There's a new resource for anything charter related and it's called the National Charter School Resource Center. The site provides information for state agencies and charter school authorizers in addition to information about facilities and school turnaround.
The site is fairly new and funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Charter School Program. Watch for the site to grow as additional resources are vetted and added.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
CSI Prevails in Appeal from CDELA
The Colorado Education and Distance Education Learning Academy (CDELA) lost their appeal to the State Board of Education this afternoon. CDELA is managed by White Hat Management out of Ohio.
Board member, Randy DeHoff, recused himself from the hearing because he was Executive Director of CSI at the time the CSI board voted to nonrenew the CDELA contract.
CDELA attorney said the three primary issues of the appeal were finances, records and academics. The state board honed in on the lack of academic achievement from CDELA students. In addition, it came out that the CDELA student performance data was only based on 53 students who took CSAP for two consecutive years while with the charter school. CSI's attorney, Tony Dyl, pointed out that a very high percentage of students failed to return a second year therefore making a very small sample size to critique student achievement.
State board chair, Bob Schaffer, before he voted noted that he was a strong supporter of charter schools but he was an even stronger supporter of offering students a quality education and he didn't see that with CDELA. Several other board members also voiced concern about the lack of student academic achievement during the hearing, even redirecting the attorneys when they were presenting their cases.
The board voted unanimously to affirm CSI's decision to not renew the CDELA charter contract. The school is slated to close at the end of this school year.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
An Opinion on the Common Core Standards
Dr. Terrence O. Moore, the former principal of Ridgeview Classical Schools in Fort Collins, addresses common core standards here. Ridgeview is a school that doesn't even attempt to address Colorado model content standards and they believe their educational program exceeds any state assessment. They're right. Ridgeview consistently ranks in the top three high schools in Colorado.
I ran a K-12 classical charter school for seven years. Not once did I or any of the teachers look at a state standard in reading or writing (math is something of a different case). The students did no test prep. When our students took the state exams, all they did was complain about how easy and worthless they were and how they wanted to get back to real learning. Every year the high school ranked in the top three in the state, twice coming out first. The secret was breathtakingly simple. The way to teach literacy for the twenty-first century turns out to be the same way it has been done in the last thirty centuries of civilization: to hire the brightest and best-educated teachers (usually not those coming out of a school of education considered “certified”), to put in their hands the best works of literature and history and philosophy, to invite young people to have a conversation about what it means to be a human being, and to require those students to work hard and demonstrate good character while doing so. When all the Mickey-Mouse language of plot graphs and
“standards” is abandoned, it’s just you and some students talking about love, hate, war, peace, liberty, slavery, happiness, life, and death. And the students know when you’re faking it.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Denver School of Science & Technology One of Six Finalists to Have Pres. Obama Speak at Graduation Ceremony
From Bill Kurtz, the Principal of Denver School of Science and Technology in Denver:
Dear Friends,
I am thrilled to share with you that DSST has been selected by the White House as one of six finalists in a national competition to have President Obama speak at our high school graduation ceremony in May. You can read more about this in the press release that was issued by the White House this afternoon (please see below).
1,000 high schools applied for this honor. The application was 3 parts: Academic results, Student essays, and a Video. You can watch the video and read application materials here:
http://www.scienceandtech.org/
Later this month, DSST along with the other 5 finalist schools will be featured on the White House website for voting by the public to determine the top 3 schools. Then President Obama himself will choose the winner from the top 3. We will have more information about this process in the weeks ahead.
We are very proud of our students, parents, teachers, and staff for their achievements! Our continued academic success is what has made this great honor possible. We are very grateful for the support of our board and you, our community and friends, for your continued belief in our mission and model. Thank you and we will continue to update you as the story unfolds.
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
_______________________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 9, 2010
President Obama, Department of Education Announce Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge Finalists Six Public High Schools Selected to Compete for Presidential Commencement Address
WASHINGTON – The White House and the Department of Education announced today the six high schools selected as finalists for the first annual Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge. The Commencement Challenge, launched in late February, invited the nation’s public high schools to submit applications showing their dedication to providing students with an excellent education that will prepare them to graduate ready for college and career choices. Applications were judged based on the schools performance, four essay questions and supplemental data. The six finalists were selected for their dedication to academic excellence and for showing how they are helping prepare students to graduate college and career ready, and prepared to meet the President’s goal of having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020.
Finalists:
· Blue Valley Northwest High School (Overland Park, Kansas)
· Clark Montessori Junior High and High School (Cincinnati, Ohio)
· Denver School of Science and Technology (Denver, Colorado)
· Environmental Charter High School (Lawndale, California)
· Kalamazoo Central High School (Kalamazoo, Michigan)
· MAST Academy (Miami, Florida)
“I thank all of the schools that submitted applications for the first Commencement Challenge and I congratulate the six finalists for demonstrating effective approaches to teaching, learning and preparing students to graduate ready for college and a career,” said President Obama. “The quality of the applications we received is a testament to the exciting work happening in schools throughout the country, and I look forward to visiting and speaking at the winning school later this spring.”
