Chalkbeat

Third Purdue Polytechnic school in Indianapolis delays opening

2024-03-14T22:00:49+00:00

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The opening of a third Purdue Polytechnic High School in Indianapolis is being delayed again — now until 2025.

It is one of three schools that Education One, the charter school authorizing arm of Trine University in Angola, approved to open in Indianapolis in the next few years.

Purdue Polytechnic High School West will open somewhere on the west side of Indianapolis within Indianapolis Public Schools borders, but the exact location remains unclear, according to its application with Education One. It initially planned to open in fall of 2023, and then delayed its start until the fall of 2024 while searching for a facility.

The school still does not yet have a site in hand, so the start date will again be pushed back to fall of 2025, Lindsay Omlor, the executive director of Education One, said at Education One’s board meeting on Thursday.

Purdue Polytechnic said in a statement that it does not have any expansion updates at this time.

“We remain committed to expanding high-quality seats, especially for our underrepresented populations,” the network said.

Purdue Polytechnic sought approval from Education One after the Indianapolis Charter School Board rejected its pitch to open in Pike Township amid strong public pushback. The Purdue charter network already has two high school campuses in Indianapolis — both of which are part of the Indianapolis Public Schools network of autonomous Innovation schools — and a third location in South Bend.

Education One has also approved the Purdue Polytechnic High School network for four other charters, although exact locations of those high schools and timelines for opening have yet to be determined. The network still must go through a process to activate each approved charter, according to Omlor.

The Purdue Polytechnic network emphasizes STEM education, particularly for students of color, and seeks to boost the pipeline of underrepresented students attending Purdue University. The Indianapolis Charter School Board within the mayor’s Office of Education Innovation authorizes its two other Indianapolis campuses.

The Purdue Polytechnic network has pitched a slow growth model for its new west campus, adding one grade each year to ultimately serve a maximum of 500 students in its seventh year.

Two other schools approved by Education One — Girls IN STEM Academy operated by Paramount Schools of Excellence and The Match high school operated by Matchbook Learning — still plan to open in the fall of 2024.

The opening of Girls IN Stem Academy in Washington Township has also sparked pushback from community members who are against charter schools. The fight has become a battle over zoning, as the school seeks to rezone property it acquired from a church to use for educational purposes. The city’s Metropolitan Development Commission will review its rezoning request at a meeting next week. The rezoning process, however, can be lengthy and ultimately ends with a vote from the Indianapolis City-County Council.

Like Purdue Polytechnic, Paramount also received approval from Education One for five separate charters. One of those charters is for Paramount South Bend, but the other three K-8 school locations have yet to be determined.

The Match plans to open off West 16th Street in warehouses that were renovated with the help of a U.S. Department of Energy grant.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Jefferson Academy will open in Coal Creek after parents raised nearly half a million dollars

2024-03-13T02:54:03+00:00

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Parents in a far corner of Jefferson County celebrated Tuesday night after helping to raise nearly half a million dollars to secure the opening of a charter school in their community.

The board of the charter school, Jefferson Academy, voted unanimously Tuesday to move forward with opening a new kindergarten through 8th grade school in Coal Creek Canyon.

“I’m voting for the motion because of the hard work that has been done and got us across that line,” said Anil Mathai, a Jefferson Academy board member. “But if we do not focus on year two, year three, this board and the system will have major stress on it. We own this. I want to make sure we aggressively move to make sure year two is financially solid with or without their support.”

The Jeffco school district had decided earlier this year to close the district-operated school after the end of the school year in May, citing unsustainably low enrollment. Since the next nearest schools for families are for many a 20-minute drive away, the district sought a charter school to take over running a school in the community.

Jefferson Academy was approved by the school district in January. But initial enrollment of 60 students and seven homeschoolers was lower than the charter school anticipated.

Schools are funded per student, and the board said the low enrollment numbers meant the school was half a million dollars short of being able to open. But before the board pulled out of plans to open in the fall of 2024, members allowed parents about three weeks to try to help raise the money.

Parents helped the charter school foundation apply for and secure several grants, ran a successful GoFundMe page for individual donations, received funding from several businesses, and put on a silent auction that raised more than $3,000.

All together, the efforts raised $10,000 more than what was needed.

Enrollment is still at 60 students, although there are now 10 homeschooled students who will be connected to the school. Parent leaders believe that once there is no longer uncertainty about the school’s opening, and the first year is successful, more families will enroll.

Although the charter board had previously discussed the idea of opening the school with fewer grades, board members have abandoned that idea for now, with the exception of cutting preschool. The school still intends to have a preschool, but has not yet secured licensing to offer that on the first day of school. It will be available when the school gets licensed, leaders said.

Parents who led the fundraising efforts also presented their ideas for other ways to make the charter school sustainable. Finding babysitters in the canyon is a challenge, they said, and so hosting a night out for parents where they could leave their children in a safe place could be another successful fundraising event, they said.

And to boost enrollment, parents suggested adding before or after school care. At least one parent in the community enrolls her children in Boulder schools close to her workplace, because the canyon school doesn’t have any after school care or activities.

Besides the fundraising, the last bit of help to open the charter came from the Jeffco school district, which agreed to allow Jefferson Academy to operate in the district-owned building for free the first year and with an adjusted cost in the second year.

The only condition was that Jefferson Academy had to decide Tuesday night to open the school and not leave families wondering any longer.

Lisa Relou, chief of staff for the Jeffco school district, told the charter board that the district is committed to helping, but that the goal is for the charter to be sustainable on its own in the long run.

Charter school board members said they also were concerned about long-term sustainability, and said they knew that opening this school in the canyon was a risk, but one that made sense.

Having so much parental involvement in fundraising means that the community “seems to be right up our alley,” one board member said.

Yesenia Robles is a reporter for Chalkbeat Colorado covering K-12 school districts and multilingual education. Contact Yesenia at yrobles@chalkbeat.org.

Bill would require charter school leaders to disclose family, business ties with building owners

2024-01-31T19:55:37+00:00

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Update: The Indiana legislative session ended on March 8, 2024. Here are the education bills that did and didn’t pass.

Charter school leaders would have to publicly disclose if they have a family or business connection to the owners of their school building under a new proposal in the Indiana Statehouse.

It’s the latest call for charter school oversight and transparency following federal charges that could mean decades in prison for the former leaders of the Indiana Virtual School and Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy.

The operators of the now-closed schools allegedly inflated the enrollment by thousands of students and accepted more than $44 million in state funding, according to a federal indictment filed earlier this month. The state money was allegedly funneled through several for-profit companies owned by the schools’ founder, Thomas Stoughton, and then paid out to himself, his family, former IVS and IVPA Superintendent Percy Clark, and others, the indictment said.

A Chalkbeat Indiana investigation in 2017 found ballooning enrollment and conflicts of interest at the two schools, among other problems. A lawsuit from Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita to recoup $154 million in state funds from school leaders and others is ongoing as well.

The proposal to beef up charter oversight is an amendment to House Bill 1243, which addresses various education topics. The amendment says that a charter school shall annually post on its website “information for the immediately preceding school year regarding whether there is a familial or business relationship between the organizer, owner, or operator of the charter school and the owner of the charter school’s building.”

The amendment was authored by Democratic state Rep. Ed DeLaney, who represents Indianapolis. The bill — which includes DeLaney’s amendment — passed the House Wednesday and now goes to the Senate.

“It is clear that we need to tighten reporting requirements on the financial activities of charter schools,” DeLaney said in a statement Tuesday after his amendment was added to the bill.

He said the amendment is part of his “step-by-step” approach to require more oversight of charter schools, especially as they grow, and to fight against misuse of public money.

He pointed out that if a school district rented a school building from or contracted with the family member of the superintendent, that would be wrong, and the same goes for charters, given that they are public schools and use public funds.

“We must require transparency so the public knows who is benefitting from rent for the buildings that charter schools are using,” DeLaney said in his statement.

DeLaney is one of several lawmakers who’ve called for more oversight and transparency from charter schools and their leaders.

Sen. Andrea Hunley, a Democrat who represents parts of Indianapolis, filed a bill about charter authorizers, which approve or reject applications for new charter schools. They are also tasked with providing the kind of oversight that elected school boards handle for traditional public schools.

Hunley’s bill would restrict the power to approve and oversee new charter schools in Indianapolis to two government authorizers: the Indiana Charter School Board and the Indianapolis Charter School Board. That would halt charter authorizing in the city by other groups, including authorizers housed at Ball State University and Trine University.

Hunley’s bill follows a Chalkbeat Indiana report on charter school accountability that found roughly a third of brick-and-mortar or blended-model charter schools in Marion County have closed since 2001.

However, the bill, SB 173, is unlikely to advance. It was referred to the Senate education committee, but is not on the agenda for the committee’s last scheduled meeting before the deadlines for bills to advance out of their respective chambers.

You can track HB 1243 and SB 173 on the General Assembly’s website.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. She also covers access to higher education and Warren Township Schools. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Bill would restrict charter authorizing powers in Marion County

2024-01-03T23:07:31+00:00

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Update: The Indiana legislative session ended on March 8, 2024. Here are the education bills that did and didn’t pass.

A proposed bill would restrict the power to approve and oversee new charter schools in Indianapolis to two government authorizers: the Indiana Charter School Board and the Indianapolis Charter School Board.

Under the legislation pitched by Democratic state Sen. Andrea Hunley, a former Indianapolis Public Schools principal, several other authorizers that are active in the state would no longer be allowed to approve charter schools in Marion County.

Authorizers are institutions that have the power to approve or reject charters for new schools, and provide oversight that an elected school board would for traditional public schools. In Indiana, they can be tied to school boards, the state and Indianapolis charter boards, or certain universities.

Authorizers outside of Marion County don’t fully understand the city’s landscape, Hunley said, and are not sufficiently accountable to the city’s constituents or families. Restricting authorizing power to the city and state charter boards, she argued, would provide more local accountability, while also allowing Indianapolis charter schools to choose from more than one authorizer.

Most charter schools in Indianapolis are authorized by the Indianapolis Charter School Board, which is part of the mayor’s Office of Education Innovation. But the city’s charter schools have also historically been authorized by the state charter board, by Ball State University’s Office of Charter Schools in Muncie, and by Education One, the authorizing arm of Trine University in Angola.

Hunley cites questions about accountability

Chalkbeat’s analysis found that at least three of the schools that closed since 2001 had sought and won approval from a different authorizer, after they or a sister school faced scrutiny from their initial authorizer. Those schools received their second approval from either Ball State University or Education One.

Hunley said the Chalkbeat report raises questions about whether authorizers are providing adequate oversight and quality control in Indianapolis.

“It’s really a problematic process that’s been allowed to happen,” Hunley said. “I think now we’re seeing the reality of how damaging, destabilizing that can be for kids.”

Last year, two Indianapolis charter schools closed in the middle of the school year, sending parents and students suddenly searching for other school options. One was authorized by the Indiana Charter School Board and another by Ball State.

Other schools have been approved by one authorizer after being rejected by another in the application phase. Last year, for example, Education One granted Purdue Polytechnic approval to operate a third campus in Indianapolis after the Indianapolis Charter School Board rejected the charter amid intense local public pushback.

Under Hunley’s bill, charter school operators throughout the state seeking authorization from higher education institutions would also be required to meet with school district leaders in the area where the proposed charter school would operate to discuss their proposal, their financial stability, previous performance of any current schools in the operator’s portfolio, and capacity for growth.

School districts would then make a nonbinding recommendation to the authorizer on whether to approve the school.

The bill would protect charter schools as a whole by ensuring that only high-quality schools are opened, Hunley argued. Some charter schools in her district are doing well, she said, but the general image of charter schools suffers when some close due to mismanagement, underenrollment, or other reasons.

