June 30: Top Story - Missouri Judge Rules that Charters Deserve State Funding

According to the Kansas City Star Cole County Judge Richard Callahan yesterday rejected Kansas City School District’s claim that direct state funding to charter schools, previously siphoned through the local school district, was unconstitutional.

In other headlines...
Missouri Judge Rules that Charters Deserve State Funding
Louisiana Lifts State Cap on Charter Growth
Mass. Governor to File for Cap Lift
As Charter Schools Introduce More Choices, Parents Must Decide Carefully

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Missouri Judge Rules that Charters Deserve State Funding
According to the Kansas City Star Cole County Judge Richard Callahan yesterday rejected Kansas City School District’s claim that direct state funding to charter schools, previously siphoned through the local school district, was unconstitutional. Kansas City Schools filed the lawsuit over a 2005 law that provided millions of dollars in per pupil funding to charter schools. Unlike traditional district schools, charter schools do not receive local tax dollars and the change in funding is designed to help compensate for this difference.
Source: Kansas City Star http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/1297443.html

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Louisiana Lifts State Cap on Charter Growth
The Times-Picayune reports that the Louisiana state Legislature voted last week to eliminate the cap on the number of charter schools in the state. The cap was set at 70 schools last year and only applied to charters not affiliated with the Recovery School District (RSD). Currently the state has 24 charter schools outside of the RSD, but lifted the cap in order to be in a better position to apply for some of the $4.5 billion in federal education grants. In a recent visit to New Orleans, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan described Louisiana as "uniquely positioned" to vie for $4.35 billion in federal "Race to the Top" grants.
Source: Times-Picayune Not Available Online

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Mass. Governor to File for Cap Lift
The Easton Journal reports that Massachusetts Secretary of Education Paul Reville has announced that Gov. Deval Patrick will soon file legislation to lift the current cap on charter schools. The lift on the cap is said to be part of the Readiness Project Action Agenda, a strategic plan for reforming the state’s education plan. The plan includes strategies for improving professional development for teachers, strengthen the state’s ability to assume greater control of a school district when it fails to meet certain performance standards, and doing more to involve parents. Statewide, more than 23,000 students are on charter school waiting lists for 61 charter schools, according to the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association.
Source: Easton Journal http://www.wickedlocal.com/easton/news/x998787525/Bill-would-expand-charter-schools

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As Charter Schools Introduce More Choices, Parents Must Decide Carefully
An opinion in the Atlanta Constitution Journal, reminds parental supporters of charter schools that academic quality must trump parent satisfaction for all schools. Maureen Downey cautions that as states encourage the creation of more charter schools, parental satisfaction will become more important and should be focused on the correct academic measures. A 2003 study by University of Texas researchers found that Hispanic and low-income parents were more satisfied than other parents with their schools even though their children had lower achievement. “This finding is significant because many state accountability policies assume that low achievement scores cause parents to become dissatisfied and that this dissatisfaction drives school improvement,” concluded the study.
Source: Atlanta Constitution Journal, http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/2009/06/29/downeyed_0629_2DOT.html

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