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Reaching more students
More charter schools are likely to blossom in West Virginia over the next few years, making up for lost time after many years of struggle to get the first one launched. A bill to allow the creation of charters that would serve specifically high-risk students was voted out of the state Senate’s School Choice Committee last week. These would include students who have been expelled from other schools, suspended more than 10 days in a school year, are wards or dependents of the court, are foster youth, or need greater flexibility in scheduling (such as pregnant and parenting students). Such an expansion would help charters reach even more Mountain State students.
Boosting reading achievement
Here’s a great story about two very different school systems—a charter network in Washington, D.C., and a small traditional district in rural Delaware—that are both finding success in boosting students’ reading achievement to make up for pandemic-era learning loss. What’s the secret sauce? Strict adherence to science of reading, high-quality curricula (well-matched to student assessments) creating consistency across all aspects of teaching and learning in their schools, and making sure that every opportunity to teach and to learn is maximized. Great stuff. Take a look!
Districts must serve charter school families too
The editorial board of the L.A. Times was unexpectedly blunt last week in denouncing a plan by Los Angeles Unified School District to restrict co-locations of charters on district campuses. They acknowledge the ongoing competitive factor between charters and districts, but stress that such concerns “must come second to what’s best for the public school students of L.A.,” no matter what school their parents have chosen for them. And that includes allowing shared spaces and even shared services. Kudos!
Again?
Speaking of charter school facilities, here’s a story that feels like déjà vu: Charter schools are popping up in empty former retail spaces in some cities across the country. Except this time, it appears to be highly intentional. Take Liberty STEAM Charter School in Sumter, South Carolina, for example. It started out in a repurposed former district elementary school but grew so quickly that leaders were soon looking for a bigger space. And in a retail environment decimated by pandemic-era changes, they found it was cheaper and easier to rent empty mall space and purpose-build the environment they needed…including outdoor playground and sports space. It’s an interesting twist from the old days when empty district buildings were unobtainable and malls were seen as a low-quality alternative.
The view from Tennessee
It’s still the olden days in Tennessee in terms of charter school facilities. A bill currently under debate in the legislature would update things, giving charter operators right of first refusal on the purchase or lease of underutilized and vacant district school properties. The bill would also define the term “underutilized”, create a registry of such facilities, and codify that properties could only be sold or rented “at or below fair market value”.
The view from Ohio
Most of those Tennessee provisions are already on the books here in the Buckeye State, but, as Fordham’s Aaron Churchill explains, there always seems to be a new loophole available to thwart the spirit of the law. He lays out several detailed and specific recommendations that Ohio lawmakers should enact—some of which will sound familiar as well as long overdue—to close the bureaucratic loopholes for good.
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