“We don’t want to say in any way all charter schools are bad,” she said. “They aren’t.”

Charter proponents oppose bill

Advocates for charter schools defended the sector’s record of accountability and quality.

Lindsay Omlor, executive director of Education One, said in an email that the authorizer is highly present in all 15 of its charter schools. Staff conduct routine site visits and attend all school board meetings, Omlor said, and annual stakeholder survey results show a satisfaction rate of at least 95% over the last seven years.

“We already follow all statutory requirements for notifying districts and conducting a public hearing, etc. when we are considering an application for a new charter school,” Omlor said. “Point being, we are doing this work in accordance with the law, and based on the feedback we receive from our stakeholders, we know we are doing it well.”

The Indiana Charter School Network, which represents the state’s charter schools, is also opposed to the bill.

“We do not support any limitation on authorizer options in Marion or any county,” Marcie Brown-Carter, the group’s executive director, said in an email. “We do not support placing additional steps into the authorization process for school districts when they are already free to participate in public hearings, and many times do.”

The mayor’s Office of Education Innovation said through a spokesperson that it’s too early to comment on the proposed legislation but that it plans to follow the issue closely. Ball State University and the Mind Trust, which has helped spread charter schools throughout Indianapolis, also declined to comment Wednesday afternoon.

The legislative session begins on Jan. 8.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Bill clarifies exemption to law requiring districts to give closed buildings to charters for $1

2024-02-01T18:27:23+00:00

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Update: The Indiana legislative session ended on March 8, 2024. Here are the education bills that did and didn’t pass.

New legislation moving through the Indiana Statehouse could put an end to the legal battles over the controversial state law that requires school districts to make unused school buildings available to charter schools for the lease or sale price of $1.

Senate Bill 270 clarifies language added in the last legislative session that led to two different interpretations of the law by Indianapolis Public Schools and the state.

The tweak to the law last year granted school districts an exemption from the requirement if they share funding from voter-approved property tax increases for operating or safety costs with an “applicable charter school.”

IPS has claimed that it is exempt since it shared proceeds from a 2018 operating referendum with charter schools in its Innovation Network of autonomous schools. The state, however, has argued that the law was meant to exempt districts that share funding proportionally from ballot measures passed and adopted from May 10, 2023 onward.

The claim has boiled over into a legal battle with Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office that is now in the state appeals court awaiting a decision. But if passed, the bill could put an end to future legal battles over the exemption while bringing other small wins for charter schools.

The bill would also require all school districts in the state to share voter-approved tax increases for safety and operating expenses passed and adopted after May 10, 2024 — expanding a requirement that currently applies to districts in four counties, including Marion County.

And in another update to last year’s new legislation, the bill clearly forces school districts with declining enrollment to close school buildings that are underutilized. The definition of “underutilized,” however, changes from a building with an average occupancy of 60% over the current and past two school years to 50%.

Republican Sen. Linda Rogers, the author of the bill, did not return a request for comment. Rogers’ district includes South Bend, where a charter school has also expressed interest in occupying a recently closed high school. The school district there has also faced complaints alleging the district did not comply with the $1 law.

The bill has garnered opposition from the Indiana Urban Schools Association, the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents, and the Indiana School Boards Association, which are concerned that sharing referendum funds with charter schools will require districts to ask taxpayers for even more money. The groups also remain concerned about the $1 law.

“A community asset paid for by taxpayers should not be required to be sold for $1 but at market value,” said David Marcotte, executive director of the urban schools group who also spoke on behalf of the superintendents association in a hearing last week. “We remain opposed to selling or leasing the school building for $1. However, if this bill moves forward, we do support the dollar law exemption if referendum funds are shared with charter schools.”

Bill clarifies $1 law dispute

Senate Bill 270 also clarifies when a district would be exempt from the $1 law. Districts could only claim an exemption if they share revenue from a ballot question for operating or safety expenses in a resolution approved after May 10, 2023.

Those funds must be distributed through a state-determined formula with charters that serve any student who lives within the boundary of the district that elected to participate in the referendum.

It’s unclear what impact the law would have on the ongoing lawsuit IPS has with the attorney general, which appealed a lower court’s ruling that found the district was exempt from the law. It’s also unclear whether the bill would void a lease agreement the school board approved in December with a local nonprofit for the former Francis Bellamy School 102.

However, the legislation does allow IPS to keep its lease agreement with the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, which will occupy the shuttered Floro Torrence School 83 and George Buck School 94 while it awaits renovations on its main campus.

IPS did not respond to a request for comment.

A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office said there is always a possibility the legislation could impact the IPS case on appeal.

“We cannot accurately assess the impact of any legislation on the case until we can analyze its final form,” the spokesperson said. “However, it isn’t our intention to dismiss the appeal at this time.”

Bill requires districts to close underutilized buildings

The bill would also more clearly force districts with declining student populations to shutter underutilized school buildings, changing law that states districts “may” close such schools to “shall.” That could make more buildings available to charter schools for $1 throughout the state.

This provision still only applies to districts where enrollment has dropped by at least 10% within the past five years. The district must also have more than one school building serving the same grade level as the one subject to closure, and another building no more than 20 minutes away that can absorb students of the closing school.

Districts can still avoid closing a building if they demonstrate that it meets certain capacity criteria for other uses, such as alternative education programs, administrative offices, or storage.

Districts must also list the factual basis for why they are not making a closed school building available in a statement to the Department of Education. However, interested parties can submit a rebuttal to the department.

The bill passed out of the Senate appropriations committee on Thursday and heads to the Senate.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

University of Memphis could become its own K-12 school district under new legislation

2024-03-11T23:26:06+00:00

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The University of Memphis, which operates three high-performing schools for K-12 students on its campus, could become its own school district under new legislation from two Republican lawmakers from Memphis.

Rep. Mark White and Sen. Brent Taylor want the elementary, middle, and high schools on the college campus to come under the supervision of a university-led district and shift out of the purview of Memphis-Shelby County Schools, the state’s largest school system.

Under their proposal, the university also could create more schools, including using charter operators, without having to go through MSCS, with which the university has a contractual arrangement. Those new schools could be located throughout Greater Memphis.

White, who plans to introduce the proposal Tuesday in the House K-12 education subcommittee, said he wants to give the university authority to replicate school models that are generating some of the best academic results in Tennessee. While none of the schools have an academic requirement for entry, all three recently received A grades and reward-school designations from the state for student growth.

But a statement Monday from Memphis-Shelby County Schools suggested the district wants to keep its current arrangement.

“We value our longstanding partnership with the University of Memphis and believe Campus School, University Middle School, and University High School are important parts of the district’s educational options,” the statement said. “We look forward to continuing our partnership.”

Proposal envisions a new university-led governance system

The legislation, called the Innovative School District Act, seeks to introduce a new school governance model using public universities to scale up proven innovations in K-12 teaching and learning. The new pathway would remove oversight by traditionally elected school board members who represent the community’s voice in public education. The measure could have statewide implications if other universities pursue the same track.

Under the legislation, Tennessee’s education commissioner could approve a university-based K-12 school system. School governance would be handled by the university’s board of trustees, which also could appoint several of its members as a committee to perform the functions of a school board.

Not just any higher education institution could seek to become a school district, though. The university would be required to have a comprehensive doctoral program and operate a collection of training schools that offer clinical teaching experiences and mentoring for future educators beginning with pre-kindergarten. Such institutions also typically conduct and publish research on effective teaching techniques.

Currently, the University of Memphis, which serves students from pre-K through high school, is the state’s only public university that meets that standard. In addition to its three campus schools, the university partners with Porter-Leath, one of the city’s largest providers of preschool services, to operate an early childhood academy in the city’s Orange Mound neighborhood. Several other Tennessee universities operate training or laboratory schools, but do not serve the full continuum of students from pre-K through graduation.

White, who chairs the House Education Administration Committee, has talked for years with leaders at the University of Memphis about ways to expand its K-12 work. After opening a high school in the fall of 2022, the university warmed to the idea.

“We did not pursue this legislation,” said Sally Parish, the university’s associate vice president for educational initiatives. “Chairman White approached us about scaling our academic model and our academic success to serve more children. We now have a full compendium of pre-K through 12th grade, and the timing feels right.”

Students concentrate on their classwork at Campus Elementary School, one of three schools operated by the University of Memphis on its campus near midtown Memphis.

Why the shift would matter for MSCS

If the legislation becomes law, the shift to a university-based school system would not be immediately noticeable. While Memphis-Shelby County Schools is their district of record, campus schools already contractually operate under the oversight of the university’s board of trustees. The university has its own policies and procedures, employs all of the schools’ teachers and staff, and provides classroom facilities.

But Memphis-Shelby County Schools, one of Tennessee’s lower-performing districts, would not be able to report the high-achieving campus schools’ scores as part of its own academic data.

Eventually, the university wants to expand beyond its ZIP code.

“One of our challenges is that we have more children on our waitlist than we have in our schools,” said Parish, who oversees the university’s campus schools. “We know there’s a local demand; we just haven’t been allowed to meet it. Our contract with the district caps enrollment at 1,050 students.”

The enrollment cap was part of the contract approved by Memphis’ school board in 2021 to allow the university to open a high school recently on campus to prepare students for college and career. The university’s elementary school opened in 1912 and serves over 400 students. University Middle was founded in 2019 as a project-based STEAM school and serves about 270 students.

School leader sees a chance to diversify enrollment

Campus school programs have faced criticism for not reflecting the diversity of Memphis, where 64% of residents are Black, and nearly a fourth are deemed impoverished. The student population of Memphis-Shelby County Schools is 93% Black and 57% economically disadvantaged.

According to the latest state data, Campus Elementary School’s student population is 24% Black and 7% economically disadvantaged, while students at University Middle School are 48% Black and 10% economically disadvantaged. The state’s demographic data is not yet available for University High School.

Parish believes that with more autonomy and the ability to recruit charter operators to open schools in other parts of the city, the university can diversify its K-12 population and create academic tracks that are more responsive to local workforce needs.

Currently, she said, about 20% of the schools’ students are the children of university faculty and staff; 30% are from families who live within a 2-mile radius of the university; and the rest from the larger Memphis community.

“We’re not shying away from serving a diverse community,” Parish said. “We serve children in every single local ZIP code, but we don’t provide transportation to get to the university, and that’s a barrier that we want to eliminate. Currently, we’re limited in how we can serve students based on what the district allows.”

Having the ability to authorize charter schools would help the university expand to other parts of Greater Memphis, she added.

Tennessee now has 141 traditional school systems operated as city, county, or special school districts. Any of them can authorize a charter school under a 2019 law that created the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission.

The Tennessee Charter School Center, which advocates for charters, is not the driving force behind the new legislation but is consulting with its sponsors.

“What’s most important to TCSC is ensuring that any authorizer in Tennessee is high quality, follows national best practices, and is evaluated by the Tennessee State Board of Education,” said Elizabeth Fiveash, the group’s chief policy officer. “We are working with the sponsors to make sure that is reflected in their proposed language.”

You can track the legislation on the General Assembly’s website.

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

NYC Education Dept. sues state over order to pay for charter school’s ‘inflated’ rent

2024-03-06T21:13:07+00:00

New York City’s Education Department is accusing a Staten Island charter school of “artificially inflating” its rent costs to collect more reimbursement from the city – and it’s taking the state education commissioner to court for greenlighting the arrangement, according to legal filings.

In a lawsuit filed last week in Albany Supreme Court, city lawyers allege that Hellenic Classical Charter School took advantage of a state law that requires the city to either offer charter schools space in city-owned buildings or pay for their rent in outside facilities.

The school leased space from a church in Staten Island and then turned over the lease to an affiliated group, which subleased the space back to the school at a price three times as high as what the school originally agreed to pay the landlord. The school then asked the city to reimburse it at the inflated rate, the suit alleges.

