We had a great time at the 2016 National Charter Schools Conference in Nashville. More than 4,000 charter school supporters from across America gathered to celebrate the movement’s 25th anniversary. We highlighted our progress and discussed where we need to go from here to ensure that more students have the opportunity to attend a high-quality charter public school.
In my remarks (which you can view here), I set a goal of raising the number of students attending charter public schools from 3 million to 4 million by 2020. I also asked everyone to urge our presidential candidates to help open the doors to more charter schools by texting CHARTERS to 52886. You can still text us to join our advocacy army! You’ll find more highlights from NCSC16 below. Take a look, and plan to be with us next June in Washington, DC! Warmly, Nina ReesPresident and CEO PS – We are going to take a break from producing this monthly newsletter in August. We’ll see you in September. Have a great summer!
2016 National Charter Schools Conference Recap The 25th anniversary of the charter school movement was front-and-center throughout NCSC16. Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam opened the conference, while Roland Martin and National Alliance Board member Mary Landrieu emceed our general sessions. We featured keynote speeches from Andre Agassi, U.S. Secretary of Education Dr. John King, Howard Fuller, and leading educational visionaries Sugata Mitra and Marc Brackett. We also heard from local charter school student Angel Lopez, who told us how his charter school – STEM Prep – has changed his life. In addition to hearing outstanding speakers, we inducted three new members into the National Charter Schools Hall of Fame and presented just the second-ever Charter Schools Lifetime Achievement Award to civil rights pioneer Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker. You can watch a video on Dr. Walker’s contributions here. All in all, NCSC16 was a tremendous opportunity to reflect on how far we’ve come as a movement in our first 25 years and why we must seize the opportunities that lie ahead. If you couldn’t be there in person, or if you want to relive the excitement, click here to see our 25th anniversary video and links to conference speeches and highlights.
The Broad Prize Goes to… IDEA Public Schools won the 2016 Broad Prize for Public Charter Schools, presented at NCSC16. IDEA Public Schools earned the $250,000 prize through their remarkable success in closing achievement gaps and helping their students, nearly all of whom are from low-income and Hispanic families, graduate from high school and go to college. You can read our release here. Watch the award presentation, including IDEA co-founder Tom Torkelson’s remarks, here. And to learn more about IDEA’s origins and growth, click here.
Walton Family Foundation Announces $250 Million for Charter School Facilities The Walton Family Foundation, a major supporter of charter public schools throughout America, unveiled a new initiative to provide $250 million in charter school facilities financing across 17 cities. The Building Equity Initiative will make it possible to enroll 250,000 additional students in charter schools over the next decade. Click here for more details on the program, including target cities, and click here for an op-ed by Nina Rees explaining why this new initiative is so important.
National Alliance Report: A Call to Improve Virtual Charter Schools More than 180,000 students attend 135 full-time virtual charter schools in 23 states and DC. While some students do well in a full-time virtual charter school environment, too many of these schools are not providing a quality education to the vast majority of their students. They also enroll too many students who are simply not a good fit for a fully online school.In a new report, A Call to Action to Improve the Quality of Full-Time Virtual Charter Public Schools, the National Alliance, the 50-State Campaign for Achievement Now (50CAN), and the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) propose specific policy recommendations to help states hold full-time virtual charter schools accountable for student results. Download the report here.
Federal Update The House Appropriations Committee has approved $333.1 million for the Charter Schools Program for fiscal year 2017 – which would hold funding steady from the current fiscal year. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a $10 million (3 percent) increase in funding over the current year. The spending bills will be completed after the November elections. On Monday, the National Alliance hosted a Capitol Hill briefing to explore how district and charter public schools can collaborate more effectively. Representatives of district and charter schools in Washington, DC – which is a national leader in district-charter cooperation – spoke to a packed house about their efforts to work together to increase success for all students. Nancy Waymack of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation moderated the discussion, which featured Naomi Rubin DeVeaux, deputy director of the DC Public Charter School Board; Chris Pencikowski, head of school for Lee Montessori Public Charter School; Cassandra Pinkney, founder and executive director of Eagle Academy Public Charter School; and Kaila Ramsey, a 4th grade math teacher at district-run H.D. Cooke Elementary School. In consultation with key stakeholders, the National Alliance is developing comments on the U.S. Department of Education’s proposed rules on accountability and reporting, as required by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Comments are due August 1, and will focus on protecting charter autonomy and expanding access to seats in high-quality charter schools within the context of Title I. Members of the charter community will be able to auto-submit comments in support of our detailed comments via a web portal that will go live next week. Watch for an announcement on Facebook and Twitter.
Progress in the States California: Civic and philanthropic leaders launched a new effort to give 160,000 students in Los Angeles access to better schools. Great Public Schools Now will strive to replicate school models that work – traditional, magnet, charter, or other. The initiative is starting with a focus on 10 low-income neighborhoods in LA. Read more here.Guam: The first charter school in Guam recently celebrated its first two graduates! Many more will follow in the years ahead. To read more about these pioneering students and their school, Guahan Academy Charter School, click here. Massachusetts: Charter school supporters in Massachusetts are launching their “Yes on 2” campaign to win support for a November ballot initiative to lift the caps on charter school growth in the state. Great Schools Massachusetts recently presented 20,000 signatures to the secretary of state – twice as many as needed to put the question to voters. Read an article on the effort here. Show your support on social media using hashtags #LiftTheCap and #YesOn2MA. More good news: 98.5 percent of students graduating from Boston charter high schools this year were accepted to college, with 89 percent accepted to a four-year university. See details here. Michigan: State lawmakers recently enacted several bills dealing with public schools in Detroit. The bills provide that authorizers must be accredited in order to approve additional schools in Detroit; create an A-F accountability system for all public schools in the city; include automatic closure requirements for chronically low-performing schools (which apply to charter schools statewide); prohibit a low-performing charter school from switching authorizers to avoid closure; and create an advisory commission that will produce reports on school location and transportation. Mississippi: The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) recently filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the funding provisions in Mississippi’s charter school law. The SPLC’s complaint is designed to protect the existing – and deeply flawed – system and take away new, high-quality public school options from low-income students in Mississippi. In almost all similar cases across the country, state courts have upheld the constitutionality of charter public school laws. In the months ahead, the National Alliance plans to work side-by-side with our partners in Mississippi to defend the state’s strong charter public school law and ensure that the state’s low-income students have access to a growing number of high-quality public school options.New York: The state legislature allowed New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to retain control of the city’s schools for an additional year. At the same time, the legislature will allow some charter schools authorized by the city’s education department to instead be overseen by the State University of New York (SUNY). Derrell Bradford explains the significance here.
Research Roundup A Better Approach to School Discipline in DC The DC Public Charter School Board, the sole charter school authorizer in the nation’s capital, has released a report examining how authorizers can use transparency and dialogue with schools to reduce out-of-school suspensions and expulsions. An Honest Approach to School Discipline includes data and case studies of how three charter school networks in DC have reduced the number of suspensions and expulsions they impose while improving student achievement. Additional Perspectives on School DisciplineThe Fordham Institute’s Flypaper blog has posted a number of perspectives on how charter public schools and regulators should approach school discipline. You’ll find them here.
Summering at the National Alliance Five outstanding team members are spending part of their summer with the National Alliance. We’re pleased to introduce you to (from left to right) Catherine Worth, Tyleah Hawkins, Jasmine Sami, Mack Lundberg, and Vanessa Salomon!
The National Alliance is Hiring! Join our team! We’re looking for a Director of Research & Evaluation, Development Manager, and Operations & HR Manager. Click here for more information about these positions, and please forward the info to great candidates you may know.
