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Charter Schools a Force for Education Reform

April 24, 2014 By

Jared Burkhart, The Detroit News

Twenty years ago, parents and students in Michigan were given a choice for education. Children could attend a traditional public school, or they could choose a public charter school. Since then, tens of thousands of parents have been making the deliberate decision to send their child to a charter public school. Instead of being forced into a school based on their ZIP code — parents have chosen a charter public school that fits the needs of their child. As a result, charter school enrollment has dramatically increased in Michigan.

In 1993, Michigan’s charter school law passed, allowing new public schools to be chartered by state universities, community colleges, intermediate school districts and traditional school districts. Nine charter schools opened in the fall of 1994. Twenty years later, there are 297 charter schools in Michigan and charter schools educate about 9.5 percent of students in the Michigan public school system.

Michigan residents strongly support charter schools as an alternative to traditional public schools. A poll conducted this month by MRG shows that 68 percent of voters support charter schools.

Despite early worries that charter schools would only accept “the cream of the crop,” charter schools have been actually providing education to many students who have not had a choice of where they went to school. Charter schools are an alternative for at-risk children, who are historically underserved. Some 71 percent of charter school students in Michigan are eligible for free and reduced meals.

There are many reasons why parents are choosing to send their children to charter schools. For some, they see charter schools as more accountable and responsive. For others, charters can be more innovative and flexible, and provide safe learning experiences.

Charter schools are similar to traditional schools in that they are subject to the same laws and regulations.

Yet after 20 years, charter schools currently receive about $1,400 less in per-pupil funding than traditional public schools in Michigan. When asked in the recent poll about the discrepancy in funding, 70 percent of state residents believe that all public school students should receive equal state funding.

Despite the deficit in funding, Michigan charter schools have received high marks from groups all across the country. In early 2013, the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University confirmed students in Michigan charter schools are experiencing nearly two additional months per year of learning gains in math and reading and three months of additional learning gains in Detroit – which becomes extremely significant when compared to their peers in traditional public schools. Additionally, Michigan’s charter school law received one of only five A grades by the national Center for Education Reform last March.

One reason for the success of Michigan charter schools is the Michigan model of authorizing. Our model is built on multiple statewide, independent authorizers with autonomy and accountability. Universities and colleges that have the expertise and resources to provide high standards of accountability and technical assistance authorize most of our charter public schools.

Authorizers play a primary role in assuring student growth and performance in charter schools. Authorizers competitively issue a performance contract to a new charter school, and then hold the school accountable for results.

Ultimately, it is the authorizer that determines if the charter school is performing as it should and makes a decision as to whether the school should continue to operate.

The actions of our authorizers in Michigan show their accountability to the public. Some 78 charter schools have been closed over the past 20 years, due to poor performance. That is a track record that is not matched in other areas of education.

 

Filed Under: CER in the News

Charter Schools Make Strong Showing on America’s Best High Schools List

April 23, 2014 By

U.S. Must Accelerate Conditions in Which Quality Schools Can Thrive as Number of School-Aged Children to Increase Over Next Twenty Years 

CER Press Release
Washington, D.C.
April 23, 2014

Despite making up just six percent of the nation’s public schools, charter schools made a statistically impressive showing on U.S. News & World Report’s list of America’s Best High Schools, on newsstands this week.

Charter schools account for 24 percent of the top 100 high schools on the 2014 rankings*. U.S. News & World Report awards gold status to the top 500 schools in its ranking based on highest college readiness, and of these 500 schools, 84 are charter schools, or a total of 17 percent.

“While this is an impressive showing for our nation’s charter schools, it’s essential we don’t rest on our laurels as a nation,” said Kara Kerwin, president of the Center for Education Reform.

“With only 34 percent of U.S. students proficient in reading and math, and an influx of over 11 million students over the next 20 years according to the U.S. Census, we must accelerate the pace at which innovative schools like charter schools are able to address our nation’s educational needs.”