New York State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa is the subject of a new lawsuit from the city Education Department over her ruling in a dispute over charter school rental reimbursement.

The extra rental income was used to subsidize the costs of constructing a brand-new building for the school on the premises, city lawyers claim. Such costs, they said, aren’t covered by the rental assistance law.

The arrangement amounts to “self-dealing…in which the School in effect pays itself an artificially inflated sub-rent and pockets the difference,” city lawyers said.

Lawyers for Hellenic conceded that the dramatic rise in rent was driven by the cost of “improvements” on the facility, according to court documents. But Hellenic’s lawyer, Kevin Quinn, argued that the city has no right under the law to “second guess” the price of a charter school’s rent, and that the reason for the increase is irrelevant.

State Education Department Commissioner Betty Rosa largely agreed.

In an October ruling, she wrote that Hellenic’s financial arrangement was “certainly concerning,” but fell within the bounds of the law.

“That is the system the Legislature has created,” Rosa wrote. “Any change must come from that body.”

This instance, “is merely an exaggerated example of the goal of the rental assistance program: the public financing of New York City charter schools,” she added.

James Merriman, the director of the New York City Charter School Center, a group that advocates on behalf of charters, argued that, much in the way the public subsidizes the cost of public school construction, charters should be able to use rental assistance for the same purpose.

The Education Department’s lawsuit marks the first time the city has brought a legal challenge against the state Education Department over a charter rental dispute, according to a spokesperson from the city’s Law Department.

“There is no evidence that the Legislature intended” for the law to require the city to “cover what this charter school is seeking,” the spokesperson said.

Critics have flagged inflated rental costs for years

The city’s obligation to subsidize charter rents stems from a 2014 state law, passed as former Mayor Bill de Blasio took office. The legislation was meant to shore up protections for the publicly funded, privately run charter schools against a city executive viewed as more hostile toward charters than his predecessor, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The law compels the city to offer a new or expanding charter school space in a public school building or cover the cost of rent in an outside building up to a certain amount. If the rental costs are greater than 30% of what the city receives from the state for a charter school’s enrollment, the reimbursement from the city is capped at that level.

The state reimburses the city for 60% of what it pays for charter rental costs.

The city paid about $75 million for charter rental reimbursements in fiscal year 2023, after factoring in the state’s portion of the payments, according to the city’s Independent Budget Office. Year-over-year growth in the city’s total outlay on charter rental reimbursements has begun to slow as the city nears the state-mandated cap limiting the number of charter schools in operation, the IBO said. But the subsidy will likely continue to tick up in future years as rental costs rise and enrollment at charters increases overall.

Critics have for years alleged that some charter schools are taking advantage of the law by overcharging the city on rent and “self dealing.”

A 2021 report from the group Class Size Matters, which advocates for lower class sizes, pointed out several instances of charters renting space from affiliated organizations with subsequent sharp increases in rental rates.

The report cited an example of two Success Academy charter schools in Hudson Yards subleasing space from the network. In that case, the rent jumped from less than $800,000 in the 2019 school year to $3.4 million the following year, allowing Success to collect more than $3 million from the city in rental subsidies. (The report said Success owned the space, but a spokesperson said they rented it and then sub-leased it to the schools.)

Success Academy spokesperson Jessica Siegel said that even with that increase, the network has lost money on the lease because “facilities reimbursement has covered far less than our total costs including rent and the cost of the necessary renovations we had to incur to make the space safe and functional for learning.” She added that Success asked the Education Department for space in a city-owned building but was denied.

In Hellenic’s case, the school originally agreed to pay the landlord roughly $660,000 in rent during the 2021-22 school year for its Staten Island space. But the school subsequently transferred the lease to an entity affiliated with the school called “Friends of Hellenic,” which then sub-leased it back to the school at a price of over $2 million a year.

Quinn, the school’s lawyer, said using a “Friends Of” entity is a “common practice.”

In response to the 2021 Class Size Matters report, state Sens. John Liu (D-Queens) and Robert Jackson (D-Manhattan) and City Council member Rita Joseph (D-Brooklyn) sent a letter to city Comptroller Brad Lander asking him to audit the Education Department’s charter rental reimbursement payments to ensure they’re based on fair market value.

A spokesperson for Lander said the comptroller’s office couldn’t comment on ongoing litigation.

Leonie Haimson, the founder and executive director of Class Size Matters, called Hellenic’s arrangement “outrageous” and urged the state legislature to amend the rental assistance law “to disallow any self-dealing and ensure that any rents charged to DOE by charter schools are no more than fair market value.”

Rental reimbursement law draws renewed scrutiny

The rental reimbursement law has recently come up in conversations about how the city plans to comply with a separate state law mandating lower class sizes in many schools.

At a town hall in Brooklyn on Monday night, some parents pushed schools Chancellor David Banks on the possibility of moving charters out of public school buildings to clear out more space for district schools to spread out and lower their class sizes.

But Banks warned such a move would ultimately drive up the city’s expenses because of the rental reimbursement law.

“If I take a charter school and move them out of your building so that now you have more space for class size, I now have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent for that charter school,” he said. “Guess where that money is going to come from ...The funding that we use to pay for your music program and your art program.”

New York City is the only city in the state required to reimburse charter schools for rental costs – a fact critics have long seized on in arguments to repeal the legislation.

But other state legislators want to move in the opposite direction: State Sen. Luis Sepulveda (D-Bronx) and Assembly member John Zaccaro Jr. (D-Bronx) recently introduced legislation to expand the charter rental reimbursement law so it will also apply to charter schools opened before 2014.

Advocates and educators previously told the Bronx Times that charter schools that don’t receive the rental reimbursement have to divert significant chunks of their budget to covering rent and away from teachers and programs benefiting kids.

Michael Elsen-Rooney is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Michael at melsen-rooney@chalkbeat.org.

Plan for all-girls charter school clears major rezoning hurdle in Washington Township

2024-03-01T03:12:24+00:00

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This article was originally published by WFYI.

Organizers behind an all-girls charter school passed a major hurdle Thursday in a petition process to rezone property in Washington Township for the campus.

Around 100 people showed up to the hearing at the City-County Council building for what’s become a contentious fight between school choice advocates and traditional public school supporters.

But the hearing examiner for the Metropolitan Development Commission said all that mattered was the proper use of land before making a recommendation to approve a former church campus on Michigan Road for use by Girls IN STEM Academy.

The contentious hearing was another step of a lengthy rezoning process that ends with a final vote by the City-County Council.

Paramount Schools of Excellence purchased the former church on 10 acres at 5136 Michigan Road for the academy campus last fall but the site must be rezoned from religious to education use for it to open. The all-girls schools, a collaboration between Purdue Polytechnic High Schools and the Girl Scouts of Central Indiana, would offer a curriculum based around science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Enrollment for the school is open but Paramount now says even if rezoning is approved a temporary building will be needed for the 2024-25 school year because the campus won’t be ready. The Girls IN STEM Academy is projecting an enrollment of 125 students in grades K-6 in the first year. The school is planning to expand to K-8 by 2028-29.

Most of the crowd at the Thursday hearing was in support of the school, some wearing purple “Girls IN STEM” T-Shirts. Leaders at Paramount Schools have said they can offer better educational opportunities than what is available nearby in northern Marion County and especially for economically disadvantaged and Black students.

Those at the hearing echoed the same sentiments. Council Majority Leader Maggie Lewis described the charter school as an important opportunity for girls.

“It is so important to recognize that our Black and brown girls do need special attention,” Lewis said.

Those against the petition, cited issues related to rezoning property, such as septic system insufficiencies and the condition of the building.

Jonathan Hughes, an attorney for MSD Washington Township, cited a lack of transparency on how the space will be used and warned it will cause an overflow of traffic on Michigan Road.

“With a church, primary traffic is on Sundays,” Hughes said. “This school’s primary traffic will be during rush hour.”

An analysis about the site submitted to the examiner ahead of the hearing did not find major concerns related to traffic.

Hearing examiner Judy Weerts Hall recommended approval of the rezoning and cited the positive reuse of a vacant building.

“My job is to listen to petitions that are land use matters,” Hall said. “In this particular case, it’s a rezoning petition. I am considering solely whether a rezoning for a school is appropriate here. I don’t feel like it’s relevant for me if it’s a public school, if it’s a charter school, or if it’s a private school.”

The Metropolitan Development Commission will take up the rezoning request for Girls IN STEM Academy at its March 20 meeting.

Last year, the charter authorization board at Trine University, a private institution in Angola, approved Paramount’s application for a charter to open Girls in STEM Academy. Charter schools are public schools that are granted a contract to operate by one of several authorizers in Indiana. A charter school is directly overseen by a board that is not elected by voters.

Officials at Washington Township schools have criticized the lack of communication by Trine and Paramount around the opening of the school in the district boundary.

Contact WFYI Marion County education reporter Sydney Dauphinais at sdauphinais@wfyi.org.

Tennessee lawmakers are increasingly ready to ditch the Achievement School District. What’s next?

2024-02-23T11:00:00+00:00

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After a decade of painful takeovers of neighborhood schools, contentious handoffs to charter networks, and mostly abysmal student performance, Tennessee’s Achievement School District appears to be on its way out.

Several of the GOP-controlled legislature’s top Republicans are acknowledging that the state’s most ambitious and aggressive school turnaround model has failed — and should be replaced eventually with a more effective approach.

Meanwhile, Democrats continue to push for legislation designed to end the so-called ASD, created under a 2010 state law aimed, in part, at transforming low-performing schools.

“I expect we will move in a different direction,” Sen. Bo Watson, the powerful chairman of his chamber’s finance committee, recently told reporters.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Bo Watson

The Hixson Republican called the charter-centric school turnaround model an “innovative” idea that fell flat, at least in Tennessee. It would be foolish, Watson added, to keep spending money on an initiative that isn’t working and already has cost the state more than $1 billion — a sentiment echoed by Lt. Gov. Randy McNally and House Speaker Cameron Sexton.

But if the legislature decides to shutter the ASD and Gov. Bill Lee signs off, important questions remain about how Tennessee will support thousands of students in its lowest-performing schools.

How quickly will the shutdown occur?
What will happen to ASD school communities? Currently, the district serves 4,600 students in 12 schools in Memphis and one in Nashville.
Will the state honor remaining contracts with charter operators, the last of which end in 2026?
What statewide improvement strategy will replace the ASD for schools in the state’s bottom 5%? Ninety-five schools currently fall in that category and many have undergone a variety of interventions, with limited success.
And will the U.S. Department of Education approve the change as part of Tennessee’s plan for complying with the 2015 U.S. law known as the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA?

In order to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in federal education funding to support Tennessee students and schools, the state is required to have a rigorous improvement plan for schools that are struggling the most. Since Tennessee’s ESSA plan was approved in 2017, the ASD has served that purpose.

The turnaround district “serves as our most intensive intervention for priority schools,” declares the 401-page plan, the state’s guiding document for K-12 accountability policies. It also commits Tennessee to making school turnaround a priority.

“Students can’t wait,” the plan says. “Schools that have been historically underperforming and are not showing adequate growth must have state intervention.”

Brian Blackley, a spokesperson for the state education department, said scrapping the ASD would require two things: a change in state law and an amendment to Tennessee’s ESSA plan.

If the legislature changes the law, ESSA revisions are doable, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Education.

“Tennessee has the ability to make changes to the design and structure of its local educational agencies, including the Achievement School District, without first seeking approval from the U.S. Department of Education,” the spokesperson told Chalkbeat.

That said, because the ASD is central to Tennessee’s federal accountability plan, the state would have to submit an amendment to the federal government, and “the department will work with the state as needed,” the spokesperson said.

