National Charter School Policy Forum

Recently the U.S. Department of Education Celebrated the National Charter Schools Week, May 5-9, 2008. Check out highlights from the National Charter School Policy Forum.

A National Charter School Policy Forum designed to advance the understanding of American charter schools and discuss ways to increase their numbers, quality, and accountability was held Monday, May 5 at the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, DC.

The day-long forum drew about 100 leaders in the nation’s charter school movement, who were invited by U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings to share their thoughts about policies and practices and suggest how the Department and charter constituencies can support the next generation of charter schools. Monday’s event coincided with the first day of the 9th Annual National Charter Schools Week.

The agenda addressed the following topics and questions concerns:
The Intersection of Charter Schools and Philanthropy. How have major education philanthropies promoted the development of high-quality charter schools? How have the foundations promoted the scale-up of successful charter models? From the foundations’ perspectives, what are the indicators of a successful grantee? How have philanthropic efforts in the charter sector changed since the first charter schools were launched 15 years ago?
Increasing Charter School Capacity in Urban Areas. What policies and strategies have the potential to significantly increase the number of quality charter schools in big cities? What can mayors do to make their cities favorable environments for a strong charter sector? In states with charter school caps, what can be done to lift or modify them? How should authorizers fulfill a commitment to quality without over-regulating schools? What partnerships should urban schools develop?
Ensuring Charter School Quality over Mediocrity. What steps can policymakers, authorizers, and advocates take to define and promote high-quality charter schools and close bad charter schools? Is insufficient funding, especially for capital needs, constraining charter quality? What specific aspects of charter laws or policies restrain schools? What strategies are necessary to improve informed school choice by students and families?

During presentations from panelists and during question and answer sessions, key themes and challenges that emerged during the Policy Forum included the following:
The best way to attract more philanthropists and money to the charter school movement is to develop and then showcase terrific charter schools. Success breeds support.

Foundations lack a common set of measurements as to what constitutes a good charter school. While the foundations all focus on outcomes, they may focus on different outcomes. These inconsistencies can muddy efforts of the foundations and grantees alike to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of the charter schools.

Finding appropriate and affordable facilities for charter schools remains a key challenge for charter school developers. Tracking down adequate educational facilities is difficult and time-consuming.

Replicating good charter schools requires careful attention to many variables. As one forum participant explained, 20 people can replicate one charter school model and come back with “wildly different results.” The finances, the talent of the staff, the school leadership, the program, and the ambiance are among the many factors that together contribute to a charter school’s success.

Finding and keeping a high-quality staff, as well as the need to address special education issues in charter schools, are two more big challenges for the charter school community. Paul Pastorek, Superintendent of the Louisiana State Department of Education, spelled out the latter challenge in a keynote address. He talked to forum participants about the special needs of students in New Orleans schools since Hurricane Katrina.

During the past decade, the debate about charter schools has shifted its focus from innovation to quality. This change aligns the charter school movement more closely with the goals of the landmark No Child Left Behind legislation.

Information disseminated about charter schools needs to become more unified, disciplined, and sophisticated. The opponents of charter schools have done a better job at incorporating these qualities into its dissemination efforts than have charter school supporters.

Developing high-quality charter schools requires a longer time frame than many developers had anticipated. “We aren’t as far as we had expected,” one forum participant admitted. That being said, he continued, “We’re in this for the long haul. It’s not a sprint, but a marathon.”

The public policy environment must be changed in order to support the creation and replication of more high-quality charter schools and the closure of under-performing charters. In the current environment, some state and local laws, regulations, and practices hinder the growth of charter schools and enable some that are mediocre at best to continue operating.

A stronger infrastructure is needed to nourish existing charter schools. A more comprehensive system of support with everything from the finances to the facilities to the curriculum in charter schools can greatly improve their chances for long-term success.

The U.S. Department of Education plans to build on the Forum conversation to develop a policy paper to frame and guide future charter school discussion and activities. The paper is scheduled for release in the late summer.

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