“Regardless of whether one agrees with the criteria for these rankings, as there are many factors that actually determine what constitutes a quality school, the fact that there’s a disproportionately high percentage of charters on this list shows that charters work by bringing badly needed educational options to scores of American families, and it should also bring confidence to policymakers across the nation who are considering improving or expanding their charter school laws,” said Kerwin.

The Center for Education Reform annually ranks the quality of state charter school laws, provides a charter school directory and Parent Power Index with information about schools, and assesses the charter school environment as a whole nationwide in its Survey of America’s Charter Schools publication.

*A list of the 24 charter schools in the top 100:
#2 BASIS Scottsdale (Arizona)
#3 Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology (Georgia)
#5 BASIS Tucson North (Arizona)
#21 Signature School (Indiana)
#24 International Studies Charter High School (Florida)
#25 Pacific Collegiate School (California)
#28 YES Prep North Central (Texas)
#30 IDEA Academy and College Preparatory School (Texas)
#41 KIPP San Jose Collegiate (California)
#42 The Preuss School (California)
#44 American Indian Public High School (California)
#47 Coeur D’Alene Charter Academy (Idaho)
#53 University High School (California)
#55 Hawthorne Math and Science Academy (California)
#59 Lennox Mathematics, Science & Technology Academy (California)
#63 KIPP Austin College (Texas)
#64 Albuquerque Institute of Math & Science (New Mexico)
#66 Peak to Peak Charter School (Colorado)
#67 KIPP King Collegiate High (California)
#81 YES Prep East End Campus (Texas)
#85 Idea Frontier College Preparatory (Texas)
#89 Harding Charter Preparatory High School (Oklahoma)
#95 YES Prep Southeast (Texas)
#100 Archimedean Upper Conservatory Charter School (Florida) 

Filed Under: Press Releases

Day One: Where I’ve Been, Where I’m Going

April 22, 2014 By

My impetus for pursuing an internship at CER grew from a personal love of education, both learning and teaching, and a zeal for pursuing excellence in the field. Over the years I have worked at elementary schools, researched subjects ranging from charter school development to the efficacy of Teach for America, and sought out classes that reflected my interest.

Still, though on paper I seem prepared for this internship, I am acutely aware of my lack of wisdom that can only be gained through experience. Fortunately for me, from my desk in the CER office, I can see half a dozen offices that house some truly key players in the education reform movement. Built on twenty years of wisdom and experience, a dynamic energy courses through this office that buoys the creative ability and industry of those inside. I am humbled and excited to have the chance to learn from them.

That, of course, is my main objective: to learn. I am hungry for knowledge and understanding, and I am committed to serving CER valuably for the next six weeks. In addition to informing my future career goals, I hope this experience fosters relationships that broaden my worldview and further my development as an individual thinker and doer.

For years I have been immersed in the theoretical and pedagogical exercise of education reform. At home I have heard my father talk about his experience representing Students First in Tennessee and working with Governor Haslam on his education reform efforts. In class, my Education professors presented me with a very pro-public, pro-teacher, pro-union take on the history of education and the future of reform.

My experience at CER will add a new flavor to the mix, one that I hope will savor more of concrete experiences and practical implications as I develop my perspective. I am so grateful for this opportunity and eagerly await what the next six weeks will bring.

Anna Russell Thornton, CER Intern

Filed Under: Commentary, Edspresso Tagged With:

Pennsylvania Legislation Would Allow Charters to Open Without Permission from Hostile School Boards

April 22, 2014 By

Bob Kellogg, EAGnews.org

HARRISBURG, Pa. – Charter schools are supposed to be useful tools for families that desire more choices in education.

But in Pennsylvania there aren’t nearly enough charter schools, and approximately 40,000 students have been left languishing on waiting lists.

That’s because current state law gives local school boards the power to determine if new charter schools can open. Sometimes the school boards deny the proposals, because they don’t want competition for students and the state money attached to them.

One state lawmaker, Sen. Warren Smucker, has introduced a bill that would free prospective charter schools from the whims of local school boards.

They would be allowed to open if they could secure a charter through a state university, whether the nearest school board liked it or not.

