Lamphere Federation Of Teachers grew too quickly to allow school founders and Instead, the problems with michigan'scharter schoolsfrom and Nelson's state evaluations of charter schools can http://www.lft1614.org/june2002.htm
Extractions: June 2002 SOCIAL GATHERING Mark your calendar! The LFT will be hosting a gathering at Hazel Park Racetrack September 28. The price is $16 per person which includes admission, a program and a buffet dinner. Spouses and friends are welcome to join us. LFT Scholarship Winner Congratulations Best Wishes to High School Math teacher, Bill Leddy who will be retiring this year. Bill began teaching in Lamphere in 1967. Enjoy. Thanks A sincere thanks to all of the LFT members who volunteered to donate a day to Bob Fuchs, Hiller Social Worker. It is good to know that in a time of need there are so many people willing to help. Calendar LFT Members will be receiving a calendar before leaving for the summer. The required hours for instruction is 1098. The elementary work day for full days is 6 hours and 10 minutes. Half days will be 3 hours and 7 minutes. The calendar is on the LFT webpage at http://www.lft1614.calendar.htm. The calendar is not the same as what is printed in the contract. Please make a note of that. NEW BOOK ON MICHIGAN CHARTER SCHOOLS OFFERS LESSONS FOR ALL www.wmich.edu/evalctr.
Extractions: Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington, D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Charter School Accountability in connection with the grant of the charter or the school has violated is requiredto commission an independent evaluation of the charter under the michigan. http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/24/17/2417.htm
Extractions: StateNotes Charter Schools 700 Broadway, Suite 1200 Denver, CO 80203-3460 Fax: 303.296.8332 www.ecs.org Charter School Accountability First Completed in April 2001 Last Updated in March 2002 This ECS StateNote examines policies across the states dealing with charter school accountability and answers the following questions: Does the state require charter schools to submit annual reports? Does the state list grounds for terminating a schools charter? Does the state specify the specific renewal terms for charters? Does the state provide an appeals process in the charter school renewal process? Does the state require the state education agency or another entity to report to the legislature on the effectiveness of charter schools? Based on the information in this ECS StateNote: Thirty-five states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico require charter schools to submit annual reports. Thirty-six states and the District of Columbia list grounds for terminating a schools charter. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia specify the specific renewal terms for charters. These terms vary from up to four years, as in Mississippi, to 15 years, as in Arizona.
Charter School Autonomy -- Updated March 2002 laws and regulations, but they do receive automatic waivers from school districtlaws michigan. No. charter schools may seek waivers on a caseby-case basis from http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/24/14/2414.htm
Extractions: StateNotes Charter Schools 700 Broadway, Suite 1200 Denver, CO 80203-3460 Fax: 303.296.8332 www.ecs.org Charter School Autonomy First Completed in April 2001 Last Updated in March 2002 This ECS StateNote examines policies dealing with charter school autonomy across the states and answers the following questions: Are the states standards and assessments applied to charter schools? Are there any restrictions on a charter schools budgetary authority? What rules are waived for charter schools? Based on the information in this ECS StateNote Thirty-seven states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico apply state standards and assessments to charter schools. Twenty-one states do not place any restrictions on a charter schools budgetary authority. Eight states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico place restrictions on a charter schools budgetary authority. In six states, restrictions, if any, on a charter schools budgetary authority are specified in the charter. Restrictions on budgetary authority in two states, Massachusetts and Texas, depend on the type of charter school. In 20 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, charter schools receive an automatic waiver from most state and school district education laws, regulations and policies. In five states
Educational Organisations This resource center at Central michigan University assists supports prospective andoperational charter schools. MiddleWeb Concentrates on middle school reform http://www.icponline.org/connect/web_sites/ed_orgs.htm
NYSUT - Charter School Update The legislation determines how a charter school operates. parents are authorized toapply for a charter. as Arizona, Massachusetts, and michigan, allow private http://www.nysut.org/research/bulletins/979809charter.html
Extractions: December 1997 The District of Columbia and 27 states have enacted charter school legislation. Approximately 500 charter schools are in operation. Several charters have been revoked due to financial mismanagement. Recent reports reflect: Three charter school bills have been introduced in the New York State legislature. Current reform vehicles in New York State include CR100.11, Variances, and 21st Century School Legislation.
