North Carolina Charter School Conference

 

There will be a total 152 North Carolina Charter Schools by August 2014

 

 

 

The State of Charters in North Carolina

In a Charlotte Observer, Eddie Goodall assessed the state of public charter schooling in North Carolina. “Twenty-seven new charter boards will open schools this year, yielding 152 NC charters by this August. Charters continued to outpace their district school cousins in 2012-2013 in educational value added, or growth (85 percent of charters versus 71 percent of district schools). Also, according to data from the NC Department of Public Instruction, 39.7 percent of charter school students in grades 3-8 were proficient in math and reading, while only 32 percent of district school students earned proficiency…Charters operate with about 15 percent less funding ($72 million a year) than that provided to district schools…There are 59,000 charter students in 127 schools. We have about 4 percent of public school students in charters versus 4.6 percent nationally. The students going to charters opening this year will likely increase our charter enrollment to that national average.”

Source: Charlotte Observer

 

State of the Union Response: Charter Schools Key to Addressing Income Inequality
National group says charter schools are already meeting President's objectives

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Tonight President Obama made reducing the income inequality gap in America a top priority for this year. The President announced two new education initiatives to help achieve his objectives to “strengthen the middle class” and “build new ladders of opportunity into the middle class.”   

 These education initiatives include an effort to connect 15,000 schools and 20 million students to the best technology and "redesigning high schools to teach the real-world skills that students need" by announcing a $100 million competition to connect students with industry-relevant education. The President also stressed the importance of increasing the number of college graduates from low-income families and making high-quality preschool more widely available.

Research has shown that a college education or some sort of technical degree is the key to higher earnings for working adults. Workers with a college degree have annual earnings between 25 and 50% higher than workers who have only completed high school. Workers without a high school diploma earn three times less than a worker with a college degree, and are much more likely to experience unemployment at some time in their careers.

The income gap is even greater for minorities who don’t finish high school or college. They earn almost two million dollars less over their lifetimes than people who graduate from college.

“It’s clear that we need more American children to graduate from college—especially children from minority and low-income backgrounds—if we ever want to make a dent in the income gap," said Nina Rees, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. “The high school students who are prepared for college are already going, so we need to focus on making sure our elementary, middle, and high schools are challenging traditionally underserved students and preparing them for college and the workforce. Public charter schools play a key role in this.”

Charter schools were created more than 20 years ago to get at exactly this issue. They were designed with flexibility from traditional school system rules with the purpose of helping close the achievement gap for low-income and minority students. And they are doing just that. “That’s why President Obama has been a significant supporter of charter schools,” continued Rees.

Nationwide, charter schools teach a higher percentage of minority and low-income children—the very groups who are least likely to graduate from college. But charter schools are showing that demographics aren’t destiny.

Charter schools have higher high school graduation rates and a higher percentage of their students go on to college, compared to traditional public schools. Research released from the Center for Research on Educational Outcomes at Stanford University shows that charter school students who are low-income, minority, and still learning English, do better in school than their peers at traditional public schools.

Even more important is that charter schools seem to be having a long-term impact on earnings. A new study from researchers at Mathematics shows students who graduated from charter high schools in Florida and Chicago go on to earn more than their peers in their first few years out of college. By their mid-20s, charter school graduates in Florida are earning 12 percent more than their peers.

Charter schools are also able to adapt their curriculum and focus to better prepare children for the jobs of the future. Twenty percent of all charter schools nationwide focus on STEM education. Having more students enter college programs in science, technology, engineering, and math is a key priority for the Obama administration, and another area where charters are excelling.

Charter schools are already leading the nation in creating technology-enriched, personalized learning environments through innovations like hybrid classrooms. In a hybrid classroom, students spend part of the day in a traditional lecture-style environment and part of the learning at their own pace with computer-assisted lessons under the direction of a teacher. Charter schools have also been early adopters of personalized learning tools, like the online Khan Academy lessons, to help students advance their knowledge, or get the remedial help they need.