The proposal would almost certainly lead to the creation of more charter schools in Pennsylvania, and more opportunities for the 40,000 students on the waiting lists.

But teachers’ unions and local school boards are strongly opposing the bill, for obviously selfish reasons.

Senate Bill 1085 would change the way charter schools are authorized, held accountable and funded.

But the most controversial part of the bill is related to authorization. School boards, and their allies in the teachers unions, would no longer have the power to determine whether proposed charter schools get off the ground or not.

According to Kara Kerwin, president of the Center for Education Reform (CER), “… what this bill sought to do initially was to allow universities to become authorizers so that this tension between charters and districts would dissipate and allow really good schools to open and flourish.”

Nathan Benefield, vice president for policy analysis at the Commonwealth Foundation, says the current system of requiring school board approval has not worked well from a school choice perspective.

It’s a lot like a Wendy’s needing permission from a nearby McDonald’s to open, Benefield says.

Universities would demand quality

The unions, school boards and the American Federation of Teachers Pennsylvania Law Center have been very vocal in their opposition to the bill, and have been using phony smoke screens to justify their position.

One of their arguments is that the bill, if passed, would allow the unfettered expansion of charter schools leading to lower performance standards.

But Benefield points out that, “Thirteen other states allow universities to authorize charter schools. And what the evidence has found is that, in many cases, (universities are) actually more selective and reject more applicants than even school districts do.”

One of the big benefits of using university authorizers, according to Benefield, is that they have the ability to study more successful charter schools and demand that applicants replicate proven systems and practices.

Benefield admits, “…that really hasn’t been done as well as we could do in Pennsylvania. But states that have higher ed authorizers, a lot of these universities set up systems to really study the charter schools they authorize and find out what works and stick to that model.”

Under the proposed law, university authorizers would need to be in the same geographical region in which a proposed charter school would operate.

They would be expected to evaluate charter school operators using “objective data” and nationally recognized principles and standards of quality, including those of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA). They would be required to report the effectiveness of the schools they authorize to the state Board of Education.

Benefield says the proposed new system would allow charter schools to secure state funding without having to go through local school districts. In some situations around the nation, local school boards have refused to hand over state money intended for nearby charter schools, claiming they need it to keep their own doors open.

Kerwin says the teachers unions and school boards are attempting to block the bill because they would lose control over the number of charter schools and the number of students that attend them.

That would mean a loss of revenue for traditional schools and their labor unions. The unions couldn’t collect as much dues revenue because there wouldn’t be a need for as many teachers in the traditional schools.

Charter schools rarely hire union teachers.

This is yet another example of public school advocates putting the needs of adults ahead of the needs of students, Kerwin says.

An accusation recently published on the Keystone Politics website, which offers pro-union political news and commentary, says, “In many cases, tuition rates to charter schools are so bloated that charter school operators are able to pocket millions of taxpayer dollars at the same time our local school districts are raising taxes and slashing programs to pay their charter school tuition bills.”

Kerwin flatly denies the allegation. She says the current funding system works a lot like it does in other states, where charter schools get less money per student than traditional schools, and the traditional schools get to keep the difference.

Pennsylvania charter schools receive on average 30 percent less per pupil than traditional public schools, she says.

“The current Pennsylvania charter school law (says) that when a student chooses to leave a traditional public school and go to a public charter school, the district still gets a kickback for a student they’re not educating anymore.

“So with the disparity in funding for charter schools . . . [that] is not a strong argument to say that charters are taking money by profiting on the backs of children.”

Legislation still in the works

Of course charter schools are not perfect.

Nick Trombetta, the former CEO of the Midland-based Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School, is currently facing allegations that he conspired to skim millions of dollars of public funds. He faces up to 100 years in prison if convicted.

Benefield notes that there are also many examples of abuse among public school officials.

“So abuses among charter schools shouldn’t be an indictment against the system,” he says.