Measure Of Failing Schools Altered michigan students have previously taken the MEAP tests in A school that fails to improvefor several years close and reopen as a charter school, contract with http://www.freep.com/news/education/meap15_20021115.htm
Extractions: FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER The state Board of Education changed the definition of a failing school Thursday to what many said is a more realistic standard. But Michigan schools and students are still likely to face tougher standards than those in other states. Up to 15 percent of the state's elementary and middle schools could still be labeled as failing this school year and the bar will continue to be be raised through 2014, when 100 percent of students must reach the new standards. The requirements are mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind law, which was passed this summer and institutes sweeping new standards for U.S. schools. A school will be considered failing if its MEAP test scores fall below the 20th percentile in Michigan. But the standards can change yearly based on student performance. Schools could know as early as January or February if they failed to meet the standard and are on a state watch list. "This certainly is a compromise plan," said Margaret Trimer-Hartley, spokeswoman for the Michigan Education Association, the state's largest teachers union. "It allows us to compare apples with apples, while also maintaining the high standards that we in Michigan have adopted over time."
Charters Need Tweaking, Report Finds operate without the traditional elected school board and money and management servicesto charter schools for About 70 percent of michigan charter schools use http://www.freep.com/news/education/qchart26.htm
Extractions: FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER A new charter school study released Monday by Michigan State University says charter schools are helping Michigan students by providing more choices in education and forcing schools to be more responsive to parents. Charter school recommendations The Michigan State University charter school study recommends: Creating incentives for charter schools to educate students who cost more such as special education students by providing more money. Making innovation a key in awarding new charters. Ensuring that parents can get more information about schools by establishing a mechanism for communicating the successes and failures among all schools. Tightening accountability and clarifying who is responsible for overseeing charter schools. Establishing a plan for schools that are in danger of closing because of a loss of students.
Reason Magazine -- April 1998 Arizona had 1/3 of the nations charter schools. This insightful study by a business and economics Category Society Issues Education school Choice Minnesota; Leona Academies of East Lansing, michigan; and Advantage the state didn'ttrust the school's enrollment numbers a major strength of the charter system http://reason.com/9804/fe.glassman.html
Extractions: How charter schools are revamping public education in Arizonaand beyond. James K. Glassman Three years ago, Arizona passed a law that allows almost any reasonably serious person to start a school and receive a little more than $4,000 in state funds for every student enrolled. Such "charter schools," as they're called, are public schools that operate with more autonomy than conventional onesa vague definition, perhaps, but the best one available. Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia have laws permitting them. In the short time they've been around in Arizona, charters have attracted more than 25,000 students, or roughly 3 percent of the state's public school population, and the number is still rising by 10,000 annually. Arizona, with one-fiftieth of the nation's population, has about one-third of its 780 charter schools. Arizona has twice as many charters as California, which has eight times as many children under age 18. Over the past year, I've visited Arizona three times to see how well its charter schools are working. I especially wanted to find out whether charters were providing competition to traditional public schools and whether, in response, those public schools were trying to improve. I am not an expert on educationfar from itbut I write about business and economics, and I've long suspected that one reason public schools fail is that, as government-protected near-monopolies, they lack the feedback mechanisms built into market systems. As a result, they can't get the sort of information that would help them do a better job. Ultimately, they're operated more for the benefit of administrators and teachers than for parents and studentsfor producers rather than consumers. When charter schools started pulling some of those consumers away from traditional public schools, my hypothesis went, the latter would have no choice but to get better in order to lure the kids back.
American Association Of School Administrators - Leadership News 173 charter schools, enrolling 50,000 students, in michigan. AASA supports charterschools that operate under the auspices of the local school board and http://www.aasa.org/archives/publications/ln/02_00/02_24_00michcharter.htm
Extractions: "Leveraging Local Innovation: The Case of Michigan’s Charter Schools," released last week by Michigan State University, looked at the more than 173 charter schools, enrolling 50,000 students, in Michigan. The latest U.S. Education Department statistics show there are almost 1,500 charter schools in 31 states. In fact, the report said that although charter schools are different from public schools in both their organization and practices, "the degree of similarity is more striking than their differences. The differences that do exist are often minor, even in the eyes of charter school principals themselves."
Back To School 2001: Charter Schools Prove A 'mixed Bag' The Western michigan study's findings that Pennsylvania's regular the contention ofcritics that charter schools aren treated as a single school district, they http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20010902charterreg2p2.asp
Extractions: Back to School 2001: Charter schools prove a 'mixed bag' Sunday, September 02, 2001 By Carmen J. Lee, Post-Gazette Education Writer Urban League of Pittsburgh Charter School officials would like the school's student body to look more like the integrated East End neighborhoods around the school. They've advertised for students in local media and on the Internet. They've sent out brochures to nearby homes. Dejour Young, fourth-grader in the Urban League of Pittsburgh Charter School, is shy about sharing a journal on her favorite holiday in George Fitch's class. Classmate Adebowale Sijuwade is applauding his support. (Lake Fong, Post-Gazette) Though the school has never tried to position itself as a charter school for black children only, that's what has happened. "With all of that, [non-African American students] just don't come," said Janet Bell, chief administrative officer of the Urban League school. "They don't choose to come." A Western Michigan University study released early this year found that 80 percent of Pennsylvania's charter school students are nonwhite. Nationally, that figure is close to 52 percent. And the Western Michigan study and others have found less-than-stellar test scores among youngsters at a number of charter schools.
