NAPCS Monthly Newsletter

Dear Friends,

On the heels of National Charter Schools Week and the 30th anniversary of the publication of the landmark report, A Nation at Risk, we extend our thanks to advocates across the nation who have mobilized in support of high-quality public charter schools. And we are even more excited to see so many of you in person in our nation’s capital on June 30th-July 3rd during our largest gathering of the year, the National Charter Schools Conference.

I’m also glad to report that states have been continuing to take action to strengthen their public charter school sectors. Strong bipartisan support in Mississippi to dramatically strengthen the state’s charter school law was matched by impressive action on the part of parents, advocates and elected leaders in Massachusetts and Texas, working to lift unreasonable caps on charter schools (read my recent op-ed on Massachusetts).

To stay updated on these and other advocacy efforts follow me on Twitter, @Ninacharters, and through our website.
   
Best regards,

Nina Rees
President and CEO
@Ninacharters

Conference Update – 2013 Charter Schools Hall of Fame
Each year the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools inducts a special group of individuals and organizations into the National Charter Schools Hall of Fame. The honor goes to individuals and organizations that have: pioneered efforts to develop and grow charter schools; committed to and contributed to charter schools and education; proposed and implemented innovative ideas; and, inspired others in the charter school movement.

We are excited to announce the 2013 inductees to the National Charter Schools Hall of Fame: the Walton Family Foundation; Lisa Graham Keegan, CEO of the Education Breakthrough Network and former Superintendent of Public Instruction from Arizona; and Linda Moore, founder of the Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom Public Charter School in Washington D.C.

The 2013 inductees will be officially honored on July 1, 2013 at the National Charter Schools Conference. The conference is filling up – so make sure to register by June 7th, the last day to receive regular registration rates, and stay tuned to #NCSC13 for all the latest conference updates!

Public Charter Schools Rank Among Top Public High Schools in the Nation
The rankings are in! Every year, U.S. News & World Report, The Washington Post and Newsweek rank public high schools across the nation.

Newsweek recently came out with their Transformative High Schools list, which takes students’ socioeconomic status into account by looking at schools that serve a high percentage of students who receive free- or reduced-price lunches. Sixteen public charter schools were on the list, comprising 64 percent of the nation’s top 25 “Transformative” schools – despite public charter schools making up only six percent of public schools nationwide. Also, no surprise, all top five schools were public charter schools!

Also, according to U.S. News & World Report, 28 public charter schools were in the top 100 – and three were in the top 10. The Washington Post’s “Most Challenging High Schools” list also put 28 public charter schools in their top 100 – and four in their top 10. In Newsweek’s “America’s Best High Schools” list, 13 public charter schools were in the top 100, with two BASIS charter schools reaching the top 10. According to The Atlantic, BASIS students were found to be several years ahead of their classmates when it came to proficiency in basic subjects. As I stated in this article, "[this] is a sign that there is something in their formula that needs to be replicated as quickly as possible because it seems to be producing great results."

Reflecting Back – National Charter Schools Week 2013
During this year’s National Charter Schools Week, Americans heard from parents, officials and public charter school advocates.

President Obama issued a Presidential Proclamation recognizing National Charter Schools Week 2013. U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA) expressed strong support for public charter schools, marking the official start of what was the 14th annual week of recognition. Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) editorialized in The Hill about the need for all parents and families to have the option to enroll their children in high-quality public charter schools.

We had the privilege of recognizing this year’s Charter Champions that week: Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), Congressman John Kline (R-MN), Mississippi Lieutenant Governor Tate Reeves, State Senator Gray Tollison (MS) and Mayor Karl Dean (Nashville, TN) – public officials unmatched in their service to parents and students of the charter school movement.

 
Congressman Kline presented with a 2013 Charter Champion award
(Image via the National Alliance for Public Charter School)

In the Golden State, more than 150 school leaders and parents attended the California Charter Schools Association's 20th Anniversary Advocacy Day, where they met with elected officials to discuss the impact charters are having on students’ success. The Texas Charter Schools Association welcomed more than 700 parents, students, teachers and charter leaders, who rallied on the steps of the state capitol to show their strong support for charter schools. The Illinois Network of Charter Schools hosted more than 500 parents, teachers, and students in Springfield, who called for equitable funding for public charter schools.

 
Parents rally at the Texas state capitol
(Image via Austin American-Statesman)

As President Obama said, “… charter schools choose to locate in communities with few high-quality educational options, making them an important partner in widening the circle of opportunity for students who need it most.”

