — Thu, 10 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT

A report on the number of charter schools and students in the 2006-07 school year.

Click here for more information.

Number-of-Charter-Schools-and-Students:-2005-2006-School-Year

adminUser — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 00:00:00 GMT

A state-by-state look at the number of charter schools and the number of students they serve.

Click here for more information.

Number-of-Public-Charter-Schools-0024-Student,-2009-2010

charter — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

With the start of the 2009-2010 academic year, over 400 new public charter schools will open their doors to students and more than 170,000 new students will be attending
public charter schools.

With the addition of the new charter schools and students, there are now approximately 4,900 public charter schools enrolling over 1.5 million students across the country.

States leading in charter school growth include:

• California: 98 new schools and more than 38,000 new students.
• Texas: 9 new schools, 55 additional campuses, and more than 14,000 new students.
• Florida: 48 new schools and approximately 13,000 new students.
• Arizona: 48 new schools and more than 5,000 new students.
• New York: 25 new schools and more than 8,500 new students.
• Ohio: 15 new schools and about 9,500 new students.
• Oregon: 14 new schools and approximately 3,000 new students.
• Georgia: 12 new schools and about 6,500 new students.
• Louisiana: 12 new schools and more than 4,500 new students.
• Pennsylvania: 11 new schools and about 8,500 new students.
• Colorado: 10 new schools, one additional campus, and almost 5,000 new students.
• Michigan: 10 new schools and about 3,500 new students.

In contrast, the sector experienced 109 school closures in the Spring of 2009. The highest number of closures occurred in California (22), Florida (21), Arizona (13), and Ohio (13).


State	New Charters, Fall 2009	Closed Charters, Spring 2009	Charter Schools, 2009-10	Charter Students, 2009-10
AK	0	0	25	5,300
AR	4	1	30	5,237
AZ	48	13	482	95,853
CA	98	22	809	313,245
CO	10 (+ 1 campus)	2	153 (on 159 campuses)	66,760
CT	0	0	17	4,898
DC	1 (+8 campuses)	4	57 (on 97 campuses)	27,595
DE	0	0	18	9,141
FL	48	21	423	128,359
GA	12	4	110	62,167
HI	0	0	31	7,741
IA	0	0	8	928
ID	6	1	36	13,812
IL	2 (+5 campuses)	2	39 (on 101 campuses)	36,750
IN	4	0	54	19,253
KS	3	3	34	4,902
LA	12	1	76 (on 78 campuses)	30,405
MA	2	1	62	28,247
MD	3	1	36	12,249
MI	10	2	231	104,527
MN	5	3	155	36,404
MO	6	1	33 (on 46 campuses)	19,783
NC	0	1	96 (on 97 campuses)	39,033
NH	0	0	10	662
NJ	6	0	68 (on 72 campuses)	22,206
NM	5	1	71	13,293
NV	3	0	26 (on 33 campuses)	11,827
NY	25	0	144	42,204
OH	15	13	332	96,967
OK	2	0	18	5,984
OR	14	3	98	16,725
PA	11	2	138	78,437
RI	2	0	13	3,423
SC	4	1	39	11,142
TN	6	0	22	4,963
TX	9 (+55 campuses)	4	216 (on 480 campuses)	115,478
UT	7	1	72	32,253
VA	0	0	4	250
WI	4	1	224	38,005
WY	0	0	3	353
Total	456	109	4,912	1,566,763

* We contacted state departments of education, charter school associations, and charter school resource centers to obtain lists of charter schools that had closed during or after the 2008-2009 academic year and charter schools that plan to open in the fall of 2009. The numbers presented in this report are estimates. The 2009-2010 numbers will be updated when official fall enrollment membership counts are released by state departments of education.

"
Click here for more information.

Peeling-the-Lid-Off-State-Imposed-Charter-School-Caps

adminUser — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Parental demand for high-performing public charter schools is going unmet in 25 states and the District of Columbia, where some type of limit, or cap, is constraining charter school growth. According to an Issue Brief released today by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (Alliance), while some states have made progress in amending their charter school restrictions, progress as a whole has been slow.

