4.3.13
What's the Point of More Charters?
Charter schools are, at a minimum, an important strategy for extending access to quality. In fact, we can use chartering strategies to transform the education delivery system. Here are five answers to the question "What's the Point of More Charters?"
2.11.13
DC Debates Growth of Charter Schools
A growing number of activists have raised concerns that the traditional school system, facing stiffer-than-ever competition from charters, is in danger of being relegated to a permanently shrunken role. And they worry that Washington has yet to confront what that could mean for taxpayers, families and neighborhoods.
2.10.13
Strong Charters Will Soon Serve Half of DC Students
A combination of great charters, college scholarships, and tough reforms are changing the DC education landscape, and strong charter schools are playing a growing role.
1.16.13
PCSB Renews the Charters of Stokes Community Freedom and Chávez Public Charter Schools
DC Public Charter School Board (PCSB) voted January 10 to renew the charters of Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom Public Charter School and Cesar Chávez Public Charter Schools for Public Policy for an additional 15 years.
1.15.13
Charter Schools Hit Milestone 20 Years in the Making
The number of charter schools in the United States has topped 6,000 for the first time since the first independently operated public campus launched 20 years ago.
12.28.12
Why charter's shouldn't be "neighborhood" schools
Right now, charters are schools of choice and accept students from all over the District, while it is the responsibility of the D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) to provide neighborhood schools. But as higher-performing charter schools in their wards become the preferred choice for parents, some on the D.C. Council want “their” charter schools to fill up with neighborhood kids. The task force recommended against turning charters into neighborhood schools. Neighborhood preference is a distraction from the real challenge, which is how to expand the supply of high-quality opportunities for students to learn.
12.25.12
Charters should accomodate students of closing DCPS schools
A task force of city and school leaders is recommending that District charter schools reserve seats next year for students who attend neighboring DC Public Schools campuses that have been recommended for closure.
12.21.12
Charters: Everyone's doing 'em
In the 15 years since charters were first authorized by Congress, the schools have blossomed: There are now 57 charter schools on 102 campuses serving roughly 41 percent of all D.C. school kids. Charters are blooming, and depending on how DCPS responds, public education in D.C. could look very different in a decade.
12.19.12
Charter Amendment Paves the Way for New Language Immersion High School Consortium
The DC Public Charter School Board (PCSB) voted Monday to approve a charter amendment to Washington Yu Ying Public Charter School, a Chinese language immersion school in Ward 5, paving the way for the creation of a new charter middle/high school, District of Columbia International School (DCI). DCI will be a consortium of four charter school language immersion programs housed together inside one school.
12.6.12
Why I Joined the Board of Charter Board Partners - Tom Vander Ark
Here's a radical idea: what if every school operated under a performance contract and with a board that supports the school's mission? A system of performance contracting, with local and state authorization, could provide an effective accountability system and would result in more high quality options for families. That's why I recently joined the board of Charter Board Partners (CBP) -- to promote quality at scale by recruiting and training great boards for great schools.
Charter schools are about to get a reality check. Greg Richmond, who leads the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA), will join New Jersey Schools Commissioner Chris Cerf and California charter schools advocate Jed Wallace at Washington D.C.'s National Press Club to announce a new campaign, "One Million Lives," that aims to crack the whip on the duds. The campaign will focus on getting states to adopt rules that make failing charter schools close automatically, hold charter authorizers accountable for their schools' performance, and revamp their authorizing bodies so they become more professional. Initial allies include organizations and philanthropies that have, until now, focused on growth -- rather than quality -- in the charter sector.
2012 DC Public Charter School Performance Reports
The DC Public Charter School Board has released it's annual report for each public charter school it oversees. The report card shows a school's performance on the Performance Management Framework (PMF), including the total percent score and rating in one of three performance tiers. The report cards also show an Accountability Plan for early childhood or adult education programs or schools that have 100 percent students with disabilities. In addition, each report card has a demographic profile of each
school.
Mayor Gray Announces Charter School Facilities Allotment will be Fully Funded Locally in Fiscal Year 2013 and Beyond
Move Frees up $7 Million in Federal Funds to Meet Other Charter Priorities. Mayor Vincent C. Gray and Deputy Mayor for Education De’Shawn Wright announced this evening that the Fiscal Year 2013 facilities allocation for D.C. Public Charter Schools will be fully funded, using local funds, at the $3,000-per-pupil level. He also committed to funding the facilities allotment entirely with local funds for future years as well. The announcement came during the annual meeting of the D.C. Association of Chartered Public Schools.
DC Charter School Enrollment Increases by 11 Percent
Significant Growth seen in elementary and high school. Student enrollment in DC public charter schools is 35,019 -- an increase of 11 percent over last school year's enrollment of 31,562, according to the DC Public Charter School Board (PCSB), which released the 2012-2013 unaudited enrollment numbers today
Teachers Must Make the Grade in Charter Schools
Fred Hiatt with the Washington Post comments on teacher evaluation in D.C. Public Schools.
PCSB Announces Four New Public Charter Schools for 2013-2014 School Year
The D.C. Public Charter School Board (PCSB) voted April 23rd to approve four applications to create new public charter schools for the 2013-2014 school year. The proposed charter schools are: Community College Preparatory Academy; Ingenuity Prep; Sela (formally DC Hebrew Language) and Somerset Preparatory Academy.
IFF study of school capacity in Washington, D.C.
The IFF Study, commissioned by Mayor Vincent C. Gray, on traditional public and public charter schools in D.C. was released to the public on January 26.
Charters Challenge Fairness of $21 Million to DCPS
Mayor Vincent C. Gray asked the D.C. Council to appropriate half of over $42 million that was recently added to revenue forecasts to the city's 123-school system to cover "spending pressures" in the current fiscal year.
District Unveils First Ranking of Public Charter Schools
The District unveiled its first rankings of public charter schools, part of a new rating system that offers parents a broader assessment of school progress than annual standardized test results.
In D.C. Charter Schools, a Wide Variety of Challenges
A look at two charter schools illuminate the wide variations in performance and academic challenges within a sector of schools that could claim a majority of the D.C. public education market in a few years.
Rise of D.C. Charter Schools
Charters in the District are a success, if you judge by achievement, growth, parent support and thoughtful supervision. The system has become a national model because of hard work by thousands of educators and inspired leadership by the D.C. Public Charter School Board.
Academic Success — and Struggle — in D.C.
An editorial in the Washington Post points to the best performing charter schools and their success in closing the achievement gap, and calls for "bigger thinking and bolder action, not for backing down."
Huge achievement gaps persist in D.C. Schools
By Bill Turque, Washington Post
Test scores show momentum for charters
By Bill Turque, Washington Post
Extremely encouraging D.C. charter school DC CAS standardized test results
By Mark Lerner, Examiner
D.C. Charter Schools Chair Talks Test Scores, Discrimination Allegations
By Kevitha Cardoza, WAMU