Representing Public Charters on STEM
Last month, the House Education and Workforce Committee requested our assistance with finding a public charter school witness for a Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary hearing on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). We secured Bill Kurtz, CEO of DSST Public Schools from Denver, CO, to testify on “Raising the Bar: Reviewing STEM Education in America.” In addition to his views on STEM, he emphasized the importance of federal support for charter schools during his testimony.

About the National Alliance
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools is the leading national nonprofit organization committed to advancing the charter school movement. Our mission is to lead public education to unprecedented levels of academic achievement by fostering a strong charter sector.

Minnesota students win awards in statewide charter writing contest

New Analysis Indicates that Public Charter Schools Do Not Lead to Increased Segregation

National Charter Schools Week 2013 Highlights

During this year’s National Charter Schools Week (NCSW), NAPCS hosted 16 of our key state association leaders (from AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, GA, IL, IN, MD, MA, MI, NJ, OH, SC, and TX) in Washington, D.C. to advocate for greater support for public charter schools.

Our goal was to both influence the discussions around the re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) by focusing on ways within the statute to enhance charter school quality and to ask for greater funding for charter schools – to support the creation of new schools and replicating effective models.

NCSW highlights included:

• Charter Champions Award Reception: The reception honored the leadership of this year’s Charter Champions: House Education and Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-MN), Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Mississippi Lt. Governor Tate Reeves, Mississippi State Senator Gray Tollison, and Nashville Mayor Karl Dean. We were also joined by many Members of Congress, including House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD), Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO), Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN), Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Rep. Greg Harper (R-MS), Rep. Alan Nunnelee (R-MS), and Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ).

U.S. Rep. Hoyer, Nashville Mayor Dean, and U.S. Rep. Kline at the Charter Champions reception


NAPCS President Nina Rees presents Charter Champion award to Miss. Sen. Gray Tollison

• Meeting with Senator Durbin (D-IL): Because the Senator could not attend our reception in person, Andrew Broy, President of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, presented the Senator with the Charter Champion award in the Senator’s Capitol office and spent time discussing the state of the movement in Illinois, with a particular focus on the Senator’s interest in East St. Louis and North Chicago. 

Illinois Network of Charter Schools President Andrew Broy presents Senator Durbin with his Charter Champion Award

• Meeting with Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA): Tony Roberts, President of the Georgia Charter Schools Association, met with Rep. Kingston, who is the Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education and gave him an update on the high level of demand for charter schools in the wake of the passage of Georgia’s Constitutional amendment.

Georgia Charter Schools Association President Tony Roberts and U.S. Rep. Kingston

• Meeting with Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO): Congressman Polis met with state leaders and NAPCS staff to discuss his All-Star Act, which will make improvements to the federal Charter Schools Program (CSP).

Congressmen Polis and Kline at the Charter Champions reception

• Meeting with Nadya Dabby, Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Office of Innovation and Improvement at the U.S. Department of Education: The meeting was both informative about the Department’s priorities, and allowed for state leaders to articulate their priorities for the CSP and its administration.

Finally, there were a number of meetings with Congressional staff who will play an instrumental role in the writing of ESEA. State leaders met with staff representing: House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH); House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Kline (R-MN); Senior Democrat, Rep. George Miller (D-CA); Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA); Ranking Member Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN); and Chairman Harkin’s Appropriations staff.


Katherine Haley with Speaker Boehner’s office meeting with state leaders

In addition, the NAPCS State Leaders Council members met with a dozen more offices from their state delegations, updating members of Congress and their staffs about the charter school movements in their respective states and districts, and the importance of increasing funding for the federal CSP.

We look forward to building on the NCSW momentum as we gather in Washington, D.C. again in July for the National Charter Schools Conference! 