Click here for more information.

Policy-Principles-for-Creating-New-High-Quality-Schools-Under-NCLB's-Restructuring-Requirements

adminUser — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Without more clarity, districts and states could simply slap the charter label on chronically low performing schools without changing much else û including student results. Therefore, there is a need for thoughtful guidance for districts and states who decide to head down this road to ensure that real change and improvement takes place for the students now attending struggling schools. To fill this void, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools offers the following policy principles and recommends that states, districts, and schools take heed of them as they interpret and implement the "reopen option."

Click here for more information.

Principles-and-Standards-For-Quality-Charter-Support-Organizations

adminUser — Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Continuing its national effort to support and promote high-quality public charter schools, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools has released a new publication: Principles and Standards for Quality Charter School Support Organizations. Six fundamental principles for effective CSOs are defined and examined: quality, sustainability, advocacy, technical assistance and services, community, and growth. Standards that describe the essential responsibilities and practices that align with the overarching principals are provided throughout the document.

Click here for more information.

Public-Charter-Schools-Success:-A-Summary-of-the-Current-Research-on-Public-Charters'-Effectiveness-at-Improving-Student-Achievement

charter — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT

This report provides summaries of new public charter school studied released since 2010. The public charter school student performance studies examined in this report are studies that use longitudinal student-level data to examine public charter schools across the country, from national studies on charter management organizations (CMOs) and the KIPP model, to studies in different states and cities, including Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York City, Utah, Washington, D.C. and Wisconsin.

The studies published since 2010 show positive results for students who attend public charter schools compared with traditional public schools. Three national studies and ten studies from major regions across the country since 2010 found positive academic performance results for students in public charter schools compared to their traditional public school peers, suggesting a strong upward trend among new studies in the effect of public charter schools on student performance. Since 2010, just one study that used longitudinal student-level data found neutral or negative results looking at public charter schools in the state of Utah.

The new studies, combined with the aggregated results from the 2011 CRPE meta-analysis, provide evidence that many public charter schools are providing excellent learning opportunities for students.
Click here for more information.

Race-to-the-Top-Draft-Priorities,-Requirements,-Definitions,-and-Selection-Criteria-Overview

adminUser — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

On Wednesday, July 29th, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) formally released its proposed priorities for the Race to the Top Fund (R2T) authorized under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). These priorities prominently feature public charter schools as an effective reform that states need to embrace to increase their chances of winning an R2T grant. The final version of the priorities can be found here.

The DOE has published these draft priorities enabling the public to comment before they are finalized. When finalized, these priorities will outline the qualifications and requirements for winning a R2T Grant. As such, it is important that the public comment in support or opposition to elements with which they agree or disagree by August 28th, 2009. The National Alliance will be submitting formal comments on behalf of the charter school movement in support of the strong references in the draft to the role of charter schools and criteria around states supporting high-quality charter school movements.

Read the Alliance statement on the draft guidelines here.

Download the complete overview of the R2T below.

Click here for more information.

Renewing-the-Compact:-A-Statement-by-the-Task-Force-on-Charter-School-Quality-and-Accountability

adminUser — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 00:00:00 GMT

A growing body of research shows that the performance of most charter schools is strong and improving over time with some achieving spectacular results. Yet in looking forward and considering how chartering can expand to meet the needs of more families, the Task Force on Charter School Quality and Accountability believes that the charter compact must be reaffirmed and reinvigorated. The freedom to innovate must be protected against re-regulation. Accountability for results must be clearer and more certain. And achievement must be the first priority.

Click here for more information.

School-Improvement-Grants---American-Recovery-and-Reinvestment-Act-of-2009---Proposed-Requirements

charter — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

On Friday September 25th, the Alliance submitted formal comments on the Department of Education's statement of proposed requirements for School Improvement Grants under the ARRA of 2009.

The Department has outlined an ambitious turnaround strategy under these proposed requirements. The Alliance applauds its commitment to improving our nation’s lowest performing public schools, but hopes the Department will look supportively on a simultaneous strategy of starting new high-quality charter schools while working to turn around or close our lowest performing public schools.