“…The charter school law from the start has been subject to the whims of politicians and people in power,” Kerwin complains. “Allowing universities to grant authorization for charter schools would help eliminate charters from being subject to the whims of politicians and people in power.”

The bottom line is that the traditional schools and unions are interfering with the desire of many families to find alternative schools for their children. The people clearly want more charter schools, but the education establishment, and its allies in the Democratic Party, don’t want the people to have their way.

For now, SB 1085 is in bipartisan negotiations between the House and the Senate as lawmakers try to iron out differences and clarify the bill. According to a spokesperson from Sen. Smucker’s office, the negotiations are going well but there’s no possibility of a vote on SB 1085 before June.

Kerwin says that is not necessarily a bad thing.

She says the proposal evolved over time and the current bill “brought along a lot of baggage from other legislative cycles that involves a lot of over-regulatory language that is unnecessary. And there are some parts of the bill that could financially hurt charter schools even more so than they already are.”

“If the lawmakers can’t get it together to pass a revised SB 1085, then voters should remember that during the upcoming November elections,” Kerwin says.

In the meantime, the 40,000 students on the waiting list will just have to wait.

Filed Under: In The News

Urgent: Action Needed to Ensure Funding for Special Needs Charter School Students

April 22, 2014 By

CER Action Alert
Washington, D.C.
April 22, 2014

Pennsylvania legislators are in danger of compromising special needs charter school students with legislation that has made it through House and Senate subcommittees dealing with a new funding model. HB 2138 and SB 1316 are identical pieces of legislation that will cause major inequities for special education students, especially those in Keystone State charter schools.

These abrupt funding changes can and will cripple the charter schools to the point that many will close.  A child with the same challenges will be receiving 30-60 percent less state financial support in the family’s chosen charter school than if they remained in the traditional public school district.

The decreased funding may also prevent some charter schools from meeting mandated state and federal Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) requirements.

At a time when charter school proliferation is becoming more integral to student success across the nation, legislation of this nature would be a serious setback for charter schools and the students they serve.

Tell Pennsylvania legislators it’s absolutely essential to reverse course on HB 2138 and SB 1316, and to instead embrace best practices when it comes to ensuring all Keystone State students have access to an education that best meets their needs.

Click here to find your legislator and make your voice heard.
Click here to support all special education families in Pennsylvania.

For more on the damaging effects of this funding formula, see:
Proposed Legislation Unfairly Discriminates Against Special Education Students
New special ed funding formula hurts charter schools, advocates say

Filed Under: Activism

NEWSWIRE: April 22, 2014

April 22, 2014 By

Vol. 16, No. 16

CHARTERS DO MORE WITH LESS. The Muskegon Heights Charter School System in Michigan posted impressive student achievement statistics in the face of great financial challenge, as is usually the case for charter schools across the country. From 2012-14, average student achievement growth in math and reading across Muskegon schools ranged anywhere from 155 percent in reading among elementary students, all the way to 243 percent in math among high school students. And it’s not just a select few students achieving at these levels, seeing as the average daily attendance rate is over 90 percent at all four schools. Imagine the impact if state laws helped rather than hindered in bolstering charter schools, and yet it’s the Muskegon operators that have to shoulder much of the burden for building costs, among other startup expenses. More must be done to equitably treat charter schools like the public, community schools they truly are.

FORMULA FOR DISASTER. Speaking of charters doing more with less, new legislation with supposedly widespread support in the Pennsylvania Legislature will negatively alter the funding formula that both traditional and charter schools rely on to best serve special education students. If enacted, this new way of allocating to districts would result in special needs charter students receiving 30-60 percent less funding than if they were in a traditional school, rather than their school of choice. In many cases, charter schools, whose missions and operations coincide seamlessly with the specific learning needs of their students, would have to close their doors. Whether it’s allowing multiple, independent authorizers to properly oversee charters or addressing structural funding inequities within charter laws, it’s absolutely essential PA lawmakers reverse course to adopt best practices that are certainly not a secret by now.