The process likely would take months, since a period of public engagement on potential changes is required.

ASD brought high hopes, hard lessons

While the ASD’s demise has been looming, its birth was filled with hope when Tennessee passed the First to the Top Act, a sweeping education reform package that was the cornerstone of its winning federal Race to the Top grant application.

Taking cues from the successful turnaround of schools in New Orleans and using tens of millions of federal dollars to pay for the rollout, Tennessee’s new law created a state-run district with the power to take over struggling schools and recruit charter management organizations to run them, giving those operators autonomy to design and implement plans for curriculum, instruction, and school leadership. KIPP and Green Dot Public Schools were among national networks that signed on, and the model inspired several local charter groups to form and join the work.

Unlike incremental academic gains associated with school improvement, school turnaround calls for dramatic gains in a short period of time. Founding ASD leaders set an extraordinarily ambitious goal: to move those schools from the bottom 5% to the top 25% of performers within five years.

But the large academic gains never came.

Removing schools from local governance didn’t improve student outcomes. In fact, most ASD schools performed no better than low-performing schools receiving no intervention, according to researchers.

High teacher turnover was a constant challenge, and it became increasingly hard to recruit high-quality charter networks to do school turnaround work.

Community backlash was also significant, especially in Memphis, which became the hub of the ASD’s work and has a long history of charged racial dynamics. ASD critics viewed the takeover of neighborhood schools — and introduction of charter operators who often came from out of state — as another example of racism and reckless social engineering.

The level of poverty in Memphis was another major challenge.

“I think that the depth of the generational poverty and what our kids bring into school every day makes it even harder than we initially expected,” founding superintendent Chris Barbic told Chalkbeat in a 2015 interview. “We underestimated that.”

Chris Barbic, a former charter school leader in Texas, was the founding superintendent of Tennessee's Achievement School District.

The ASD has been shrinking for awhile

The state-run district had a peak of 33 schools after taking control of its last four campuses in Memphis in 2016.

While there’s been no official decision on its future from lawmakers or new recommendations from Lee’s administration, the ASD has been unwinding on its own, especially since 2022, as schools began to complete 10 years under the model.

Originally, the state promised to return ASD schools to their home districts in better shape than when they left. But that policy changed over time, and now there are multiple ways to exit, and even remain a charter school, depending on academic performance.

Some non-charter ASD schools began returning to Memphis-Shelby County Schools, while three charter schools pivoted to the oversight of the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission, another state-run entity, after showing enough improvement to exit on their own. The Memphis district also regained control of a charter school and placed the campus in its own turnaround program known as the Innovation Zone, an initiative created in part to keep the ASD from taking over more schools.

As for remaining ASD campuses, the charter contracts for operators of seven schools are scheduled to expire this summer; two schools after the 2024-25 school year; and four schools at the conclusion of the 2025-26 school year.

But the pandemic complicated an already complex exit process by disrupting state testing. ASD leadership also turned over frequently and downsized staff in the summer of 2022. The chaotic unwinding has put thousands of students, families, and school staff in limbo.

Of the contracts expiring this year, for instance, only two charter schools are set to continue operating in Memphis. Journey Coleman will stay with Journey Community Schools through a new agreement with the Memphis district, while Cornerstone Lester Prep will continue to be run by Capstone Education Group through the state-run charter school commission.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools plans to close MLK College Prep High School, currently run by Frayser Community Schools, and those students are still deciding where they’ll attend school in the fall.

Fairley High School, which lost its bid to remain with Green Dot Public Schools, is expected to return to MSCS oversight. Green Dot has other schools still in the ASD, and the network’s executive director in Tennessee, Jocquell Rodgers, expects their charter contracts will be honored.

“Has it been emotional? Absolutely,” Rodgers said of the lengthy unraveling.

School turnaround work is a difficult and time-intensive process that requires constant engagement with families and the community, Rodgers said. Ideally, there should be collaboration with the local district, she added.

“It is extremely important to bring something to people that they really want, but at the same time, really help them understand what they need,” Rodgers said.

If not the ASD, then what?

Tennessee has doggedly stuck with the ASD, even as its performance has been mostly lackluster.

But January’s abrupt departure of Bren Elliott, Tennessee’s first statewide turnaround superintendent who was hired last August after a three-year search, cast doubts about the future of the state’s school improvement work, especially regarding its most intense intervention tool.

And GOP leaders such as Sexton, the speaker of the House, fueled speculation by hinting that a mechanism for closing the ASD could be part of upcoming legislation for creating a new statewide school voucher program.

There’s little consensus, however, on a replacement strategy for supporting struggling school communities — a requirement under federal ESSA law.

RELATED: School turnaround lessons from Memphis zero in on the need for collaboration at all levels

Rep. Antonio Parkinson and Sen. Raumesh Akbari, both Memphis Democrats, have proposed legislation to prevent the state-run district from taking over more low-performing schools. Instead, the ASD would become a resource hub for school improvement work across Tennessee.

Rep. Antonio Parkinson has been one of the ASD's most vocal critics.

But the measure, which has cleared two key House committees, may not meet ESSA’s standard for a comprehensive school turnaround strategy. Akbari said this week that she’s working on changes before introducing their proposal in Senate committees.

Sen. Ferrell Haile, a Republican from Gallatin, has pointed to Tennessee’s small school turnaround pilot project, approved by the legislature in 2021, as one possibility. Two private vendors, Georgia-based Cognia and Ed Direction of Salt Lake City, Utah, are working with two schools in Memphis, two in Nashville, and one in Chattanooga, as part of the five-year initiative.

But it’s uncertain whether that program can scale statewide. And while four of the schools have shown promise, Hamilton County lawmakers say it hasn’t gone well in Chattanooga. They are shepherding a bill to pull Orchard Knob Middle School before the pilot ends in 2025.

Tennessee Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds, who has the authority to take over more schools and place them in the ASD under current law, has not commented publicly about the district’s future, or a potential new strategy.

If the legislature lets the state-run district run its course through the 2025-26 school year, when charter contracts expire for its last four schools, her department would have more time to develop a plan. The agency would then work with the U.S. Education Department to revise Tennessee’s ESSA plan accordingly.

One important step, according to federal ESSA guidance, is to give the public opportunity to comment on the proposed revision. And educators who are doing turnaround work hope state leaders will take their observations to heart.

Bob Nardo was an early ASD staff member who left to operate Libertas School of Memphis, one of the state-run district’s few success stories.

Just because the ASD didn’t work, he said, doesn’t mean the state should walk away from trying to address persistent challenges that led to its creation. Nardo believes one question should be central to discussions when developing a new plan.

“Are the most vulnerable and at-risk children in our society getting the best opportunity to transform their lives?”

Nardo worries the state could shift to piecemeal interventions, such as grant programs aimed at small-scale improvements, that wouldn’t be as effective as a comprehensive, schoolwide turnaround strategy.

“We have to confront the paradox here that this is both a critically needed and indispensable type of work,” Nardo said, “with the sobering reality that most efforts have not been successful” in Tennessee and across the country.

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

Laura Testino covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach her at ltestino@chalkbeat.org.

Conflict over all-girls charter school in Washington Township reflects ongoing school choice tensions

2024-02-27T16:03:43+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

This article was originally published by WFYI.

Some Washington Township parents want to block an all-girls charter school from opening, at a moment when tensions around school choice and access to equitable education are fermenting throughout Marion County.

The Girls IN STEM Academy would open in the boundary of the Metropolitan School District of Washington Township, in the northern part of the county.

It would also be the first public K-8 school of its kind for the state — a curriculum designed between the high-profile Paramount Schools of Excellence, Purdue Polytechnic High Schools and the Girl Scouts of Central Indiana.

The school, operated by Paramount, aims to close the gender and racial gaps in science, technology, engineering and mathematics achievement while preparing the students for high school, college, and careers in STEM fields, according to the planned curriculum.

But as students enroll for the 2024-25 academic year, some local residents and district officials hope they still have a chance to stop the doors from opening through the county’s political process that continues this week.

Last fall Paramount purchased a former church on 10 acres at 5136 Michigan Road for the academy campus, but the site must be rezoned from religious to education use for the school to open.

Those opposed hope their concerns will be considered at a Thursday hearing of the Metropolitan Development Commission. City staff recently issued a report with a recommendation to approve the rezoning as long as changes and plans are made related to traffic.

The Indianapolis City-County Council will have the final say, if the development commission signs off on the change and makes a recommendation for the body to approve.

But Councilor Carlos Perkins, who represents District 8 where the building is located, could potentially request additional public hearings on the rezoning. Perkins said people are talking to him in both support and opposition of the school.

“Whenever you have a request for rezoning, that will impact a broader community,” Perkins told WFYI last week. “So what we’re seeing now is the process that was created for individuals to feel like they have an equal voice in the process.”

Pushback is result of ongoing school tensions

The pushback to Girls IN STEM comes amid nearly two years of ongoing friction in Indianapolis between school choice advocates and many who support traditional public schools.

In that time, Pike Township families and some elected officials fought against plans for a proposed Purdue Polytechnic High School and a school with ties to a conservative Christian college. Organizers for both charter schools eventually sought locations outside the township school boundary.

Leaders at Indianapolis Public Schools were pressured by local independent charter schools and the chamber of commerce to drop plans for a property-tax referendum after the district refused to share revenue with the charter schools that enroll thousands of city students.

Currently, IPS is in a court battle with the Indiana Department of Education over whether it will be forced to sell a closed school building to a charter school for $1. And the district school board faces a renewed effort from families and special-interest groups to partner with charter schools as a solution to address academic disparities between White students and students of color.

In this General Assembly, Indianapolis Democratic Sen. Andrea Hunley proposed legislation to limit who can authorize charter schools in the city. The bill was not called for a hearing in the Republican-controlled Statehouse.

And during a January neighborhood meeting about Paramount’s rezoning request for the Girls IN STEM site, around 80 people attended, including elected officials, with many speaking out against the school.

“It’s frustrating to have yet another confusing process to go through to figure out if there is any way to prevent this from happening,” said Shelley Clark, a member of the Washington Township Parent Council Network, a group opposed to the school. “So we’re following along with the district in terms of paying attention to what happens at this rezoning hearing, and figuring out how we can have our voices heard, because there has not been that opportunity in this process.”

School leaders, families make case for all-girl STEM school

Tierra Ruffin heard of the charter school through her daughter’s Girl Scout troop and was intrigued. Her daughter, a second grader in Avon Community School district, has taken a strong liking to science and math. Ruffin plans on sending her daughter to the Girls in STEM Academy this summer for third grade.

“She is very creative at home, you know, and in regards to math her testing scores are high, and just the innovative ideas that she has,” Ruffin said. “I really think [this school] could be applicable to her learning style and her creativity.”

Ruffin will need to drive her daughter to the school from Avon.

Tara Gustin, the Chief Operations Officer at Paramount, said the Washington Township site was chosen for its centralized location. The school is located a few miles from other Marion County school districts, including Pike and Wayne townships, and IPS. Gustin expects families might come from all parts of Indianapolis and nearby suburbs, like Ruffin.

“Being able to have the one gender, being able to feel safe, belonging, and hopefully be able to really open up and explore and learn together — I think that makes it unique,” Gustin said. “And I think parents are starting to look for that in and around Indianapolis.”

The property boundaries of 5136 Michigan Road from a map detail by the City of Indianapolis Metropolitan Development Commission.

Last year the charter authorization board at Trine University, a private institution in Angola near the state’s border with Michigan, approved Paramount’s application for a charter to open Girls in STEM Academy. Charter schools are public schools that are granted a contract to operate by one of several authorizers in Indiana, including Trine.

