Colorado Charter Schools

New Legislation Proposed for Charter Schools

2012-01-25T08:24:00.003-07:00

There are two bills this session that have already been introduced that will impact charter schools. They are SB 61, sponsored by Sen. Keith King and Rep. Tom Massey, concerning charter school authorizing. The other is Sb 67, by Sen. Evie Hudak and Rep. Chris Holbert, regarding the corporate status of charter schools.

SB 61 would add to the list of charter school application components, which matches the Standard Application and Review Rubric, the state model for applications. The bill also requires school districts to have a process for closing a charter school. A best practice for authorizers is also included, the stipulation that all authorizers provide each of their charter schools with an Annual Progress Report (APR). This would include Accreditation, but be broader and more specific in scope.

SB 67 is aimed at closing the ambiguous language that has been in the Charter Schools Act since its initial passage in 1993, which never defined who could be party to a charter school contract. The current law would allow even for-profit management companies to contract directly with an authorizer to operate a charter school. SB 67 would require all charter schools to incorporate, as a nonprofit, and restrict only nonprofits to being party to a charter contract.

Legislation can be tracked through the General Assembly's home page. Also, sign up for the Colorado League of Charter Schools' grassroots effort here.

Prospect Ridge Academy's Grand Opening

2012-01-24T19:18:00.011-07:00

It was just six months ago when I wrote about Prospect Ridge Academy breaking ground on their new facility in Broomfield. Today was their first day in their new building! The celebration was even more sweet after spending the last six months in a temporary facility, a significant distance from the current school location.

Principal April Wilkin used a megaphone to speak to the hundreds of parents and children waiting to see their brand new building. April presented a plaque to the Rooks family who gave hundreds of volunteer hours over the past several years to get PRA approved and open in their new facility.

Students made tiles to display in their new hallways. The 12 inch square handpainted tiles were interspersed with plain tiles. They fit right in with the design, which was done by SlaterPaull Architects.

PRA had to delay a year in opening and then went through numerous hearings with board the City of Broomfield and Adams 12 School District to get their facility plan approved. In the future, the school will build an addition to house more classrooms as they expand grade levels.

Tim Tebow's Education

2012-01-18T08:56:00.002-07:00

A small percentage of the nation's students are home schooled. An even smaller percentage of those were home schooled Kindergarten through 12th grade. But, widely popular Broncos football quarterback, Tim Tebow, was one of the small percentage of students who were home schooled throughout elementary, middle and high school.

As reported by the Washington Post, Tim Tebow and all his siblings were home schooled. Knowing that home schooling is a huge family commitment, especially for that length of time, that puts Tim Tebow's parents up there at the sainthood level, in my opinion.

Life Skills of Denver Graduation

2012-01-15T08:39:00.002-07:00

On Friday evening I attended the Life Skills of Denver graduation for ten students who otherwise may not have earned their high school diploma. Life Skills enrolls students, many who have dropped out of 5-6 other schools before enrolling at Life Skills, who are dealing with pressing life issues and have not been successful in other environments.

At graduation ceremonies, the graduating Seniors, choose a teacher to introduce them to the audience. Comments by the staff ranged from tear-jerking stories about how students before committing to the task of graduating to a hilarious impersonation of a students by his math teacher. Let's just say the student and his teacher were probably polar opposites, which made the impersonation even funnier!

This was a huge event for these ten families! One student graduated six months earlier than planned, but everyone else was getting a high school diploma after a very long, and often frustrating, struggle to complete course work.

Disclaimer: I have been contacting with Life Skills the last couple of months as they appeal the decision by the Denver Public School Board to not renew their charter contract after the current school year.

What Nobody Talks About With Blended Learning

2012-01-14T08:54:00.003-07:00

Blended learning, or using an online curriculum with face-to-face teacher contact, isn't talked about much in Colorado because state law doesn't allow for blended learning schools. Sure, schools could offer the blended learning model, but they wouldn't get paid for those students. Well let me clarify with a caveat: district-operated public schools can offer a blended learning model, but not charter schools.

Districts can use a blended model because they have more flexibility in how those students are counted. They could, for purposes of the funding paperwork, be brick and mortar (BAM) students with the online portion as supplemental. Or the students could be recognized as being fully online although they still come to a BAM school for a certain number of days each week.

Charter schools don't have that flexibility because they operate under contract with the district authorizer and have only a finite number of students. In other words, there's less places to hide students.

State policy was created (as much state policy is), in reaction to various situations that happened rather than sitting back and asking what was best for the individual student. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that a blended model is better for most students. Whether students are young, high risk or simply extremely social, having the interaction of an adult to explain difficult lessons and help them stay committed to the task of independent learning is always a good thing.

So rather than acknowledge the benefits of blended learning, Colorado state policy provides for "learning centers." These are basically private schools that use an online curriculum. Online schools can also have "drop-in centers." Although this isn't defined in statute, it means that online schools have a physical location where students can come for additional assistance. There are even students who are "strongly encouraged" to come to the drop-in center on a regular basis for additional help. But they cannot be "required" to come to the center at a specific time or for a specific length of time. It's all in how it's worded for the student and a "wink-wink" from the teacher.

One of the best things about blended learning also makes it the most confusing. That's because there is no clear definition of what it is. It's a significant variety of models along a paradigm from fully online to fully BAM. But that's why it's so ideal: it meets the individual needs of students in a variety of ways.

It's certain that this year's General Assembly will be talking about online learning. If they were really interested in doing what's best for students, they'd be talking about how to provide for blended learning.

The Best and What's Next

2012-01-04T20:47:00.000-07:00

Top story in 2011: Without a doubt, this is the final report of the HB 10-1412 state advisory committee to write charter school and charter school authorizer standards. The final report, which came out during the summer, will drive State Board rules and legislation. For the first time in our state, authorizers will have a clear definition of what monitoring and oversight is appropriate and what it means to be a "fair" authorizer. The report also recommends several changes to the Charter Schools Act, including an update to charter school application components that haven't been changed since they were first adopted when the law passed in 1993, except to eliminate the "Statement of Need" section early on. The model standard application has a more comprehensive list of components, for example including management companies. This results in a better evaluation of charter school applications and mitigates the "gotcha" several applicants have felt when they were asked to provide additional information after the application was submitted.

Best blog post: For this category, I'm going with my personal favorite since I wrote about something I'm passionate about: regulation creep. This is the gradual, step-by-step, return to the same overly-regulated public schools the charter school movement grew out of. I wrote about this in two posts, so I'm actually including both the first and second posts as my "best."

Predictions for 2012: First, I predict we're going to see a significant decline in the number of new charter schools getting approved for the next few years. Primarily, I think this will occur because of resistance to charter schools, but even more so because districts haven't figured out how to use charter schools to their advantage in offering a variety of choice options to parents.

I also predict we're going to see more charter school closures than in recent years because small charter schools that haven't prepared financially won't be able to make their budgets work any longer and have to face closure. The financial situation is tight for everyone in public education, but small charter schools have less to work with and so feel restrictions to an even greater level.

Why Charter Schools Close in Colorado

2011-12-28T09:18:00.002-07:00

Eddie wants to know more about charter school closures in Colorado after writing about a report from the Center for Education Reform (CER) about charter school closures. According to the report, about 15% of public charter schools have closed for a variety of reasons.

The CER report says that most charter school closures are within the first five years of existence. This brings up a number of issues:

1. Should the charter school application have been approved in the first place? Was there a solid plan in place that was led by competent individuals?

2. Was the educational model based on success in other schools or was it an experiment in process?

3. Did the school's financial situation cause failure?

Sometimes charter school authorizers approve a new charter school application for all the wrong reasons. It could be political pressure or simply wanting to give the applicant a chance. Whatever the motivation, there are two key issues to consider and that is 1) is the plan a good plan? and 2) are the founders capable of carrying off the plan?

This is why the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) recommends interviewing the founders to ensure they have the capacity to start a new charter school. This includes both the passion to put in the daunting hours and the expertise to either know, or be willing to learn, what's required. Many capable parents have started charter schools in Colorado, but that doesn't mean anyone can do it. It takes a very high level of commitment and often the rewards are minimal.

The second key consideration in why charter schools fail is their educational program design. One of the most common mistakes is designing an educational program that doesn't match the needs of the students the school ultimately serves. Many founders have over-estimated what their students will be able to do upon entry and were overwhelmed with the amount of remediation that was required in order to accomplish the curriculum. Almost every new charter school teacher has been faced with the dilemma of what level to teach to and how to deal with the myriad of ability levels within a grade level classroom. Charter school authorizers need to ensure the applicant's plan is solid and covers all ability levels. Especially in the early years, the wide variety of needs is the most taxing on a charter school staff.

Third, the "death spiral" can hit a charter school at any time. This comes when enrollment slips about 10-20 students causing cut-backs in the budget and probably less programming and fewer teachers. The following year it's a little worse and at some point, either the authorizer or the charter school leaders say it's time to close the school. This is often attributed to being a financial cause for school closure, but it's more than just financial reasons. Finances and enrollment are very closely tied together since schools are funded on a per student amount.

In Colorado, 27 charter schools have closed to date. Of those, 16 have closed for financial/enrollment reasons. A handful (including Clayton, Ute Creek, and Sojourner) closed voluntarily. In other words, their governing board made the decision to close. Most are forced closures. Colorado Visionary Academy and Colorado Distance and Electronic Learning Academy are two examples of charter schools that closed after unsuccessful appeals to the State Board of Education.

Closing a school is never easy. Over the years, I've personally wrestled with when a charter school should close because I agree with the philosophy that a public school (regardless if it's a charter school or district-operated school) should close if it isn't serving students well. I've seen schools like Life Skills Center of Denver change dramatically with a little assistance. And I've watched Northeast Academy in Denver undergo major changes since it was identified in Turnaround Status.

From years of wrestling with these issues of what factors indicate a charter school should close, I've taken away two essential questions: 1) who carries the heart of the school? and 2) do they have the capacity to make the needed changes? Detailing that is a blog post in itself!

Getting back to charter school closures in Colorado, charter school contracts must be at least five years in order to see if the data supports a new charter school's closure. Many charter schools struggle in the formative years as they remediate students and coalesce around a new staff. There should be at least three consecutive years of data examined before a decision to close is made. Further, there must be a fair and transparent process. Authorizers need to have frank and honest discussions and document the process and discussions in order to ensure that everyone is effectively communicating. Annual Performance Reviews (APRs) are an "annual report" and an ideal place to document lack of academic progress.

Charter school closures need to happen in order for the charter school philosophy that "a charter school should only remain open if it's serving students well and able to operate in a fiscally sound manner" can play out.

Management Companies and the State Board of Education

2011-12-22T10:25:00.005-07:00

You'll notice that I've always been objective in writing about charter school appeal hearings before the State Board of Education when I was an employee of CDE. Now that I'm no longer an employee, I feel compelled to write about the appeal hearing heard by the State Board earlier this month.

Disclosure: I have organized a company, Charter School Solutions, LLC, with Brad Miller, the Falcon School District attorney and Dave Martin, the former Board President of the Falcon 49 School Board. I did not participate in the appeal case, however; Brad has his own law practice.

I was at both appeal hearings. The first appeal hearing was largely about management company issues, specifically:

has the charter school governing board done due diligence in selecting a management company based on their merits;
does the charter school board have their own legal counsel, separate from the management company's legal counsel;
are there any "poisonous pills" in the management agreement, for example a provision that the board is left with a "charter in name only" if the two parties separated; and
does the charter board have say in the selection, evaluation or termination of the principal.

The second appeal wasn't heard within the statutory timeline as both parties agreed to waive the deadlines. The Falcon board didn't ever hold a public hearing and vote on the State Board's remand order because they contended there was never a party to negotiate with, meaning the charter school board wasn't credible since they didn't have their own legal counsel and were still operating under the auspices of Imagine, Inc.

I thought Ed News' Todd Engdahl, who was also at the hearing, had a shallow understanding of the dynamics of what transpired during the appeal hearing. In his article, he wondered why the Falcon school board was taking issue with Imagine, Inc. when they already had one Imagine charter school in the district and had previously approved Pioneer Imagine. What changed within that time period?

Everything! Colorado now has a Standard Application, Checklist for Completeness and Review Rubric and Sample Contract Language, both documents shed a wealth of information on management company issues that weren't available even two years ago. In particular, the sample contract language publication has an "ESP Guidelines" (Education Service Provider, the generic term for all management companies) that details what should, and should not, be in management company contracts with the charter school board. Both of these documents were created through a collaboration of the state Charter School Institute, Colorado League of Charter Schools and the Colorado Department of Education.

The world of charter schools is ever-evolving. Another important factor in the case was that the charter school board wanted to also govern the new school, Pioneer Imagine. Since they're also the governing board for Imagine Classical at Indigo Ranch (the other Imagine charter school in Falcon) the plan was to govern both simultaneously.

A number of charter school governing boards in the state have multiple charters: Denver School of Science and Technology, West Denver Prep, SOAR, KIPP, James Irwin Charter Schools, Jefferson Academy Charter Schools, and Compass Montessori, just to name a few. But during the Pioneer Imagine appeal hearing, State Board member Elaine Berman said she'd never heard of a charter school board overseeing more than one charter. Interesting question, given that Denver (her district) has numerous situations where a single governing board oversees multiple charters. Moreover, having multiple charters has become increasingly common because school district authorizers can approve a "known commodity" when they know the educational program and the charter school's leaders.

Colorado is truly in a different place in regard to charter schools. Two years ago the state was dealing with the Cesar Chavez Academy fiasco and the charter school community responded with improving its own systems. Now charter school authorizers routinely ask for information about management companies in charter school applications. Because this application component was absent in the statute, many districts had to go back and ask for information or simply do without, in making a decision on the charter school application. Now authorizers are encouraged to fully research the company's financial standing, operations and academic accomplishments before a charter school application is approved. Further, the Sample Contract Language and ESP Guidelines stipulate that the authorizer needs to approve of the management company's performance agreement before the charter contract is executed and that the provisions must be in alignment with the state-recommended ESP provisions.

Yes, Colorado is in a different place now that we have state-level model documents that establish a standard for what is acceptable in charter school applications and contracts. Since these documents were created through a variety of expertise and representing a variety of interests, it's time the State Board translates these new standards to their appeal hearing decision-making.

Charter School Management Organizations: Diverse Strategies and Diverse Student Impacts

2011-12-06T06:16:00.001-07:00

Mathematica Policy Research and the Center on Reinventing Public Education recently published a study on Charter Management Organizations (CMOs), or nonprofit management companies. The report, titled Charter School Management Organizations: Diverse Strategies and Diverse Student Impacts was written to shed more light on these companies that are replicating in record numbers. Below are some highlights from the report:

Attracting substantial philanthropic support, CMO schools have grown rapidly from encompassing about 6 percent of all charter schools in 2000 to about 17 percent of a much larger number of charter schools by 2009 (Miron 2010).
CMOs represent approximately 20 percent of the approximately 5,000 charter schools operating nationally, up from 12 percent in 1999.
About 80 percent of all CMO-run schools operate in Texas, California, Arizona, and Ohio.
About 74 percent of all CMO schools eligible for our study are located in cities.
Compared to their host districts, the middle school student population served by the average CMO in our study includes a greater percentage of minority and low-income students.
CMO charter school principals report that their teachers receive more coaching and are more likely to be paid based on performance.
Like public charter schools as a whole, the report finds that student achievement results are mixed with findings going both positive and negative. Keep in mind that the types of schools and educational programs also vary significantly.