A PERFECT GRADUATION RATE!  21st Century Charter School in Gary, IN, is one of six schools in the entire state to have 100 percent of students graduate. (In fact, out of those six schools, two are charter schools!) This is no doubt a major accomplishment and a relief, as it has given another welcomed association with Gary, IN, other than a young Ron Howard singing in “The Music Man.” An exceedingly high graduation rate epitomizes the mission of 21st Century, which states, “all roads lead to – and through – college.” Using a multifaceted approach for its nearly 90 percent low-income student population, 21st Century allows students to obtain college credit, engage in blended learning and participate in extracurriculars. Provided that Indiana continues on its current course of reform, more students will have a chance to access schools like 21st Century!

SCHOOL CHOICE- THE POPULAR KID. It’s a claim that may not come as a shock to Newswire regulars, but needs to be hit home to remind lawmakers that they have public responsibility to take bold action for students in need. Two new state-based polls, one in South Carolina and one in Louisiana, reveal the overwhelming popularity of school choice programs at the state level. Louisiana parents continue to support the recently liberated Opportunity Scholarship program, and two in three South Carolina residents favor tax deductions for scholarships for students seeking a better education. What’s more, respondents in South Carolina suggested they’d be receptive to voucher-like programs even more ambitious than what is currently on the books. All of these results are consistent with CER’s nationwide survey that reveals 74 percent of Americans have a favorable view of “school choice,” meaning lawmakers not just in certain states but across the U.S. should be taking notice.

…BUT DON’T TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT. Polls aren’t the only way to gauge how satisfied and relieved parents are when they have the power to choose the best education for their child. Part of an ongoing series, a powerful video testimonial from families in Oklahoma showed how the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarships for special needs students has directly led to increased learning and happiness among students. All smiles, students eagerly speak about going to a school where technology in the classroom actually aids the learning process, teachers are able to attend to individualized needs and boost achievement, and it’s easier to make friends. Hearing straight from the students who require educational options to get the resources they need is powerful, and brings to light the tangible need for a portfolio of education options, and the unacceptable fact that there are still students in other states without them.

AMERICAN DREAM AT ASU.  At the Education Innovation Summit happening now in Arizona, CER is on the ground listening to its Board members Michael Moe, Jonathan Hage and Edward Fields, and other distinguished leaders as they emphasize the need to keep the vision and beacon of hope alive for the American Dream. While other countries still view America as the land of opportunity, citizens know what conditions are really like in the states and how it’s getting more difficult for those in poverty to escape poverty, and that our education system is a major player in this equation. American education needs to do better, and quickly, to help Americans not only escape poverty, but become competitive on a global level. It’s vital the U.S. education system start embracing innovation in a way that allows for multiple pathways for learning (from public, to private, to homeschool, to online and blended!) so that every student has a chance to succeed. Be sure to follow @CERKaraKerwin and @edreform on Twitter for the latest updates on the ground from the Summit!

Filed Under: Newswire Weekly, Newswire

Unionization in Charter Schools

April 21, 2014 By

Teachers at a Louisiana charter school are pushing for union representation. They claim that the school’s provisions related to contracts and employment decision timelines negatively affect morale and employment potential.

Educators insist it’s not about gaining power or an ‘us vs. them’ mentality, but rather meeting what they view as reasonable demands. Orleans Parish had done away with the city’s union contract following Hurricane Katrina.

However, other charter school educators and administrators have reported the ability to collaborate and positively engage one another without having to unionize. The autonomous and innovative nature of charter schools usually lends itself to valuing teacher input without outside intervention. Thus, charter school teachers wanting to unionize could indicate some behind-the-scenes troubles.

CER has warned against the unionization of charter schools, claiming the presence of unions in charters becomes about “power and control.”

Filed Under: Unions & Establishment

Blended Learning Revolution

April 21, 2014 By

Online and blended learning programs are having a positive impact on student learning across the country, and thankfully more media outlets are starting to pay attention to this increasingly important topic.