A charter school is directly overseen by a board that is not elected by voters. Most state funding for charters comes from per-student tuition support. The schools do not receive local property-taxes to support transportation and building expenses like public school districts.

In Paramount’s application, it makes a case that it can offer a higher quality education than what is available nearby and especially for economically disadvantaged and Black students. The application compares the 2023 ILEARN scores from three Paramount schools in Indianapolis to those of Indianapolis Public Schools and Washington Township Schools. Paramount’s scores for Black and Hispanic students passing the English and math parts of the assessments are considerably higher than either district.

At Paramount’s three Indianapolis schools, Black students passed the ILEARN at an average rate of 43.1 percent. At Washington Township the rate was 9.8 percent, and IPS was at 5.4 percent, according to state data.

However, each district enrolls many more students than Paramount’s 1,300 students at its three brick-and-mortar Indianapolis schools. Paramount also runs an online school with around 160 students.

“Academically, the collective community need for a high quality academic option for students and families on the northside of Indianapolis is evident,” they state in the application.

Others question need for another school option

But officials with Washington Township Schools are questioning if there is a need for another school in the area, even one as unique as an all-girls charter. Around 10,500 students attend the district now.

In the neighborhood rezoning meeting last month many spoke against the school. Sean Taylor, Associate Superintendent of Washington Township Schools, attended the meeting. He and others are concerned a new public school in the area would divide Washington Township families and take students from the district.

Girls In STEM Academy will be located one mile south of Crooked Creek Elementary.

“Those who are against school choice will say that more option creates more division,” Taylor said in an interview with WFYI. “It fragments communities, it challenges resources within a community. And so because of that people have a lot of angst around opening up schools in this manner.”

Some pushback is less about the school opening and more about the way it was introduced. State law requires the authorizer to hold a public hearing about the proposed charter within the school corporation where it would be located. If there is no location, the law requires a public hearing within the county where the proposed charter school would be located.

But Washington Township staff and families feel like they were left in the dark because no meeting was held near the charter.

Bill Turner, secretary of the Washington Township school board, said the board was never contacted by Paramount during the authorization process or purchase of the building in October. He found out about Girls IN STEM from the media.

“The transparency of this whole process, to not even contact the district, when you have multiple touchpoints through the Girl Scout organization within our district, to not even bring it up to our district is disingenuous to me,” Turner said. “And so that alone puts up alarm bells saying, ‘Hey, wait a minute, they’re gonna do this in the beginning, what’s going to happen later on?’”

A public notice for the rezoning request of 5136 Michigan Road lies on the grass of the property on Sunday, February 25, 2023. An examiners hearing on the request to change the zoning to education use for the Girls IN STEM Academy is set for Feb. 29, 2023.

Gustin said when Paramount applied to Trine University for a charter, they had not yet decided on a location. “So we did not reach out to any districts that we were even interested in prior to that because we didn’t know where we were going to be located,” she said.

Turner said that if a school wanted to improve learning for students in Washington Township, he wishes they reached out to the district first.

“We are a district who prides itself on trying to do what’s best for all children,” Turner said. “If there’s a better idea out there, if there’s a better curriculum, if there’s a better way to educate students, whether it’s STEM or whatever the case may be, we listen to it. And if there’s something we can do, we try to incorporate it. But we never had a chance.”

The Girls in STEM Academy is projecting an enrollment of 125 students in grades K-6 in the first year. The projection increased to nearly 300 students in grades K-8 by 2028-29.

“So yes, it’s concerning about losing students,” Turner said, about the possibility students will leave the district for the charter. “But it’s more about not only losing the students, but the funding that goes along with those students, to be honest with you.”

Others in the community have raised concern about increased traffic along Michigan Road, and that the all-girl student body is inherently exclusive.

Parents in opposition to the school also point to a lack of local oversight with the school’s authorization, as well as a failure to plan before purchasing the building and getting approval from Trine.

What’s next?

A Metropolitan Development Commission hearing examiner will hold a meeting at 1 p.m. Thursday in the public assembly room in the City-County Building for rezoning requests, including the site for Girls In STEM.

An MDC staff analysis submitted to the examiner ahead of the hearing recommends approval of the rezoning that would allow for reuse of the existing church building and construction of an additional building for more classrooms.

“... staff did not find the proposed school use to be out of line with the context of the surrounding area considering that the previous religious use had limited business hours and days when events, gatherings, and the like would take place,” the report said.

A Paramount representative will present the rezoning request at the hearing. The hearing examiner will make a recommendation, then the MDC may vote to approve, continue, deny, or dismiss the petition, according to the city’s rezoning petition rules.

If the MDC approves this rezoning and makes a recommendation to the City-County Council the council will vote on final approval, or the councilor of the district where the building is located can call for an additional public hearing before a final council vote.

Correction: This story was updated to reflect that Girls IN STEM academy would not be the first charter school to open in Washington Township.

WFYI education editor Eric Weddle contributed to this story.

Contact WFYI Marion County education reporter Sydney Dauphinais at sdauphinais@wfyi.org.

Circle City Prep’s lesson in Black history has special meaning to school’s culinary club

2024-02-26T12:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

First-grader Alayah Parks sat quietly while her teacher read her class “Pies from Nowhere,” the story of Georgia Gilmore, the civil rights activist who used her cooking skills to help fund the historic Montgomery bus boycott.

“Standing up for other people and standing up for yourself is good,” Alayah said, “and is better when it makes your community happy.”

The students in teacher Olivia Hayes’ class learned how Gilmore organized a secret cooking operation after Black residents in Montgomery began boycotting the bus system to protest unequal treatment in December 1955. The proceeds from the sales helped pay for alternative modes of transportation that the city’s Black residents used during the 381-day boycott.

But the story holds special significance for this school on the far eastside — this semester, Circle City Prep launched its culinary club for students at the K-8 school, which plans to host a bake sale to raise money during the school’s Black History Month celebration next week.

Culinary club students also learned about Gilmore’s impact and the connection between food sales and the civil rights movement, when NFL player and Indianapolis native David Bell read them the book earlier this month.

“Hopefully, it just shows them that they can do things to maybe one day be their own business owner, or be able to raise money for themselves,” said Crystal Prell, a club leader who also works in the school’s kitchen.

The club of about 15 students meets twice a week, cooking fried chicken, grilled cheese, and garlic bread pizza. Prell hopes to use the funds from the bake sale to buy more stovetop burners and ingredients for future recipes.

Students will sell their baked goods at the school, 4002 N. Franklin Road, just before the school’s Black History Month celebration at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 29.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Jeffco parents are trying to keep a school in their community. They need half a million dollars.

2024-02-26T23:40:59+00:00

Writing grant requests, requesting donations from local businesses, and even starting a GoFundMe page.

That’s how some Jeffco parents are scrambling to raise more than half a million dollars to help open a charter school in a remote mountain canyon after Jeffco Public Schools announced it would close the K-8 school in Coal Creek Canyon.

The Jeffco school board voted this fall to close Coal Creek Canyon K-8 citing low enrollment and an unsustainable cost. But Jefferson Academy, the charter network that was supposed to take over the building, is now facing the same issues and may not be able to open a school there after all.

Unlike when the district closed about 20 other schools in the past couple of years and reassigned students to nearby schools, district leaders acknowledged that closing Coal Creek Canyon K-8, located near the border with the Boulder district, would be different because of the school’s remote location. So the district opened a process offering the building to a charter that might be better prepared to run such a small school.

Jefferson Academy, an existing charter school network in Jeffco, was approved to open a prekindergarten through eighth grade school in the Coal Creek Canyon building.

But now that the school may not open after all, parents are unsure of the options their children will have this fall.

Parent Ashley Allen said that the next closest district school, Three Creeks K-8, is about a 19-minute drive away in good weather.

Allen’s son has diabetes and she often has been called to come to school because her son’s blood sugar drops or his insulin pump is failing.

In those worst-case scenarios, the drive “can make for a very nervous parent,” she said.

Tim Matlick, executive director of Jefferson Academy, said the charter school had been counting on having at least 87 students, and an additional 20 for its homeschool program. When submitting the charter application, Jefferson Academy had received 95 interest forms for potential students.

So far, the school has just 60 enrollments, and seven homeschool students signed up.

Parents from the canyon went to the charter school’s board meeting last week and asked for more time to raise the money themselves.

The charter school board gave them just until its next meeting, March 12, to help raise the $550,000. Without the funds, the charter board will decide whether to scrap the plans to open.

The charter leaders are also trying to raise money. Matlick said they now have preliminary approval for a startup grant from the state department of education for about $107,000. They’re also looking at a possible grant of about $75,000 from the Denver-based Daniels Fund.

When the charter was approved by the Jeffco school board, one condition was that the Jefferson Academy network set aside $250,000 to help support the new charter in the canyon.

Matlick said there is discussion about whether that money should be used to close the $550,000 funding gap or if it should be held in reserves for other potential problems once the charter opens.

Matlick said the district has been generous. The agreement to lease the building would only cost the charter $196,000 per year, to cover district-provided maintenance including custodial staff, snow removal, and trash pickups.

All the furniture and technology in the building would be donated to the charter.

But, he said, the community’s help is going to be critical.

“We’ve got a big group working to make this happen,” said Allen, whose son is a second grader at Coal Creek Canyon K-8. She started the GoFundMe page, and set it up so that money will be refunded to donors if the school doesn’t open.

As of Monday afternoon, the GoFundMe page had just over $5,000. “Our 4 children all went to this school. It is a vital part of the Coal Creek community. Please keep this school available to the community for their children,” one donor wrote.

If grants and donations can help in the first year or two, Allen said, parents and charter leaders believe that young children in the canyon community will help enrollment grow in future years to make the school sustainable.

Allen said parents are working on proposals to ask the local Coal Creek Canyon businesses including a coffee shop, the local garage, and some restaurants to pitch in. They also plan to ask bigger businesses like Denver Water, which has trucks passing through the canyon regularly.

Still, she is worried. Three Creeks is such a large school that it would be a big change for her son. If there is no school in the canyon, Allen said, she and her husband are considering moving.

“I will say the stress feels like it’s been nonstop for two years,” Allen said.

In a letter Jefferson Academy sent to families, charter leaders said that if they do not open the school, Jeffco district leaders will meet with families the day after the charter’s board meeting to speak “about their plans for next year and what one-year programming options could be possible.”

Before getting a charter school approved to open, the district had contingency plans to keep the elementary portion of the school open for one additional year. Middle school students would have either gone to Three Creeks, or chosen remote learning facilitated within the Coal Creek building.

Jeffco district leaders declined to speak about alternative plans. Lisa Relou, chief of staff for the district, said “we are doing everything we can to support” the charter in opening.

Yesenia Robles is a reporter for Chalkbeat Colorado covering K-12 school districts and multilingual education. Contact Yesenia at yrobles@chalkbeat.org.

NJ denies Newark charter school from entering Jersey City, blocks expansion of another for third time

2024-02-22T20:11:33+00:00

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The state’s acting education commissioner denied the expansion of two Newark charter schools – marking another year of slowdown to charter growth – while approving a small-scale charter school for renewal due to above-average state test scores.

New Jersey blocked LEAD Charter School, an alternative public charter school, from expanding into Jersey City, and for the third time in a row, denied Roseville Community Charter School’s request to expand. The state also renewed The Gray Charter School’s agreement to operate until 2029.

Acting Education Commissioner Angelica Allen-McMillan sent charter school decision letters on Jan. 31 to schools statewide that were seeking renewals or amendments to their charter agreements, including requests to renew charter applications, add a grade level, or increase seats. Allen-McMillan cited low enrollment and “stagnant levels” of achievement on state tests as reasons for denying the charter school expansion requests this year.

During this school year’s amendment and renewal process, the state made decisions on 15 charter school requests statewide.

