Study: New Jersey Charter Students Outperform District Peers

According to the Star-Ledger, Education Week, NJ Spotlight, the Philadelphia Inquirer and various other media outlets, a study from Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) found that New Jersey’s public charter school students outperformed than peers in math and reading. In Newark, home to about a quarter of the state’s charters, students gained nearly an entire school year of extra learning time by attending charters. CREDO director Margaret Raymond said New Jersey’s charters “have some of the largest learning gains we have seen to date.” The report said such schools “are excelling with a high proportion of minority students in poverty” and recommended other high-poverty public schools examine charters’ practices. Nina Rees, president of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools said the study verifies “that a smart strategy for growth focused on students with the greatest needs will produce big gains in student achievement."

Sources: Star-Ledger, Education Week, NJ Spotlight, Philadelphia Inquirer, Huffington Post, NJ101.5, NJ101.5 (audio), Newsworks, Daily Record, NBC 40, Burlington County Times

Charter School Proponents to Announce Campaign to Shut Down Failing Schools

According to the Huffington Post, National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) head Greg Richmond, New Jersey Schools Commissioner Chris Cerf and California Charter Schools Association head Jed Wallace will on Wednesday morning announce a new campaign, “One Million Lives.” The campaign will focus on strengthening states’ ability to close failing charter schools, holding charter authorizers accountable for their schools' performance, and revamping authorizing bodies so they become more professional. A NACSA study found that between 900 and 1,300 charter schools are performing within the lowest 15 percent of schools within their state. "We've been talking about this for a number of years and still there are hundreds of failing schools in the country," Richmond said. The initiative has significant support from the Gates, Walton, Robertson and Dell foundations.

Source: Huffington Post

Op-ed: Education Leaders in Washington State Should Get Behind I-1240

In the News Tribune, Washington Research Council President Richard S. Davis praises Washington state’s new public charter school law, Initiative 1240, and its “carefully structured approach.” Davis warns against a potential legal challenge by Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn, who is opposed to the state charter school commission, rather than his office, overseeing charters. “Given the similar independence of the state board of education, on which Dorn serves as one of 16 members, the argument seems strained,” Davis writes. While a legal challenge will probably be unsuccessful, “a lawsuit would be a disproportionate response, creating uncertainty and making Washington less attractive to top public charter school operators.” Davis suggests instead that Dorn collaborate with public charter school supporters, if necessary amending the initiative in the Legislature. “In that way, he can demonstrate his willingness to support sensible education reform in a state that desperately needs it.”

Source: News Tribune

Op-Ed: Helping Urban Youths to a Brighter Future

In a Washington Times op-ed, Friendship Public Charter Schools founder & chairman Donald L. Hense discusses the importance of ensuring that high school students graduate on time. “Each failure to graduate from high school is a tragedy, both for the individuals who enter the adult world ill-equipped to care for themselves and their families, and for society, which pays a high price for this wasted potential.” D.C.’s overall high school graduation rate increased three points to 56 percent last year. Friendship Collegiate Academy, where three-quarters of students come from low-income families, graduated 91 percent of its students last year. Thirty-five percent of the students who earn a high school diploma in D.C.’s most underserved areas — Wards 7 and 8 — receive theirs from Friendship Collegiate Academy. “By providing a mixture of the various supports required for any student to be successful, we build tenacity in youngsters who easily could give up or succumb to the streets.”

Source: Washington Times

A Charter Success Story in Milwaukee

In Urban Milwaukee, Dave Steele considers Milwaukee College Prep-36th Street (MC Prep), “one of the city’s biggest success stories” where student test scores exceed the state average, despite a majority of students from low-income families, and the student retention rate is higher than the district’s. “Nearly every big city in the US today has at least one success story like MC Prep, which explains why charter schools are increasingly held up as a promising reform strategy,” Steele writes. “In 2011-12 about 10,000 of Milwaukee’s students attended charter schools, and the sector is poised for rapid growth.” Milwaukee Public Schools’ superintendent has embraced charters; national charter networks are now welcomed by the city, including Rocketship Education, which plans to eventually serve 8,000 Milwaukee students. Why are many Milwaukee charters succeeding? “Perhaps the single greatest lesson we can take from those successful schools like MC Prep is how to build organizations that support and encourage excellence over the long term through wise governance.”

Source: Urban Milwaukee