Download the PDF copy of our complete comments here. "
Click here for more information.

Serving-English-Language-Learners:-A-Toolkit-for-Public-Charter-Schools

nora — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The growth of public charter schools has coincided with the rapid growth of English Language Learner (ELL) students. While the total public school population increased by three percent from the 2000-01 to 2009-10 school years, the number of ELL students increased by 27 percent. Demographic projections indicate ELL students will be an even larger percentage of the school-age population in the years to come.

A complicated mix of federal and state laws govern the education of ELL students and can make understanding the legal requirements challenging. This toolkit breaks down key federal laws and policies and provides examples of state laws where appropriate. Notably, it also gives real world examples from public charter schools across the country and provides a basic framework for conceptualizing, implementing and monitoring an ELL instructional program.

Click here for more information.

Signs-of-Promise:-Hispanic-Student-Achievement-in-Charter-Schools

adminUser — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 00:00:00 GMT

A growing body of research is producing encouraging news about the performance of Hispanic students in public charter schools.

Click here for more information.

State-Facility-Survey-Blueprint:-Lessons-from-Four-States

charter — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Promoting equality in funding and facilities is contingent upon valid and reliable evidence of what and where the shortfalls are. So far, four states have undertaken a comprehensive state facilities survey. This powerpoint describes the experiences of and lessons from Colorado, Georgia, Indiana and Texas charter association executives.
Click here for more information.

State-of-the-Charter-Movement

adminUser — Tue, 03 May 2005 00:00:00 GMT

The Alliance released a data-rich report that provides timely, valuable information on key elements of the charter movement: growth, academic achievement, accountability, public opinion, and policy. The report also features a dashboard, to be updated annually with indicators of progress.

Click here for more information.

State-of-the-Movement-2008-Speech-by-NAPCS-President-Nelson-Smith

adminUser — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Nelson Smith, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools President

New Orleans, June 24, 2008

Still We Rise

Has it been 14 months since Albuquerque? It seems like yesterday we were all wearing cowboy hats and shopping for turquoise.

So why did we move the show to New Orleans this year? I mean apart from the Creole gumbo and the beignets and the laissez les bontemps roulez.

It's because of this: Still we rise.

We borrowed this title from Maya Angleou because there's no better place in all of America to show how a people can literally rise from despair and build a new future.

We're so proud that public charter schools have been at the center of this great story. Not just because the majority of New Orleans students are attending our schools, but because charter schooling is helping to give them a chance at a future they would have been denied just a few short years ago.

And look at the second part of our convention theme: Achieving Academic Excellence at Scale.
That's what's happening here.

Charter school kids are leaping ahead on the state tests and the schools are doing it without the old, scandal-ridden central office-- instead, schools themselves are calling the shots, doing business with a constellation of nonprofits that are there to help, not to get in their business.

Groups like New Schools for New Orleans, Teach for America, the Cowen Institute, New Leaders for New Schools, The New Teacher Project, KIPP, The Baptist Community Ministries and the list goes on.

Media types have been talking about New Orleans as the "great experiment" for our movement so it should be no surprise that we're here, 3000 strong, to cheer on our brave compatriots and to learn from them and from each other how to make it work across the country.

What do we mean, rise?

Well, surely we are rising in numbers. We are 1.2 million students strong, in 4,300 schools. We still enroll significantly more low-income student and children of color than district-run schools. We've added 1,600 new charter schools, and 500,000 new students, in the past four years alone.

Some say that's a drop in the bucket; after all, charter schools only account for 3 percent of public school students nationally. But in city after city, especially those where the traditional system isn't working for so many kids, parents are hungry for strong new choices in public education -- and they're choosing charter schools in droves.

Every year we take a look at "market share" and publish a "Top Ten" list of cities with the highest concentration of charter kids. There are a lot of ties, so last year there were 19 cities in the Top Ten, places where more than 13 percent of kids were in charters. This year our top ten list includes 29 cities! And take a look at this; as of this year there are 8 communities with more than 20% of students in charter schools. Big towns like Kansas City, and Dayton. Not Baltimore but D.C. now, and we can't forget the Motor City.