“These six schools represent just a few of the stories of success that are happening all across the country,” said Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “We won’t accomplish the President’s national goal of leading the world in college completion by 2020 without the hard work and dedication of the school leaders, teachers and students exemplified by our six final high schools.”
Over the next few weeks, each school’s students will work with The Get Schooled Foundation, which includes Viacom and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation among its founding partners, to create a short video highlighting how the school best fulfills the Challenge’s criteria. The six videos, along with portions of each school’s written application, will be featured on the White House website in the coming weeks and the public will have an opportunity to vote for the three schools they think best meet the President’s goal. The President will select a national winner from these three finalists and will visit the winning high school to deliver the commencement later this spring.
Watch a video of the schools being notified of their selection on Thursday, April 8, 2010.
Update: Denver Post article
Dear Friends,
I am thrilled to share with you that DSST has been selected by the White House as one of six finalists in a national competition to have President Obama speak at our high school graduation ceremony in May. You can read more about this in the press release that was issued by the White House this afternoon (please see below).
1,000 high schools applied for this honor. The application was 3 parts: Academic results, Student essays, and a Video. You can watch the video and read application materials here:
http://www.scienceandtech.org/
Later this month, DSST along with the other 5 finalist schools will be featured on the White House website for voting by the public to determine the top 3 schools. Then President Obama himself will choose the winner from the top 3. We will have more information about this process in the weeks ahead.
We are very proud of our students, parents, teachers, and staff for their achievements! Our continued academic success is what has made this great honor possible. We are very grateful for the support of our board and you, our community and friends, for your continued belief in our mission and model. Thank you and we will continue to update you as the story unfolds.
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
_______________________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 9, 2010
President Obama, Department of Education Announce Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge Finalists Six Public High Schools Selected to Compete for Presidential Commencement Address
WASHINGTON – The White House and the Department of Education announced today the six high schools selected as finalists for the first annual Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge. The Commencement Challenge, launched in late February, invited the nation’s public high schools to submit applications showing their dedication to providing students with an excellent education that will prepare them to graduate ready for college and career choices. Applications were judged based on the schools performance, four essay questions and supplemental data. The six finalists were selected for their dedication to academic excellence and for showing how they are helping prepare students to graduate college and career ready, and prepared to meet the President’s goal of having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020.
Finalists:
· Blue Valley Northwest High School (Overland Park, Kansas)
· Clark Montessori Junior High and High School (Cincinnati, Ohio)
· Denver School of Science and Technology (Denver, Colorado)
· Environmental Charter High School (Lawndale, California)
· Kalamazoo Central High School (Kalamazoo, Michigan)
· MAST Academy (Miami, Florida)
“I thank all of the schools that submitted applications for the first Commencement Challenge and I congratulate the six finalists for demonstrating effective approaches to teaching, learning and preparing students to graduate ready for college and a career,” said President Obama. “The quality of the applications we received is a testament to the exciting work happening in schools throughout the country, and I look forward to visiting and speaking at the winning school later this spring.”
“These six schools represent just a few of the stories of success that are happening all across the country,” said Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “We won’t accomplish the President’s national goal of leading the world in college completion by 2020 without the hard work and dedication of the school leaders, teachers and students exemplified by our six final high schools.”
Over the next few weeks, each school’s students will work with The Get Schooled Foundation, which includes Viacom and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation among its founding partners, to create a short video highlighting how the school best fulfills the Challenge’s criteria. The six videos, along with portions of each school’s written application, will be featured on the White House website in the coming weeks and the public will have an opportunity to vote for the three schools they think best meet the President’s goal. The President will select a national winner from these three finalists and will visit the winning high school to deliver the commencement later this spring.
Watch a video of the schools being notified of their selection on Thursday, April 8, 2010.
Update: Denver Post article
Tennessee Squeezes Their Charters Out of Race to the Top Funds, Too
It's not just Colorado that has no plans to share their Race to the Top Funds with public charter schools. Back in January, I wrote about Colorado's RttT application not having any benefit for our state's charter schools. Colorado was selected as one of the 16 finalists for Race to the Top, but only Tennessee and Delaware were chosen for Phase One funding.
Race to the Top is a U.S. Department of Education competitive grant that is awarded to state's meeting certain criteria. One of these is how they treat their charter schools. Colorado faired well in this category.
The Memphis Business Journal reports their state's charter schools won't receive a benefit from the Race to the Top funding recently awarded to Tennessee. The money will be given to school districts that do not have an obligation to equitably distribute those funds to their public charter schools. The reason for this juxtaposition is that the federal RttT guidance doesn't include charter schools in a meaningful way. The grant is very misleading to the public who thinks that because states must be "charter friendly" in order to get the grant, the charter schools would receive some sort of benefit. Not so.