Geotimes--Hot Spots The school, called the Rochester Leadership Academy, is run by National in Grand Rapids,Mich., that operates 22 charter schools in michigan and North http://www.geotimes.org/dec00/hotspots_feature.html
Extractions: In February, Nigel Hughes, an associate professor of paleobiology at the University of California-Riverside, was watching his local PBS station. A special production featured John McIntosh, a science teacher at Colton High School in Colton, Calif., explaining how he used his search for the biblical Noah's Ark as a way to teach his students the scientific method. Hughes and other scientists were concerned and wrote a letter to the high school's principal. After many phone calls, an offer from the PBS station to go on the air with a rebuttal to McIntosh's message, and a letter from the Church State Council of Westlake, Calif., threatening legal action, Hughes got a letter in May from the school district's superintendent. The letter said McIntosh had been instructed not to incorporate religious beliefs into his teaching.
Extractions: Unlike state and national school choice initiatives, charter schools seem to better match the reality of local school control in the United States. Because education is really a local good, it makes sense that charter schools have had more traction than other school choice initiatives. Getting one charter school or ten charter schools approved in a local community, with local stakeholders who have a vested interest in the outcome, may be politically feasible, where a statewide voucher initiative would not be. Related Links Workplace Charter Schools: Florida Blazes the Trail. Examines the progress made by the nation's first satellite charter school and explores recent developments. Full Text News Release Satellite Charter Schools: Addressing The School-Facilities Crunch Through Public-Private Partnerships.
Charter Schools A Ruse For Destroying Public Education? tools for doing this are school vouchers and While Virginia has approved charter schools,it's proponents are defeated in November in California and michigan. http://www.sullivan-county.com/nf0/nov_2000/char_sch.htm
Extractions: Lynn View Middle School, Kingsport, Tennessee "Charter Schools" A Ruse For Destroying Public Education? Virginia political/religious leaders Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson have vowed to destroy public education in in America. Their tools for doing this are school vouchers and charter schools. While Virginia has approved charter schools, it's proponents are dismayed they have to follow the same standards, including the Virginia SOL, as the public schools. Their intention was never education, but the removal of science and history and substitution of religious myth. They also demand to use uncertified teachers and to be exempted from all civil rights rights laws including ADA regulations for the handi-capped. (religious institutions are already exempt.) Fortunately, vouchers were overwhelmingly defeated in November in California and Michigan. In fact, Washington County, Virginia has approved charter schools, but has had no takers because the fundamentalists didn't want to operate as schools. Now Tennesse has gotten into the act. But the almost 50% drop-out rate in the state has nothing to do with schools. It's family priorities. Here is the fundamentalist' agenda is in their words in 1995: Charter Schools Rejected in Sullivan County Tennessee Fights for Bible Classes Wise, Hawkins Counties Back School Prayer, Ignore Problems
Charter Schools Could Help Revitalize Ohio's Public Schools In michigan, a survey of ten charter schools operating in charter schools, in fact,typically face far more a contract with the State, local school district or http://www.buckeyeinstitute.org/perspect/1996_1.HTM
Extractions: Charter schools could help revitalize Ohio's public schools By Jeanne Allen SUMMARY Charter schools new public schools with unparalleled freedom and flexibility to innovate are close to being approved by the Ohio legislature. The author cites numerous examples of successful charter schools across the nation and encourages Ohio to move forward with the idea. Real education reform may be on the Statehouse doorstep. The Ohio House has already passed legislation allowing for the creation of new community schools. Passage by the Senate, plus the Governor's signature, would put Ohio on the cutting edge of nation-wide public school reform efforts. But what is a charter school? First and foremost, a charter school is a public school. It is funded by the local schools district, must practice open admission, meet basic health and safety standards, and comply with civil rights laws. However, most charter schools are not bound by state education codes in curriculum, personnel rules, district scheduling requirements, or financial administration rules. This gives them unparalleled freedom and flexibility compared to their traditional public school counter-parts.
