A new budget…at last
Governor DeWine signed Ohio’s next biennial budget into law on Thursday morning. The final version, after a few line-item vetoes, included a number of provisions relevant to charter schools. First and foremost, it allocated $30 million per year in supplemental state aid for high-performing charters. Schools will receive an additional $1,750 per pupil for economically disadvantaged students and $1,000 per pupil for non-disadvantaged students – a huge win for the students being served by the charter sector. A second big win: elimination of the requirement for teachers in charter schools to be “properly certified or licensed.” More general education provisions around school report cards, industry credentials, and allocation of student wellness funds should be of great interest to charter school leaders as well. You can read a great summary of all the budget’s education provisions here.
Building(s) for the future
The ACCEL network of schools is on the grow in Cleveland. This interview with founder Ron Packard looks at plans and possibilities guiding that growth. It focuses on the impending availability of a number of school buildings being shed by Cleveland Metropolitan School District which could be purchased by ACCEL or other charter networks.
Growth is good
Albert Einstein Academy is also growing – and moving too. The three-school network will move its K-12 school from Westlake this fall, taking up residence in the former St. Richard School in North Olmstead. The new space is twice the size of its current building and includes such purpose-built amenities as science labs, a gym, and a library. How can you tell that this is unadulterated good news? Because the piece entirely forgets to mention that AEA is a charter school!
A new chance in a new school
Speaking of new schools, Ohio Digital Learning School will also open this fall. The online dropout recovery school will focus on current high schoolers in danger of dropping out and on adults up to age 21 who have not yet completed high school. This piece mentions the c-word four times but is still generally very positive.
100% graduation rate
Looking backward for a moment: while this is a new piece, it is looking back at the graduation of the Class of 2019 at Horizon Science Academy in Lorain, which happened in May. The school celebrated another 100% graduation rate back then and with news as good as that, why quibble about how long it takes to hit the papers.
Celebrating STEM, history, and community
PAR Excellence Academy, the only charter school in Licking County, held a fantastic-sounding Rocket Day event last week. Nearly 100 children – only half of them PAR Excellence students – gathered at the school to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, build and launch rockets of their own, and get together as one community for a day of fun and learning. One small step…
