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The Charter Blog
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Wednesday, December 08, 2010
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Charter School Graduates Ready to Serve in Uniform Face Obstacles Even Before Boot Camp
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Did you know all high-school diplomas awarded to public school students are not equal in the eyes of the military? Unfortunately, students attending many of our nation’s public charter schools are learning this the hard way.
Why?
Well for enlistment purposes, the military classifies education in three overall categories: Tier I, Tier II and Tier III:
- Tier I - High-school graduate
- Tier II - Alternative high-school credentials including test-based equivalency diplomas (GED), occupational program certificate of attendance, correspondence school diplomas, home-study diplomas, online/virtual public school diplomas or high school certificate of attendance.
- Tier III - Non high-school graduate
The vast majority (more than 90 percent) of all enlistments are from the Tier I category. However at times, graduates from traditional and virtual public charter schools are labeled as Tier II candidates when they attempt to enlist in the armed services, making it a bit more difficult to enlist. It seems charter school graduates are being penalized for choosing a different public school option.
To correct this unjust policy, the U.S. Senate included language in the National Defense Authorization Act that requires the Secretary of Defense to develop a new policy guiding the recruitment and enlistment of charter school graduates in the Armed Forces. Unfortunately, that legislation has yet to pass and faces significant hurdles due to other social policies.
Nonetheless, given the Secretary of Education’s recent comments about many students being unable to successfully enlist, either because they didn’t graduate, have obtained a criminal record or are physically unfit, it seems counterintuitive to handicap a potential recruit who has graduated from a high-quality, state-accredited public school simply because it is a charter school.
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Posted by:
Chad Miller
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6:00 AM
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Wednesday, November 10, 2010
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Klein Moves On
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Joel Klein is resigning as chancellor of the New York City school system. In eight years as leader of that mammoth organization, Joel Klein showed what decisiveness looks like. He closed chronically failing schools despite clamorous opposition; he invited top-performing charter operators to open up shop in the city’s toughest neighborhoods, and made them an example for their district counterparts; he provided unparalleled autonomy to traditional schools and overhauled the city’s accountability systems. And the results were recognized with a coveted Broad Prize. What propelled all this was his unapologetic determination that kids should come first. Not teachers, not principals, not systems, but kids. And he led with a fine sense of outrage about the way kids had been treated by public education. I will not soon forget the way this balding, bespectacled man raised the roof of a Harlem church a couple of years back as 1500 parents and activists responded to the passion and intensity of his call to do better by the city’s schoolchildren. The Alliance is honored to have him as a member of its board, and New York City is a better place for his service.
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Posted by:
Nelson Smith
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6:00 AM
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Tuesday, October 05, 2010
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Vote for a Hero
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People magazine is in the midst of its Readers' Choice Hero Campaign. The campaign identifies nine inspirational stories that were featured in People this year, and gives the public a chance to vote for their favorite. If you've got a minute, check it out; the campaign ends Friday, Oct. 8. These are some awe-inspiring stories about some pretty amazing folks. Many of their stories involve helping children and young people, and one even features an outstanding charter school leader...our very own Tim King of Urban Prep Charter Academy in Chicago.
Of course, we can't tell you how to vote (we would NEVER do that at the CharterBlog, since we're non-partisan!), but we do hope you'll vote for someone. Their causes are all very compelling and worthy, and the cash award will help the winner further his or her work. We've got our favorite, and we sure hope he wins.
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Posted by:
Debbie Veney Robinson
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6:00 AM
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