Media Round Up

•  “New Poll: Moms Prefer More School Choice,” NAPCS data cited, North American Press Syndicate, May 16
• “Broad Foundation Names Three Finalists for Charter Schools Prize,” NAPCS National Charter Schools Conference cited, Education Week’s District Dossier blog, May 15
• “Georgia Charters Create Alternative Teacher Pipeline,” Lisa Grover (Sr. Director of State Services) quoted, Heartland, May 10

News to Know

• “Texas House Votes to Lift Cap on Charter Schools,” Houston Chronicle, May 17
• “The Bronx Is Burning — With Charter School Applications,” New York Daily News, May 16
• “Charter School Caps Looking for Big Lift in Texas, Massachusetts,” Education Week’s State EdWatch blog, May 15
• “Minneapolis Charters Inspire Change in School System,” Minnesota Public Radio, May 14
• “Illinois Charter Commission to Decide Virtual School Appeal,” Daily Herald, May 13

Audience Favorites

Facebook—While charter schools are only 6% of all public schools, they're prevalent on the U.S. News & World Report, Washington Post, and Newsweek annual rankings of public high schools across the nation. Click the link to see if your public charter school made the top 100 on one or more of these rankings lists. http://www.publiccharters.org/Blog/Default.aspx?id=419

Twitter—@charteralliance: Tour of @phoenixcharter serving challenged adolescents. What's fair accountability for "alternative" schls? #NCSC13 bit.ly/15NwOSF

You can stay up to date on all the developments in the public charter school sector by subscribing to our regular news updates…Sign up here.

Charter School Research: What Do We Know, Where Are the Gaps, and What Should Be the Focus?

While the emerging story from recent research on student outcomes in public charter schools indicates largely positive impacts on students, there are many areas of further research needed to better understand the instructional, governance, operational , and policy conditions that contribute to why some public charters create better opportunities for learning than others. To inspire new research, NAPCS organized a session at the recent American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference to review the empirical research on public charter schools, identify gaps in the research base that warrant further investigation, discuss available data resources for pursuing new strands of charter school research, and propose priority areas for new research. The session brought together prominent researchers with diverse perspectives in the field of charter school research.

Penny Wohlstetter, Joanna Smith, and Caitlin Farrell kicked of the session by presenting central findings from their new book, Choices & Challenges, a comprehensive review of charter school research. The table below summarizes the focus of existing research and shows that several of the most critical areas for evaluating charter success (governance, school leadership, authorizing, and charter school finances) have received less attention from researchers.

 
Source: Wohlstetter, Priscilla, Joanna Smith, & Caitlin C. Farrell. (2013). Choices & Challenges: Charter School Performance in Perspective. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

After discussing the holes in existing research, the session shifted to several publicly available data resources that researchers could use to expand the scope of research on charter schools. Jack Buckley, Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, presented data available from the U.S. Department of Education, including EdFacts, NAEP, the Common Core of Data, the Schools and Staffing Survey, Civil Rights Data Collection, and several longitudinal surveys (ELS, HSLS, ECLS, and NHES). Joni Pearlman discussed the National Charter School Resource Center’s National Authorizer - Charter School Catalog. I presented on NAPCS’ Public Charter School Dashboard and the Model Law Rankings Database. And finally, Gary Miron presented information on his annual report, Profiles of For-Profit and Nonprofit Education Management Organizations.

Tricia Maas (Center for Reinventing Public Education) concluded the conversation by presenting a proposed research agenda with suggestions for prioritizing new research on charter schools based on the identified gaps and available resources.

Overall, the session had great attendance and a healthy question and answer portion at the end. I am hopeful that the session will inspire researchers to tackle pending research questions and present at next year’s AERA conference.

Phoenix Charter Academy's Alternative School Model Meets Student Needs and Fosters Academic Success

Public Charter Schools Rank Among Top Public High Schools in the Nation

The rankings are in!  Every year, U.S. News & World Report, the Washington Post, and Newsweek rank public high schools across the nation. Despite public charter schools making up only 6 percent of public high schools nationwide, they have been historically well represented on these lists, and 2013 is no exception. 

The table below presents the public charter schools that were ranked in the top 100 on at least one of the lists, as well as the public charter schools ranked in Newsweek’s top 25 Transformative Schools list. Five public charter schools were listed in the top 100 on the three major lists: Peak to Peak Charter School, Signature School Incorporated, Uplift Education – North Hills Preparatory High School, Westlake Academy, and the American Indian Public High School, which was also ranked as the second best Transformative School in the nation.

The U.S. News & World Report’s Best High Schools list had 28 public charter schools in the top 100, up from 17 last year. The report also ranked three public charters in the top 10. The Washington Post’s Most Challenging High Schools list also put 28 public charter schools in their top 100, and four in their top 10. In Newsweek’s America’s Best high Schools list, there were 13 public charter schools in the top 100, with two BASIS charter schools reaching their top 10.