But it's not just about numbers. It's about achievement. And the news keeps getting better. You've heard me talk about the alliance's "Meta-Analysis" of charter school achievement studies. Now it's up to 70 studies, going back to 2001--not done by us, but by everyone from the U.S. Government to the American Federation of Teachers. Thirty-one of the 40 studies that look at performance over time show that kids in charter schools are gaining faster than their peers in other public schools.

And when you consider that our kids often start out academically behind those peers --then you see that charters are fulfilling a great purpose: closing the achievement gaps between the haves and have-nots in our society.

So, it's not surprising that parents are lining up in droves to get their kids into charter schools. The last time we looked, there are about 350,000 kids on waiting lists! We could open another 1100 charter schools today if we could expand fast enough to meet just this existing demand.

The Rest of the Story

And so now we come to what Paul Harvey would call "The rest of the story." There are reasons we can't grow as far and as fast as parents need. Believe it or not, there are actually some people who don't think there ought to be more charter schools! People who stunt our growth with caps, deny us nourishment by inequitable funding, and folks literally stand in the schoolhouse door by denying our kids the right to public education facilities paid for by taxpayer dollars! There have been some battles in the last year! There have been times when it looked like we might have 37 or 38 charter states instead of 40.

New Hampshire's charters almost had to shut down because of funding cuts. Tennessee had to fight back against a "Sunset" provision that would have made its charter history.

The new governor of Ohio called for a moratorium, and the state board in Nevada imposed one, out of the blue. And now the Delaware legislature is flirting with the M word, and even in D.C., there's talking about clamping down on one of the most robust charter communities in the country.

But guess what? Despite all the threats and near misses, still we rise.

We rose in Wisconsin, when the legislature sided with the charter movement and overturned a court ruling that would have put the state's virtual charters out of business.

We rose in New Jersey, when the nation's biggest gap in funding got sliced and sliced again, with the help of a scrappy state charter organization.

We rose in Utah, where a cap was lifted and funding was enhanced.

We rose in New York state, which after a decade finally eased a charter cap that had started to pinch when parents were clamoring for new choices.

We rose in Colorado where the charter facilities fund was doubled.

We rose in California, where the state charter association wrestled la unified to the ground and got a promise to follow the law and provide facilities to charter schools.

And just a few weeks ago, we rose in Georgia, when the governor signed a bill creating a new, state-level charter authorizer that will give charter founders a chance to bring their vision to reality.

Where did we get these wins?

They're a tribute to the skill and tenacity of our state leaders, people like Caprice Young and Bill Phillips and Jim Griffin, and Tony Roberts and Jessani Gordon, and of course Senn Brown and Caroline Roemer. But they've been made possible because more and more policymakers realize that charter schools are here to stay and that our kids deserve the same chance as their friends in district schools.

Every time your city councilman or state senator comes to visit your school, "Charter School" stops being about abstract causes, or ideology, or partisan politics, and starts being about kids and teachers and parents.

So that's why every one of you has an obligation to make sure that the folks who make laws and design policies see the real story of our movement.

Even though chartering is a political football in some states, we're really encouraged that our movement is attracting strong new leaders like Gov. Bobby Jindal, and bipartisan support is growing at the national level.

Both presidential candidates talk about Charters on the campaign trail. The leaders of Congressional Committees in both Houses work closely with our movement. And we kicked off National Charter Schools Week with the fourth-ranking House Democrat, Rahm Emanuel, who has sponsored legislation calling for $300 million in new funding to expand charter schools serving kids in the neediest areas.

So we want to welcome political friends of all kinds into our terrific schools.

But of course, it doesn't do any good if these folks happen to walk into, or hear about, a charter school that's not living up to its charter. It's amazing how much damage can be done by one school that fails to educate students, or worse, makes unethical use of public funding. You know it in your own communities, and we all know it, and feel it, as citizens of a movement that prides itself on offering a better way.