Race to the Top is a U.S. Department of Education competitive grant that is awarded to state's meeting certain criteria. One of these is how they treat their charter schools. Colorado faired well in this category.
The Memphis Business Journal reports their state's charter schools won't receive a benefit from the Race to the Top funding recently awarded to Tennessee. The money will be given to school districts that do not have an obligation to equitably distribute those funds to their public charter schools. The reason for this juxtaposition is that the federal RttT guidance doesn't include charter schools in a meaningful way. The grant is very misleading to the public who thinks that because states must be "charter friendly" in order to get the grant, the charter schools would receive some sort of benefit. Not so.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Colorado Aces One Section of the Race to the Top Application
Colorado's Race to the Top application scored 40 out of 40 in only one section: the section regarding charter schools!
Not surprising given that Colorado's charter school movement is known to have high performing schools as a result of slow, manageable growth. There's always been an emphasis in Colorado to push charter schools to increase student academic achievement. The Charter Schools Act has always prioritized accountability. The addition of the Charter School Institute Act in 2004 emphasized quality authorizing through the grant of exclusive chartering authority to districts who have demonstrated they were good authorizers through meeting certain criteria and CSI is statutorily mandated to be a best practice model in regard to authorizing.
What makes the Colorado charter school law strong? Our law provides for the automatic waiver of employment laws such as teacher licensing, tenure and salary schedules. Charter schools all use at-will employees and don't--at all--deal with collective bargaining agreements that bind most of the state's school districts. Further, the law provides for autonomy by granting the charter school board control over their operations, including the financial budget. Finally, another key point is that the Charter Schools Act provides a way for failing charter schools to close. In fact, more than 20 charter schools have closed since the law was originally adopted in 1993. A handful of these, about four, have closed for academic reasons.
The Center for Education Reform ranks Colorado's law as a "B."
Not surprising given that Colorado's charter school movement is known to have high performing schools as a result of slow, manageable growth. There's always been an emphasis in Colorado to push charter schools to increase student academic achievement. The Charter Schools Act has always prioritized accountability. The addition of the Charter School Institute Act in 2004 emphasized quality authorizing through the grant of exclusive chartering authority to districts who have demonstrated they were good authorizers through meeting certain criteria and CSI is statutorily mandated to be a best practice model in regard to authorizing.
What makes the Colorado charter school law strong? Our law provides for the automatic waiver of employment laws such as teacher licensing, tenure and salary schedules. Charter schools all use at-will employees and don't--at all--deal with collective bargaining agreements that bind most of the state's school districts. Further, the law provides for autonomy by granting the charter school board control over their operations, including the financial budget. Finally, another key point is that the Charter Schools Act provides a way for failing charter schools to close. In fact, more than 20 charter schools have closed since the law was originally adopted in 1993. A handful of these, about four, have closed for academic reasons.
The Center for Education Reform ranks Colorado's law as a "B."
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Defining "Members"
Every charter school that incorporates has to declare who "members" of their corporation are. Some charter schools choose the parents of all currently enrolled students. Others have just the board be the members, particularly if it is a board of community members or a school run by a management company.
Members typically have voting rights. They usually cast their vote at the annual meeting, which is oftentimes in May for charter schools.
The members determine who holds the charter, or who really has the authority in a charter school. When problems arise at a charter school, the first thing parents should investigate is the school's bylaws.
The Articles of Incorporation are online on the Secretary of State's website. There's a searchable database and so it's easy to find out what corporate documents a charter school has filed. Sometimes the bylaws are also on this site, but most often bylaws are obtained through the school's front office. If access is readily provided, an Open Records Request should be filed. This means that by putting in writing that you want a copy of the bylaws, you must be given them within three business days.
There is no right or wrong way to decide who should be the members of a charter school. There are pros and cons to each scenario. But if someone wants to know where the "power" lies in a charter school: check the bylaws to find out who the "members" are.
Members typically have voting rights. They usually cast their vote at the annual meeting, which is oftentimes in May for charter schools.
The members determine who holds the charter, or who really has the authority in a charter school. When problems arise at a charter school, the first thing parents should investigate is the school's bylaws.
The Articles of Incorporation are online on the Secretary of State's website. There's a searchable database and so it's easy to find out what corporate documents a charter school has filed. Sometimes the bylaws are also on this site, but most often bylaws are obtained through the school's front office. If access is readily provided, an Open Records Request should be filed. This means that by putting in writing that you want a copy of the bylaws, you must be given them within three business days.
There is no right or wrong way to decide who should be the members of a charter school. There are pros and cons to each scenario. But if someone wants to know where the "power" lies in a charter school: check the bylaws to find out who the "members" are.
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