The initial positive impacts of CMO-operated schools probably is more indicative of the type of program they operate rather than that they are CMO-operated. Schools with schoolwide behavioral expectations and more teacher coaching show more positive results. These findings could be generalized to all new, mission-driven schools, not just those operated with a common governing board, educational design model or back office services.

As the trend continues to be on replicating systems that have already demonstrated success, research such as this study will provide helpful information to charter school authorizers that are considering whether or not to approve new charter schools.

What Works in Replication

2011-12-05T07:47:00.001-07:00

A new report, mapping the replication landscape in Colorado, has just been released. Dr. Dick Carpenter and Krista Kafer published, Charter School Replication in Colorado, for the CO Dept of Education.

While all sets of multiple schools under a single governing board or charter can be called replication schools, the structure for how these schools operate and share services can vary significantly. Education Service Providers (ESPs) is the term for both for-profit education management organizations (EMOs) and nonprofit charter management organizations (CMOs). CMOs tend to be local, either within the same geographic region or within a single school district. Many EMOs operate in multiple states.

Colorado has both EMOs and CMOs. The recent trend has been for more CMOs, however. Particularly, this is happening in Denver where West Denver Prep, KIPP and Denver School of Science and Technology are operating multiple campuses with many more planned. These schools operate under the umbrella of a single governing board. Most have their own charter contract, but it's nearly identical to those of their other schools. Quite often, students flow between the associated schools.

But are students in these types of related structures doing any better than grassroots startup charter schools? Not yet says the Center of Reinventing Public Education and Mathematica Public Policy Research report on CMOs. Future blogs will dig into this report further.

Why would policy makers and charter school authorizers favor existing charter schools that want to add additional campuses? They're a known commodity. Decision makers know what the new charter school will look like and how they perform, it's not simply someone's "vision," like a new charter school application.

Since U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is encouraging more charter school replications to address the lack of quality options for students in urban areas, we'll probably be seeing many more replications in Colorado. The question will be in how these existing charter schools can bring their schools to scale and if quality remains the same in the additional schools.

Ross Montessori in Carbondale

2011-12-04T07:24:00.002-07:00

This week I visited Ross Montessori School in Carbondale. The school opened in 2005 after being one of the first two charter school applications approved by the then-new Charter School Institute.

Ross Montessori's Head of School is Sonya Hemmen who is new to the school this year, but has extensive experience in public education. The school offers preschool through 8th grade to about 240 students.

Ross Montessori applied for, and was awarded the BEST (Building Excellent Schools Today) grant for capital needs. The school asked for a waiver from the $5 million matching amount that was not granted, essentially making the award unusable. Currently the school is in a series of modular building on a rented piece of land on the edge of Carbondale.

What is Quality Authorizing?

2011-11-25T08:04:00.003-07:00

The State Board of Education has been considering what makes a quality charter school authorizer in their consideration of principles and standards for authorizers in state board rule. It's probably safe to say that everyone agrees that charter schools can be better if they're in an environment that allows them to flourish rather than a contentious environment where the charter school is continually fighting for autonomy.

It's also probably safe to assume that everyone agrees it's appropriate to set a high bar for charter school performance and expect student academic achievement to be the top priority for evaluating charter school performance.

But when does that high bar go too far? And is having those high expectations realistic if it impacts students who are being served better than if they were in district-operated schools? It's not fair to look at what is quality authorizing without also looking at what is NOT quality. Too much of a "good" thing isn't always a good thing!

And now that the State Board of Education is considering the adoption of rules regarding charter school authorizing, who decides if an authorizer is being fair or not? It's easy to know there are going to be differing opinions about what is "quality."

The state rules under consideration don't come with a regulator. There isn't going to be anyone going around and evaluating authorizers. It's up to each authorizer to rate themselves on the new standards and principles and make their own case.

What can charter schools do to improve their situation in light of these authorizer standards? First, engage in discussion with the authorizer. Using the standards, discuss each one and talk about what is the evidence that the authorizer is, or is not, demonstrating quality. Talk about what "quality" means in these discussions. Second, use this platform to improve practices. If, through discussion, both the authorizer and the charter school leader decide transparency is a key to quality, then the charter school leader should show a good faith effort by being more transparent and engaging in more communication. Sometimes that can be accomplished simply by copying the authorizer on an email.

What should charter school authorizers do with these new standards? Take an honest look at how practices -- and people -- in the district send a message to the district's charter schools. Sometimes the entire environment can change simply by a focus on professionalism (rather than contention) and the demeanor of the staff member that communicates with the schools. Most contentious environments could be alleviated with a few simple changes. That's not to say that everyone will agree on how situations should be handled, but there isn't any need to be deceptive, retaliatory or just plain mean -- ever!

Throughout the state, these new charter school authorizer standards should drive meaningful discussions about the role of authorizers in the charter school environment. Historically, several school districts in Colorado haven't really understood what proper oversight and monitoring included. These standards will drive discussions that are likely to change things dramatically. But everyone involved should keep in mind that decisions should be made based on the needs of students, not adults!

Student Beliefs About Their Capacity to Learn

2011-10-30T14:09:00.002-06:00

Children develop a "self-belief" about their ability to learn that impacts their motivation to learn when it becomes difficult. According to Dweck, students develop one of two theories about themselves: 1) entity theory: there's a finite amount of brain capacity and there are some things people cannot learn; or 2) incremental theory: as one learns, the capacity to learn more increases.

Children believe they either can, or cannot, learn based on their belief early in life and it rarely changes over time. Some children develop the belief system in regard to specific subject area, such as math. They may believe that they can persevere and improve their ability in literacy, but believe they just cannot learn math, no matter what they do.

Imagine the impact elementary school teachers would have on their students if they instilled in them a belief that if they persevere, they can learn anything and become anything they want to be! This belief is influenced by what teachers say to students, but also what parents instill in their children. In the classroom, breaking a difficult objective down in to do-able pieces allows students to gradually overcome the challenge. Students learn strategies for overcoming challenging problems. In turn, they develop a confidence that they can figure out anything, if they try hard enough.

I Don't Believe It!

2011-10-23T17:39:00.002-06:00

This new report on charter school market share done by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools says that Colorado's Adams County School District 50 has the highest percentage of charter schools in the state. I don't believe it.

Adams 50, in Westminster, has one charter school: Crown Pointe Academy. Ricardo Flores Magon Academy, authorized by the state Charter School Institute (CSI), sits within the Adams 50 School District boundaries, but their students would be counted with CSI and not Adams 50. There's no way 2,770 students (22%) are in charter schools in Adams 50!

What does make sense is that the Brighton 27J school district is at 19%. The Brighton district has five charter schools and has creatively used charter schools to address community needs. Rather than going to the electorate for bond resources, the district has put charter schools in new communities in need of a school.

Closely following Brighton, at 18%, is the Falcon School District that serves the east side of Colorado Springs. Falcon has Banning Lewis Ranch (operated by Mosaica Education, Inc.), The Imagine Classical Academy at Indigo Ranch (operated by Imagine, Inc.), Rocky Mountain Classical Academy and Pikes Peak School of Expeditionary Learning. In addition, the Falcon School District has become an Innovation district, another indication that they seek creative solutions to address needs within the district.

You may wonder where the large school districts in Colorado fall in this report. Denver Public Schools (DPS) made the list with 11%, but the other large districts didn't even make the list. The two largest districts in the state are Jefferson County R-1 (~88,000) and DPS (~83,000). DPS has 34 charter schools, whereas Jeffco only has 13.

It's important to note that the NAPCS report is meant to highlight the districts that have used charter schools for the majority of their students. These include New Orleans, the District of Columbia, Detroit, and Kansas City, MO. A full 70% of students in New Orleans are in public charter schools.

What's Wrong With Not Knowing What You Don't Know?

2011-10-17T08:51:00.003-06:00

The majority of charter school governing board members in Colorado are well-meaning parents who get involved in their child's education by serving on the charter school's governing board. The rest are community members who are giving of their time for altruistic reasons or simply to build their resume. Either group of people, while attempting to do their very best, often don't even know to look out for things they don't know about.

Take for example, a mother who serves as a Board President and the board decides to terminate a Principal. Soon her children are being cussed at on the playground and her children's classmates are saying mean things about her to her kids. On the surface it would be easy to try and defend the Board President's position with a strong rationale for why immediate removal of the Principal is the best thing for the entire school. But the legal liability of talking about personnel issues leaves the Board President without anything to say--to her children or her (former) friends who side with the Principal.

While drastic experiences like this can be a great learning opportunity, it's best to be able to reason through similar scenarios before they happen. This is what the Board President's Council is about. The next meeting is this Friday, Oct. 21st, 9 to 11:30 a.m. at the Colorado School District Self-Insurance Pool.

For any type of personnel issues the best response is no response. It's impossible for board members to explain their reasoning, which is exactly what upset parents push for. It's even more difficult when the upset parents are friends of the volunteer charter school board member. In fact, the board member's family often suffers from the thankless job of being a volunteer board member.

This potential conflict for parents is why many states have predominantly "professional boards" without any parental involvement or else only one or two parents on the board. But board members who aren't prepared for a personnel termination can easily get the charter school into trouble by talking about the issues for a termination.

There's a Board President's Handbook that every charter school Board President should keep handy for easy reference. It's a compilation of years of questions that have been posed by Board President's and ideas for how to address various scenarios.

Wondering how to cut off a disgruntled parent who takes up all of the Public Comment period at every meeting? Is the meeting getting heated and you don't know how to get the board to return to the issue at hand? Do you think your school is doing just fine, but then find out the school's School Performance Framework (SPF) is in the Priority Improvement category? These and many more practical resources are in the Board President's Handbook.

Whose Standards are they Anyway?

2011-10-01T10:26:00.004-06:00

This week a group of charter school authorizers met for their regular quarterly meeting. These authorizers are the school district or Charter School Institute (CSI) staff who work with charter schools.

The authorizers group discussed the authorizer standards currently being considered by the State Board of Education as a result of a mandate in HB 10-1412, which created an advisory committee to make recommendation on these standards. In discussing the standards, the group identified what evidence would demonstrate that standard and then what was quality and what was not quality. Evidence oftentimes includes financial statements, charter contracts, accreditation documents, board policies and past actions. The philosophy for quality charter school authorizing will vary in each district. Further, there is quite a range among the 62 school districts with charter schools: Denver has 34, Jeffco 13, and CSI 19.

The discussion about charter school authorizer standards became very interesting when what was quality was compared to what was not quality. Many times there is a very fine line between being a good authorizer and allowing a charter school to operate autonomously versus micromanaging or simply being too "hands off." This dilemma is inherent in authorizers' daily discussions. It's easy to move the line when a charter school is experiencing difficulties and asks for additional assistance. However, the charter school philosophy is to let charter schools operate on their own and if they fall flat on their face, so be it. But the traditional public education mentality is that once a school is open, almost nothing should cause it to close.

Moreover, many authorizers are unsure their charter schools can actually operate successfully (in compliance and financially sound) without providing regular assurances to the authorizer. For example, some districts have a philosophy for regular monitoring that could be construed as being a mother hen and actually trying to control the charter school. Where is the healthy balance in that relationship? Especially when every authorizer-charter school relationship is unique?

That's why it's important to flesh out these authorizer standards to the point of what is quality and what is not quality. Regarding governance, should an authorizer require that they approve any changes made to the charter school board's bylaws? Would there ever be a situation where the school district board would prohibit a specific individual from serving on a charter school board? Should the authorizer approve charter school board policies before they are finally adopted? Each of these questions are in the "shades of gray" category between what is and isn't indicative of a quality charter school authorizer.

It's easy for authorizer to take the standards to a wholly different level -- too far! If a district takes a good thing too far, is it still a good thing? Or a bad thing? Is it even possible, in regard to the standards, to identify when a district crosses the line and has taken it too far?

Sometimes it is possible to distinguish that line. Authorizers should not be determining, or rejecting, who should be on a charter school governing board. But it's happened in Colorado several times. Charter school board bylaws should be in the charter school application and approved by the authorizer board and then it should be delineated in the charter school contract if making a change to those approved bylaws would be considered a material change and therefore requiring district approval. This can be handled either way, and is across the state's authorizers. Many districts require their charter school boards to submit new or revised board policies to the authorizer. Primarily this is done so that the district is cognizant of what the charter board is doing and can help ensure the charter board isn't doing something that's not aligned with federal or state laws or regulations.

Eventually, through enough discussion, a draft of these authorizer standards will be distributed. It's certain these standards will be modified over time and as more experience and lessons learned are gained to provide additional insight. In the meantime, the discussion among authorizers is, in itself, invaluable!

Glade Park Charter School Visit

2011-09-25T18:18:00.004-06:00

Last Thursday I visited Glade Park Charter School for the first time. The school opened just two years ago, as a district-operated school, but then faced closure due to budget cuts. Community members and parents quickly wrote a charter school application and received approval from the Mesa County 51 Board of Education to operate as a charter school beginning this school year.

Glade Park sits atop the Colorado National Monument. The drive up to Glade Park is spectacular, to say the least. Glade Park has a community store and the charter school. The school's building is a modular unit with two classrooms.

The charter school has two teachers and a part-time administrator. The school uses a Project Based Learning model educate their 22 students in grades K-5.

Get Involved in School Board Elections

2011-09-14T20:34:00.001-06:00

The odd numbered years is when Colorado residents have the opportunity to vote for their school district's board members. Throughout the state many candidates are running for school board. Now is the time to talk to them about their position on school choice and charter school issues. There are more than 170 charter schools operating in Colorado, which means many of these candidates have at least one charter school in their district.

For more information on how to get involved, check out the Colorado Charter Advocacy Network.

Friday is Constitution Day

2011-09-13T20:32:00.003-06:00

September 16th is Constitution Day. This is the day when the federal government says every public school in the nation should teach about the U.S. Constitution. Several sites are offering suggestions for how to teach the Constitution.

State Board Begins Process to Adopt Charter School Rules

2011-09-09T06:42:00.001-06:00

Next Wednesday, Sept. 14th at 10:30 the State Board of Education will hear a report on the state evaluation of online schools and the final report from the HB 10-1412 advisory committee on charter school authorizer and charter school standards. The presentation begins the process for the State Board to act on the 1412 recommendations.

The meeting is audio streamed and available here.

In October the board will consider the first draft of rules and HB 1412 mandates they must be adopted by January 15, 2012.