And so we have a responsibility to act, to make quality our standard and to insist that the words "Charter School" stand for high achievement and impeccable integrity.

I'm proud of how this movement is taking this issue to heart, on so many fronts. Authorizers are getting tougher, both in approving new schools and renewing those already established. State charter associations, which began as advocates and defenders of beleaguered schools, are embracing quality standards for their members and sponsoring innovative new programs to help schools improve. National organizations are bringing together panels of movement leaders to help define standards of practice in the new professional of charter authorizing and charter support.

And we're joining together to help clarify what we mean when we talk about "Quality" Charter Schools. And you know how important it is that we shape that definition, that we talk not only about hitting the proficiency bar on state tests but also about measuring student growth no matter where students are when they arrive in our classrooms, and by asking whether each charter school is fulfilling its unique mission.

But when we talk about quality and accountability, let's be clear that it's not about organizations, and it's not about creating data to satisfy regulators in the state capital.

Accountability is first and foremost about doing what it takes to improve achievement for 1.2 million kids in charter schools across the land. So, every day in our schools, there are principals and teachers drilling down on those interim assessments, trying to figure out how to make sure that Jamal gets get sentence structure or that Maria gets her mind around the Pythagorean Theorem.

And there are board members struggling to refine a budget so that more dollars can stay in the classroom, even when the landlord wants to raise the rent.

And there are, of course, the students themselves, who every day defy stereotypes about "distracted learners" or "disinterested middle schoolers"-- and who come to school demanding to be taught!

This willingness to look hard at our own performance, and to demand more of ourselves, is what makes the charter movement so impressive. And you see it at every level. And that's why I say the state of our movement is strong.

The ôShort List"

What can possibly stand in our way? Nothing, if we're smart enough and work hard enough. But there's a short list of three things we ought to worry about:

First: re-regulation. It's like that old story. If you want to cook a frog, don't drop him in boiling water cause he'll just jump out. Put him in cool water and turn the fire up real slowly. Sometimes I feel like Legislators and Judges and state Ed departments are slowly turning up the heat, and we're not reacting fast enough.

Bit by bit, charter autonomy is getting eaten away in state after state. Sometimes it's our opponents that pile on the new rules-- but sometimes it's our well-meaning friends. We need to let all of them know charters are all different and if one screws up you don't issue a new stack of paperwork for all the others to fill out. But for this argument to stick, we need to be tough on our own and make sure that charter accountability works.

Second: Confusion about "Public."

Ok, repeat after me: Charter schools are public schools.

We say it till we're blue in the face, but only 38% of voters "get it" according to our latest poll. In fact, another survey found that the majority of people think charters charge tuition and teach religion.

This isn't a simple thing to turn around, and the alliance is working on it every day. But as a movement, we also need to ask ourselves whether we're fully living up to that word "public."

People may well get confused when they see a charter school that resists public accountability for its performance. Or when they see schools that want to select the kids who enroll. Or when they see schools that cross what should be a bright line between being a public school and being a sectarian school.

Good people can disagree about some of these things. But every time we help confuse the public about our public responsibilities, we cut into the support we need for equitable public funding and help with charter facilities. That's a cost we cannot afford.

Third, as Ben Franklin said, we must all hang together-- or most assuredly we will all hang separately. What he said about the other signers of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 rings true for the charter movement today. Charter people are fiercely independent, and we've made huge strides in every chartering state by storming the battlements when there was a crisis.

But these are new times.

Because we are growing, we are becoming a bigger target. And you know as well as I that the opposition is well-financed, well-organized, and relentless. That's why the alliance is making a new commitment to work with state charter associations to bolster their capacity for effective advocacy. And that's why, when they ask you to march, you need to lace up your boots, like charter parents and supporters did when the speaker of the California assembly threatened their funding.

Now maybe I'm preaching to the choir here. The 3,000 people at this conference are the ones already in the vanguard. But take this message home, to those who are not here, to those who have not joined the state association, to those who don't think they have the time to write a letter to the editor or testify before the city council or get on the bus to the state capitol.

