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A national view
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) this week released the second edition of its Education Freedom rankings of states. It promises “a deep-dive analysis of each state’s charter school, home school, virtual school, and open enrollment laws to determine how accessible these learning environments are to families.” It also looks at various support programs each state has in place that help offset the cost of alternative learning environments, such as ESAs and voucher programs. No spoilers intended, but Ohio lands at number 10 in the overall rankings with a B+ grade on the various components.
Ohio charter funding
Thomas B. Fordham Institute’s Ohio research director Aaron Churchill published a piece this week looking at the data which shows the state’s push to improve charter school funding in recent years has made real progress—and resulted in real improvements for charter students. There are still thousands of students who need and deserve more support, and this year’s biennial budget bill presents another opportunity to create a funding system that treats all Ohio students fairly, no matter their choice of school.
The state of afterschool programming in Cleveland
The awesome afterschool offerings of Cleveland charter school Village Prep Cliffs sound great as described in this piece. But such top-notch programming seems like a rarity for students in the city as Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s budget woes have greatly curtailed what they are able to offer. Here’s hoping that more outside providers can step up to help families looking for out-of-school-time enrichment for their kids.
Lessons to be learned in Idaho
Terry Ryan, CEO of Bluum and board chair of the Idaho Charter School Network, published a piece this week spelling out five fundamental differences between charter and traditional district schools. He expresses his wish that districts might adopt some of the good practices of charters (creating non-union workplaces and being schools of choice for both parents and educators) and jettison some of their own bad practices (hoarding local tax dollars for themselves), but doesn’t sound all that optimistic that his wish will come to pass.
In-depth career exploration
Joe Nathan, founder of a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students in Minnesota, published a great piece in The Sun This Week describing how a group of high schoolers at Higher Ground Academy, a charter school in St. Paul, have been taking advantage of their school’s career exploration program to delve deeply into the world of work. Students were required to identify careers of interest; prepare thoughtful, specific questions; conduct interviews with professionals in a given field; and ultimately to report on what they learned via written essays and video stories. Dr. Nathan summarizes a number of the awesome essays, but you can read them all on the school’s website. Great stuff.
Taking the next step
We have followed in recent months the expansion of charter schools in Nevada. Specifically, two cities which were recently approved to authorize charters for the first time. In this piece, we learn that the City of Henderson has begun accepting notices of intent from committees interested in forming public charter schools within the city limits. Specifically, city leaders are looking for new and innovative education models that can “fill unmet needs and address issues” specific to the community. Here’s hoping for lots of great options on the way.
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