“The New Jersey Department of Education has a rigorous framework for reviewing and approving all expansions and renewals of public charter schools throughout the state,” said Michael Yaple, the department’s spokesman in an email this month.

The decisions “ensure existing charter schools can continue collaborating with their communities and the State to best serve students and improve educational outcomes,” Yaple added.

In total, the state approved eight expansion requests for charter schools in Paterson, Hoboken, Jersey City, Lakewood, and Perth Amboy, as well as three in Plainfield, according to the state education department’s approval letters obtained by Chalkbeat. A school in Bridgeton was granted a decrease in enrollment and three charter schools in Plainfield, Egg Harbor Township, and Perth Amboy were approved for renewals but placed on probation.

During this year’s renewal and amendment process, the department received 2,181 requests for seat expansions but only recommended the expansion of 1,675. It also granted the reduction of 85 seats.

The state’s latest decisions come as Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration has denied requests for charter school expansions over the last few years – a shift from his predecessor, Chris Christie, who oversaw the charter school boom in Newark and appointed state superintendents to oversee the public schools.

It also comes as Newark Public Schools Superintendent Roger León continues to acquire former school properties and expand district schools. León, a district graduate and the first superintendent appointed under local control, has been clear about his attempt to stop the expansion of charter schools, which are privately run but publicly funded schools.

State cites low enrollment, test scores in denial letters

Among the three decisions in Newark, The Gray Charter School, located near the border of the Ironbound neighborhood in the city, was renewed for five years through June 30, 2029, with a maximum enrollment of 420 students. It will continue to serve kindergarten through ninth grade students.

In 2023, Gray School students surpassed statewide proficiency levels in English language arts and math, according to the state’s decision letter. Specifically, 75.2% of students reached proficiency levels in the subject compared to the state’s 51.3% proficiency rate. The city’s public school district achieved a 29% proficiency rate.

LEAD, which requested to add Jersey City to its charter agreement but was denied, is an alternative public charter high school designed to serve youth 16-21 years old who are not participating in school or the workforce, as well as undercredited students from the public school district.

Its request to expand to Jersey City was aimed at helping youth in that city, according to the organization. The state also denied LEAD’s request to expand its maximum enrollment from 480 seats to 780 for the next school year.

According to Allen-McMillian’s letter, the school has not met its maximum student enrollment since it started operating in 2017. If there is available space at a school, charter schools may enroll non-resident students, which removes the need to expand LEAD to Jersey City and increase its enrollment, according to the letter. The school has been under probation since 2021.

“We appreciate the Department of Education’s review of LEAD’s application to serve disconnected youth in Jersey City and respect the decision they have made. Our students in Newark will continue to excel at LEAD as they receive education and job training services that prepare them for postsecondary success,” said Robert Clark, founder and CEO of Newark Opportunity Youth Network, which operates the school.

Roseville, which saw a denial to its expansion request for a third year in a row, is a small school serving grades kindergarten through fourth. In February 2022 and 2023, the state rejected its request to add a fifth grade and to increase its enrollment cap by 66 students to 396.

This year, Roseville requested the same expansion but the commissioner’s decision letter in January said the percentage of students meeting or exceeding proficiency on statewide assessments “presents moderate concerns regarding RCCS’ ability to provide high-quality instruction across all content areas and does not support the requested expansion at this time.”

Specifically, the “continual decrease and relative stagnant levels” of achievement on state tests “do not demonstrate the organization systems in place” to support the school’s expansion request – reasons the state also cited in its 2022 and 2023 denial letters for not approving Roseville’s expansion. The school has also seen a shrinking waitlist and has not met its enrollment limit, according to the commissioner’s letter.

In 2019, 35.3% of Roseville students reached proficiency levels in English language arts, which is below the state’s 57.9% proficiency rate that year, the state’s letter cited. In Newark Public Schools, 36.3% reached proficiency that year.

In 2023, proficiency levels in English language arts dropped across the board and 33.3% of Roseville students reached proficiency levels. Students across the state achieved a 51.3% proficiency rate and 32.2% of Newark Public Schools students attained proficiency levels in the subject that year.

Last year, the state approved the expansion of two charter schools and approved the merger of two others to form one K-12 school. The state approved 11 out of 14 expansion requests for charter schools in 2023.

There are 85 charter schools across the state with more than 60,000 students enrolled, according to New Jersey Public Charter Schools Association’s 2023 data. In Newark, 20,450 students attend charter schools, with several large charter networks making up the bulk of them. KIPP alone has 12 schools in the city with over 6,000 students.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Top-performing staff at three Indianapolis charter schools to receive bonuses from anonymous donor

2024-02-16T19:34:41+00:00

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Top-performing teachers at three Indianapolis charter schools will be eligible for hefty merit bonuses that top $40,000 — 80% of a teacher’s starting salary — for the highest-ranked teacher beginning this year, thanks to funding from an anonymous donor couple.

The surprise funding announced Friday will provide merit bonuses for the next 25 years for top-performing staff at Avondale Meadows Academy and Avondale Meadows Middle School in the Meadows neighborhood on the east side, and Vision Academy in the Riverside neighborhood on the west side — schools that are part of the United Schools of Indianapolis (USI) charter network. The network hopes the new funding will not only boost its current year-end bonus pool, but will serve as a strong recruitment and retention tool.

The donor couple, who remain anonymous to the network, launched a $12.5 million trust fund to help fund $500,000 in merit awards across all three schools annually. All staff — roughly 110 across the network — are eligible for the raises, and roughly a third will receive them each year. More weight will be given to classroom teachers, where the need for staffing is the greatest. The average bonus is expected to be $15,000 per teacher.

“I hope you know that the work you do in your classrooms is noticed,” Bill Harris, chair of the USI board of directors, told teachers during the surprise announcement on Friday at Avondale Meadows Middle School. “Your passion for teaching, the love you show our students, and your ability to think outside the box and push boundaries make a difference. Some community members have noticed and want to reward you for your efforts.”

The network currently distributes bonuses to all teachers based on their evaluation scores — extra pay that averaged about $1,500 to $1,800 last year, according to USI executive director Kelly Herron. This funding, however, will allow the schools’ higher-performing teachers to receive even more.

Staff must return to the network in order to receive the bonus, which will be paid out in the fall.

“We know that high-performing teachers who stay with the school for an extended period of time develop a much deeper understanding of their students’ strengths and challenges, allowing them to provide targeted interventions and personalized support,” Herron said during the announcement.

Bonuses will be awarded based on a staff member’s evaluation score, which considers professional responsibility, student achievement outcomes, and community engagement. Those scoring in the top 30% receive the bonus, which will be weighted depending on score.

Each year, the teacher in the top-performing slot will receive $40,000.

The starting teacher salary across the network is currently $50,000, almost on par with the starting salary for Indianapolis Public Schools, which sits at $51,900 this school year. USI schools are all independent charters not affiliated with IPS.

The announcement gave staff a sense of being recognized, said Karina Calvillo-Brown, an instructional coach at Vision Academy.

“I came into education around the time of the pandemic — so a lot of uncertainty — but I think it was also a time when the need for teachers and the realization of how much teachers do really came out for everyone that was at home,” she said. “I think over the years, people have started to recognize we do a lot. We wear a lot of hats in the classroom, in the building.”

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Charter schools bought two IPS buildings for a dollar each. What happened next?

2024-02-15T12:00:00+00:00

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The dust in the brick building on east 42nd Street is so thick that visitors have written their names on the counter of what was once a school cafeteria. Desks are all that remains of an old science lab. Basketballs sit in the corner of the school gym.

The former Indianapolis Public School building in the Meadows neighborhood was sold in 2012 by IPS to a charter school for $1 under a law designed to provide vacant facilities to charter schools. But the structure hasn’t housed a school in a decade: It was resold for $225,000, and then again for $10,000. It is now owned by a church and is poised to become a community center.

Another IPS building on the far eastside that was sold to a charter school for $1 changed hands between multiple limited liability companies. At one point, it sold for $1.4 million. It has since been heavily renovated with the proceeds of those sales, according to school officials, and is now the home of Tindley Summit Academy, a K-6 charter school.

Indiana’s so-called “$1 law,” which has been on the books since 2011, has come under fire — particularly in Indianapolis. A battle is brewing over six former school buildings that could eventually be sold under the law, which requires school districts to sell or lease closed school buildings to charter schools or higher education institutions for $1.

But the fates of these two buildings — the only two sold by IPS under the $1 law, according to a Chalkbeat analysis — shows that the controversial piece of legislation has rarely brought about its intended effect in Indianapolis. The challenge isn’t necessarily with the sale but what comes next: Even when charters have managed to acquire buildings for $1 without legal dispute, the buildings have required pricey renovations that charters must pay for on their own, officials with these schools say. That can make opening and maintaining a school in these facilities trickier than the sticker price might imply.

Empty shelves are open in a classroom in the former School 11 in the city's Meadows neighborhood. The building's current owner is working on transforming it into an education and community center.

Historically, charter schools have not received funding from property taxes that go to traditional public school districts, creating a struggle to pay for capital investments.

Despite acquiring the buildings for $1, charters say they did not turn a profit in the subsequent sales to other entities, due to the money they invested in restoring and upgrading the buildings. Under the $1 law, the charters would have had to turn over any such profits to IPS.

The number of buildings sold under the $1 law could increase significantly soon. Lawmakers are considering amending the law this year to essentially clarify that the six schools IPS closed last year are not exempt from the statute.

Acquiring underutilized facilities for $1 can be a good deal for charters pushed for space, said Chris Lubienski, director of the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy at Indiana University.

But in addition to the challenge of renovations, the transactions raise questions about whether the law is beneficial and transparent for taxpayers, who paid to have these buildings constructed only to see them sold for next to nothing.

“Overall, when you look at the transfer of assets, it raises some big questions about what are the taxpayers in Indianapolis, in this case, getting for the money they had in the past invested into those facilities,” he said.

First school sold for $1 vacant for years

In 2012, IPS made its first $1 sale when KIPP Indy bought School 11.

KIPP Indy, a charter network that at the time only operated a middle school, had to move locations when IPS canceled the network’s building lease at Julian Coleman School 110, according to the network. So KIPP Indy’s acquisition of School 11 was timely.

But the building needed substantial renovations, such as new technology infrastructure and lockers, according to KIPP Indy. Considering both in-kind and direct investments, KIPP Indy says it put about $450,000 into the building.

The school spent two years there, then departed before the 2014-15 school year to return to the Coleman building, where the network now operates its elementary and middle school.

That’s the last time the building housed a school.

KIPP Indy sold the building in 2017 for $225,000 to Global School Properties Indiana, LLC, a Virginia-based business. Since KIPP Indy put more than $225,000 into the building, there were no profits from the sale that KIPP Indy had to redirect to IPS, according to the network.

State business records show the CEO of Global School Properties is Ronald Packard, the former head of the for-profit K12, Inc. — now known as Stride — which has opened virtual charter schools nationwide.

A spokesperson for Global School Properties Indiana, Courtney Harritt, said although the corporation made the purchase with the intention of opening a charter school, the “timing ended up being off.”

The corporation sold the building in 2022 to the local Hovey Street Church for just $10,000.

Denell Howard, the church’s pastor, hopes to turn the abandoned school into an education and community center through his nonprofit. On part of the seven-acre property behind the building, a local gardening operation has already set up shop with several garden beds and chickens. Howard is also hoping to build a walking trail.

Still, Howard says he needs to raise $11 million to fully renovate the building — or roughly 39 times what KIPP Indy sold the building for in 2017, after adjusting for inflation. He sees a lesson in that huge renovation cost.

“Those people who are looking at these schools and looking at utilizing them for stuff, they’re going to need support behind their vision,” he said. “And I’m not talking about just ‘Rah, rah’ support. They’re going to need financial support.”