There will be a meeting at the Department of Education on Monday, Sept. 26th, 9:00 a.m. for anyone with comments or questions about the proposed rules.

Union Colony Asks for Another Charter

2011-09-01T17:16:00.000-06:00

Union Colony Preparatory School in Greeley is asking for a new charter in a neighboring school district, the Thompson School District. After years of operating a secondary school in Greeley, the school wants to expand and open a new campus.

Pat Gilliam is a founder of Union Colony, which began when several teachers formed and asked the district to form a charter school. The school operated very closely with the district for quite some time and only gained more autonomy in the last few years. Previously the district referred to them as an "internal" charter school, but that changed during the school's last renewal.

Now a developer has committee five acres to a new school in the Loveland area (within the Thompson School District boundaries). The proposed school is for K-12 grades. This second campus would operate with a cooperative agreement with the first Union Colony school so that the two schools can share business services and other functions.

When is a Charter School a Charter School?

2011-08-27T12:01:00.002-06:00

There's been some confusion in Colorado lately, with the creation of the Douglas County School District's Choice Scholarship School (CSS). The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and others brought a lawsuit against the district because CSS was formed to implement the district's choice scholarship (i.e., voucher) program. The judge hearing the lawsuit ruled in favor of the plaintiff and shut down the charter school. Many have asked me what I think about this being a charter school.

First, my response has nothing to do with the school's mission to implement the district's choice scholarship program. I believe the real issues are related to "what is a charter school"?

The federal Elementary and Secondary Act defines what a charter school is.

(a) in accordance with a specific state statute authorizing the granting of charters to schools, is exempt from significant state or local rules that inhibit the flexible operation and management of public schools, but not from any rules relating to the other requirements of this paragraph;

(b) is created by a developer as a public school, or is adapted by a developer from an existing public school, and is operated under public supervision and control;

(c) operates in pursuit of a specific set of educational objectives determined by the school's developer and agreed to by the authorized public chartering agency;

(d) provides a program of elementary or secondary education, or both;

(e) is nonsectarian in its programs, admissions policies, employment practices, and all other operations, and is not affiliated with a sectarian school or religious institution;

(f) does not charge tuition;

(g) complies with the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act;

(h) is a school to which parents choose to send their children, and that admits students on the basis of a lottery, if more students apply for admission than can be accommodated;

(i) agrees to comply with the same federal and state audit requirements as do other elementary and secondary schools in the state, unless such requirements are specifically waived for the purpose of this program;

(j) meets all applicable federal, state, and local health and safety requirements;

(k) operates in accordance with state law; and

(l) has a written performance contract with the authorized public chartering agency in the state that includes a description of how student performance will be measured pursuant to state assessments that are required of other schools and pursuant to any other assessments agreeable to the authorizing agency.

In addition, the Colorado Charter Schools Act explains what a charter school is. A charter school operates with financial autonomy, via a charter/contract, and with waivers from certain laws, rules or district policies. There's a line between the charter school and its authorizer, most often the local school district. This line is determined by the charter school contract.

An authorizer may have say over governance issues by reviewing bylaws in the charter application and then either approving or not approving the charter school. However, an authorizer doesn't have the authority to appoint governing board members or say that certain individuals cannot be on a charter school governing board.

Historically in the state, a handful of districts have created "charter schools" with ulterior motives to get the federal startup grant or seek some other type of incentive. Eventually these charter schools close when they don't get the grant or the incentive otherwise goes away. These could be called "ChINO's" or Charters in Name Only.

What constitutes a public charter school is defined in both federal and state law. In Colorado, because we're a "local control" state, that's left to the individual school district to determine. In other words, it's the local school board that decides IF they grant a charter to an applicant and what that school looks like. There isn't a group of individuals authorized to "police" if it's really a charter school. That determination is often played out over time or litigated based on specific characteristics.

There are numerous shades of gray between clear autonomy in charter schools and those that are more closely aligned with their school district. For example, a district requires all their charter schools to run their financials through the district whereas other charter schools get a check every month that they put into their own bank account. There are different philosophies for charter school authorizers and different perceptions of what is an acceptable relationship. Regardless of its nature, the charter contract describes if it's a ChINO or a real charter school.

Granting Opportunities to New Charter Schools

2011-08-26T15:42:00.000-06:00

It costs a lot to open a new charter school. Congress knew this and established the Charter School Program (CSP) in the federal education code. Colorado has received a CSP grant in order to give subgrant awards to new charter schools. New schools can get a three-year grant for expenses such as curriculum development, notifying the community about a new charter school, professional development, technology, curriculum and equipment.

Today the CDE Schools of Choice Unit held a grant writers' training for all new charter schools that want to apply for funds during this fiscal year. Applicants can submit their grant application in either October or February in a two-tier process. Many of today's training haven't even gotten their charter approved yet.

School founders that demonstrate eligibility to apply for this grant get assigned a consultant who will review their application and provide comment on it before it's actually submitted. The grant program is competitive and the highest scoring application gets additional funding for each of the three years.

Glade Park Re-Opens as a Charter School

2011-08-22T18:14:00.000-06:00

For 38 years the small community of Glade Park, which sits atop the Colorado Monument above Grand Junction, didn't have a school. Two years ago the school district opened an elementary school in Glade Park only to say they wouldn't be funding it for the 2011-12 school year. Like many of the small, rural communities in Colorado, community members didn't want their children on long bus commutes to larger schools and decided to create a charter school.

Glade Park joins small charter schools Paradox Valley Charter School, North Routt Community Charter School, Guffey Community School, Battle Rock Charter School and Crestone Charter School in providing a hub for the community and educating their young children in a charter school.

Glade Park Community School will provide Kindergarten through fifth grade classes to about 30 students. The school has a Principal and two teachers.

What a Difference a Year Makes!

2011-08-22T17:26:00.000-06:00

Northeast Academy Charter School (NACS), in Denver, just started its second year in Turnaround status. What a difference from last year! Last year NACS had three administrators, turned over several staff positions and struggled with discipline all year. Last week I visited the school in the afternoon of its second day and the change was palpable!

The school is now led by Ms. Jere Pearcy, a former teacher and administrator, with a very strong background in Core Knowledge. NACS uses Core Knowledge, Singapore Math and Spalding. The staff had three and a half weeks of training before students arrived last week. Almost half of the staff at NACS is new this year.

It's quite common for Turnaround schools to need a year of transition that's very difficult. Some call it "implementation dip" while others consider drastic change impossible all at once. Either way, this proves to be a much better year for NACS.

Two years ago, before Turnaround, the former Principal and his Asst. Principal couldn't even name the math program used at the school. Several classroom teachers didn't even bother trying to act like they were teaching when visitors toured the school; they just sat in the back of the room.

All NACS students went through Reading level assessment before the first day of school. About 90% of last year's students were below grade level. Many of the older students are 2-3 years behind grade level when they come in to NACS. The 2011 CSAP results showed drops in many content areas, except for Science. Several of the drops were linked to classrooms where there was teacher turnover during the school year.

The NACS community has struggled many times during this Turnaround process. It's nice to see their efforts pay off with a great start to a new school year!

Prospect Ridge Academy Breaks Ground!

2011-08-16T19:47:00.005-06:00

This evening the families of Prospect Ridge Academy broke ground on their new facility just south of Highway 7 near Sheridan Blvd in Broomfield. Founders of PRA fought for almost three years to get their school. They battled both the school district, Adams 12 School District, and the City Council of Broomfield.

PRA begins school on Thursday in a temporary location in Thornton while their new facility is being built. They plan to move to their new campus during winter break.

The school will serve grades K-6 the first year and enroll about 520 students. There will be three classes per grade level. PRA will use the Core Knowledge curriculum.

PRA's new Principal is April Wilkins, the former Asst. Principal at Peak to Peak in Lafayette. This is April's first Principal job, but she brings a wealth of Core Knowledge and teaching experience.

Loveland Classical Schools Prepares to Open

2011-08-14T19:07:00.002-06:00

Last week I visited the campus of Loveland Classical Schools, which is remodeling an existing church building and has added a whole wing of classrooms. They'll open with grades K-9 and about 650 students! That's quite an undertaking for the first year of a new charter school!

Founders Tamara Cramer and Trisha Coberly gave me a tour of the facility that's being built by Bouma Construction. They are a little more than half-way through the building project.

The volunteers in Loveland are amazing! Since the very first time I met with Trisha and Tamara they talked about the incredible people involved in starting their school and how everyone was so helpful with whatever needed to be done. The volunteers continue to take ownership in their new school by being involved!

The Principal for Loveland Classical Schools is David Yu. Last year, David taught at Ridgeview Classical Schools in Fort Collins. This will be his first administrative position. As you might imagine, David has been quite busy interviewing new staff members. Since the new facility isn't even ready for administrative office in-habitation, David has been doing what almost all new charter school Principals do: take up residence at the local Starbucks!

In a few weeks LCS will have a tour of the new facility and they will begin school the day after Labor Day. The first day of school will be a culmination of thousands of hours of volunteer time, primarily parents, who want a first-class education for their children!

HB 1412 Committee Releases Final Report

2011-08-03T19:29:00.000-06:00

The advisory committee established by HB 10-1412 to make recommendations for charter school and charter school authorizer standards released its final report. In addition to the standards, the committee recommends other policy changes related to Education Service Providers (ESPs), the definition of "online program," blended learning, charter school waivers, and charter school accountability.

The 13 member committee worked for for ten months and held public hearings on online education, Education Service Providers and non-discrimination issues. The final report was completed with consensus from the committee.

The State Board of Education will adopt rules for charter school authorizer and charter school standards by January 15, 2012. The State Board will also determine the direction for the other recommendations in the report.

At the Sept. 14th regular State Board meeting, members of the HB 1412 committee will present the report to the board. The board received a copy of the report this week and Commissioner Hammond gave a brief update to the board at today's meeting.

I'm Back!

2011-08-03T18:01:00.000-06:00

After taking much of the last month off from blogging, I'm back to a regular schedule! Many of the schools are gearing up for the new school year and staff are returning for pre-service training. Thus, life is back to a regular routine!

Summer Frenzy

2011-07-25T17:13:00.000-06:00

It's that time of year when administrators are returning to their school buildings and staff members will soon begin "pre-service" training. Most school buildings have undergone a major cleaning to welcome back staff and begin the process of preparing for the first day of the new school year.

It's not too late for parents who want their child/ren to attend a charter school to contact the school to see if there are any openings. All the charter schools in Colorado are online here. Because charter schools use a variety of enrollment methods, it's best to contact the school directly.

There are several school supply drives at this time of year. Everyone who doesn't have to pay for their own child/ren's school supplies, should consider donating to one of these community drives. It's also a good time for caring adults to consider tutoring a child throughout the school year.

Personally, I like donating in a more personal way. Consider asking a school principal what he/she would really like to do for his/her students, but doesn't have the resources for. Or consider adopting a classroom of students by sponsoring their classroom parties, donating reading books or any number of other personalized ideas.

During the frenzy of back-to-school shopping and activities, remember the real reason to invest in our schools: the students! Get to know some of these students and it'll not only change your own life--it justmay change theirs, as well!

Why a Job Description is Critical for a Charter School Administrator

2011-07-14T17:14:00.001-06:00

Charter school leaders, rarely comfortable being put in a box, use a variety of titles for their number one administrator: Head of School, Principal, Executive Director, and Director are just a few. For this post, I'll use the term "Principal" to talk about the lead administrator.

Charter schools use a variety of structures to meet the school's administrative needs. Some charter school governing boards have one person report to the board (considered a best practice) and some have two or more. This means that unless there are clear job descriptions, it's difficult, and sometimes impossible, for administrators to know what is their responsibility.

This is also true when the charter school governing board has a very involved President. Having a board member do some of the functions commonly delegated to the Principal presents problems. Once the Principal's job description is established, and a Principal is hired, there shouldn't be any deviation from that outline of responsibilities. If a board member temporarily assists the Principal with a responsibility, it should be clear to all involved that the board member is doing it as a "volunteer" without board authority to lead or make decisions.

Many administrators are wary of charter school governing boards, especially when they don't have processes and policies established such as the job description, Principal evaluation form, and Principal evaluation policy. Not having these things appropriately documented shows potential Principal candidates that the board hasn't reached a level of capacity to successfully lead a charter school. Since it's hard to find a really good Principal, boards that fail to develop processes and policies are often left with less-than-ideal Principal candidates.

It's common for there to be confusion about what is the Principal's role versus the governing board's role. Here is a worksheet to discuss the various responsibilities and note who is responsible. Having roles clearly defined, and documented, is a way to mitigate potential conflicts or miscommunication.

Because charter schools are so unique and utilize a variety of organizational structures, school leaders need to take the precaution of documenting as much as possible before the first Principal is hired.

HB 1412 Committee Wraps Up Its Work

2011-07-06T19:49:00.002-06:00

The HB 1412 committee to recommend charter school and charter school authorizer standards wrapped up its work today by holding a public comment session and finalizing its draft report. Minor changes were made to the draft that had been widely circulated for public comment.

The final report now gets professionally formatted and then provided to the House and Senate Education committee members and the State Board of Education members by the August 1 deadline established in the legislation that created the committee.

The State Board is required to adopt rules for these charter school and charter school authorizer standards. For the authorizer standards, the committee adopted by reference the National Association of Charter School Authorizer (NACSA) standards. The committee recommended standards for charter schools in regard to executive compensation, nondiscrimination and conflicts of interest plus recognized processes already in place such as the Charter School Support Initiative process for school reform.

Light Blogging Ahead

2011-06-24T12:48:00.000-06:00

I won't be posting very much in the next few weeks. I hope you are enjoying your summer!

Where the Charter School Board Should Focus

2011-06-22T16:21:00.000-06:00

Most charter school governing boards spend the bulk of their meeting time discussing budgets, facilities, logistics and policies--the "business" side of a charter school. But the focus should be on student academic achievement. A good barometer for how well a governing board is doing with implementing its vision and mission is to consider how much meeting time it focuses on student achievement.

Oftentimes a governing board will be focused on the immediate needs of a charter school such as calming parent concerns or addressing facility limitations. But the most important reason to have a charter school is to make sure students are learning and able to move to the next grade level or graduate with the skills and knowledge necessary for a successful future.

Almost all of Colorado's charter schools have student academic achievement in their vision and mission statements. However, the amount of time boards spend on discussing or implementing this aspect of the school's purpose can vary significantly.

At each year's strategic planning session, the entire board should discuss the vision and mission statements. Each board member could talk about what word or phrase stands out to them the most and why. Each board member should explain what their personal vision is for the school and how it does or doesn't match with the school's vision statement. Another useful approach is to have the board distill the vision statement down to a slogan or phrase that best describes their school. For example, some schools use the slogan, "First Comes Learning" to communicate the school's primary purpose and to use as a filter for all decision-making.

It's wise for charter school board members to periodically reflect on what unspoken messages they're sending to school staff and stakeholders. If verbally board members say they prioritize academics as number one, but then don't reflect that in their work, it means little.

