Carol Ascher et al., Charter School Research Project, New York University
December 2001
New York University's Charter School Research Project, led by Carol Ascher, recently issued this 30-page report, covering the second year (2000-1) of a research project that's studying a sample of Big Apple charter schools (actually 8 of the 14 true charters then operating in the city plus two "alternative schools considering charter status"). The focus of this report is how the schools obtained support from other sources, including non-profit organizations, other charter schools, their sponsors and traditional public education providers. Since nearly all New York charter schools have such "partnerships," it's interesting to see how they make use of them. The answer is that they received a wide range of supports (money, experience, expertise, training, facilities, etc.) from their partner organizations, which in turn exerted considerable influence on them. This sometimes complicates school governance and leads a school's teachers and parents to feel marginalized. The authors offer a half dozen policy recommendations that would clarify these relationships, strengthen charter governance and boost the schools' funding from public sources, the inadequacy of which (even in high-spending New York) the authors deem "an obstacle" to those who might want to start charter schools in the Empire State. They're saying, in essence, that unless more ample provision is made for the start-up, capital and operating costs of charter schools in New York, there won't be a whole lot more of them and their private benefactors will exert undue influence over them. Especially considering the "establishmentarian" nature of the group doing this research (and their advisors, who include prominent charter critics), this is an unexpectedly perceptive and sympathetic report. If you'd like a copy, download a PDF at http://www.nyu.edu/iesp/publications/reports/GoingCharterPDFs.pdf.