Tell them that every one of their voices must be heard, that the best testimony to the value of public charter schools comes from the teachers who have new professional opportunities, the parents who now have a partner invested in the future of their child, and the students themselves, and the growing multitude of charter alumni, who are the most eloquent and impressive testimony to the success of our movement.

When I see these faces and hear their stories, I know why we, as a movement, will continue to rise.

Thank you, each and every one of you, for the work you do every day to improve the lives of 1.2 million children in public charter schools.

Click here for more information.

Studying-Achievement-in-Charter-Schools:-What-Do-We-Know003F

adminUser — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT

More and more data have become available over time about how well individual charter schools are doing. This report by Bryan Hassel summarizes and provides commentary on 38 comparative analyses of charter and district performance, including a study-by-study look at central findings and methodological strengths and weaknesses.

Click here for more information.

Stunting-Growth

adminUser — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMT

The Alliance has released the first of its 2006 Issue Briefs, titled "Stunting Growth: The Impact of State-Imposed Caps on Charter Schools." This report identifies the states with legislated limits on charter school growth and documents the impact these laws have on families seeking high quality public schools.

Click here for more information.

Teacher-Leadership-in-Public-Charter-Schools

adminUser — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Introduction

At a recent education conference, the managing partner of a high-performing charter school network said that for every teaching vacancy, the network received 80 to 100 applications. Most, he said, are from teachers working in traditional school districts, yet they are willing to be employed through a one-page "at-will" agreement - not a contract. Why? Because they want to work in a school that is effective in educating disadvantaged students, he said - and because they want to work alongside others who are as passionate as they are.

Read the entire report by clicking on the document below.

Click here for more information.

Testimony-of-Caprice-Young:-Legislative-Hearing-on-Quality-Charter-Schools-and-H.R.-4330,-the-All-STAR-Act

charter — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

On February 24, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools board chairman, Caprice Young, testified before the House Committee on Education and Labor at a hearing on quality charter schools and the All Students Achieving through Reform (All-STAR) Act, H.R. 4330. The All-STAR Act supports the replication and expansion of high quality charter schools as a critical component of improving public education in America, and is one of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools’ top federal legislative priorities.

The hearing was the first on any Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) re-authorization proposals by the 111th Congress, signaling strong bi-partisan support for high- quality public charter schools. It is also the second Education and Labor hearing on public charter schools by this Congress, and shows the Committee’s commitment and emphasis on developing the best policies to support quality charter school growth.

Young previously served as Vice President, Business Development and Alliances with Knowledge Universe (KU). Prior to joining KU in September 2008, she was President and CEO of the California Charter Schools Association. Under Caprice's 5-year leadership, the number of charter California schools grew by more than 300 and student enrollment grew by more than 100,000. From 1999-2003, Caprice also served as a member and president of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education. Her career has included leadership roles in business, higher education and government.

The All Students Achieving through Reform (All-STAR) Act, H.R. 4330, led by Rep. Jared Polis (D-2nd Colo.), expands our nation’s commitment to successful and innovative education programs closing the achievement gaps plaguing America’s public schools. The bill creates a new competitive grant program focused on replicating and expanding the most successful charter schools, particularly in areas with large numbers of schools failing to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). As important, the program will increase the level of accountability for all parties involved in the chartering process, recognizing that increased investments and expectations require increased levels of accountability.

Click the icon below to download a copy of Young's testimony.

Click here for more information.

Testimony-of-Nelson-Smith-before-the-House-Committee-on-Education-and-Labor

adminUser — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT

In September, 2007 Alliance President Nelson Smith testified before the House Committee on Education and Labor the draft reauthorization bill co-sponsored by Reps. George Miller and Buck McKeon.

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The-Answer-Key:-How-to-Plan,-Develop-and-Finance-Your-Charter-School-Facility

adminUser — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 00:00:00 GMT

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The-Bottom-Line

adminUser — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

School districts across the country are having financial problems, and charter schools are increasingly getting blamed. Charters are accused of taking money from "the public schools," although they are public schools themselves. Charters are even taking the blame for rising taxes.