Denver Justice: A Charter School to be Proud Of

2011-06-13T18:30:00.000-06:00

Denver Justice Charter School is led by two men who personify what a great school is about. Gary Losh is the Principal and Jimmy Monaghan is the Asst. Principal. Both will go to whatever length necessary for their students. For them, school is more than a job--it's a passion.

In the several times I've been at the school I've observed Gary taking students to court appointments, Jimmy getting students back into class and both of them going the extra mile with their students. Both men talk about their students in a way that shows they have the belief that these students can make it to be successful--if they will just try.

Denver Justice recently graduated a class of 12, many of whom had difficulties in reaching graduation day. The school is small, which allows for all students to be known as individuals.

Denver Justice is at I-70 and Shoshone St. in Denver and just completed its second year of operation. Denver Justice is modeled after Boulder Justice, which has been open since 2006. Both schools focus on serving adjudicated and high-risk students.

Boot Camp Pics

2011-06-10T20:09:00.006-06:00

Charter School Boot Camp 2011

2011-06-10T17:37:00.000-06:00

The CO Department of Education, in conjunction with the state Charter School Institute and the League of Charter Schools, hosted the annual Charter School Boot Camp. This is an intense, three-day workshop on how to write a charter school application. Some say it's like drinking from a fire hose. In fact, at the close of the first day, one of this year's participants said she walked in thinking she knew quite a bit about charter schools and was then feeling overwhelmed with all she didn't know.

The topics covered at Boot Camp are broad: vision/mission, curriculum, assessment, governance, employee relations, finance and budgeting, literacy, accountability, and lots of resources that are available for brand new charter applicants.

The website, startacoloradocharter.org, is the place to start. There are numerous links, via a flow chart, of all the different steps to starting a charter school. In addition, there are a number of best practice resources on the CDE website.

The purpose of the Boot Camp is also to give applicants an idea of who to contact with different questions. Presenters include staff from CDE, the League and the Charter School Institute (CSI). Additionally, leaders in the charter school community donate their time to help train these new charter applicants.

Boot Camp is designed to be overwhelming. But then starting a new charter school is also very overwhelming and it's only meant for the best prepared applicant. Not everyone who attends Boot Camp actually submits a charter school application. Boot Camp is designed to weed out the faint-hearted charter applicant.

Prospect Ridge Wraps Up Plans for Their New Home

2011-06-09T18:04:00.000-06:00

Prospect Ridge Academy (PRA) is finally wrapping up a historical struggle to get a charter school facility approved. Prospect Ridge initially fought the Adams 12 School District to get a charter approved and then the battle turned in to a problem getting the district and the City of Broomfield, to agree to a site plan for their new facility. School leaders have been struggling with these obstacles for years, but it looks like their heroic efforts will finally result in a new charter school.

PRA will use a retail space formerly used by The Pinnacle Charter School in Thornton while their new facility is prepared. PRA plans to relocate their school over winter break.

April Wilkins, the former Asst. Principal at Peak to Peak Charter School in Lafayette will be PRA's new principal. Student demand for the new charter school in the Erie area has been very heavy.

The Creep (Yet Again!)

2011-06-08T18:10:00.000-06:00

In 1994 when we were starting one of the first charter schools in Colorado, the district tried to say that we needed to use a lottery for enrollment. We vehemently objected to this. We contacted our State Senator who ran an amendment to the Charter Schools Act that says, "Enrollment decisions shall be made in a nondiscriminatory manner specified by the charter school applicant in the charter school application." Thus, the charter school used a waiting list for enrollment.

In about 1997 the U.S. Department of Education, which administers the federal Charter School Grant Program, began requiring the use of a lottery in order to get the startup and implementation grant most of the charter schools are dependent upon. The charter schools in Colorado that used a waiting list met with a representative of the U.S. department and explained why it didn't want to switch and couldn't be required to by state law. The feds were undaunted by their arguments and began requiring a lottery for all public charter schools receiving the grant. At first it was just a requirement and monitoring for enforcement was not required. It's now required for state's who provide subgrants to ensure that an equitable lottery process is in place for enrollment.

Not long ago the charter school governing board, at the school where the founders fought for the right to do a waiting list, decided to have the district do their enrollment. Parents selecting a school in the district list their options, ranked by priority. The district tells the charter schools which students they will be able to enroll the following year.

How does creep happen? By others becoming involved who don't understand the history or the philosophy of charter schools. They don't know what battles are worth fighting. And quite simply, they may have a different viewpoint. Many new charter school governing board members don't even know what the essential charter school philosophies are. Although many can identify choice or parental involvement, rarely do charter school board members understand the critical need for autonomy or complete control over finances and employees.

Creep doesn't happen by leaps and bounds. Instead it happens gradually--over time.

The Creep (Again)

2011-06-07T17:44:00.002-06:00

A couple of weeks ago I was in a meeting of charter school business managers and an attorney was speaking about charter school employment issues. It happens that this attorney has been involved in the charter school movement since the very beginning in Colorado. He made the assertion that charter schools have an obligation to put the interests of their school before that of individual employees. This ruffled some feathers in the room.

The charter school movement was started by people who believed in at-will employment, the polar opposite of general public education, which is largely influenced by the teacher's union and their interests. In fact, many district administrators don't know a world that's any different. Everything they do is influenced by the collective bargaining agreement. They can't change the school calendar without getting approval from the teacher's union. They can't ask a teacher to do detention after school without it being a teacher's union issue.

But the exact opposite is true in charter schools where all employees are at-will in nature. Principals serve "at the pleasure" of the Board and can be terminated with a simple, "your skills are no longer needed at our charter school." There are no guaranteed terms, such as a year-long contract that would require a "buy-out" if the employee is terminated early.

So why were some of these business managers reacting to the attorney's statement that the needs of the charter school should take precedence over the needs of teachers? Because 18 years after the first charter school in Colorado, a vast majority of people who now work in charter schools COME from traditional public education. The union philosophy is embedded in their thought processes. And they can't see life being any different.

To be clear, the discussion was not about the value of classroom teachers, the appropriateness of their salaries nor the attribution of salary to the number of days worked.

The questions posed by the attorney were:
1. should the charter school knowingly generously, possibly over-compensate, an employee upon departure (voluntary or forced); does this meet the fiduciary responsibility required of charter school leaders?
2. have charter schools stayed true to the original charter school philosophy based on at-will employment?

For years I've talked about bureaucratic or regulation creep, meaning top-down requirements to in some ways have charter schools conform to traditional public schools. This is probably most evident in the vastly-more-sophisticated charter school application process that has developed over the years. The difference between what is required of a charter school applicant today is night and day different from 1993 when the Charter Schools Act passed.

One can wonder if this "creep" is improving the process or simply hindering it. Are charter schools going to gradually become the same as any district-operated public school system? Using the metaphor of the frog placed in a pot of water that gradually gets hotter until the frog is boiled, will charter school leaders even notice when they no longer operate with autonomy?

More Innovation Out of Denver Public Schools

2011-05-25T17:41:00.001-06:00

The DPS board, on a split vote, and the State Board of Education, on a unanimous vote, approved the three Innovation Schools requests for far northeast Denver schools. The three schools include the Denver Center for International Studies at Ford, the Denver Center for International Studies at Montbello and the Noel Community Arts School.

The far northeast area of Denver, which includes the city of Montbello, has historically had the lowest performing schools. But with the new reform effort in DPS and the district's commitment that ALL students should have access to high quality educational options, a few--mostly from the teacher's union--are complaining.

Many of the schools in the far northeast region are Title I, serving students of poverty, and the ethnic minority rate is very high in that region. We won't even mention the drop-out rate.

So the district's plan includes changing things up to make sure student's needs are being met. This may include change in administrative leadership and/or a change in the teaching staff. The focus of all change is on whether or not the change will result in increased student academic achievement. There will be greater accountability to ensure student success.

Still not getting why some people would disagree with this focus on student achievement? It's because the teacher's union doesn't want to give up any territory it's earned through the collective bargaining agreement with DPS. Henry Roman, the union's president, says they'll be suing the district over these three Innovation School plans.

The Innovation Schools Act was adopted in 2008 as a way for district's to operate unique schools by obtaining waiver from district policies, the collective bargaining agreement and state law. Innovation Schools are still under the auspices of the district. DPS already operates several Innovation Schools.

Another Acquisition for K12, Inc.

2011-05-21T09:02:00.002-06:00

K12, Inc. has acquired Kaplan Virtual Education. In Colorado K12 contracts with Colorado Virtual Academy (COVA) and several school districts operating their own virtual schools using either K12 or Aventa Curriculum. K12 purchased Aventa last year.

Several months ago Kaplan acquired Insight Schools. In that acquisition, the Insight School of Julesburg, CO became a Kaplan school. Now all Kaplan credit-bearing K-12 assets have been purchased by K12, Inc.

"We're excited to add Kaplan's K-12 education programs to K12 Inc.'s portfolio of high quality products, innovative online learning offerings, and successful school partnerships," said Ron Packard, founder and CEO of K12 Inc. "This is another step in our mission to provide high quality online education to as many students as possible. We are very pleased to be able to serve the students, parents, and teachers associated with the Kaplan and Insight schools."

K12 operates online schools in 27 states. The parent satisfaction rate of K12 students tops 90% with parents agreeing their child has benefited academically from the K12 education.

Georgia's Courts Shoot Down State Charter School Authorizer While Indiana Starts a New State Authorizer

2011-05-17T17:33:00.000-06:00

Georgia's Supreme Court ruled the state's chartering authority is unconstitional, leaving nine previously authorized charter schools in limbo. Much like Colorado, Georgia allowed certain charter school applicants to get a state charter. Colorado's Supreme Court ruled the state Charter School Institute (CSI) was constitutional, upholding the 2005 Charter School Institute statute.

While Georgia is shutting down its state authorizer, Indiana is starting a new one. The Indiana State Superintendent just named an Executive Director for the new charter school board. This is after the Indiana General Assembly passed a law creating a statewide charter school authorizer.

State with multiple charter school authorizers are viewed as being more choice-friendly by allowing multiple options for charter school applicants to get new schools approved. In addition to local districts and state authorizers, some states permit nonprofit organizations, municipalities and institutions of higher education to charter.

Michael Horn on GOAL Academy

2011-05-15T17:28:00.002-06:00

Last weekend Michael Horn, one of the authors of Disrupting Class, gave the commencement address at GOAL Academy's graduation in Pueblo's Event Center. Mr. Horn also wrote about it in Forbes this week.

Mr. Horn described the graduating seniors as:

To give a feel for the students that this Colorado public high school serves, of the 176 students graduating, 12 were over 21 years in age, 33 were parents, and a few were serving in the military. Ninety-five of the graduates said they planned to attend a 2-year or 4-year college, and 23 had earned college credit while at the GOAL Academy.

GOAL Academy uses Pearson's NovaNet to deliver its digital curriculum. GOAL students are located all across the state. The school offers "drop in centers" in major cities where students can drop in during office hours to meet with a teacher. GOAL is finishing its second year of operation and is authorized by the state Charter School Institute.

Kristin Kipp Honored by State Board of Ed

2011-05-11T15:33:00.000-06:00

Kristin Kipp, Online Teacher of the Year for both Colorado and nationally, was recognized by the State Board of Education at this morning's meeting. Left to right in the photo: Commissioner Robert Hammond; Kristin Kipp; Judy Baurenschmidt, Principal of Jeffco Online and Elaine Gantz Berman, State Board of Education, District 1.

National Online Teacher of the Year From Colorado

2011-05-06T16:29:00.003-06:00

Kristin Kipp was recognized by the State Board of Education last year for being one of two Colorado Online Teacher of the Year. Now the 21st Century Virtual Academy (Jeffco) teacher is the National Online Teacher of the Year and will be recognized by the State Board again next Wednesday at their monthly meeting.

Kristin Kipp recently spent a day at the U.S. Department of Education shadowing the Director of the office of Educational Technology. In her blog, she talks about the unique discussions she was a part of during her day at ED. For example, "teacher heavy" programs that rely more heavily upon the teacher's role over the technology-based curriculum.

Congratulations to Kristin Kipp!

Robert Hammond Named Sole Finalist for Commissioner of Education

2011-05-02T20:05:00.004-06:00

This afternoon in a unanimous vote, the Colorado Board of Education voted to name acting-Commissioner, Robert Hammond, as the sole finalist for the Commissioner's position. Hammond has been acting as Commissioner since December 2010 when former Commissioner Dwight Jones left to be the Superintendent for the Las Vegas School District.

Hammond has been at the CO Dept of Education for three years where he served as Deputy Commissioner before being named the Acting Commissioner. According to statutes regulating the hiring of public officials, the State Board is expected to name Hammond as Commissioner when it meets next Wednesday for its regular monthly meeting.

A Trial and a Debate

2011-04-30T10:47:00.004-06:00

Charter school students participated in a mock trial and a debate at the Charter School Day at the Capitol activities on Thursday.

Students from Ridgeview Classical Schools in Fort Collins presented an abbreviated mock trial with Secretary of Scott Gessler acting as judge. A typical mock trial last about two hours while this one only last about 45 minutes. Students from Ridgeview Classical earned state honors this year with their mock trial skills.

Following the mock trial, middle school students from Jefferson Academy and Woodrow Wilson Academy debated the funding of K-12 public education. Attorney General John Suthers judged the debate, which went to Jefferson Academy. The two teams were in the finals of the charter school debate league which ended a couple of months ago.

Charter School Day at the Capitol 2011

2011-04-30T10:37:00.005-06:00

These pictures are from the rally on the west steps of the Capitol. The rally was hosted by the Colorado League of Charter Schools. Numerous legislators spoke to the crowd of students, parents, teachers, administrators and guests.

The choir from Belle Creek Charter School in Henderson performed several numbers. Students from Global Village Academy in Aurora danced to a Chinese song. Various charter school administrators and board members also addressed the crowd.

Students visiting the Capitol on Thursday took tours, visited meeting rooms, were guests in the House chamber and were surprised with an opportunity to meet and speak with Dog the Bounty Hunter.

Northeast Academy Students Up to the Challenge

2011-04-27T19:38:00.003-06:00

The 7th and 8th grade students at Northeast Academy Charter School (NACS) in Denver had a challenging day. It was Challenge Day. Challenge Day is a program designed to break down cliques, prevent bullying and build positive relationships between students. Today's event was held at the Boys and Girls Club of Denver in Montbello.

Numerous activities had students and adults interacting with people they didn't know by talking and doing activities together. The picture is of students playing a game similar to volleyball. The adults around the perimeter had to keep the ball inside the circle and cheer on the students.

Students are taught to Notice, Change, Act. Later in the day students broke up into small groups to discuss ways they can make a difference in their school and community. The entire day was designed to take people outside their comfort zone. For the couple hours I participated, I was definitely outside of my comfort zone!

