The Charter Blog

Most of the early bloggery on the Race to the Top results is focusing on the horse race. Many scribes are surprised that so many of the Round 1 finalists, who placed well in the first tier of Round 2, got knocked out. A lot are dumbfounded at the exclusion of Louisiana and Colorado, maybe the two most reformy states in the Union. There’s near-universal head-scratching at the number-three showing of Hawaii, a state that was running a four-day school week last year.

So how important was the charter component in judging? As our statement notes, most winners came from strong-law states (although tightly-capped North Carolina, charter-hostile Ohio, and worst-charter-law-in-the-country-state Maryland are baffling).

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Education announced $136 million in new Charter Schools Program (CSP) Grants.

A new report by the U.S. Department of Education indicates charter school teachers leave their schools at higher rates than traditional public school teachers. In 2008-09, 11.4 percent of charter school teachers moved to another school compared with 7.5 percent of traditional public school teachers. In the same year, 12.5 percent of charter school teachers left the profession, compared with 7.9 percent of traditional public school teachers.

The “Education Roundtable” panel was convened by Ebony Magazine and held at the University of Chicago on August  11, 2010.  I was joined by Russlynn Ali, Assistant U.S.

Have you noticed how that phrase keeps popping up in discussions of charter schools?

• Education Week’s coverage of the recent Mathematica middle-school study led as follows: “Students who won lotteries to attend charter middle schools performed, on average, no better in mathematics and reading than their peers…”

Amazingly, after much back and forth over the past few months, the Senate passed a procedural vote on Wednesday, August 4, which clears the way for a $10 billion allocation for an education-jobs package (think State Fiscal Stabilization Funding via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act).  Hats off to Majority Leader Harry Reid who yet again has demonstrated his skill to pass the impassable.  The money will be targeted to states and, like the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, focused on helping state a

At the National Journal LIVE’s education forum on Wednesday, July 28, Alliance president and CEO Peter Groff asked the following question of the panel:

“There’s a lot of conversation about educational equity. You had a question about it Eliza [Krigman] today and Ms. [Randi] Weingarten you talked about it in your opening remarks. The Secretary yesterday said it’s a moral obligation so it seems to be one of the larger pillars of this national conversation on education reform. We know within the public school system there is an inequality and inequity, particularly when you look at charter schools and other public schools with regard to funding and facilities.

“My question for the panel is ‘How do you all purport to close that gap particularly with regard to funding and facilities between public charter schools and other public schools?’”

This morning, at the National Urban League's Centennial Conference, President Obama stood firm for his support of high-quality public charter schools and the Race to the Top competition despite recent pressure to redirect priorities within his education agenda.  We applaud the President for recognizing the urgent need for education reform by steadfastly defending high-quality public charter schools and promising to veto legislation which undermines the Race to the Top.  If you missed his speech, check out the complete

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Over the past few weeks, a battle has raged in D.C. over $800 million in education reform funding rescissions ($500 million from the Race to the Top Fund, $200 million from the Teacher Incentive Fund and $100 million from the Charter Schools Program) that were included in HR 4899, the war supplemental, to finance NEW DOMESTIC SPENDING.

How did charter issues fare in today’s announcement of Round 2 finalists?  Pretty well overall, with some of the same chin-scratchers we saw in Round One.

Of the finalists (18 states and DC):

On Thursday, July 15, the Education and Labor Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Improving Nutrition for America’s Children Act, legislation that expands year-round access for our nation’s students to healthy meals in schools, afterschool programs and other childcare settings.  

Well, the news is in.  District of Columbia public charter schools are kicking butt...in the classroom, that is.  According to test scores from the D.C. Comprehensive Assessment System for public schools, charter middle and high schools are seriously outperforming traditional public schools.  Measuring the performance of students in grades 6 through 8, and in grade 10 -- charter schools scored nine points higher in reading and 14 points higher in math.

Securing adequate and affordable facilities remains a major impediment to the success and growth of the charter school movement – and now there's a valuable new resource from the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) that documents the problem in full – and provides hope that investors will help resolve it.

The National Education Association (NEA) has just wrapped up its Representative Assembly (RA), producing a wonderful series of resolutions. Truly, the NEA is the gift that keeps on giving.

420,000. That’s the estimated number of students currently on waiting lists for public charter schools.

Last week on Friday, June 25, the Alliance hosted a screening of Madeleine Sackler’s new film “The Lottery,”  which pays homage to the thousands of families who are patiently waiting to gain admission to a high-quality public charter school. 

My daughter Danyele has always been a good student but transferring her to a charter high school just three weeks after the start of her junior year made her a GREAT student.

I must admit I was reluctant in the very beginning as I did not have alot of information or hard data regarding the Indianapolis Metropolitan Charter High School; however, after receiving the data, I am very happy with my decision.

Rosa Parks, Bill Clinton, the late U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone, Governor Rudy Perpich and Howard Fuller – all strong civil rights advocates and public charter school supporters – would reject the false history of charters now being distributed by Diane Ravitch and other opponents.   Support from Parks, Clinton, et. al. for chartered public schools came out of a belief in the importance of empowering low-income families and giving educators the chance to create more effective schools.

Times are tough for school budgets. Charters are getting whacked along with schools in traditional districts. Everyone’s looking for new sources of revenue, and here in Washington, our affluent neighboring school districts in Fairfax, Va., and Montgomery County, Md., suggest contrasting paths.

The bottom line of this Newsweek column by Evan Thomas and Pat Wingert is exactly correct: Good policy and strong authorizers produce better charter schools than lousy policy and lax oversight.

But along the way, Thomas and Wingert set up an increasingly-familiar straw man, announced in the sub-head:  “Innovative charter schools outperform bureaucratic public schools every time—right? WRONG.”

Last month a talented string orchestra from the Arts and Technology Academy Public Charter School performed at a National Charter Schools Week event hosted by the Alliance. We were so impressed by their performance that we arranged for a follow-up visit to see the school.

Today, the Arts and Technology Academy really knocked our socks off! Not only did the string orchestra perform William Tell Overture and the Can Can, but students from all grades joined us in the auditorium to showcase performances illustrating  the schools repertoire.