Welcome to Charter School Capital’s weekly round-up where we feature news about charter school funding, operations, policy, charter school facilities financing, and other trends.
Thinking of Starting a Charter School?
PBS NewsHour featured a piece, “How to Start a Charter School” that details the key steps to the charter school start-up stage. Wynee Sade, the founder of Yu Ming Charter School in Oakland, California, talks about her experience opening a charter school, from conceiving the idea, writing a charter petition, seeking approval from the charter board, finding charter school funding and growth capital, and securing a permanent facility.
Yu Ming Charter School is a dual-language Mandarin immersion school. The charter school opened it’s doors in 2011 with 100 students and has grown, currently serving 220 students kindergarten through third grade.
Sade offers sage advice for those starting a charter school. “I think that the biggest piece for me is really surrounding yourself with a passionate team of folks who are committed and want to be supportive and helpful. That just goes a long way because then they reach out to their group of supporters. And where you don’t have expertise, know where you have your limitations, go seek out help to compliment your strengths because if we didn’t do that or weren’t open to different ideas, we would never be here.”
NC Education Panel Considers Fast-Track Application Process for Charter Schools
The North Carolina Board of Education is considering a fast-track option for charter applicants that have previous experience operating successful charter schools.
According to an article in the News Observer, “Charters on the fast track would not have to go through the typical planning year, and could open months after their approval at the start of an academic year…The first fast-track applications would be submitted in July and if approved, could open in 2016 rather than 2017.”
“The fast-track option recognizes that the state has experienced charter operators who know how to get a successful school started. This just minimizes the time needed to get a school up”, said Eddie Goodall, executive director of the N.C. Public Charter Schools Association.
Are Charter Schools Working? New Report from Center for Reinventing Public Education
A new report released by the Center for Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) takes a close look at if charter schools are actually more successful than their district-run counterparts, and why.
Here’s some key facts that the report highlights:
- Charter schools on average produce results that are on par with and, in many cases, better than district-run public schools
- Charter schools are producing higher achievement gains in math relative to their district-run counterparts in most grade levels, particularly in middle school, and gains in reading that are similar to district-run schools in reading
- A growing body of literature on the relationship between charter school attendance and outcomes apart from achievement finds further evidence of large positive impacts of charter schools on high school graduation, college enrollment and behavioral issues
Download the full report.
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