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The-Color-of-Success:-Black-Student-Achievement-in-Public-Charter-Schools

adminUser — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

As educators across the country work to improve educational opportunities and results for Black students, they have an emerging tool at their disposal: public charter schools. In numerous communities throughout the nation, these innovative, tuition-free public schools û which provide administrative flexibility to a school's staff and a rich learning environment with high expectations for its students û are making notable strides in advancing Black student achievement.

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The-Promise-of-Citywide-Charter-Strategies

charter — Thu, 12 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Given this steady growth of the charter school population, and its concentration in cities, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS) anticipated a need for correspondent growth and change of the network of charter support organizations (CSOs). NAPCS works closely with CSOs who provide advocacy and technical support services to charter schools. Most of these organizations are state-based associations and resource centers seeking to serve all the public charter schools in a state. However, in recent years, consistent with the growth of charter schools in cities, several city-based CSOs have been created.

As these city-based support organizations are becoming more prolific, NAPCS sought to examine the potential for citywide charter strategies as a key leverage point for increasing charter school quality, and ultimately contributing to an overall improvement in educational outcomes in a city. The Alliance partnered with FSG, a leading nonprofit consulting and research firm, to study existing city support and develop recommendations for how to increase support for public charter schools in cities across the nation.

This study finds that city-based strategies have the potential to create a shared focus on high-quality schools and improve charter sector coordination. These city-based strategies can be effective at streamlining the path to improving charter school quality and ultimately lead to improved student achievement for the children we serve.
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The-Renaissance-of-Urban-Education:-Charter-Schools-in-America's-Cities

adminUser — Tue, 02 May 2006 00:00:00 GMT

(none)
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Thinking-Outside-the-Charter-Grant-Box

charter — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The world of federal grants available to charter schools is much wider than just the CSP! This power point highlights opportunities which typically pull a majority of applicants from “traditional” LEAs, explore opportunities from a wide array of sources and learn from charters who have been successful in leveraging partnerships.
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Top-10-Charter-Communities-by-Market-Share:-2006-2007:-Second-Annual-Edition

adminUser — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT

In the year that has elapsed since our first report on charter market share, the list of communities with sizeable proportions of charter school students has grown. According to data from the 2006-07 school year, there are now 29 communities, with many ties in percentages, occupying our "Top 10" charter-market slots, with New Orleans again heading the list at 57 percent of students enrolled in public charter schools.

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Top-Ten-Charter-Communities-by-Market-Share:-4th-Annual-Edition

charter — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Public charter schools’ presence in K-12 schooling continues to grow. In fact, charters now enroll more than one in five public school students (22%) in 14 communities – including major cities like Detroit, St. Louis, and Kansas City.

Demand remains strongest in urban areas – and as a result, charter “market share” is growing rapidly in cities and adjacent suburbs, even while the overall number of students remains a modest portion of nationwide enrollment.

The Alliance uses public school enrollment data to find the highest local proportions of students enrolled in public charter schools and illustrates the healthy growth in public charter school enrollment in communities across the country. The report finds:

• Charter Growth Remains Strong: There are 14 communities where more than 20% of public school students are enrolled in charters, up from six in 2005-06. 72 communities now have at least 10% of public school students in charter schools, 27 more than three years ago.

• 10 Districts Enroll 22% of Charter Students: The 10 districts with the largest number of students in public charter schools represent 22% of the total public charter school population nationwide, a total of 304,494 students out of roughly 1.4 million.

• More than 1/3 of Public School Students in Charters in Three Cities: Public charter school market share breaks 30% of students in Detroit (at 32%), Washington, D.C. (36%), and New Orleans (57%).

• New Orleans Remains at #1 in Market Share Percentage: Not only are charters in New Orleans serving a higher percentage of public school students – 57% – than anywhere else in the nation, they are also the highest performing sector of public schools in the city. More importantly, the city’s public schools as a whole are outperforming the pre-Katrina system.

