Charters Not Looked Upon Kindly...In Some Places

Charter Schools Seek to Improve Image with Code

Sunday, April 5th 2009 - by Jan Murphy

Charter school administrators know they are not viewed kindly by many educators, so they are taking steps to demonstrate their accountability to parents and legislators.

The Pennsylvania Coalition of Charter Schools is asking its members to adopt an ethics code that spells out the financial and academic expectations they have for themselves.

At a Capitol news conference on Tuesday, Lawrence Jones, president of the coalition and CEO of the Richard Allen Preparatory Charter School in Philadelphia, said the "vast majority of our schools" are living up to those standards, and most are exceeding them.

They include reconciling financial accounts monthly, banning the use of school credit cards for personal gain, disclosing employee salaries and setting academic goals for students.

Charter schools, since their inception in Pennsylvania in 1997, have drawn the ire of most public school officials, who see them as a drain on public education funds.

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No More Money For Local Charter School!

Local Charter School Upset with Governor's Budget
by Eileen Buckley

A local charter school is crying foul over the Governor's spending deal. The Charter School for Applied Technologies says this budget would be "unfair" to all charter schools.

School superintendent Efrain Martinez says under this deal, charter school funding would be frozen next year. But Martinez says school districts have managed to gain an increase, while charter schools loose out.

"The districts are going to get not cut, but the are going to get big increases. And yet we will be losing..."

Click here for the rest of the story.

I've Got a Golden Ticket!

Reforms May Pay Off For Schools
By John Ingold - Denver Post

A bipartisan group of state lawmakers unveiled a slate of dramatic education proposals Monday with the goal of bolstering Colorado's school-reform credentials enough to win a $1 billion prize.

Only about 10 states will be selected to win what Sen. Chris Romer called "the golden ticket," an approximately $500 million grant from the federal government's new Race to the Top program that will go to the states making the biggest strides in education reform. Romer and other lawmakers said private foundations are expected to match the federal prize, leading to a one-time windfall that has the potential to remake the Colorado education landscape.

"There's too much money at stake to stand still," said Romer, D-Denver.

The proposed golden-ticket bid comes in two waves. The first hit Monday, when lawmakers introduced the annual school finance act.

Contained within the bill are proposals to tie funding for at-risk students to classroom performance, study creating a charter boarding school for disadvantaged students and requiring freshmen fill out a College in Colorado form, to give them an academic and financial road map for reaching college.

Another proposal in the bill would lift the cap on school district mill levy rates the legislature imposed. (Districts would still need voter approval, though, to raise their mill levies.)

The second wave is expected to hit in the coming weeks, when Romer and Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, introduce a bill creating a Colorado version of Race to the Top. That bill would build a pile of money — contingent upon winning the federal Race to the Top — to give to school districts that hit reform and performance targets.

Details of the bill are still being worked out, but one idea involves a college-readiness exam for students. Those who pass would be eligible for free or subsidized in-state college tuition.

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Flunked at the Burbank International Film Festival!

DOCUMENTARY FLUNKED TO SCREEN AT THE BURBANK INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Flunked makes the grade in Los Angeles, featuring real education reform!

Olympia, WA— EFF Productions is pleased to announce that Flunked, narrated by award-winning actor Joe Mantegna, has been selected to screen in the Burbank International Film Festival in Los Angeles, CA.

Friday, March 27th, 2009
6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Burbank International Film Festival
Woodbury University: Fletcher Jones Foundation Auditorium
7500 Glenoaks Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91510

Flunked takes a realistic view of our failing education system, offering a disturbing look at America’s shameful decline in comparison to other nations. However, instead of complaining and doing nothing, Flunked showcases schools and teachers who have figured out a way to make things better . . . right now.

Flunked highlights the common threads of successful education: strong leadership, high standards, excellent teachers, and solid curricula. By focusing on schools that are successfully applying these principles, Flunked sends a message loud and clear: Parents, students, principals, and teachers do not have to settle for mediocrity in their own schools!

Flunked has won the award for Best Educational Documentary at the Bayou City Inspirational Film Festival, and Best Documentary at the San Fernando Valley International Film Festival.

For more information go to http://www.burbankfilmfestival.org/, or www.flunkedthemovie.com

Flunked on YouTube.com

Be sure to check out all the great videos Flunked has at:

http://www.youtube.com/user/FlunkedTheMovie

Featured are "All-Stars" Ben Chavis and Bill Proser along with Howard Fuller, and more!

Charter Schools: Stockpiling Money, or Good Stewards of their Finances

In Massachusetts, there is a big problem, somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 million dollars. It seems that the charter schools in this state have the audacity to have a cash surplus, and they are actually being attacked for it.

Imagine, you work hard to save your money, and spend what you have responsibly. Your friends have not done such a good job. Let's see what the critics say:

Glenn Koocher, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, said the report shows charter schools are "stockpiling large reserves" when other public schools are struggling to make ends meet.

"It cries out for reform of the charter school funding system," Koocher said. "If they've got money to give back, why don't they give it back to the people they took it from."

But is there another side to this?

But defenders of charter schools say it's misleading to suggest they are rolling in cash. They say that, unlike traditional public schools, charter schools are barred from accepting money from the state's School Building Assistance fund.

Since they have to rent or lease their buildings, charter schools operators say they need to keep extra money in the bank from year to year.

"It's almost a necessity for a successful charter school to run a surplus," said Marc Kenen, executive director of the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association. "We took this report as a very favorable report about how charter schools are managing their finances."

Read more...

Attention Parents! Pick a School at a Community Fair!

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to actually find a school for your child that meets their needs?

Imagine being able to actually shop around...browse through pamphlets and meet the staff.

Well, it's happening in Indianapolis:

"Parents went shopping Monday at Circle Centre mall, but they weren't looking for clothes, shoes or toys.

Their mission was much more fundamental: They were browsing the schools at a Charter School Community Fair at the Indianapolis Artsgarden.

Dozens of parents picked up literature and interviewed staff from the 17 alternative public schools in the city, searching for the best matches for their children for the 2009-10 school year.

Sponsored by Mayor Greg Ballard, the first-of-its-kind fair allowed parents to supplement their research on the schools with one-stop shopping convenience.

And parents were being methodical and particular about making a decision so critical to their children's futures."

Read on here...