“Charter schools aren’t a silver bullet—especially for disadvantaged children. Disadvantaged children need access to other programs, like a high-quality preschool, to make sure they are ready for school in the first place,” said Rees. “We also need to make sure traditional public schools continue to improve. That’s why school accountability requirements are important. Parents and lawmakers need to know how well the schools in their community are doing so we can recognize success and address challenges. That certainly requires adequate funding for all schools and over the last few years, school funding has gone down at the federal, state, and local levels.”

“We are encouraged that the President continues to make education a priority,” Rees continued. “We have called for increased spending on the federal program that supports the creation of new charter schools and the expansion of existing charter schools with a proven track record. We believe the federal government should commit $330 million in funding to start up and expand high-quality charter schools. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel—we already know what’s working and we need to invest in it.”

About the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools is the leading national nonprofit organization committed to advancing the public charter school movement. Our mission is to lead public education to unprecedented levels of academic achievement by fostering a strong charter sector. For more information, see the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools website at www.publiccharters.org.

   

What Are Public Charter Schools?

Charter schools are unique public schools that are allowed the freedom to be more innovative while being held accountable for advancing student achievement. Because they are public schools, they are:

• Open to all children;
• Do not charge tuition; and
• Do not have special entrance requirements.

Charter schools were created to help improve our nation’s public school system and offer parents another public school option to better meet their child’s specific needs. The core of the charter school model is the belief that public schools should be held accountable for student learning. In exchange for this accountability, school leaders should be given freedom to do whatever it takes to help students achieve and should share what works with the broader public school system so that all students benefit.
In the early 1990s, a small group of educators and policymakers came together to develop the charter school model. Minnesota’s legislature passed the first charter law in 1991, and the first charter school opened in 1992.

Why Charter Schools?

Every child deserves a chance to succeed in college, careers, and life, which starts with a great education. All children should have the opportunity to achieve at a high level, and public charter schools are meeting that need:

• Charter schools are some of the top-performing schools in the country.
• Charter schools are closing the achievement gap. They are raising the bar of what’s possible—and what should be expected—in public education.
• A higher percentage of charter students are accepted into a college or university.

How Do Charter Schools Work?

Charter schools foster a partnership between parents, teachers, and students. They create an environment in which parents can be more involved, teachers are allowed to innovate, and students are provided the structure they need to learn. Some specific examples of how charter schools are working to improve student achievement include:

• Adjusting curriculum to meet student needs. A charter school can break up the day to provide students with more time on the core subjects they need most. Charter school teachers have a say in the curriculum they teach and can change materials to meet students’ needs.
• Creating a unique school culture. Charter schools build upon the core academic subjects by creating a school culture or adopting a theme. For example, charter schools may focus on Science Technology Engineering or Math (STEM) education, performing arts, project-based learning, college preparation, career readiness, language immersion, civic engagement, classical education, global awareness, or meeting the needs of autistic students — just to name a few.

Developing next-generation learning models. Charter schools are rethinking the meaning of the word “classroom.” In Hawaii, students learn biology with the sky as their ceiling and the ocean as the classroom. Online schools, which don’t have a physical building, use technology to change the dynamics of the classroom. Other schools combine online classroom time with classroom time in a physical school building. In either case, students can learn from experts located anywhere in the world. Excellent charter school networks like KIPP and Uncommon Schools are codifying how to create an excellent teacher.

This article was taken from The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools

This was taken from The News Observer today January 7 2014

Please open the link below:

http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/01/06/3511351/how-savvy-companies-can-nc.html

After reading this article you can see why it is so very important that you have someone that is trustworthy, dependable,and understands the process of what is needed for your Charter Schools.

Please be aware of the different kinds scans out there, and for any help or questions call or email us here at Funding The Gap.

Charter Schools Poised for Expansion in North Carolina

 

Charter Schools Poised for Expansion in North Carolina

According to the News & Observer, the next two weeks will determine how rapidly North Carolina’s charter-school movement expands. On Thursday, the State Board of Education will vote on whether to give final approval to 26 charter schools that want to open this fall. It would mark the state’s largest single-year expansion of charter schools since the program was in its infancy in the late 1990s. Next week, the state Office of Charter Schools will recommend which of the 71 charter schools that have applied to open in 2015 should go forward for further review. North Carolina could have more than 200 charter schools open in 2015–double the number that existed until a state limit was lifted in 2011.

Source: News & Observer

New Year 2014