Through the use of blended learning programs, students like fourteen year-old Gabi Directo are able to learn subjects at their own pace, and move on to new material as soon as they’re ready. Consequently, when Gabi’s class was working on projectile-motion models, her model incorporated more equations and mapped time with distance, as opposed to basic graphing.

Many of the schools leading the way in delivering online learning are charters, many of which have the necessary autonomy to be innovative.

Educators like the ability to post questions online and have students post answers in an open forum, without the worry of more introverted students being less inclined to participate. The classroom setting also ensures continued interaction and individualized attention for students who need it.

Online learning proponents predict a continued influx of online learning programs in the coming years and decades, but warn against the emphasis on just technology as a way of boosting student achievement. Blended programs go beyond introducing iPads or computers to the classroom, and instead focus on how this technology is going to aid the learning process.

Filed Under: Online Learning

Let public charter schools succeed: Column

April 17, 2014 By

Neerav Kingsland and Richard Whitmire, USA Today

In Illinois you can almost imagine the spittle on their lips as furious lawmakers take aim at charter schools. Some want to do away with a commission that considers appeals when charters get spurned by local school boards. Others want to bury charters in paperwork or ban student recruiting, guaranteeing they can never operate.

What’s playing out in the Illinois legislature is part of a national movement to thwart charters. What is lost in these conflicts, however, is an irreducible truth. Every attack against successful charter schools is an attack on parents who want a different public school option because their neighborhood school has failed them and they have no options.

The message of the pushback movement, which is partly fueled by turf-jealous school boards and administrators, is this: Our schools should be the only schools. Charter schools — despite being public schools — should be banned.

Fortunately, while some in Illinois are mired in trying to deny opportunities for families, other states are moving forward and creating the conditions that allow for children to flourish in new public schools.

In Louisiana, the state has transformed the chronically underperforming New Orleans school system by developing the nation’s first charter school district. In New Orleans, 91% of students, nearly all minorities, attend charter schools. And results have followed. New Orleans’ high school graduation rate has risen from 54% to 78%. To put this in context, the national graduation rate for white students in our country is 83%, which New Orleans is on track to surpass over the coming years.

How did this unlikely transformation occur? Louisiana created the Recovery School District, which empowered charter schools to provide an alternative public school option for families attending failing schools. The state held these schools accountable for results and equity: New Orleans has achieved remarkable gains in student achievement while maintaining an expulsion rate lower than the state average.

In Tennessee, an astonishingly bold move is taking place. The state agreed to turn over many of the worst performers — schools in the bottom 5% — to charter schools. In these schools, one in six kids reads on grade level. The goal: Within five years move the bottom 5% of schools to the top 25%. Sounds impossible, right?

What makes it possible is that Tennessee is tapping into the network of the best charters in the country. For example, following a community engagement process California-based Aspire Public Schools was matched with the troubled Hanley Elementary in the Orange Mound neighborhood of Memphis. To date, everything is going to plan: At the beginning of the year, only 3% of the students read at grade level; by late February that had risen to 25%.

In California, the state has wisely allowed county officials to overturn school districts who reject the growth of high performing charter schools. Over the past several years, the best educational opportunity for low-income Latino students in San Jose, CA has been the emergence of Rocketship charter schools. But the primary reason Rocketship charter schools have been able to grow is the Santa Clara County School Board has bested local district anti-charter efforts.

Now, local school superintendents in the San Jose area have taken to the courts to plug that gap and deny charters such as Rocketship an opportunity to grow. Restricting the appeals process, as is proposed in Illinois, is highly effective. The losers, of course, are Latino families.

Other states are moving in the right direction, including New York. For a time, it looked like the pushback movement would find a foothold in New York City. The progressive mayor there, Bill de Blasio took a swing at charter schools, a campaign promise that seemed to play out well on the stump, and found that he infuriated thousands of low-income minority parents who see those schools as an education lifeline. Thankfully, New York’s centrist Governor, Andrew Cuomo, stepped in to blunt the attack.

The nation is at crossroads. On one hand, we have the Illinois legislators trying to block families from sending their children to better public schools. On the other hand, we have states such as Louisiana and Tennessee that have built bipartisan support around the idea that excellent educators should be able to open new public schools.