Parents Deserve to Know

2011-04-25T17:27:00.001-06:00

The State Board of Education has adopted new rules that will require school districts to notify parents when an employee is charged with a felony or a misdemeanor sex crime. The board has been considering this change for quite some time. Chairman Bob Schaffer, Fort Collins, noted the Poudre School District failed to inform parents when two former employees were arrested for crimes involving children. The new rules also cover any adult who transports students when arrested for a DUI.

Administrator's Get Legislative Update from League of Charter Schools

2011-04-23T08:50:00.002-06:00

Today at the Administrator's Mentoring Cohort (AMC) meeting, Vinny Badolato, from the League of Charter Schools, gave the following legislative update.

1. Win: HB 1089: Collaboratives. Allows charter schools to seek competitive grants within ESEA.

2. SB 188: Moral obligation program. Charter schools go through the State Treasurer’s office to get better bond financing ratings. The bill would have increased the $400 million cap, but that was removed. The bill removes application fees to enter the program. The manager will be the Treasurer’s office. In case of a default, the Treasurer will consult with a team of impacted entities to determine how to handle the potential default.

3. Loss: HB 1055: Improve charter school access to facilities. Passed the House, assigned to Senate State Affairs where it died. Will be reconsidered for next year.

4. HB 1277: Massey’s omnibus bill. Removes unnecessary reporting requirements including

a. Access to data. Designed to eliminate district’s not providing data to their charter schools in a timely manner.

b. Additional criteria for high risk student definition. Adds “over age and under credit” to the definition. This definition is used to define Alternative Education Campuses (AECs)

c. Grant collaborative. The State Board would be able to promulgate rules to allow collaboratives to be designated as the LEA.

d. School Food Authority. Adds charter schools to the entities permitted to be School Food Authorities. Currently charter schools must access the program through one lead school and that school carries all the liability. There are 18 charter schools under one SFA this year.

e. Online reporting requirements. Eliminates annual report to CDE, which has been replaced by requirements in the Financial Transparency Act and the Education Accountability Act.

5. Budget cuts. Cut proposed now is $22.5 million less. Plus a planned mid-year distribution if the June forecast is better. There will definitely be a cut in K-12 funding again next year.

6. New bill by Senator Keith King to be introduced next week. Proposes mill levy matching funds at a quarter of a percent (CVote). Requires districts to include charter schools if they run a mill levy ballot question.

More on SchoolView

2011-04-11T18:54:00.000-06:00

The state's SchoolView website has new information again. Now there's a Data Lab feature that allows the user to choose various filters in order to do unique comparisons and reports.

Using the Colorado Growth Model (CGM), it's possible to determine the range a student would need to score in order to be in the "Catch Up, Keep Up and Move Up" categories. These are three categories for students' proposed achievement trajectories. The Catch Up category is for students scoring Unsatisfactory or Partially Proficient on the CSAP. Their proposed trajectory would take them into the Proficient range of scores. Likewise, students in the Keep Up category would be Proficient or Advanced and need to at least keep making a year's progress in order to move forward rather than backward. Move Up is for students in the Proficient category that move into the Advanced.

The Data Center allows for all kinds of exploration and comparisons. There's information on the number of students enrolled, the type of Accreditation ranking districts received, the percentage of Highly Qualified staff, and profiles on individual schools. New information is being added all the time.

Denver is Choice Friendly

2011-04-07T17:15:00.000-06:00

Fifty-three percent of Denver Public Schools students don't attend the school they would normally attend based on where they live. In 2004 this number was 34%. What's changed? DPS has instituted "choice friendly" policies designed to increase the number of students who attend a school based on the type of educational program it offers instead of its locality. These policies cover a broad array of issues, including:

Offering Innovation schools that operate with waivers from things such as the district's collective bargaining agreement and offer a mission-focused, unique type of school.

Marketing to inform parents about quality choice options available to them.

Conducting parent and community meetings designed to explain the school district's vision for reform and better equip parents to make decisions for their child's education.

Closing schools that are not performing academically.

Signing the "Denver Compact," an agreement between the charter schools and the district designed to improve communications and reinforce commitments to each other.

Ensuring each of the zones in the district (geographical regions) have a complete array of choice offerings and that certain zones don't have the vast majority of choice options.

Opening an Office of School Reform and Innovation (OSRI) with a mission to increase choice options and ensure these options are all top-quality.

Commiting to offer all DPS students a quality education.

Paradox Valley Charter School

2011-04-03T19:09:00.002-06:00

There's an incredible charter school in the state that's also probably the most unique. Paradox Valley School (PVS) is at the end of a 25 mile long canyon. The school is chartered by the West End School District. PVS sits right at the edge of the Utah border. The town sits below a series of switch-backs that take you up the side of a mountain and into Utah. Moab, Utah isn't far from Paradox.

The community school had been closed by the district for a couple of years when the town began to lose it's vital link with each other, which often happens through the school in small towns. Renee Owen was a mother who didn't want to have her children ride the school bus to Naturita, about a half-hour drive away. She did her research and wrote a charter school application. The charter school opened in the original school building, but soon afterwards they added a number of classrooms. The old part of the facility was the lunch room and gymnasium. Renee also worked it out for the school to house a local branch of the Montrose Public Library system.

Now PVS has applied for a BEST (Building Excellent Schools Today) grant and plan to add new space and also renovate their current space. The new build includes a multi-purpose area, library/office and kitchen. In order to qualify for the grant, PVS needs to raise $305,000 by mid-June. If approved for the BEST grant, they'll get $9 for every dollar raised.

I visited the school years ago and was very impressed with the support from the community; especially community members who had no children at the school. The school publishes a newsletter, Paradox Paragraphs, that I read from front to back every time. It's often got a corner for thank you's to people who have donated to the school. I smile as I read about someone donating garden produce for student lunches.

Charter School Business Manager's Network Meeting

2011-03-18T19:08:00.003-06:00

Charter school business managers from across Colorado met to discuss a number of pressing issues, including how they would deal with impending budget cuts. Here's a summary of the day's meeting.

* The stimulus money (federal ARRA and EduJobs) goes away this year.

* The teacher salary results (63 of ~160 responding):

a. Highest range of full-time teacher salaries was in the $25,000 to $43,999 category.

b. Lowest full-time teacher mean was $30,000. Lowest range from $13,650 to $40,000.

c. Highest full-time teacher $47,000 mean. Lowest range from $30,000 to $76,688.

d. There were no trends for more mature charter schools or for charter school size.

e. Next teacher salary survey should be percentage of district salary. Plus, survey what benefits schools do pay for.

f. The salary survey will be open through the end of next week (April 1).

* School Fees

a. Should be on fee sheet if the fee is mandatory or optional and if it is optional, what the student will not receive if the fee is not paid.

b. No fees are required (may opt out of any) and the student will not be penalized or not able to graduate or advance to the next grade level.

* Security Systems

a. Some volunteer security systems include instant background checks that identify people with restrictions from accessing a school building.

b. A couple of the schools presenting cover the cost of background checks on their volunteers. Some schools have the parents/volunteers.

* Legislative Update

a. HB 1055: Charter school access to available school property. Will be heard in State Affairs on Wednesday.

b. HB 1089: Grant Opportunities. Headed to the Governor’s desk for signature. Allows charter schools to use the collaborative law to apply for federal competitive grants.

c. School Food Authorities. Will be added to Rep. Massey’s omnibus bill (HB 1277).

d. Timely Access to School Data. Will also be added to Massey’s bill. Data should be distributed to charter schools within two weeks of the district receiving it.

e. HB 1253: Charter School and At-risk Funding. Bill was killed.

f. Change BEST formula. Change the matching fund formula for charter schools.

g. Next year’s charter school capital construction will be around $83 per student (as projected by the JBC).

h. SB 188: Moral obligation bill. Previous version died in the Senate (SB 132), but was reintroduced.

i. HB 1277: Massey’s omnibus bill, which includes changes to online school reporting, overage and under credit student funding changes and School Food Authorities.

j. Senator Bacon is holding a public hearing on public education issues with a goal of generating media attention. Representatives from charter schools are invited to speak at the hearing.

Jefferson Academy at State Basketball Tournament

2011-03-14T10:54:00.000-06:00

Congratulations to the Jefferson Academy Jaguars boys basketball team for getting second at the state 3A tournament. JA lost to the Faith Christian Academy team 49-41.

The Lady Jags won their game by beating the Pagosa Springs team 41 to 36.

Job Fair Ideal for Brand New Charter Schools

2011-03-12T11:48:00.001-07:00

Imagine opening a brand new charter school and having to hire everyone from the maintenance person to a full slate of classroom teachers. Daunting? Yes!

Charter schools opening this fall, including Prospect Ridge Academy (Adams 12) , Loveland Classical School (Thompson) and Ben Franklin Academy (Douglas County), had tables at the Charter School Job Fair to minimize the time and effort needed to tackle the daunting task of hiring an entirely new staff. Reports from school leaders were that they were meeting some very serious candidates and were optimistic that several people would be hired.

Charter School Job Fair

2011-03-12T09:59:00.002-07:00

Over 500 teachers showed up for the chance to submit their resumes and hopefully interview with more than 43 charter schools today. The job fair, hosted by Peak to Peak Charter School in Lafayette, allowed for a great networking opportunity for both teachers and charter school leaders in need of staff.

DSST and W Denver Prep Awarded Federal Grant

2011-03-10T18:00:00.000-07:00

The Denver School of Science and Technology Middle School and W Denver Prep - Federal Campus have been awarded a federal EPIC (Effective Practice Incentive Community) grant. The grant is for charter schools that have improved student academic achievement.

DSST will get $72,500 and W Denver Prep $58,000 from this grant, which will be used distribute their best practices to other urban charter school leaders.

YAFA Wins Remand from State Board

2011-03-09T18:00:00.001-07:00

The Youth and Family Academy (YAFA), of Pueblo, won an appeal heard by the State Board of Education this afternoon. The decision remands the matter back to the Pueblo 60 School District for further consideration. The vote was 6-1 with Elaine Berman being the sole dissenter.

Much of the debate centered on the charter school's contention that their growth data showed them doing as well or better than the other 60 Alternative Education Campuses (AECs) in the state. The school, which has been open since 1996 has consistently scored at the very bottom of achievement measures throughout its history. The related concern about student attendance was another area receiving a fair amount of discussion. The district stated the charter school doesn't send any students to truancy hearings even though the service provided by the district, doesn't have any cost for the school.

The board's discussion after both sides presented their cases was about there being an alternative that was a credible place for the students to attend if it weren't for the charter school. Currently the district has an administrator at the charter school and the charter school is operating without a contract or waivers. The district stated they were prepared to take over the school and even pay rent to the charter school's leaders in order to continue to use the facility.

Lotus Loses Appeal to State Board

2011-03-09T17:59:00.000-07:00

On a 6-1 vote, the State Board of Education upheld the district's decision to deny the Lotus School of Excellence-Longmont charter school application.

The Lotus board operates a school in the Aurora School District and planned to replicate its program in Longmont. The St. Vrain Valley School District denied the application due to concerns about conflicts of interest, comingling of funds, governance not being local, projected enrollment, facility issues, and it not being a unique choice within the district. The district hit hard on what it considered inappropriate financial transactions by the Lotus board in Aurora, which was that board members secured personal loans to cover facility costs. Loans from two former board members are still outstanding.

The charter school developers explained their intentions for board governance that included parent representation on the board and a School Accountability Committee at each location.

After little discussion the State Board voted for a motion brought by Marcia Neal to uphold the local school district. State Board Chair, Bob Schaffer, was the lone nay vote for the motion. Both Paul Lundeen and Marcia Neal expressed their desire to support charter schools, but were uncomfortable in supporting this particular charter school given concerns that had been raised during the hearing.

Frontier Academy Students Win State Academic Competition

2011-03-04T18:01:00.001-07:00

Frontier Academy students not only won a state academic competition, they did it by competing against larger schools! Students on Mr. Royle-Grimes' Academic Decathlon team should have competed at the 2A level, but instead chose to participate at the 4A/5A level in order to have more competition.

The team is now eligible to compete in North Carolina in April at the national competition. The team of nine students, all of different academic achievement levels, compete against the intellects of comparable students from other schools in ten categories.

Frontier Academy serves grades K-12 on two campuses in Greeley.

Loveland Classical School Approved to Open

2011-03-03T17:42:00.000-07:00

The Thompson School District Board of Education approved Loveland Classical School (LCS) to open in the fall and to serve grades K-9. The charter school application proposed with opening K-11.

The charter school founders met with Thompson School District staff and board members in a workshop session prior to the regular board meeting. During the workshop many of the possible contingencies were discussed. School district board members conveyed the belief that they would have to approve the charter because of pressure from the State Board of Education. LCS appealed the board's earlier decision to deny the charter school application and the applicants were supported by the board in a remand order to the Thompson board. The two parties now have 90 days to work out contract terms.

After being approved, LCS founders announced that their new principal will be David Yu, a teacher at Ridgeview Classical School in Fort Collins and a Thompson high school graduate.

And the Winner is....Jefferson Academy Jr High

2011-02-24T20:59:00.003-07:00

Tonight was the final in the debate league for northwest metro charter schools: Jefferson Academy elementary and junior high, Excel Academy, Woodrow Wilson Academy, Crown Pointe Academy, Twin Peaks Academy and Flagstaff Academy. The league competition began last November. Sixth, seventh and eighth grade students compete against each other in teams of 3-7.

Tonight the championship round was between a team from Woodrow Wilson Academy (affirmative) and Jefferson Academy Jr High (negative) in a resolution stating that the United States should be involved in the United Nations.

Both teams were exceptional with a 7 pt win going to JAJH. Students even brought up recent events in Libya to make some of their arguments.

Congratulations to the league champions and to all the students who participated this year and quite obviously honed their debating skills over the course of the competition!

Cyber School Day at the Capitol

2011-02-24T09:53:00.001-07:00

Cyber school families from all over Colorado gathered to celebrate Cyber School Day at the Capitol. The opening session was led by Independence Institute Education Policy Analyst, Ben DeGrow, who talked about the prevalence of online education in the state and the choice options available to families. Later, there was a rally on the west steps of the Capitol.

Charter Friends 2011

2011-02-20T09:39:00.002-07:00

Randy Zimmerman (left) and Dr. Rod Blunck (right) received 2011 Charter Friends awards at this year's Charter School Conference.

Randy Zimmerman, is the director of the CIVA Charter School in Colorado Springs 11. He received the Charter Friend for School Leaders award.

Rod Blunck, Supt. of the Brighton 27-J School District, received the Charter Friend for District Leaders award. Dr. Blunck also received this award when he was the Superintendent of the Elizabeth School District.

Bob Schaffer Addresses Charter School Conference

2011-02-18T17:07:00.001-07:00

State Board of Education chair, Bob Schaffer, addressed the League of Charter Schools' 17th annual conference. In his remarks, Mr. Schaffer spoke about the struggles he and his wife, Maureen, encountered with enrolling their own children in public school before helping to start Liberty Common School.