Newsweek also came out with their Transformative High Schools list, which takes students’ socioeconomic status into account by looking at schools that serve a high percentage of students who receive free- or reduced-price lunches. Sixteen public charter schools were on the list, making up 64 percent of the nation’s top 25 Transformative schools. All top five schools were public charter schools.

Methodology

The U.S. News & World Report Best High Schools list evaluates over 21,000 public high schools in the country. Their ranking is based on students’ performance on state-mandated assessments, minority and economically disadvantaged student performance, and Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) exam results to determine preparedness for college-level work.

The Washington Post’s Challenge Index is calculated by the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) tests given at a school in 2012, divided by the number of graduates that year. Also included are the percentage of students who come from families that qualify for lunch subsidies and the percentage of graduates who passed at least one college-level test during their high school career, indicators called equity and excellence for the Challenge Index.

Newsweek's America’s Best High Schools ranks schools based on six components: graduation rate (25 percent), college acceptance rate (25 percent), AP/IB/AICE tests taken per student (25 percent), average SAT/ACT scores (10 percent), average AP/IB/AICE scores (10 percent), and percent of students enrolled in at least one AP/IB/AICE course (5 percent). Their ranking system focuses on high schools that have proven to be the most effective in turning out college-ready grads.  

Newsweek’s Transformative Schools ranking used the Newsweek's America's Best High Schools score and multiplied it by the percentage of students who are eligible for free- or reduced-price lunches, a leading indicator of socioeconomic status. The overall ranking for each school is based on the graduation rate, college-bound rate of grads, AP participation, and test scores.

More than 700 Texas Charter School Parents, Students, Teachers and Charter Leaders call for passage of strong charter legislation at TCSA Rally at the South Steps of the Texas State Capitol

During National Charter Schools Week and in the final 20 days of the 83rd Legislature, the Texas Charter Schools Association welcomed to Austin more than 700 parents, students, teachers and charter leaders from across Texas to rally on the south steps of the Texas State Capitol to show their strong support for public charter schools and charter legislation this session. On that same day, the TCSA’s first charter bill, SB 1538, which helps to accurately measure drop out recovery charters and traditional public schools, passed and is headed to the Governor’s desk. 

TCSA executive director David Dunn praised all the charter school parents, like our two parents from Dallas and Austin who spoke at the rally, students, teachers and leaders across the state, who are working this session with the Texas House and Senate to pass legislation that will strengthen and support effective charter schools in Texas, lift the arbitrary cap on charter schools, and more accurately measure drop out recovery schools and the work they do with students returning to high school to recover credits and graduate. 

He also thanked our Legislators for leaving the House and Senate chambers and addressing charter parents and supporters at the rally.  During the rally, we cheered and thanked them for their support and for all the hard work they are doing this session to pass good and needed charter legislation.

Texas Lt. Governor David Dewhurst addressed the rally participants as well as Senate Education Chairman Dan Patrick, House Public Education Committee member and Representative Marsha Farney and Representative Diane Patrick.  During National Charter Schools Week, public charter school parents, leaders and supporters traveled from Houston, San Antonio, San Marcos, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Angelo and locally from Austin, Tex., to rally for legislation that helps their children and strengthens overall charter school policy to benefit all charter schools statewide. 

We began the day with lunch on the Capitol grounds, and then TCSA led a supporter march from 11th and Congress up to the Capitol south steps, chanting our support for public charter schools and options for parents and students. We rallied at the south steps and then entered the Senate gallery to watch the Senators in action.  Senator Dan Patrick, chairman of the Senate Education committee, recognized our charter parents, students, teachers and leaders in the gallery and we stood to applaud and wave.  Rally participants ended their day at the Texas Capitol by visiting their district House rep and asking for support on TCSA’s list of charter bills. 

All of the rally participants represent more than 154,000 students on 500-plus open-enrollment charter school campuses across the state, and equally as important, the larger-than-expected crowd represents the more than 101,000 students on waiting lists for a spot at a charter school.  The Texas Charter Schools Association is the statewide association representing open-enrollment charter schools in every part of our great state of Texas, and we continue to advocate for quality charter schools and state policy that will create an environment for more charter growth, more innovation and more options for parents and students in Texas.

Public charter schools are making a difference for students in Texas.

