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Taking action on behalf of students
David Harris is the president and CEO of Christel House International, a global nonprofit aimed at lifting young people out of poverty via great educational options and connected services and supports. Harris says in a new USA Today op-ed that the most meaningful school improvements in American have been the result of coordinated, community-level efforts implemented over decades. He points to New Orleans in the post-Katrina period and to the changes currently sweeping through Indiana as exemplars. The common denominator: high-quality charter school options. He encourages leaders in other cities to take note…and take action.
Not taking action on behalf of students
By contrast, here’s a look at a meeting held in Dayton this week to address the issue of student transportation. Sadly, too many people in the room (which included the city, county, state, RTA, police, community, and school district officials) seem to believe that transporting charter and private school students is the crux of the problem. If it wasn’t necessary to transport them, then everything would be fine. This is likely not even accurate, but given the fact that so many believe it, it will not surprise you to know that no charter or private school officials (or families or students) appear to have been involved in the meeting.
Celebrating all students
Kudos to the Columbus community organization We Are Linden, which is actively celebrating successful young people in the historically-struggling neighborhood. This brief piece talks about a recent event held at North Columbus Prep Academy to honor the dedication and effort put in by their students and to allow the community to see the good work of this neighborhood charter school. Awesome!
Time to follow the law
You’ve heard the complaints from Ohio’s school district leaders, grouching about legislative proposals to tighten the state’s existing law that gives charters right of first refusal to rent or purchase unused school facilities. They are a sure sign, says Fordham’s Chad Aldis, that the law hasn’t been taken seriously up to now. He lays out the history of these sensible provisions, illustrates how they have been regularly flouted by districts, and explains why now is finally the time for all that to change.
Good news from Connecticut
Dr. Steve Perry is the influential founder of the highly-successful Capital Prep Charter Schools in Connecticut and New York. And when he talks, people generally listen. The most recent case in point: Capital Prep filed a petition asking the Connecticut Department of Education to clarify several aspects of the charter approval and funding process required by law in the state. This follows a failed bid to get funding for a school in Middletown, which Perry and his colleagues allege resulted from “violation of state laws (and a breach of the duties of the State Board of Education and/or State Department of Education under such laws).” An audit of legal statutes and operations is now underway, looking not only at the Middletown situation but at all processes and procedures around charter approval and funding at the state level.
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