The Quest for Quality

Broad Foundation Announces New Annual “Broad Prize for Public Charter Schools”

The Indy 1,000,000

D.C. Study Deserves Cheers NOT Jeers

On her WaPo blog, Valerie Strauss bemoans the D.C. government’s recent commission of a study by the Illinois Facilities Fund, which examines how D.C. neighborhoods are served by the public education system. According to the related article, D.C. has more than 40 traditional schools with less than 300 students apiece. The study will be used to help officials decide which schools should be closed and where new ones, especially public charter schools, might be opened.

Sounds like an effort toward rational stewardship of public funds, right? But here is the underlying horror, according to Strauss: “The study is the strongest signal yet that Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) is prepared to treat charter schools — which are publicly funded but independently operated — as full partners in a reform effort that was heavily focused on traditional schools during the tenure of his predecessor, Adrian M. Fenty (D).”

After a series of twist and turns that careen around every refutable charge against public charter schools, Strauss comes to this conclusion: “The question is not whether some charter schools are better than some traditional schools. Some are. The real issue is that many fear we are setting up a two-tier public education system.” While Strauss is correct that some charters are better than traditional schools, others aren’t. And low-performing charters should be closed. The goal isn’t a two-tiered system: it’s a good school for every child. 

While Strauss may not see this, clearly the Mayor’s team does. According to Deputy Mayor for Education De’Shawn Wright:  “I am very much wedded to quality, and I don’t care where it comes from. We have to right-size the [school system], and we have to be honest about where we’re not providing high-quality schools to our children. And if that ruffles feathers, then so be it.” Chancellor Kaya Henderson agrees:  “If it helps us to better deliver on the promise of a great education for every child in every neighborhood in the city, I’m willing to change the game.” 

The Mayor’s team understands that quality, accountability and—most importantly—meeting student needs are the goals the D.C. government should be vigorously pursuing. They should be applauded for recognizing that the ultimate goal is to give all children access to a world-class public education system where all schools are great. The “charter” or “traditional” district school label should be beside the point.

Even Superheroes Want to Attend Charter Schools!

A three page preview of the upcoming issue of Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #1 features the young hero who wants to enroll in a public charter school. Like all students, this rising hero deserves a chance to enroll in a high-performing public school. However, charter school enrollment is based on an explicit number of seats determined by the charter school’s board and authorizer. When more students want to enroll than the school is designed to serve, charter schools are forced to hold admissions lotteries. We don’t recommend radioactive spider bites as an alternative to charter school admission; it would be much simpler for state governments to allow more high-quality charter schools to open to meet parent and community demand. 

Forget Broadway…Charter Schools are the Place for Great Performances in New York

This week, the New York State Education Department released the 2010-2011 school year Mathematics and English Language Arts test results for third through eighth graders. The results are positive for public charter schools, which continue to have a (dramatically!) higher percentage of students that meet or exceed state performance standards than the percentages of their respective school district. According to analysis conducted by the NY Charter Schools Association (NYCSA):

The New York Charter Schools Association compared results of each charter school to their respective districts and found that students in seven out of ten charters exceeded their district percentage in terms of students meeting state English standards by achieving a level 3 or 4 of the assessment; while students in more than eight of every ten charters outperformed in mathematics. 

You can see more of the NYCSA’s analysis of the charter school performance results here. And the WSJ agrees, pointing out that this is more proof that public charter schools are working to close the achievement gap between urban students of color and their socio-economically advantaged suburban peers.

Public Charter Schools Engage Students and Empower Teachers

Keeping up with the Joneses: Charter Schools in Suburbia

This weekend, the New York Times ran an article about proposed charter schools in suburban areas. While Fordham’s Flypaper blog comments on the choice and financial issues in the article, we’re taking on the “trendiness” issue in the article. The influx of charter schools in suburban areas is framed as such:

Now, educators and entrepreneurs are trying to bring the same principles of choice to places where schools generally succeed, typically by creating programs, called “boutique charters” by detractors...with intensive instruction in a particular area.

But the notion that charter schools are the new kid on the suburban block is false. The NAPCS Dashboard has data on the geographic location of every charter school operating throughout the country since the 1999-2000 academic year. And the data show that charter schools have had a steady presence in suburban areas.[1] The Dashboard data for the four most recent academic years show that the market share represented by charter schools in suburban areas has remained steadily between 21-22% (The highest market share for suburban charter schools was 26.5% in the 2002-03 academic year and the lowest was 21.1% during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 academic years).

The bottom line is that no matter their location or income level, parents want quality options for their children’s education. And instead of putting students into little boxes, suburban parents are, and for more than a decade have been, choosing charter schools.

Number of Charter Schools by Geographic Location*

*Geographic Location. The NAPCS Dashboard Data used the National Center for Education Statistic’s Common Core of Data to code the geographic location charter schools in our database. NAPCS collapsed the following categories to have four main categories: City: city, large; city, mid-size; city, small; Suburb: suburb, large; suburb, mid-size; suburb, small; Town: town, fringe; town, distant; town, remote; Rural: rural, fringe; rural, distant; rural, remote.

Conference Countdown: Lessons from Veteran Charter School Leaders

In just one week, National Charter School Conference (NCSC) attendees will have the opportunity to gather lessons learned from leaders some of the most established and highest performing charter networks in the country. Charter School Hall of Fame Inductees Mike Feinberg (Co-founder of KIPP), Yvonne Chan (Principal of Vaughn Next Century Learning Center) and Don Shalvey (Founder of Aspire Public Schools) will share their experiences with issues of school growth, academic performance, engaging families, and working with charter school board and staff. This featured session, which will take place at 10:45 a.m. EST on June 22, should provide valuable takeaways for anyone involved with charter school operations, whether in a new or established school. P.S.—Have you heard about our latest keynote speaker?).

Nearly 20 Percent of the Top 100 U.S. Public High-Schools are Charters

The Washington Post on Monday released a list of the highest-performing public high schools in the nation based upon a special index that measures how effective a school prepares its students for college. The “High School Challenge” index named the top 1900 public high schools in the nation—we’re proud to announce 18 public charter schools were among the top 100:

Read how the Post used academic indicators such as AP-course enrollment and graduation rates to compile the list. Congratulations to all of the school leaders, teachers, administrators, families and students that are affiliated with these public charter high schools.

Be sure to notify us of any press you garner so we can share news of your media spotlight in our social network spaces and advocacy e-blasts. Please send us pictures of any recognition ceremonies you may coordinate as well: NAPCSpressroom@publiccharters.org.