Leading with the data
It is just possible that lessons in how education can positively rebound from the past year’s disruption could come from studying how New Orleans rebounded from the historic devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. A new report from Tulane University economist Douglas N. Harris, who has been studying the topic for many years, indicates that while student achievement in the city still has many problem areas, much of the improvement observed can be directly tied to an increase in charter schools and school choice generally.
The view from Colorado
Early in May, lawmakers in Colorado began considering a bill which would likely allow for a new district-approval process for charter school applicants. It was feared that approval would have a chilling effect on charter growth in the Centennial State. This week, after weeks of impassioned testimony from charter school families, the bill failed in the House Education Committee on a 5-4 vote.
Meanwhile, in West Virginia…
Buoyed by passage of a new law expanding the number and type of charter schools allowed to operate in the state, and hopeful of a successful outcome of its state Supreme Court case, officials at the proposed West Virginia Academy believe it is once again on the path to becoming the first charter school to open in the Mountain State.
The money pt 1
The U.S. Department of Education this week released updated guidance for schools in how to spend their Covid-relief ESSER dollars. Meanwhile, President Biden’s proposed budget, unveiled this week, included $440 million in funding for the Charter Schools Program (CSP).
The money pt 2
This week, the Ohio Senate released its own plan to revamp school funding in Ohio as part of the state budget bill. The new model includes some of the best proposals from the previous House plan—direct funding of charters and vouchers, increasing support for Ohio’s most-vulnerable students—and builds upon it by fully funding the quality charter school fund, increasing support for charter and independent STEM schools’ facilities, and removing existing geographic restrictions on where startup charters can locate.
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