Mr. Schaffer also told about the origins of the charter school movement in the state, when he was a State Senator. In 1992 Rep. John J. Irwin, of Loveland, introduced a charter school bill that died in the House. The following year, in 1993, then-State Senator Bill Owens (R-Aurora) introduced the Charter School Act, which was co-sponsored by Rep. Peggy Kerns (D-Denver). The bill ultimately passed by a narrow margin in the Senate and went on to be signed by then-Gov. Roy Romer. Mr. Schaffer reminded everyone that initially charter schools were viewed as an experiment and that only 50 charter schools were permitted in the first legislation. In 1998 when the sunset provision was lifted, the cap on the number of charter school was lifted.

Mr. Schaffer also spoke about proposed budget cuts for K-12 public education. He said that because of charter schools having control over their own budgets, their nimbleness and flexibility to respond to budget cuts will afford charter schools a better opportunity for creativity. He noted that the State Board of Education grants waivers to public schools, in addition to charter schools, and suggested that more districts may look at the waiver process as a way to handle drastic budget cuts. Schaffer noted that the Governor's proposed budget cuts meant about $470 per student in the Poudre School District, where he's the Principal of a charter school.

Schaffer also talked about national assessments and their impact on public school choice, especially in regard to academics. He noted that standards drive assessments and then those assessments can become the only measure to determine if a charter school is successful. Instead, Schaffer said that the success of a charter school should be determined by the cash flow generated because parents choose the school for their children.

Gov. Hickenlooper's Budget Projections Hit Hard

2011-02-15T16:39:00.001-07:00

This afternoon Governor John Hickenlooper presented his budget to the Joint Budget Committee of the Legislature. Amongst a number of cuts, the Hickenlooper budget includes closing a state prison, a drug treatment program and a residential health care program, repurposing four State parks, reducinglocal grants and the restoration of a 4% budget reserve.

The Governor's letter explaining the budget is here. The letter states that 41% of the state budget is spent on K-12 education. The total reduction for Total Program Funding will be at $836 million.

Vody Herrmann, the Asst. Commissioner and Director of Public School Finance, followed the Hickenlooper budget presentation with an email explaining the Governor's budget and providing additional detail for school districts here.

Loveland Classical Schools Supported by State Board of Ed

2011-02-14T17:24:00.000-07:00

In a 6-1 vote, the State Board of Education voted to remand the Loveland Classical School charter school appeal back to the Thompson School District for further consideration.

Thompson has only one charter school -- New Vision Charter School - and it also had to appeal before being approved by the local district. The district has less than 2% of its students enrolled in the charter school. The state average is 8.97%.

The district used the new charter school application review rubric and pointed out deficiencies in the application based on that review. Attorney for the charter school, Barry Arrington, pointed out that no charter school application is perfect and with a 1,000 page application, the charter applicants had certainly provided everything necessary to be approved to open a new charter school.

A couple of State Board members raised concerns about the short timeline in which to open a new school and Chairman Bob Schaffer pointed out that Liberty Common School in Fort Collins (which he helped start) was approved in June and opened two and a half months later. He also noted that most of the charter school either have just as short a timeline, or even shorter.

Loveland Classical School plans to open with grades K-11 in the fall. They already have almost 1,000 students already expressing an interest in attending.

SB11-132, Charter School Capital Construction

2011-02-05T21:03:00.002-07:00

Senator Keith King introduced a bill pertaining to charter school capital construction, SB 132. The bill shores up the moral obligation fund in the State Treasurer's office. When the Cesar Chavez Academy and Dolores Huerta Prep in Pueblo nearly went under, it became apparent that the state taxpayer would be fulfilling the school's obligation on the charter school facility should they default on their bond. Bond issuers became concerned about the moral ob fund and thus, this bill is meant to address those concerns.

The bill also increases the amount available in the fund from $400 million to up to $500 million. Additionally, the bill would allow the County and Municipality Development Revenue Bond Act to allow bonding for public education facilities. Currently, only the Colorado Educational & Cultural Facilities Authority can issue bonds on behalf of charter schools.

HB 11-1089, Charter School Institute as LEA for Grants

2011-02-01T17:46:00.000-07:00

For many federal grants, only an LEA, or Local Education Agency, can apply. LEAs are typically school districts. A new bill has just been introduced into the Colorado General Assembly that would permit the state Charter School Institute to act as an LEA for the purposes of applying for federal grants. The bill, HB 1089, sponsored by Rep. Conti and Sen. K King, was heard in House Ed on Monday afternoon.

The committee amended the bill to require charter schools to notify their school district if they intend to apply for a grant through CSI. The committee approved the amended bill on a 10-3 vote and sent it to the floor of the House for second reading.

SB11-069, Charter Educational Management Organizations

2011-01-31T18:09:00.001-07:00

SB11-069 has been introduced by Sen. Hudak (D-Arvada, Westminster). The title is "Educational Management Organizations," which in the bill, has a very broad definition to include nonprofits that replicate existing successful schools.

The bill establishes a fee-based certification process through CDE that is similar to the online certification process enacted in 2007, SB 215. The process requires CDE to evaluate an application and then provide continuing monitoring and oversight. The bill also limits the terms of contracts with EMOs to two years subject to annual review. It requires a charter school using an EMO to review the EMO's performance at least annually.

SB 69 also requires the HB 1412, charter school standards and charter school authorizer standards advisory committee, to make recommendations on EMOs. On Jan. 5th the committee held a hearing on management company issues.

In Colorado, the term Education Service Provider (ESP) is generally used for all sorts of management companies. EMOs are generally for-profit management companies and Charter Management Organizations (CMOs) are nonprofit. CMOs may include one-off replications. Hudak's bill defines EMOs to mean all types of management companies and doesn't clearly differentiate for vendors contracting with districts for specific services such as operating an online school.

The sample contract language has an attachment dealing with ESP provisions that should be considered by charter school governing boards and charter school authorizers. Further, the contract has an attachment for board members to disclose a number of things including a conflict of interest with the management company. These types of examples provide increased awareness about the issues of greatest concern for quality relationships.

Update: SB 69 will be heard in Senate Education on Thursday, Feb. 10th.

Charter School Time Capsules

2011-01-30T11:59:00.003-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I was at a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new charter school and they mentioned having a time capsule that will be unveiled in 50 years. It reminded me of the one we did at Jefferson Academy almost ten years ago when the new high school facility was built.

Students from each grade wrote a paper and various objects were contributed such as an old cell phone, a JA yearbook and a newspaper. I remember one of the students talking about hearing the heavy equipment preparing the ground as he wrote. Several of the founding board members wrote about the beginning years and what it meant to them.

Later when the steel was erected, we took a picture of the entire school body (at the time) and that now hangs in the high school building. It's quite large, probably 40 in by 40 in and every time I've seen it, it's got numerous smudge marks where students point to themselves in the picture. It's a great way to remember the struggles we went through creating the 13th charter school in the state.

The time capsule is in a large PVC pipe, similar to this photo, with caps at both ends. It's anchored to the southwest corner of the building in what is now the Principal's office. My daughter has the responsibility of digging it out in 2051.

In its sixteenth year of operation, Jefferson Academy has numerous students who are younger siblings of previous students. In fact, my son teaches in the junior high and teaches younger siblings of his former peers. Soon it will be the children of JA graduates that enroll at the charter school.

Everyone who goes through all the work to start a charter school, especially those who labor to finance and build a new facility, should consider putting together a time capsule!

Number of Charter School Students in the State Almost Matches Denver's Enrollment

2011-01-23T20:45:00.002-07:00

Just a couple hundred more students enrolled in charter schools and the total would surpass Denver's enrollment. The funded count of charter school students, using Oct 2010 data, is 69,951.5 and Denver's enrollment is 70,160.5. This means charter school students, collectively, represent the third largest school district in the state, right behind Denver and Jefferson County.

Last year the Adams 12 school district had the largest percentage of charter school students, but this year they slipped to third place. Brighton rose to the top again with 18.71% of their students enrolled in charter schools and Falcon 49 was second with 18.37% enrolled in charter schools. Adams 12 had 16.72% in charter schools.

Jefferson County, the largest school district in the state with 80,044 students ranked 19th in the list of districts with charter school students. Jeffco charter schools enroll 5,307 students for 6.63% of the total enrollment.

One of the eligibility criteria for a school district to qualify for exclusive chartering authority is having more than 3% of charter school students than the state average. This year that state average grew to 8.97%, up from 8.20% last year. Nine districts have enrollments above 3% over the state average: in addition to the three districts already mentioned, Cheyenne Mountain has 16.03%, Greeley 15.32%, Harrison 14.36%, Academy 14.04%, Lewis-Palmer 13.21% and Douglas 11.99%.

Taking these comparisons to the national perspective (using 2009 data) Adams 12 ties for twelfth place in school district market share (Source: National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, A Growing Movement: America's Largest Charter School Communities, 2010).

In the same report Brighton ties for 13th place, Falcon ranks 15th, and Pueblo 60 ranks 17th. Colorado has a total of ten districts with more than 10% market share according to the report. Denver Public Schools has 10% in this report. Now that DPS has exceeded 30 charter schools their percentage is sure to increase in the future.

The top two school districts with the highest market share of charter school students are 1) New Orleans Public School System and 2) District of Columbia Public Schools. New Orleans has 61% of their students enrolled in charter schools. After Hurricane Katrina many of the region's schools were replaced with public charter schools in an effort to use the restructuring required due to hurricane damage to also reform the school system. The District of Columbia has 38% of its students in charter schools.

Charter School Appeal History in Colorado

2011-01-19T17:25:00.001-07:00

It's widely believed throughout the state that "the State Board of Education always supports charter schools" in appeal hearings. The facts say different. Of the 155 appeal cases that have been filed, 100 have been heard. Of those 100 hearings, the State Board backed the district 57 times on first appeal. The other 43 times the State Board remanded the matter back for further reconsideration, thereby supporting the charter school applicants.

Supporting the school district the majority of the time was also true in the early years of charter schools in Colorado. Before 2000 there were 53 charter appeal hearings and 32 times the State Board supported the district's decision to deny the charter application.

From 2004 to 2007 there were 44 appeal hearings filed. It was during this period that the State Board members began searching for another way to conduct appeal hearings. Members Randy DeHoff and Karen Middleton convened a couple of meetings to discuss alternatives which included expert reviewers, a rubric for reviewing charter applications and as different type of hearing process.

This discussion led to the creation of the standard charter school application, checklist for completion and review rubric in 2008 and then charter school appeal hearings dropped dramatically. In 2007 there were 10 appeal hearings and that dropped to one in 2008 and none in 2009.

The development of the standard applcation by the CDE, Colorado League of Charter Schools and the Charter School Institute was revolutionary in that it was the first time the "three C's" collaborated on a project. And it was only the beginning.

Following the standard application, charter school authorizers asked for sample contract language. That was developed in 2009 and just recently revised. The sample contract has something for everyone to love or hate. Some of the provisions are tougher than districts currently use. The contract delineates the responsibilities of both the charter school and the charter school authorizer; a first for many Colorado charter school authorizers to consider.

There has been eleven times that the State Board of Education ordered a district to open a charter school. However, that has only resulted in one charter school actually opening (Imagine Charter School at Firestone).

The first time the State Board took this type of action, the case was taken to the state Supreme Court. Thurgood Marshall Charter Middle School was proposed by an African-American teacher in Denver -- Cordia Booth. The Supreme Court ruling declared that while the State Board did have authority to order a district to open a charter school, it could not dictate the provisions of the contract.

When the Charter Schools Act was adopted in 1993 it was a pilot program with a sunset of 1998. When the sunset provision was lifted, almost half of the charter schools in the state were open due to the appeal process.

Online Education Enrollment Increases Again

2011-01-14T18:51:00.001-07:00

According to the Colorado Department of Education there are 15,249 students in online schools or programs. This is a 14% increase from last year. The total percent of public school students in online programs is 1.8 a jump from 2002-03 when it was just .25% of enrollment.

There are 22 certified multi-district online schools operating in Colorado. Only four of those are charter schools, which means that the bulk of them are operated by school districts in an effort to keep students that don't fit in a regular classroom model.

Janus International School Appeal Fails with State Board

2011-01-13T06:19:00.000-07:00

The State Board of Education voted unanimously to support Denver Public Schools' decision to not approve Janus International Charter School's application. Charter applicants had difficulty communicating their vision. Moreover, probably the most damaging fact was the applicant's acknowledgement that they had no students at all.

Testifying for DPS staff, a member of the Application Review Team (ART), noted that the entire application lacked coherency. For example, the school said they'd be implementing the IB curriculum, but that wasn't reflected in their budget.

New board members Paul Lundeen (5th CD) and Dr. Debbe Scheffel (6th CDE) both asked questions during the hearing and voiced their support for high quality charter schools. Ultimately, all seven State Board of Ed members voted against the charter school applicant.

Management Company Issues Discussed at Today's HB 1412 State Advisory Committee Meeting

2011-01-05T20:20:00.003-07:00

Today the HB 1412 State Advisory Committee for quality standards for charter schools and charter school authorizers met at the Colorado Association of School Boards meeting room. The morning began with representatives from the charter school management company community providing public testimony and participating in a general discussion about key issues.

EMOs, or education management organizations, are generally for-profit. CMOs, or Charter Management Companies, are generally nonprofit and include schools that replicate, oftentimes under a single governing board. The discussion included both types of management companies.

Since Colorado has more grassroots startup charter schools and fewer management company operated schools than other states, there has been some negative perceptions created over the years. Many of those issues were raised today with very little consensus, if any, on what could be done to mitigate the misperceptions in the future.

Some of the issues were:

* How to prevent a charter school from getting into a contract with a management company that has a "poison pill" that makes it nearly impossible to "fire" the management company and still maintain a charter school.

* Which entity should hold the assets?

* Both the charter school governing board and the management company should have separate legal counsel and negotiate an "arms length" agreement.

* There needs to be more training information available for new charter school boards and charter school authorizers so that people are aware of what needs to be discussed because oftentimes people don't even know what questions to ask.

* Relationships are important and not just for the charter school and the management company, but also the authorizer and the management company.

* A certain level of academic achievement is required by the charter school contract and it implies that the management company is responsible for producing a certain level of academic results or else it's the company's responsibility to make necessary changes.

* Transparency is vital, especially as it relates to financial arrangements.

The next committee meeting will be on Feb. 2nd and there will be a public hearing on online education issues. Today's committee also established a timeline for its work, which primarily is a report to the legislature with recommended legislation or state board of education rule changes. The committee report will also outline a proposed implementation plan for the recommendations.

What is Normal?

2011-01-04T20:32:00.004-07:00

I was just at a charter school where we had a discussion about "what is normal"? Oftentimes, charter school leaders and board members don't know what it's like at another charter school so they don't have a perspective of what "normal" is. They don't know if what they're doing is routine or extraordinary.

The best way to cure this problem is to get out and visit other charter schools! This applies to governing board members, principals, business managers, curriculum directors, teachers, and simply: everyone!