Pastor Denell Howard walks through the bathroom stalls of the former School 11, which he purchased in 2022.

Multiple transactions funded renovations at former School 98

In 2017, IPS sold the former T.C. Steele School 98 building on Dubarry Road for $1 to Tindley, another charter network.

But the building needed roughly $2.8 million in renovations to make it habitable for students, said Hilary Buttrick, chair of Tindley’s board of trustees. The school paid a significant portion of those costs out of its own cash reserves, she said.

Tindley sold the building, which was then sold again to its current owner for $1.4 million, in a series of financial transactions with limited liability companies that officials say helped the school repay the remainder of the renovation costs.

CIES Tindley I, LLC, which owns the building today, also owns other buildings in the Tindley network. It is affiliated with the Center for Innovative Education Solutions, an Indianapolis-based nonprofit that aims to provide cost-effective services to charters.

The Tindley charter network itself no longer owns the building, but Tindley Summit Academy operates there today.

Tindley Summit Academy on the far eastside now occupies the former T.C. Steele School 98, but required significant upgrades to be operational.

Edreece Redmond, the executive director of the Center for Innovative Education Solutions, said in a statement that the process allowed CIES Tindley I to provide cheaper financing, passing on thousands in savings to the school, which rents the building.

Charter school funding change could supersede $1 law

A recent change to state law may reduce the need for such accounting and fundraising maneuvers, as well as the impetus for the $1 law itself.

State legislation passed in 2023 requires school districts in Marion, St. Joseph, Vanderburg, and Lake counties to proportionally share increases in tax revenue from rising property valuations with charter schools, starting in 2025.

Under a different law enacted last year, school districts in these four counties must also share funding for any voter-approved tax increases for operational or safety expenses with charters as well.

Those relatively steady sources of revenue could make it easier for charter schools looking to purchase and (if necessary) renovate facilities.

IPS and other groups representing school districts that have expressed concerns with the $1 law also opposed both measures during last year’s session.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

People’s Prep to leave Bard High School building as Newark Public Schools looks to expand amid rising enrollment

2024-02-14T11:00:00+00:00

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This summer a Newark charter school will vacate the space it has rented from the city’s public schools for more than a decade, the latest move in the district’s push to reclaim school properties as enrollment rebounds.

People’s Preparatory Charter School will leave its location inside the Bard Early College High School building following a nearly four-year legal battle with Newark Public Schools over whether the school breached its contract by using more space than permitted under the lease, failing to pay past rent for the extra space, and, ultimately, interfering with the expansion of Bard.

The departure, set to happen by July 15, will allow the public school district to increase enrollment at Bard this fall, the district has said. It also reflects a step forward in Superintendent Roger León’s strategy to reclaim public school buildings and expand the district as student enrollment has increased over recent years.

When the district was under state control, from 1995 until 2020, state-appointed superintendents closed many public schools while the charter sector rapidly expanded. León, a Newark Public Schools graduate who moved up the district ladder and was appointed to his role in May 2018, has been clear about his attempt to stop the expansion of charter schools, which are privately run but publicly funded schools.

Last year, the district appealed the state’s decision to expand North Star Academy Charter School by arguing that the school did not meet enrollment demands that warranted an expansion, placed a financial burden on the public schools, and created “a segregative effect” on the school system.

León also called for the closure of People’s Prep in a 2020 letter he sent to state education leaders considering a renewal for the charter to operate in Newark. He argued that the charter school’s presence in the shared building had prevented Bard from expanding.

People’s Prep’s expected move comes a year after the state’s department of education approved a merger between the school and Achieve Community Charter School to create a new K-12 Newark school renamed Gateway Academy, a partner of the BRICK Education Network with schools in Newark and Buffalo, New York.

Bard is a selective magnet high school in Newark where students can earn associate degrees from New York’s Bard College. The expansion of the school will allow the district to enroll “as many students who wish to graduate from high school with an associate’s degree,” said Newark Public Schools spokesperson Nancy Deering.

Former People’s Prep executive director Keith Robinson is now the Newark Regional Superintendent at BRICK Education network serving the new Gateway Academy school. In an email to Chalkbeat Newark last week, he wrote that the merger between the schools “ensures 8th graders have a guaranteed seat at a high-quality high school with more than a decade of college access and persistence experience.”

Tensions between NPS and People’s Prep grew over the years

People’s Prep is a small charter high school that has rented space in the Bard building since 2011. It welcomed 95 ninth graders that year, growing to a total enrollment of 340 for the 2022-23 school year, according to state fall enrollment data. The school’s lease for the space at Bard was created under former state-appointed Superintendent Cami Anderson and amended five times with rent increasing with each amendment.

The district’s August 2020 lawsuit against People’s Prep claimed the school breached its contract by “exceeding the square footage area permitted under the lease.” The lawsuit also claimed People’s Prep interfered with the district’s ability to provide the “highest quality of educational services to its students.” The lawsuit does not specify how much money People’s Prep owed.

The charter school alleged in a counterclaim that a year before the lawsuit, the district was trying to suppress charter enrollment by instituting “arbitrary caps” as part of its universal enrollment system, Newark Enrolls. The tensions between the district and charter schools grew after the enrollment system was revamped in 2019. In 2022, People’s Prep and six other charter networks broke away from their longstanding agreement with the district to participate in Newark Enrolls and instead signed on to a new enrollment platform.

The case between People’s Prep and the district was dismissed in 2023, but the settlement details are not available due to amendments to a state law barring the release of records about tenants who faced eviction over unpaid rent during the pandemic but were not ultimately evicted.

In an email to Chalkbeat Newark last week, Thomas Johnston of the Johnston Law Firm, who represented People’s Prep, wrote “Gateway Academy Charter School is pleased to have settled those differences with Newark District.”

In November 2022, People’s Prep purchased the historic Temple B’nai Abraham building at 621 Clinton Avenue in the South Ward for $2.5 million, according to property records.

Robinson said parents have been informed about People’s Prep’s move and school officials have a plan for where the school will be next year. School officials expected to share the news about the move with families at last week’s parent-teacher conferences, but have not confirmed if they disclosed where People’s Prep would move to.

León aims to acquire properties and expand district

Newark Public Schools said it is reviewing leases with other charter schools it houses for the “possible return of those school properties to the Board of Education,” according to a January district committee report. It is also looking to reclaim 12 district buildings previously transferred to the city under Anderson.

In 2020, the district sued the Newark Housing Authority, claiming it violated the agreement that the city would sell the buildings and return most of the profits to the school system. Among those properties is the Maple Avenue School, a former district school shuttered in 2015, and State Street School, Newark’s oldest school building.

In 2017, the city sold the Maple Avenue property for $1.2 million to Newark-based developer Hanini Group. In 2020, the property was sold for $10 million to a nonprofit connected to KIPP New Jersey, another charter school operator in Newark, and now houses KIPP Seek Academy.

Last year, the district also repurchased State Street school from the Hanini Group but details about the agreement between the public schools and the developer have not been disclosed, according to documents in a 2023 lawsuit filed by Skyway Publishing LLC, a New Jersey-based company that publishes TAPInto Newark, against the district over the agreement. The district plans to renovate the school as a district museum, León has previously said. The district remains in court to acquire the rest of the properties previously held by Newark Public Schools.

Last March, the district obtained the former four-story University Heights Charter School building. The charter school struggled to improve student test scores, increase enrollment, and retain its leadership team before the state shut it down. The building was then purchased by the state’s School Development Authority in 2022, which pays for school construction projects in 31 high-poverty districts, including Newark.

The school building was transferred to the district as part of the state’s promise to provide it with a new prekindergarten through eighth grade school. The building reopened this school year as the new Mandela Elementary School and is part of the district’s five-year capital plan. Property records show the building and land are valued at roughly $6.6 million but list the sale price as $1.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

In split vote, Wyatt Academy’s charter board rejects plan to close the school this year

2024-02-13T23:23:21+00:00

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This story has been updated to include that five board members resigned from Wyatt Academy’s board after the meeting Tuesday.

Following the presentation of a plan by Wyatt Academy’s principal to keep the school open, the Denver charter school’s board of directors rejected a proposal Tuesday to close it.

Five of Wyatt’s nine board members voted to close the school, and four voted to keep it open. Although a majority voted for closure, the proposal needed a 60% approval rate to pass, board President Katie Brown said during the early-morning meeting. As such, the proposal failed.

Brown quickly adjourned the meeting without discussing next steps for Wyatt. In a statement released a few hours later, she implied the school would stay open.

After the meeting Tuesday, Brown and the four other board members who voted to close Wyatt resigned from the board, a spokesperson confirmed.

Wyatt Academy is one of Denver’s oldest charter schools. Opened in 1998, it now serves just over 200 students in kindergarten through fifth grade in northeast Denver.

Late last month, the Wyatt board took a different vote that signaled Wyatt would likely close at the end of this school year. Citing years of low enrollment at Wyatt and a decrease in per-pupil funding, the board voted to partner with a Denver-based charter school network called University Prep that runs two elementary schools in the same part of the city.

The unique agreement said U Prep would get whatever money remained in Wyatt’s bank account when the school closed. Wyatt would get a commitment that U Prep would consider continuing some of the community services Wyatt provides, including a food pantry, free clothing boutique, and laundromat.

Without such an agreement, any money left in Wyatt’s bank account would have gone to Denver Public Schools, the district that authorized it. That’s what usually happens when Denver charter schools close, as at least 14 have done in the past five years, many due to declining enrollment.

After the Wyatt board approved the partnership, it told Wyatt families to find new schools for next year and encouraged them to consider U Prep. The news caused swift backlash from parents, students, teachers, and community members who pleaded with the board to keep Wyatt open. It also caused confusion because the Wyatt board had not yet voted to surrender the school’s charter, a necessary step for closure.

So two weeks after approving the partnership, the board met Tuesday morning to vote on whether to surrender Wyatt’s charter. Wyatt Principal Melody Means gave a presentation outlining how Wyatt could boost enrollment and funding.

“We have not exhausted our options yet for us to close our doors today,” Means said.

Her plan focused on recruiting new students and raising money several different ways, some of which she said only surfaced after news got out about Wyatt’s potential closure. Means said she’d been in touch with big-money donors, at least one of whom is willing to give Wyatt a six-figure grant, though she said she couldn’t disclose names or details.

She said she’d also been approached by an organization serving migrant families from Venezuela. The organization floated the idea of encouraging Venezuelan families to enroll their children at Wyatt if the school would give the organization some classrooms.

The organization’s teachers would teach the migrant students for part of the day to more gradually acclimate them to school in Denver — an arrangement that Means said Wyatt could accommodate because it’s an independent charter school overseen by its own board.

In addition, Means said another elementary charter school in Denver reached out about subletting space in Wyatt’s building, a large, historical structure built in the 1880s. That arrangement would not boost Wyatt’s enrollment, but it would bring in revenue.

Through those efforts, plus the opening of a new apartment building nearby, Means said Wyatt could increase its enrollment to more than 230 students by the 2027-28 school year, which she said would bring in enough per-pupil funding to sustain the school.

Her plan also included a 13% salary boost for Wyatt’s teachers. One reason the Wyatt board was considering closing the school was that Wyatt’s salaries are lower than what DPS pays teachers to work at district-run schools, making it hard for Wyatt to hire and retain staff.

Most board members stayed silent during the meeting. Board member Brandon De Benedet was one of the few to question Means’ plan. He repeatedly called it impractical.

“My gut reaction is this is a very unrealistic set of circumstances,” he said.

De Benedet was one of the five board members to vote for closure. The other four were Brown, board Vice President Amy Younggren, and board members Tyler Lane and Harsha Sekar.