When weighing this from the perspective of parents, it seems clear that we must reject the “our schools should be the only schools” way of thinking. Let educators create great public charter schools. Give families the power to choose these schools. It is only by handing power back to educators and families that our nation will ever achieve academic greatness.

Neerav Kingsland is the former CEO of New Schools for New Orleans. Richard Whitmire is author of On the Rocketship: How High Performing Charters are Pushing the Envelope.

Filed Under: Opinions

NEWSWIRE: April 15, 2014

April 15, 2014 By

Vol. 16, No. 15

TENNESSEE STRIKES AGAIN. Monday afternoon, the Tennessee House of Representatives took the final approval measure necessary to make the Volunteer State more charter-friendly. This latest piece of legislation grants chartering authority to the State Board of Education, allowing a quality charter school application to be under the auspices of the State Board if it initially faces denial from a local board. The Senate already passed the bill as amended, and while support for charter schools is no doubt a sign of progress, it’s unfortunate that voucher measures being considered  have once again failed to come to fruition as voucher legislation died today in the House Finance Committee. But all is not lost as there are more proposals on the table designed to expand choices for parents and students that deserve the attention of Tennessee lawmakers. Hopefully the momentum will keep moving in the direction that puts parents and students in the driver’s seat!

ONE OF 4,500. When a judge issued an injunction back in February that directly inhibited the ability of North Carolina parents to seek out a better education for their child, swift condemnation was the only appropriate response. Two months later, parents are still without choices, and are now making their voices heard through social media (#Oneof4500) to share why they feel the Opportunity Scholarship program is vital for their child. State lawmakers are attempting to circumvent the injunction by way of the State Supreme Court. Lets hope they succeed in helping the 4,500-plus parents denied a chance to give their child a better education.

HOMEWORK OVER THE BREAK. There are always at least one or two teachers who have no reservations whatsoever about assigning homework over a long Spring Break, and for members of the House GOP, that teacher is Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy. McCarthy is urging fellow members to visit charter schools in their home districts as a way to increase support for charter school legislation that recently passed the Education Committee. While it’s a great idea to go on the ground and visit charter schools, the federal legislation being considered has a number of causes for concern, namely the overreach of the federal government in determining what or WHO defines a “quality” charter school. There is a proper role for Congress to play in fostering charter school growth, but this isn’t it. Read CER’s full analysis on the Success and Opportunity through Quality Charter Schools Act and what the House can really do to improve education at the federal level.

ONLINE LEARNING GLORY DAYS. In a unanimous decision, a New Jersey appellate court upheld the authority of the State Commissioner of Education to act as an authorizer of online and blended charter schools. This move preserved the spirit of charter school innovation and stopped a union-led effort to impede the inexorable phenomenon of online-based learning programs that are helping over four million students nationwide. The decision made abundantly clear that in no way, shape or form does a fully online or blended learning charter school fall outside the parameters of the Garden State’s charter school law. Had it gone the other way, students whose learning needs could benefit from an online approach would be worse off, and high-quality operators might’ve escaped New Jersey as if they were a character in a Bruce Springsteen song.

THE COMMON CORE DISTRACTION. In a refreshing opinion piece, Kevin Chavous, Executive Counsel for the American Federation for Children and CER Board Member calls for an end to the bickering over Common Core and for a focus on the solutions that will have immediate effects on improving education. Raising standards for all students is extremely important, but the debate has taken up far too much space in the national conversation on how to improve student achievement, and it’s only become more divisive and unproductive. As a result, policymakers have moved further away from the key to truly transforming learning in the United States, which is choice coupled with accountability. Common Core is likely here to stay until the next flavor-of-the-month policy comes along to help explain away the continued lagging achievement rates of students nationwide. In the meantime, reformers can take the bold action necessary to introduce a portfolio of learning options and give parents the access to data so they can make the choice they deserve to make about what’s best for their child.

Filed Under: Newswire Weekly, Newswire
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