One of the best parts of my job is that I have been to almost every charter school in the state and get to see the incredible things happening at these schools. A lot of what I do is spread the word to others who may be struggling in a particular area or need an idea for how to handle a situation. Many of these best practices are on the CDE website: either in the eguidebook of best practices, the administrator's handbook, or the governing board training modules. The charter school community is very open to sharing, without reservation, and so there is an ideal climate for gaining from each other's experiences.

Jefferson Academy Beats Peak to Peak at Pepsi Center

2011-01-03T21:48:00.002-07:00

In a game that was dominated by the Jefferson Academy Jaguars the entire time, JA beat Peak to Peak 77 to 48. Most of the game the Jaguars' score was double that of P2P, but in the last quarter the JA Junior Varsity allowed Peak to Peak to pick up a few additional points.

Both teams clearly enjoyed playing at the Pepsi Center. Jason Propst, JA's forward and 6'5" dunked the ball just before the half.

Head Coach Mark Sharpley's son, Bryson, played much of the game although he didn't start. Bryson is 6'6" and just a freshman.

What's Wrong with the Turnaround Model

2011-01-01T17:52:00.004-07:00

U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, has been very vocal about the need to turnaround the bottom 5% of the nation's public schools.

Without delving into this subject from a national policy perspective or commenting on the likelihood of the initiative's success (or cost!), one of the proposed remedies given to chronically underperforming public schools is to become a public charter school. This means "being a charter school" is both the punishment and theoretically, the remedy.

Colorado already went through this years ago when the management of Cole Middle School was put up for bid and eventually KIPP took over the failing school. This sanction was imposed under state law that preceeded No Child Left Behind's comparable provisions. KIPP Cole was open for two years, plagued by numerous problems and then closed with everyone admitting it was a mistake.

First, the KIPP philosophy requires that the student (and family) are totally committed. It's a rigorous model of extended day, extended year and about half of the Saturdays during the school year. It's tough. Many KIPP Cole families weren't prepared for just how tough it would be and balked during the implementation.

KIPP Cole's first principal resigned before the new charter school even opened the doors. Eventually Rich Harrison became the princpal. Rich started as a teacher at KIPP Cole but moved up when there really weren't too many options for leadership in the building.

Many of the Cole neighborhood families chose other educational options for their students. The first year at KIPP Cole there were only about 60 students. It was very difficult to establish a KIPP culture in that type of environment. KIPP Cole was upstairs in the 3-story, 100 yr old Cole building. The district put an alternative high school in the lower level of the building. Students chose KIPP Cole simply because they couldn't figure out another place to go or because they had a delusional view of what the school would be like.

The research I've read says that for the first two to three years, a turnaround school looks worse than it did before turnaround. Further, the cost for turnaround is significantly higher for the first few years (Mass Insight estimates the cost as $250,000 to $1 million per school, per year).

Bryan Hassel and Emily Ayscue Hassel of Public Impact, writing in Education Next in the Winter of 2009, stated their researched identified six strategies for turnaround:

1. Focus on a few early wins.

2. Break organization norms.

3. Push rapid-fire experimentation.

4. Get the right stuff, right the remainder.

5. Drive decisions with open-air data.

6. Lead a turnaround campaign.

A public charter school, operating under a three-year contract term, has a great deal of pressure to show increased academic achievement right away. There is little flexibility for changes in administration, inexperienced teachers and the need for an entirely new school culture. And yet that's what is expected -- right away!

Colorado's first turnaround effort showed that turnaround is extremely difficult. The Hassels estimate about 70% of turnarounds won't be successful. So what can Colorado do differently this time around for new charter schools attempting to turn around low performing communities?

Have patience and provide support. Charter school authorizers need to realize that there will be many mis-steps along the way. Rather than shoot the turnaround leaders, authorizers should provide support to identify different strategies or provide technical assistance. Policy makers and school district leaders should be careful to not continually put the turnaround school in the spotlight (like was done with KIPP Cole). Being in the spotlight highlights every mis-step that's made. Whereas other neighborhood schools would get the opportunity to make mistakes outside of the media's attention, a turnaround school doesn't get the same luxury.

The vast majority of schools identified as needing turnaround are choosing to be reconstituted rather than convert to charter school status. Being reconstituted means a new principal and the majority of teachers are replaced, but the school stays under the district's leadership and teachers may continue to operate under the district's collective bargaining agreement with the teacher's union. In other words, flexibility is limited.

In the state, eyes are on Denver as its approach is to put high performing charter school replications in neighborhoods where the schools are chronically not performing. W Denver Prep, DSST and SOAR are all starting new schools in neighborhoods that are struggling academically.

Let's all hope these new schools get patience and support from Denver Public Schools in their new venture. And most importantly, let's all hope the students in these neighborhoods have the opportunity for a better education -- and life -- as a result of these efforts!

The Best, Worst and Funniest of 2010

2010-12-31T17:08:00.000-07:00

I admit that I've been influenced by hearing about the best and worst of most everything fro 2010 over the last few days. So I perused blog posts for the last year and this is what I came up with.

Best: It isn't very often that a stellar group of individuals join together to create a new charter school. When they do, and they do everything right, they should (theoretically) sail through the process and open. That didn't happen with Prospect Ridge Academy, a charter applicant that twice had to appeal to the State Board of Education. At the second hearing, the State Board ordered Adams 12 School District to open the new charter school.

The case had several elements that are critical to the charter school philosophy such as the State Board declaring that the district did not have the right to approve charter school staff nor select its financial auditor. Many believe these examples of autonomy, created by the Charter Schools Act of 1993, have been eroded over time as charter leaders have acquiesced to districts demanding more control. The State Board drawing a line in the sand on a handful of issues will have an impact for quite some time.

Worst: Colorado had two failed attempts at the federal Race to the Top grant competition. It's important to note that on the section of the grant application relating to charter schools, the state received 100% of the possible points. Colorado clearly has a national reputation for being charter-friendly. Statutory provisions such as multiple authorizers, automatic waivers, employee autonomy and financial autonomy are just some of the reasons Colorado has a strong charter school law. The Race to the Top process didn't honor states that were truly innovative and instead encouraged states to lift their caps or pass new charter school laws, measures that do not have lasting effect because there wasn't a foundation to support the measures -- only a short-lived incentive that meant nothing to the states.

Funniest: I've milked the "Kermit" story for almost an entire year. Almost every time I've seen Tony Fontana, the Executive Principal at Peak to Peak Charter School in Lafayette, I've found a way to remind him of the Kermit story. Last January we were in an administrator's meeting in Longmont when Tony took a call on his cell phone and then left the meeting to run back to his school. There was a security alert due to an abandoned duffel bag in the parking lot. After law enforcement shut down the perimeter of the parking lot and school was called off, oh and the news helicopters captured the suspicious duffel bag from the air, it was determined that the suspicious item was actually Kermit the Frog. Kermit belonged to a teacher at the school and students had taken it (as a prank) and then didn't have any way to "return" it. Hence, a situation that could only be attributed to teenagers without all of their brain cells fully developed. And of course, many opportunities to tease people about the "dangers" of Kermit the Frog.

Happy New Year everyone!

The Growth of Management Company-Operated Charter Schools

2010-12-28T17:28:00.000-07:00

In 2004, there were only 10% of charter schools operating with a contract for services provided by a management company. In 2009 that had grown to 25%. (National Charter School Resource Project)

There are two types of management companies: for profit and not-for-profit. Even the not-for-profit companies still need to be able to pay for central administrative costs, buildings and future growth from proceeds derived from the management agreement.

Colorado's charter school movement grew largely through grassroots efforts. Conversely, across the country many states have a charter school community that's operated predominantly by management companies. Only a handful of companies operate in Colorado, including Imagine, Inc., White Hat Management, Edison Schools, Mosaica Education, Inc., and National Heritage Academies.

Management companies operate public charter schools via a written performance agreement with the charter school governing board. In the past, some management companies have recruited and selected board members they believe will agree to everything proposed by the management company. Imagine's founder, Dennis Bakke, received media attention when an email he wrote about this very subject was revealed.

Colorado sample contract language has an attachment with provisions for management companies (or Education Service Providers) and charter school boards to consider before reaching a final agreement. Districts can use this list of provisions as a way to ensure transparency and fairness. For example, one of the provisions is that both the management company and charter school board have separate legal counsel representing them in negotiating the agreement.

There will continue to be an increase in the number of charter schools operated by charter schools, both nationwide and in Colorado. For companies that have found the "magic formula" and have both academic and financial success in the venture, it only makes sense. It's wise for potential charter school authorizers to do their homework before authorizing a new school that will be operated by a management company, however.

A Tale of Two Cities

2010-12-12T08:24:00.003-07:00

While the City of Englewood is trying to help a new charter school get land for a building, the City of Broomfield is fighting the opening of a new charter school within their boundaries.

Ben Franklin Academy wants to build a new facility on land at Lucent Blvd and C-470 in Douglas County. The land is owned by the City of Englewood. The city originally purchased the land as a part of it's long-term planning for a water reservoir.

Contrast this effort with the City of Broomfield that is fighting the location of a new charter school, Prospect Ridge Academy, by taking its opposition to the Adams 12 Five Star School District. On Wednesday night, the school board will hear the city's claims that the charter school should not be located within its boundaries. The City of Broomfield doesn't have a charter school currently.

As public schools, charter schools receive a certificate of occupancy through the Colo. Dept of Labor, the same as all public schools. If a municipality disagrees with a charter school site plan, the municipality can take that issue back to the charter school authorizer's board for reconsideration. It's not uncommon for there to be disagreements on the details within a site plan, but this is the first time a city has said they don't want any charter school within their boundaries.

Ben Franklin Academy was unanimously approved by the Douglas County Board of Education in November and plans to open a Core Knowledge school in the fall. The school will begin with grades K-6 and grow through eighth grade. A developer from Utah plans to construct a facility for the new charter school.

Prospect Ridge also plans to use Core Knowledge, but will extend through twelfth grade and have a focus on math, science and technology. Prospect Ridge had to appeal to the State Board of Education earlier this year in order to get the right to open their school.

Update: Boulder Daily Camera article

State Advisory Committee Considers LEA Status for CSI Charter Schools

2010-12-08T20:30:00.003-07:00

The SB 111 advisory committee met for the last time today before providing the General Assembly with a report next month containing recommendations related to Charter School Institute (CSI) schools becoming their own Local Education Agency (LEA) for purposes of either Special Education funding (IDEA, Part B) or entitlement programs (No Child Left Behind).

The committee decided to recommend that CSI schools at least be given the opportunity to ask the CSI board to do their own Special Education services, but only after demonstrating they have the capacity to do it. This will probably be via contracting with a Board of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES) in a manner comparable to small school districts in the state. The agreement with a BOCES would need to transfer liability from CSI to the individual charter school in order for it to be approved.

In regard to entitlement programs, the committee agreed that managing the federal programs would probably be a greater burden than it would be worth. Individual charter schools would need to be substantially familiar with numerous federal requirements and the amount of money received from most of the programs would be a marginal amount. The additional burden on CSI charter schools would be prohibitive in comparison to the benefits.

Patricia Hayes, chair of the SB 111 committee, distributed an initial draft of the committee report and the recommendations were each discussed. The committee did a great deal of research and had lots of discussion on the specific issues. Two of the largest CSI schools were a part of the discussion and expressed concern about the burden associated with the federal programs.

Statute requires the report to be delivered to the House and Senate Education Committees by January 15th.

Blended or Hybrid?

2010-12-01T18:57:00.001-07:00

There is a broad array of online educational options for students. The type of online education delivery models has changed as school leaders realize that most students, particularly at-risk students, do better with a combination of online learning and meeting face-to-face with a teacher. People call this either blended or hybrid learning and there hasn't been a strong preference for either term nationally.

In Colorado, hybrid/blended schools cannot get funding to operate. The School Finance statute and state board rule do not permit schools to use the blended approach. Colorado law allows online schools to use a "learning center," meaning a regular location that students attend where instruction is delivered online and the school has gained the approval of the school districts in which the learning centers are located. However, to establish a student's schedule with both online and regular hours with a teacher isn't permissible under the law.

Across the nation, policy makers are wrestling with how to fund online students. Colorado's system relies on a annual count day (October 1) to establish funding for the entire year. Online students need to sign on their computer's online program numerous times within the "count window" in order to be counted. Further, teachers must document time on the phone with students and any virtual classes they conduct.

As the use of technology increases, and students become more adept at newer technologies, watch for policy makers to address the issue of blended or hybrid learning.

A Blue Ribbon School

2010-11-28T12:21:00.005-07:00

The rural, consolidated school I attended Kindergarten through twelfth grade has been named a national Blue Ribbon School. In fact, it's the only school in North Dakota to receive the recognition this year. Barnes County North - North Central campus is a 2010 Blue Ribbon School.

It's because of my own experience at this school that I'm such a big fan of K-12 schools. Education is about a community where all students are valued rather than being sent to large, segmented schools. The school is the community center and folks without kids in the school attend sporting events and concerts.

North Central opened in 1963, in the middle of what was previously farm land, as a consolidation of several small town schools in the area. When I was younger the school seemed huge, but after having returned a handful of times since high school graduation, it is in no way a large school. There is a wing for elementary and a wing for the secondary school. When I was in school it averaged around 200 students K-12. Attendance has since dropped significantly as many farming families move out of the area.

I can't say I got a great education at North Central. I didn't have to take math beyond Algebra I and I spent most of my Senior year playing cards with my friends. But people in the area say it's improved dramatically and there is a much greater emphasis upon attending college. In recent years almost the entire graduating class goes on to at least a two-year college. Some of the teachers at North Central attended there themselves.

In today's age, it may seem odd that students attend the same school for 13 years. A good deal of North Central's students attend only that one school. It's a close-knit community with life-long friendships. It has two key elements to school success: small school atmosphere and every student is known.

Charter School Accountability

2010-11-18T05:36:00.000-07:00

Like all public schools, charter schools in Colorado are accountable through the same state accountability system. Across the state, schools are creating their first Unified Improvement Plan (UIP) based on the data in their School Performance Framework. Much more detail is on the SchoolView website.

The UIP process involves senior leadership at the school. This includes the principal, curriculum director, lead teachers, deans and/or others deemed vital to the discussion. The first step is to take a critical look at what the school's data shows. This in-depth examination goes beyond CSAP or ACT data. Schools are encouraged to collect parent satisfaction data, volunteer hours, staff surveys and any other data that provides an important piece in examining how the school can improve. Every school's data story is different.

Then the leadership team examines why the data says what it does. This does NOT include any "kid reasons" such as high poverty or lack of parental support. This is all about what are the adult influences on student academic achievement. The state process calls this the "root cause analysis."

The strategies decided on by the team are directly tied to the root cause. The question is, "How can adults improve the situation in order to improve academic achievement?"