Current Child Welfare News From CPS Watch Although school districts, intermediate school districts and community collegesalso can open charter schools in michigan, universities sponsor most of the http://www.cpswatch.com/news/article.asp?Index=17
Charter Schools Defined of the small size (53%); high standards (46%); and michigan Association of PublicSchool Academies) at of staffing ratios shows michigan charter public schools http://www.marshallacademy.org/CharterSchools.htm
Extractions: Charter Schools (Also see FAQ) Charter schools are public schools free and open to all. They are started by interested parents, educators, and business and community leaders. Each school is created with its own unique curricula and is licensed by a school district, community college or, most often, a state university. Overview of Michigan's Charter School Law In December of 1993, Michigan became the ninth state to pass charter school legislation. A charter school, also known as a public school academy, is an independent public school organized as a nonprofit organization, funded on a per-pupil basis from the state school aid fund, and operated under a contract issued by an authorizing body. Charter contracts can be issued by local school districts and intermediate school districts, community colleges and state universities. Those interested in operating a charter school must apply to an authorizing body. If an authorizing body grants a charter, it receives 3 percent of the state aid payable to the charter school. Currently, there is a cap on the number of charter contracts issued by state universities. The number of contracts for public school academies issued by all state universities shall not exceed 125 through 1998, or 150 thereafter. The number of contracts issued by any one state university shall not exceed 50 percent of the maximum total that may be issued.
Extractions: Investor's Business Daily, May 8, 2000 Charter schools - independent public schools of choice, freed from many bureaucratic rules but accountable for results - will never satisfy school-choice purists. Though far more independent than traditional public schools, they're still constrained by some government rules, vulnerable to shifting political winds, and confined to an imperfect marketplace. They also draw children away from private schools. The public school establishment looks askance at charters, too, for all their usual reasons: These schools aren't sufficiently accountable; they won't hire education school graduates, but rely instead on laymen; they siphon away money and pupils. Charter schools are neither fish nor fowl, but that's also their genius, the source of their political attraction (both George W. Bush and Al Gore favor them), and the basis for their popular appeal. Since the first charter school opened in Minnesota in 1992, charter schools have spread faster than anyone expected. Some 1,700 of them now enroll almost 350,000 children in 32 states and the District of Columbia. U.S. Education Secretary Richard Riley sees 3,000 of these schools operating by 2002. Nearly one-tenth of the schoolchildren in Washington, D.C., now attend 28 charter schools which didn't exist three years ago. More than 13% of Kansas City's children are in charters. And one-fifth of all the public schools in Arizona are charters.
Ball State University President's Perspective: Nov. 14, 2001 team also visited Central michigan University, which The university's evaluationof charter school proposals will whether Ball State will sponsor the school. http://web.bsu.edu/ur/perspective/111401.html
Extractions: You have probably read some stories in the press about Ball State's decision to sponsor charter schools in Indiana. Our involvement officially began in early September when the Board of Trustees voted to allow Ball State to accept proposals from individuals and organizations seeking to establish charter schools. Ball State's decision to sponsor charter schools answered a call from the Indiana General Assembly to provide another option in public education. Charter schools are independent schools that operate under a performance contract that allows them more independence than the typical public school. Because of this arrangement, they are able to explore more innovative approaches to education. Charter schools are state-funded public schools that must be nondiscriminating, nonsectarian, and open to all Indiana students. Providing leadership to help develop innovative approaches to education is consistent with Ball State's mission. The university has a long history of successful involvement in public education. We operate two highly regarded public schoolsthe K-12 Burris Laboratory School and the Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Humanities. We are involved in a teacher education magnet program in the state, have a network of 23 professional development schools, and develop and provide electronic field trips to schools across the nation. We have a tremendously successful and respected teacher education program that produces between 600 and 800 teachers each year.
Extractions: Sally Friedli, Office Manager; and Sara Murphy, Administrative Assistant Academic / Accountability Academies 2001 will be hosted by the Resource Center in Dallas and Houston for all Texas charters. A continental breakfast and lunch will be provided free of charge. See attached for times, dates, and registration form. The Math two-day events. Please RSVP to the Resource Center at 210-348-7890 or fax the attached registration form to 210-348-7899 by Tuesday, July 10th. Babysitting services will not be provided. Please refrain from bringing any children or students to the workshops. STATE OF THE STATE CHARTER SCHOOL MOVEMENT A document noting the strengths of the Texas charter school movement including state standards and assessment instruments, a brief House Bill 6 legislation outline, and charter school support at the state level is attached. SPECIAL EDUCATION FORMS The Education Service Center Region X has produced a general education referral packet and a set of special education forms. If you would like this information sent to your school please contact Sara Murphy at the Resource Center at 210-348-7890.