• In 2011 (the last year of rankings in Texas), in public charter schools rated under Texas' Standard Accountability System, higher percentages of African-American and Hispanic students passed the TAKS test in every core subject area than in traditional public schools.
• According to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts in her annual Financial Allocation Study for Texas (FAST), Texas charter schools account for nearly 30% of the state's most fiscally efficient public schools, even though they represent only 3% of the student population.
• Texas public charter schools, as a percentage, serve more African-American students, more Hispanic students, more economically disadvantaged students and more at risk students than traditional public schools. Public charter schools serve only slightly fewer limited English proficient and special education students, as a percentage, than traditional public schools.
• U.S. News & World Report Best High Schools Rankings: 8 out of the top 20 in Texas are public charter schools.

Image via Austin American-Statesman: Texas Senate Education Committee Chairman Dan Patrick speaks at TCSA rally



Image via Austin American-Statesman

MAPSA’s Documentary About Jalen Rose’s Charter School Promotes an Important Conversation

What should a parent do when they feel their current school is not working for their child? And how do we create the quality schools they deserve?

That was the focus as the Michigan Association of Public School Academies had an exciting event this week to kick off National Charter Schools Week – the premiere of an original documentary we produced on the first year of the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy in Detroit. The full-length documentary was called “Creating Hope: A Year in the Life of a New Charter School,” and it was written and directed by MAPSA’s Emmy-nominated Vice President of Communications, Buddy Moorehouse.

For those who might not be basketball fans, Jalen Rose was a member of the University of Michigan’s fabled Fab Five team from the early 1990s. He later went on to a long career in the NBA, and currently works as a basketball analyst for ESPN and NBC. He’s obviously gone on to great success and fame in his life, and people like that often forget where they came from.

Not Jalen Rose. The state of public education in his hometown, Detroit, has always troubled him, so a few years back, he decided to do something about it. He founded a charter high school on the city’s northwest side called the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy. The school would teach leadership and responsibility along with the academic subjects, and it would feature an extended school day and school year – 211 days in all.

The school opened in 2011, and MAPSA’s documentary project began at that time. We decided to tell the story of the school through the eyes of one student and her family. Unique Bailey’s family enrolled her at the school in 2011 because they felt the local school district wasn’t meeting the needs of their daughter. Unique was a very bright girl, but she was getting lost in her old school district. Her parents wanted more for her. They wanted hope. They found it at the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy.

The documentary project consumed nearly a full year, as we followed Unique and her classmates all the way to the last day of classes on Aug. 3, 2012. Editing on the film began soon after that, and the premiere took place at the start of National Charter Schools Week on Monday evening, May 6, at the Detroit Institute of Arts. We had a dream audience in attendance – a who’s who of Michigan’s business, philanthropic, educational, media and community leaders.

The main intent of the documentary was to start a conversation that needs to take place now in our state, and our country. Specifically, what does a parent do when they feel trapped in a school that isn’t meeting the needs of their child? And how do we create the schools they deserve? We saw that question come to life through the eyes of Unique Bailey and her family.

This was a film about a charter school, but in the same way, it was not a film about a charter school. Because the challenges faced by the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy are the same challenges that every public school in our state faces – creating a school that meets the needs of the student. As we pointed out on Monday night, we don’t need good schools in our state – we need GREAT schools in our state.

An important step in that process is defining the challenges and starting a conversation. That was the intent of our documentary, and we’re heartened that we were able to start this conversation during National Charter Schools Week. We had a panel discussion following the film that featured myself along with educators, legislators, media members, parents – and a former basketball star who was willing to roll up his sleeves to get his hands dirty, to help make a difference in his hometown.

Jalen Rose isn’t used to sitting on the sidelines when the game isn’t going well. We need more people like him if we’re going to create more excellent schools.

We’re going to be showing the documentary to more people in more places around Michigan, because we feel it’s an effective way to illustrate the challenges and get the discussion moving.

The film ends with Unique Bailey’s mother, Tanisha Bailey, saying, “I can’t fail Unique. I cannot. I cannot fail her.”

Mrs. Bailey, you’re right. You can’t fail Unique. And neither can we. The success of our state, and our country, depends on the success of our students.

We can’t fail them.

Dan Quisenberry is the President of the Michigan Association of Public School Academies, the state’s united voice for charter schools.



Photo: From left, charter school founder Jalen Rose, MAPSA President Dan Quisenberry, Michigan Senate Education Committee Chairman Phil Pavlov and JRLA Superintendent Joe Tenbusch participate in a panel discussion following the premiere of “Creating Hope.”