June 2010

Editorial: Hawaii charter schools don't follow national pattern

Christine Donnelly

Some of the assertions education historian Diane Ravitch makes about charter schools don't hold water in Hawaii, where the schools have less autonomy and funding than in other states.

In her best-selling book "The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education," Ravitch writes that charter schools generally rely on overworked, nonunionized teachers, avoid enrolling the neediest students and are competing with, rather than complementing, public schools.

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Support Critical Federal Funding for Charter Schools!

National Alliance for Public Charter Schools

The President has called upon Congress to increase funding for the federal Charter Schools Program to $310 million.                                                                              

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Charter schools threaten to sue D.C. for funding

Deborah Simmons, The Washington Times

D.C. supporters of charter schools are among a number of national proponents who are turning toward litigation to get charter students their fair share of public education dollars.

In North Carolina, a charter coalition has filed a federal complaint alleging discrimination after winning a funding lawsuit in February. In Missouri, St. Louis charter schools and parents claim that the school district owes them millions of dollars that the public school system failed to distribute after receiving the money from the state.

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School flexibility plan on the way to Gov. Bobby Jindal

Bill Barrow, The Times-Picayune

The House of Representatives signed off Thursday on the Senate's revisions to a plan that would let public school officials apply for waivers of state education regulations, a measure that would let some campuses behave more like charter schools.

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Churches Mix With Charters

Joy Resmovits, The Wall Street Journal

Four of the 27 new charter schools opening in New York City this fall have ties with religious organizations, although leaders assert curriculum and instruction will be secular.

Supporters say the new schools are a welcome addition amid overcrowded classrooms and heightened demand for charters, especially in neighborhoods with low-performing schools. But the development blurs the line between church and state, and also calls into question the distinction between public education and private groups, an issue with which charter schools already contend.

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Major Foundation Gets Set to Open a Charter School

Mary Ann Zehr, Education Week

One of the nation’s largest private foundations has been authorized to run its own charter school, which it plans to open in fall 2011.

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation has announced it will open a charter school in its home base of Kansas City, Mo., with an initial class of 75 students in 5th grade and add a grade each year through 12th grade.

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Scaling Charters, Herding Cats

Nelson Smith, President and CEO, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools

Times are tough for school budgets. Charters are getting whacked along with schools in traditional districts. Everyone’s looking for new sources of revenue, and here in Washington, our affluent neighboring school districts in Fairfax, Va., and Montgomery County, Md., suggest contrasting paths.

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National Alliance for Public Charter Schools Salutes 15 Charters on Newsweek’s List of Top 100 U.S. High Schools

National Alliance for Public Charter Schools

Charter High Schools Represent Only 5 Percent of All High Schools, but 15 Percent of the Most Rigorous Top Performers

Washington, D.C. – The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools today congratulates the 15 public charter schools named among the nation’s 100 best high schools, according to Newsweek’s 2010 listing.

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Laupahoehoe charter plans get back on track

Susan Essoyan, Honolulu Star-Advertiser

QUESTION: What ever happened to Laupahoehoe School's effort to become a charter school rather than face possible closure by the Department of Education?

ANSWER: The push to convert Laupahoehoe High and Elementary School to charter status is back on track after the Charter School Review Panel agreed to start considering applications for new charters again after a six-month hiatus.

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Big Island charter school wins accreditation

Star-Advertiser Staff

Kanu o ka ‘Âina New Century public charter school on the Big Island has received accreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges for its K-12 program.

The WASC accreditation, the first for a Hawaiian-focused charter school, is effective for six years, a news release said.

“This is validation of the quality of education at Kanu, which is at once culturally-driven and academically rigorous and prepares students to walk comfortably in multiple worlds,” said school administrator Pat Bergin.

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