UIPs for all public schools receiving either a Turnaround or Priority Improvement Accreditation rating must be completed using the state's UIP template. For all other schools this year, the UIP template is optional, but highly encouraged. These plans must all be submitted, via the school district, to the state by January 15, 2011. Some districts already had their schools submit UIPs and others are due in December. This allows the school district to review the plans before they're submitted to the state in January.

Many federal and state programs have agreed that the UIP will serve a wide range of purposes, thereby eliminating the need for schools or districts to write multiple plans. The UIP suffices for Title I, School Improvement, Title IID, and Accreditation.

Several of the charter schools have reported that the UIP process has been extremely helpful for their school. One even called it a great bonding experience for their staff as they all worked together to analyze the data and create strategies for improvement.

Other charter schools have reported a severe lack of communication with their district and haven't received their SPF in a timely manner and have had very short notice for UIP deadlines. Further, because the public schools in Turnaround begin a 5-year path to closure or transformation if they don't improve, these UIPs are very high stakes! This is the first year the state has used this new accountability system and many of the kinks in the system are being worked out during the process. Undoubtedly, the entire process will be better next year. In the meantime, there are several charter schools concerned about expectations for them as they begin this journey.

Sporcle!

2010-11-15T20:26:00.003-07:00

There's a fun website that has become my latest addiction: sporcle.com It has trivia quizzes in a wide variety of categories. It'd be great for teachers to use for either enrichment or remediation. For instance, one game has the user name each of the states.

Every day new quizzes are added. But since all the other ones are archived, there's always a quiz worth taking. Of course, racing against the digital clock is another "hook" for competitive types!

A Step Back in Time

2010-11-08T20:00:00.003-07:00

Last week I attended a charter school application hearing in the Thompson School District that felt like a time warp back 15 years. District (union) staff were there to speak against the charter school application and they cited old myths as their reason for not wanting a charter school. Myths that most of the state agreed 15 years ago were no longer valid.

The Thompson School District has one charter school: New Vision Charter School that is a Core Knowledge school serving grades K-8.

The school currently being proposed in Thompson is called Loveland Classical Schools (LCS) and would be a K-12 Core Knowledge school with an emphasis on classical education and modeled after the successful Ridgeview Classical Schools in Fort Collins. It came out during public testimony that all of the founders of Ridgeview came from Loveland after board members at the time (2000) told applicants they wouldn't support a charter school. Currently 126 Thompson students attend Ridgeview Classical Schools (RCS).

A couple of district staff members spoke about bad charter schools they had been associated with previously. An RCS math teacher spoke after them and said, "We agree that not all charter schools are good. But LCS isn't trying to model after one of those. LCS is trying to model after a successful charter school (RCS)."

Almost every Thompson school board member asked the charter school developers to work with them on a school-within-a-school or an Innovation School instead of the charter. One board member even stated, "We have experience in so many areas (of education) and we do it every day." The comment was apparently disparaging the capacity of parents to create a new charter school and provide a successful educational program. LCS founders cited the lack of a guarantee for longevity of the classical educational program if it were operated by the district and a concern that the classical educational philosophy would be implemented with fidelity.

The charter school application was denied on a 7-0 vote after an approximately two hour hearing, the third of such hearings in the district. Two days later LCS founders filed a motion to appeal the decision to the State Board of Education for hearing. According to statute, the State Board must hear the appeal within 60 days.

Students & Teacher Learn Together in Their Battles with Cancer

2010-11-03T17:52:00.003-06:00

Woodrow Wilson Academy science teacher, John Wright, was diagnosed with T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia in August. In addition to dealing with the news and the impact on his wife and four children, Mr. Wright had to tell his students. A teacher motivated by pouring himself into his student's lives, Mr. Wright had to adjust to not being in the classroom this year and not having regular contact with his students.

The Woodrow Wilson Academy community drew together to support Mr. Wright and his family. This isn't the first time WWA families have supported one of their own undergoing a difficult time. As noted in this story and video, two students have or had leukemia, too.

A couple of weeks ago the WWA community hosted a Wildcat Walk for the Wright Cause to raise funds for the Wright family. Several hundred people showed up to walk the bike path behind the charter school. In addition, students conducted a bake sale that brought in more than was originally anticipated.

Done Waiting

2010-10-25T17:22:00.002-06:00

At the end of the Waiting for "Superman" movie people get information on what they can do about the lack of good schools in the country. The Waiting for "Superman" website has a Take Action button for parents, teachers and the general public.

After getting the facts about public education, and seeing the impact on the lives of several students, movie viewers are given the opportunity to conduct further research and then get involved. The website encourages users to get involved by supporting great teachers, speaking with school board members, and ultimately, speaking up.

As a way of activating these angry movie goers, the organization "Done Waiting" has begun to collect names and email addresses in order to mobilize a grassroots coalition. Done Waiting is advertising on Facebook and other social media networks.

If you haven't already seen Waiting for "Superman" -- go! And then get involved in improving public education!

Groff Says Charter Schools Make Do With Less

2010-10-19T17:21:00.000-06:00

Peter Groff, President of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, told attendees of the Louisiana Charter School Association that charter schools operate with about $2,200 per student less than traditional public schools. He said this disparity, "Should not be tolerated."

In Colorado, about 30% of the per pupil funding used by charter schools goes to facility costs. Traditional public schools have access to bond revenues to fund their capital needs. Moreover, while some school districts share proceeds from mill levy overrides, districts are not required to do so by law.

Formerly Peter Groff served as President of the Colorado Senate and was the 2004 co-sponsor of the Charter School Institute Act.

Charter School Administrators Meet

2010-10-14T19:00:00.003-06:00

Today was the school year's second Administrator's Mentoring Cohort (AMC) meeting. The morning's training and discussion focused on administrator/board relationships and the resources that are available for board training. Oftentimes when the charter school governing board is having problems the administrator is helpless to intervene. In Colorado, there are a number of training resources and people to assist available through the League of Charter Schools and CDE.

Many of the participants in the AMC have established mentor/mentee relationships. These teams met together briefly today in order to plan their next meetings.

Administrators had a lively discussion about safety plans and different ways to do safety drills. Several administrators talked about how they create an obstacle for staff and students to encounter during a drill so that they learn to think through and problem while in a stressful situation.

The Greatest Generation Speaks with Charter School Students

2010-10-11T17:30:00.000-06:00

Today sixteen World War II veterans spoke with charter school middle school students from different charter schools, at The Pinnacle Event Center. The event was hosted by The Greatest Generation Foundation and Woodrow Wilson Academy. As the veterans entered the event center, the approximately 650 students gave them a standing ovation and applauded until all the veterans had entered and were seated.

The program began with the documentary, "Iwo Jima: A Final Tour," produced by KMGH Channel 7. Last spring many of the veterans at today's event traveled to Iwo Jima to mark the 65th anniversary of the battle. TGGF founder and president, Tim Davis, received a check for $1275 from the charter schools and supportive sponsors.

After a veteran spoke about his experiences in the European theater and another spoke about the Pacific theater, students from the different charter schools posed questions of all the veterans. Many of the veterans had incredible stories of surviving the battle for Iwo Jima, Pearl Harbor and other battles. One man bailed out of his plane 15 seconds before it exploded over Germany. He spent the next three weeks walking to the border where he could meet up with Americans. During that three week period he went from 185 pounds to 95 pounds, eating only bugs, grass and even a live chicken he came across.

After the program, veterans met with students in an area with numerous artifacts and memorabilia on display. Many of the students collected signatures of the veterans on the back of the photo card distributed by TGGF. The foundation also had two Army jeeps outside for students to climb in and experience.

I spoke with one veteran after most of the students had left and said, "How does it feel to be a celebrity today?" His response was, "I'm just a survivor." One of the veterans declined the Purple Heart after Iwo Jima stating, "...too many others had died for it."

The six charter schools participating in the event today were: Woodrow Wilson Academy, The Academy, Lincoln Academy, Excel Academy, Jefferson Academy and Crown Pointe Academy.

Charter School Board Presidents

2010-10-10T16:24:00.003-06:00

Friday there will be a first-ever meeting of charter school board presidents. Charter school boards are where the buck stops and board presidents are the leaders of that group of visionaries who lead the charter school.

The board president has many responsibilities including leading meetings, being the primary communication hub between the administration and board, setting the meeting agenda, authorizing contracts, enforcing bylaws, and ensuring the rest of the board is adequately prepared. Until now, many board presidents have been without a resource in which to rely when those odd scenarios arise.

What should the board do about an administrator who is insubordinate? Does a group of employees all need to be invited into a board executive session if they will be discussed? What can be done about a board member who doesn't prepare for meetings? Who speaks with two board members who continue to cross the line in airing their differences during board meetings? The board wants to interview a prospective principal candidate, can they do that in executive session?

These and many more questions are answered in the newly written "Board President's Handbook" that will be released this Friday at the first Board President's Council meeting held at Vanguard Classical School in Aurora. The meeting will go from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

In addition to getting some higher level information for governing boards, attendees will be able to problem-solve sample scenarios with others who lead their charter school boards. This "second level" of charter school board governance focuses on all of the unique situations charter schools have faced. It allows charter school leaders the opportunity to think through how to handle a scenario before they're involved in it.

Many people don't know how to effectively handle a situation without the experience of living through it and either learning from mistakes made or else, hopefully, the situation working itself out correctly. The President's Council will offer the shared wisdom and experience of others who have already been faced with many of the dilemmas that crop up in charter schools.

The charter school board president often carries the weight of the school on his or her shoulders. This person inherently knows the vision for the school and is searching for others who can help implement that vision. It's often a lonely responsibility along with the school's administrator. Now these board presidents will have the support of others in their same role.

HB 1412 Committee Meets for First Time

2010-10-01T20:35:00.000-06:00

On Wednesday, the HB 1412 Committee met in a hearing room in the basement of the state Capitol. Speaker of the House, Terrance Carroll convened the advisory committe meeting that resulted from a bill that he carried this past legislative session. The purpose of the committee is to make recommendation on charter school standards and charter school authorizer standards.

Committee members and their designated position to the committe include:
*Rod Schmidt, St. Vrain Valley Schl District board of education, BOCES board member
*Bill Kurtz, Denver School of Science & Technology, charter school founder
*Carol Meininger, The Pinnacle Charter School, charter school business manager
*Stephanie Garcia, Pueblo 60 board of education, local board member with exclusive chartering authority
*April Wilkins, Peak to Peak, charter school teacher
*Alex Medler, Natl Assn of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA), NACSA rep
*Francine Thompson, Douglas County Schl Dist, parent of a public school student who is also on the school advisory council
*Mike Nelson, Northstar & Skyview, parent of a district or CSI charter school student
* Al Loma, Colo Springs 11 board of education, local board member that shares chartering authority with CSI
* Kevin Stalker, Harrison 2 CFO, district administrator with financial expertise authorizing charters
* Mark Hyatt, Exec Dir-CSI, CSI representative
* Don Haddad, Supt. St. Vrain Valley Schl Dist, district administrator with expertise authorizing charters
* Denise Mund, CDE Schools of Choice Unit, CDE staff member

Over the next year and a half, the committee will make recommendation on charter school standards and charter school authorizer standards in addition to any possible recommendations for legislative changes or rule changes.

Initially, the committee decided to meet monthly, on the first Wednesday of each month, at various locations. Meeting agendas will be posted on the CDE website. The first meeting will be Nov. 3rd at the CO Assn of School Boards (pending confirmation of location). Each meeting will have a time for Public Comment.

Frontier Academy in Greeley

2010-09-29T19:44:00.000-06:00

I visited Frontier Academy's secondary school yesterday and met with principal, Mary Meersman. Frontier Academy operates on two campuses in Greeley. The elementary school is located in a former greenhouse and carpet store. The secondary school, grades 6-12, is in a new block building on the west side of Greeley. The secondary school shares a campus with University Schools. They combine for many sports and share a performing arts center.

Frontier Academy requires 56 credits for high school graduation. Their district, Greeley 6, requires 44. In the spring, it's anticipated that 50 Seniors will graduate. There are 1118 students in grades K-12.

Mary explained that they offer many AP courses including Chemistry, Calculus, English Lit, US History, Biology, Music Theory, and US Government. Additionally, they offer concurrent enrollment classes by staff also licensed through UCD and Aims.

Mary and her leadership team had already completed the Unified Improvement Plan now required as a part of the annual Accreditation process. The Frontier HS received the top ranking, Performance, and the junior high received the second highest ranking (out of four total), Improvement. Greeley 6 required schools to submit their UIP's no later than the end of September. Mary said her team really dug into the data, using multiple sources, and were able to uncover some important information that will guide them in their plan. In fact, they've already incorporated many of these strategies.

Charter School Students to Hear the Greatest Generation Speakers

2010-09-29T06:08:00.000-06:00

From the press release:

650 CHARTER SCHOOL STUDENTS TO ATTEND EDUCATIONAL WWII ASSEMBLY

Denver, CO – The Greatest Generations Foundation (TGGF) in collaboration with Woodrow Wilson Academy will hold their first American Hero Day for more than 650 middle-school students from six Colorado charter schools on October 11 at the Pinnacle Event Center.

Thirty American WWII Veterans will attend the event to speak about their own experiences of war, answer questions, and bring to life the history that students read about in books. Students will be able to interact one-on-one with veterans to learn their stories of heroism, bravery, and sacrifice.

In addition, TGGF will provide WWII memorabilia such as retired weapons, uniforms, and vehicles to give the students a hands-on approach to learning.

"The educational opportunity for our students to meet face to face with our American Heroes is exceptional," said Teri Oates, Founder, and former Board President of Woodrow Wilson Academy. "They can learn more from talking to those who fought for our freedoms than text books can ever provide."

TGGF is an IRS 501(C)(3) non-profit, tax-exempt charitable organization dedicated to serving war veterans. Their mission is to promote recognition and respect for U.S. and allied war veterans while enhancing historical education for today’s youth. TGGF works to ensure that the dedication and bravery of each veteran is never forgotten, nor the value of their deeds be allowed to disappear.

"We want to make sure that the stories and lessons of World War II are not forgotten, even when there is no one left to tell them," said TGGF Founder and President Timothy Davis. "Preserving the legacy of these heroic men and women will happen most effectively through education and the retelling of stories to younger generations."

Students from Woodrow Wilson Academy, Jefferson Academy, Lincoln Academy, Crown Pointe Academy, The Academy, and Excel Academy will be attending American Hero Day.

"We are excited to see charter schools joining together for such an important and historic event – we applaud and support this joint effort," said Jim Griffin, President of the Colorado League of Charter Schools. "Each and every one of the charter schools involved in this event is focused on rich and meaningful education, and the more we can offer our students in terms of learning, opportunities, and life experiences, the better they will succeed."

"My hope is that the students walk away from this program with a greater understanding of our rich history of fighting for our freedoms, to be impacted by the men and women who serve our country, and to always remember that what we learn today will be forever embedded in their future," said Oates.

For more information about the event, contact Alicia Harms at aharms@tggf.us or for information about The Greatest Generations Foundation, visit http://www.tggf.us/.