Kudos to charters and their staffers across Ohio
Adam Lusk, superintendent of the Maritime Academy of Ohio, was honored with the Leaders in Action Award given out by media outlet WTOL in Toledo. He was nominated by a school parent who said Lusk “encourages his students, many often dealing with a variety of personal challenges, to find a positive path and career when they graduate whether it be through college, the military, or a maritime or even culinary career.” A well-deserved recognition for more than 10 years of serving students at the school. Meanwhile, ReGeneration Schools Ohio was among the awardees of federal Charter School Program (CSP) funds, announced late last week. The Cincinnati-based charter operator received more than $4.5 million aimed at expansion and replication of high-quality schools in the Queen City. Huge congratulations to the team at ReGen!
News from Columbus
Students in Columbus will also likely benefit from a CSP grant awarded to the KIPP Foundation in Consortium with KIPP Regions. Their award of over $9 million is for replication and expansion of schools in Detroit, Nashville, and Stockton, as well as in Columbus. Meanwhile, a National Labor Review Board ruling this week paves the way for a unionization vote by KIPP Columbus teachers and staff to take place.
Continued success for Success students
For the sixth consecutive year, 100 percent of New York’s Success Academy High School of the Liberal Arts seniors have been accepted to four-year colleges and universities. This includes Geah Jean Baptiste, who has been attending Success charters since first grade, who became the school’s first student accepted to Harvard. A strong record of achievement that shows the value of providing great school options at the very highest level.
The view from Connecticut
A proposal in the Connecticut legislature would make a significant change in the way that new charter schools are approved to open in the state, eliminating the legislature itself from the process. The upshot of passage is expected to be a burst of new charters opening. Debate on the bill has just begun, but while it seems the arguments for and against are the same as usual, there appear to be some different folks siding with the call for choice. An interesting one to watch.
Welcome CEO Elorza
This week, Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) named Jorge Elorza as its next CEO. Elorza previously served two terms as mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, and is credited with helping to improve public education in the city by investing $400 million in school buildings and supporting the expansion of high performing charter schools. In his new role, Elorza says he wants to focus on what parents care about most: “Is my kid getting a top notch education or not?” He says, “While support for high performing charter schools is strong across the board, nowhere is it stronger than with low income and Black and brown families that simply don’t have the choices at this time, in the same way that wealthy families have choices.” Best wishes to the new CEO!
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