July 2011

Task force begins evaluation of charter school operations

Mary Vorsino, Star Advertiser

 

A new legislative task force aimed at improving charter school accountability and governance met for the first time Wednesday, pledging to make recommendations that will be translated into action.

"The one thing we don't want to see is a nice report that sits on a shelf," state Sen. Jill Tokuda, co-chairwoman of the group, said at the meeting. "This represents for us an opportunity to take a slight step back and do a concrete analysis of the system."

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Charter School Task Force Promises Concrete Results

Katherine Poythress, Honolulu Civil Beat

What do the school board chairman, a president of a nonprofit and Kamehameha Schools have in common? They all have a stake in helping to reform Hawaii's charter schools.

A task force of 10 policymakers on Wednesday began a three-month examination of the authority structure for the charter school system.

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New task force hopes to improve charter schools

Manolo Morales, KHON2

Charter schools across the state are bracing for changes as they deal with a new Board of Education and a tighter budget. A new task force could also mean more scrutiny.

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Charter school task force holds first meeting

Mark Carpenter, HawaiiNewsNow

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Expect changes in the near future for Hawaii's charter school system.

The newly formed Charter School Governance, Accountability, and Authority Task Force held its first meeting Wednesday at the State Capitol.

Created earlier this month by Gov. Abercrombie, the 11-member group hopes to develop avenues of accountability between the charter school system and government education leaders.

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Kulia's Kuleana

David Thompson, Hana Hou! Magazine

Just after 9 a.m. on a sunny school day, the seventh- and eighth-grade classes of Ke Ana La‘ahana Public Charter School of Hilo pile out of an old yellow school bus, sling backpacks over their shoulders and start trudging down the wickedly steep four-wheel-drive road into Waipi‘o Valley. Nobody says much. It’s early yet, and the students have a long hike into the valley ahead of them. A cloud of adolescent crankiness follows as they clomp down the hill.

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Roger McKeague: Helping Hawaii charter schools fulfill their potential is his new mission

Vicki Viotti, Star Advertiser

The Charter School Administrative Office looks pretty big on paper, when you count up all the people who work in the schools it oversees.

So don't be deceived by its tiny physical presence, said Roger McKeague, 44, its new executive director. The CSAO, which provides administrative support to 31 charter schools that teach about 9,700 students, occupies a corner of a floor in the Remington College Building downtown with a staff of 10.

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New Chief In Town For Hawaii Charter Schools

Katherine Poythress, Honolulu Civil Beat

The Hawaii Charter Schools Administrative Office has seen seven directors in seven years, but Roger McKeague plans to stop the leadership crisis — and bring more accountability to the charter school system.

Some of what the new executive director has planned seems like no-brainers: setting clear performance goals, encouraging open dialogue and upgrading computer systems. But McKeague says the administrative office has lacked even these basic essentials.

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Charter school independence must come with accountability

Star Advertiser

The charter schools movement has run into some particularly punishing headwinds in recent months — or, viewed from the more optimistic perspective, is facing an important crossroads in its develop­- ment.

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