The “Top 10” largest market share public charter school communities are: New Orleans, LA (57%); Washington, D.C. (36%); Detroit, MI (32%); Kansas City, MO (29%); Dayton, OH (27%); Youngstown, OH (26%); St. Louis, MO (25%); Flint, MI (24%); Gary, IN (23%); Phoenix Union High School District, AZ (22%); and Minneapolis, MN (22%).

The “Top 10” communities with the greatest number of students enrolled in public charter schools are: Los Angeles, CA (59,122), Detroit, MI (43,035), Philadelphia, PA (32,579), Houston, TX (29,889), Chicago, IL (28,973), Washington, D.C. (25,729), Miami-Dade County, FL (23,865), New York City, NY (21,367), New Orleans, LA (20,068), and Broward County, FL (19,867).

To see charter school market share data by state, visit the Public Charter Schools Dashboard at http://www.publiccharters.org/dashboard/students/.

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Toward-an-Equitable-Future:-Charter-Schools-and-School-Funding-Litigation

diana — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

At the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS), we are working to ensure that public charter schools are equitably funded and that charter schools have appropriate access to the legal system to ensure equality.

To support these charter school efforts, we are releasing this issue brief titled Toward an Equitable Future: Charter Schools and School-Funding Litigation. The brief provides actionable advice for charter schools and charter support organizations as they consider challenging funding allocations and other decisions in court. The brief was authored in partnership with Andrew Broy, the President of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, and is intended to share practical lessons related to the charter funding landscape and to encourage charter advocates to examine litigation as a potential strategy to achieve funding equity.

The NAPCS continues to release timely, actionable issue briefs and is working with many individual charter schools and charter support organizations on litigation as a complement to ongoing advocacy efforts. In the next year, we expect increased involvement in several states on litigation efforts, with a particular focus on achieving funding equity for public charter school students.

Please feel free to contact Renita Thukral, our Senior Director of Legal Affairs, at 202-521-2831 or renita@publiccharters.org if you have questions. I appreciate your time and continued support of our work and the public charter school movement.

It is with great pleasure that we share these findings and recommendations with legal practitioners and the education community who should reference them, confidently, to better inform their work.

Click here for more information.

Turning-the-Corner-to-Quality:-Policy-Guidelines-for-Ohio-Charter-School-Program

adminUser — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Responding to a request from top Ohio elected officials, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, and the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools prepared this report, which sets forth 17 recommendations to make Ohio's charter school program the strongest in the nation. The research team, coordinated by Public Impact and including Louann Bierlein Palmer, Michelle Godard Terrell, Bryan Hassel, and Peter Svahn, helped these three organizations examine documents, interview officials, review news accounts, plumb data sources, and canvass the country for promising ideas that could be useful to Ohio policymakers.

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Unionized-Charter-Schools:-Dashboard-Data-from-2009-10

nora — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The number of charter schools that hold collective bargaining agreements with teachers’ unions has largely been unknown. Over the years, newspaper articles reported on a handful of examples of unionized charter schools, but the extent to which charter schools were unionized could only be estimated. To remedy this, during the 2009-10 school year, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools collected data to determine the teachers’ union status of every charter school nationwide.
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What-NAEP-Is-Really-Telling-Us-About-Charter-Performance

adminUser — Mon, 22 May 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Last October, charter supporters received some good news upon the release of the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), otherwise known as "The Nation's Report Card." Since the report received scant media attention (reporters still seem to be consulting the less impressive 2003 NAEP data), let's note the main points:

According to the 2005 NAEP, 4th-graders attending public charter schools were making noteworthy strides, pulling even with kids in other public schools.
The improvements were particularly strong in reading, with charter students gaining at a faster rate than students in traditional public schools since 2003.
These reading gains held for African-American, Latino, and low-income charter students. Latino gains were so strong that Latino charter 4th-graders opened a 10-point gap over similar students in other public schools.
While the 2005 NAEP offered generally good news for 4th graders, it found less-robust performance for 8th graders. There, charter students trailed other public school students in math and reading. Unfortunately, no trend analyses can be done because the sample size of 8th-graders in the 2003 NAEP was too small to generate reliable results.

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