Later Tuesday, all five resigned from the Wyatt board.

Board members Nicole Servino, Terry Usry, Gamaliel Whitney, and Rob Hayes voted against surrendering Wyatt’s charter. None explained their vote, though Servino pointed out that Wyatt earned the highest state rating this year, signified by the color green, based on its test scores.

The Wyatt board released a short statement following the vote that included a quote attributed to Brown and Younggren. In it, they thanked the community for coming together “during the last several years of under-enrollment” and budget constraints, pointing out that paraprofessionals and even Means, the principal, “have stepped up to teach classes.”

“We know many challenges lie ahead, and we sincerely hope the Wyatt legacy carries on even stronger into the 2024-25 school year,” Brown and Younggren said in the statement.

John Loughridge has been one of the Wyatt parents fighting these past two weeks to keep the school open, and he watched the board’s 7 a.m. virtual meeting Tuesday.

“I’m just so incredibly thankful that the good side won,” he said in a phone interview after the vote. “My spouse and I, we cried. This has been an emotional roller coaster.”

Loughridge’s son is in third grade at Wyatt and his daughter attends a nearby preschool. Even though Wyatt told families to find new schools for next year, Loughridge listed Wyatt as the top choice for both of his children next year — his son for fourth grade and his daughter for kindergarten — on their DPS school choice applications, which were due Monday.

“I had faith that the right people would make the right decision,” he said.

Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.

For the first time in three years, Hillsdale group didn’t apply to open a charter school in Tennessee

2024-02-12T23:08:15+00:00

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After gaining approval last year to open two charter schools in Tennessee in 2024, the group associated with Michigan’s conservative Hillsdale College did not apply to open another one in 2025.

Nine applicants met the state’s Feb. 1 deadline to submit proposals to open a charter school for the 2025-26 school year.

Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools received six applications, the most of any district, while Memphis-Shelby County Schools received two, and Rutherford County Schools got one.

But for the first time in three years, Hillsdale-related American Classical Education was not among the applicants.

Dolores Gresham, a former state senator who chairs the group’s board, said Monday that American Classical is focused on opening its first two schools in Madison and Rutherford counties. Both were approved last year in contentious votes.

The pause slows the once-aggressive growth plan of American Classical, which last year identified five growing suburban communities as a potential home to one of its schools. The network is seeking to change the face of Tennessee’s 100-plus charter school sector by introducing a different kind of teaching model and targeting different student demographics.

The group drew national attention in 2022 after Gov. Bill Lee endorsed Hillsdale College’s approach to K-12 education and invited its leaders to apply to open at least 50 charter schools across Tennessee that align with his conservative beliefs regarding civics and history.

But the Hillsdale-related network, American Classical Education, withdrew its first three applications later that year amid public outrage over Hillsdale President Larry Arnn’s comment that teachers are “trained in the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges in the country.”

In 2023, American Classical applied again, this time to open schools in Madison, Maury, Montgomery, Robertson, and Rutherford counties.

Rutherford County’s school board was the only one to approve the network’s application, and that campus is on track to open this fall.

American Classical appealed the denials from Madison and Maury counties to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission, which overturned the Madison County decision and authorized the Madison Classical Academy after the network failed to come to terms with Jackson-Madison County Schools.

Madison Classical officials have since “exercised their option to delay opening for one year to the fall of 2025,” said Hayden Pendergrass, a commission spokesman, on Monday.

A network spokesman said the delay was appropriate, since the appeals process for the West Tennessee school consumed most of 2023.

According to the state education department, the nine applications received by this month’s deadline to open a charter school in 2025, as well as the districts they’re seeking to partner with, are:

Novus SMART Academy (K-8) — Rutherford County Schools
Encompass Community School — Metro Nashville Public Schools
Journey Northeast Academy — Metro Nashville Public Schools
Nashville School of Excellence — Metro Nashville Public Schools
LEAD Cameron Elementary — Metro Nashville Public Schools
LEAD Southeast Elementary School — Metro Nashville Public Schools
Nurses Middle College Nashville (9-12) — Metro Nashville Public Schools
Memphis Grizzlies Prep STEAM School For Girls — Memphis-Shelby County Schools
Blueprint College and Career Prep — Memphis-Shelby County Schools

In addition, the charter operator for an existing state-run school applied to return to Memphis-Shelby County Schools next year as it exits the Achievement School District. Wooddale Middle Schools has been managed by Green Dot Public Schools as part of Tennessee’s ASD, but the group’s 10-year charter is set to expire.

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

Long-time charter educator to become new leader of DSST schools

2024-02-10T00:26:37+00:00

Nella García Urban, a Texas charter school educator, was named Friday as the next CEO of DSST Public Schools.

She said Friday she is driven to lead and was excited when she got to visit DSST schools and learn about the network’s mission.

“I’m very much called to the space,” García Urban said. “Every experience I’ve had thus far has left a real mark on me.”

Nella García Urban was named the next leader of DSST Public Schools.

DSST’s current CEO, Bill Kurtz, who had been with the network for 20 years starting as a founding principal of the Denver School of Science and Technology, announced in the fall that he would be stepping down at the end of this school year.

In a news release, the organization said it had been searching for a new leader that showed “alignment with the DSST mission and core values and had a proven track record of leading high-performing schools.”

García Urban was most recently a chief external officer for YES Prep Public Schools in Houston.

Kurtz will help García Urban as she starts in March. He said in a statement that he is “excited about the future of the organization and the leadership and perspective García Urban will bring.

“She is an incredibly talented leader, and I believe will lead DSST to a very bright future serving students and families in Denver and Aurora.”

DSST serves over 7,000 students at 16 schools across eight campuses in Denver and Aurora. The schools have a science focus and aim to get all students into four-year colleges.

While enrollment in Denver schools, including many charters, and other nearby districts, has been dropping, the DSST network has continued to have steady enrollment.

Part of the work García Urban has been responsible for in her past roles with YES Prep, has been growing enrollment. She said that work was about primarily working with families to understand their options and the dreams they have for their kids.

“One family at a time,” she said was her common reminder to her team.

For now, she says she’s eager to learn and get to know the schools, students, and families.”That is bringing me so much joy, thinking about meeting the community,” she said.

Yesenia Robles is a reporter for Chalkbeat Colorado covering K-12 school districts and multilingual education. Contact Yesenia at yrobles@chalkbeat.org.

Parents renew call to IPS to partner with charter schools most successful for students of color

2024-02-07T22:45:50+00:00

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Community members in a campaign organized by charter-friendly advocacy groups called on Indianapolis Public Schools to partner with more charter schools in a petition delivered to IPS school board members Wednesday.

Members of the “Better Together” campaign echoed demands long expressed during public comment at school board meetings: to partner with schools that post higher-than-average test scores for Black and Latino students. Specifically, community members point to charter schools excelling in this area.

The demand comes ahead of the district’s application window for schools interested in joining the Innovation Network, a string of autonomous schools that includes both charter and non-charter schools. But partnerships in IPS can also take other forms: charter schools have previously expressed interest in occupying a few of the six school buildings that the district closed earlier this year and proposed legislation at the Statehouse could impact how that’s done.

The petition of 1,000 residents is the latest development in an ongoing divide between IPS and the charter school community. Charter-supportive community members previously expressed opposition to the district’s Rebuilding Stronger overhaul plan in 2022, in part because it did not replicate charter schools best serving students of color. Now, the district could float an operating referendum to help fund the reorganization that will largely take effect next school year, and campaign members are asking again.

Parent Susan Sargent, left, and Believe Circle City High School student Elazia Davison hand petitions to IPS school board members Angelia Moore, Kenneth Allen, Hope Hampton, and Venita Moore at John Morton-Finney Center on Wed., Feb. 7, 2024.

Parents pointed to the district’s analysis of 2023 ILEARN results that compared proficiency rates for both English and math in schools across Marion County. Three Paramount campuses that are independent charters not in the Innovation Network were in the top quartile of performance for Black and Latino students and students eligible for free or reduced lunch, along with the district’s Sidener Academy for High Ability Students.

And the three high schools in the top quartile for SAT performance benchmarks for both math and Evidence-Based Reading and Writing were all Innovation Network charter schools.

“We are asking to call on the IPS administration to have a detailed plan in place by June to grow public schools that are working,” said Gregory Henson, whose daughter attends Longfellow Middle School, a traditional IPS school. “And we’re asking that this plan be inclusive of public charter schools that were highlighted in the October board report on school performance in Indianapolis.”

The push is in partnership with Stand for Children Indiana and Empowered Families, two groups that are supportive of charter schools and their expansion.

In a statement, Superintendent Aleesia Johnson said she appreciated the perspectives brought forth by concerned parents and community members.

“Every family in Indianapolis wants great choices at great schools, and that is what our district has been wholly focused on since 2015 with our innovation network school partnerships, our emerging schools supports, and, next year, the full implementation of Rebuilding Stronger,” she said. “”Our North Star will continue to be keeping our commitment to great schools, in every neighborhood, for every student.”

Opportunity gaps in IPS higher than independent charters

In IPS, the gap in proficiency between white students and students of color is significant.

White students reached proficiency on the ILEARN in both English and math at a rate of 36.3%, compared to 5.4% for Black students and 8.3% for Latino students, according to state data.

“We should all be concerned when we see how much work there is to be done to recover from the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly when a gap in both the resources and opportunities available to poor students and students of color existed pre-pandemic, and showed up in academic outcomes and results,” Johnson said in her statement.

As a whole, however, that gap is smaller in independent charters not affiliated with IPS, according to Chalkbeat’s latest analysis of ILEARN scores. Black and Hispanic students in these schools located in or near IPS borders posted higher proficiency rates as a whole.

Yet demographic differences also vary between IPS and charters within its borders. While both Innovation and independent charter schools within IPS borders have a higher proportion of Black students and students eligible for free or reduced lunch, IPS has a higher percentage of special education students and English language learners.

Elazia Davison, a student at the Believe Circle City High School independent charter school, said he has attended multiple IPS schools and seen some schools with clear models for learning while others have almost no stability or functional learning model.

“I want to make sure that students who come after me are positively impacted by the measures IPS takes to ensure equitable learning,” he said. “This will happen by replicating schools that show success.”

School board president Angelia Moore said the next steps would be continuing conversations.

“I appreciate and respect all parents’ input on what works for their children,” Moore said.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Wyatt Academy charter school in Denver will likely close at the end of this school year

2024-02-07T23:07:18+00:00

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Wyatt Academy, one of Denver’s oldest charter schools, will likely close at the end of this school year, the latest casualty of declining enrollment and fewer per-pupil dollars. Wyatt has told families to find new schools for their children, but its board hasn’t yet taken a final vote to close.

The likely closure of Wyatt follows a pattern of single-site charter schools shutting their doors in Denver Public Schools, once one of the most charter-friendly districts in the nation.

But instead of simply going dark, Wyatt leaders say they’ve found a way to continue the 25-year-old elementary school’s legacy in northeast Denver. Wyatt’s board of directors has signed a unique legal agreement to partner with University Prep, a small homegrown charter network with two elementary schools in the same part of the city.

UPrep will get whatever money is left in Wyatt’s bank account. It will also get a first shot at hiring Wyatt’s staff and opportunities to pitch its schools to Wyatt families, who can choose to enroll or not. Wyatt gets a promise that some of its unique community programming, such as its free clothing boutique, food pantry, and laundromat, could continue at UPrep.

“Wyatt is more than just a school,” Amy Younggren, vice chair of the Wyatt board of directors and a former Wyatt teacher, said in an interview. “We have extensive family services available. Part of what was important to us was that those services also stay with and in the community.”

Not everyone is happy with the plan. Tim Lewis is a fifth grade teacher at Wyatt. He said staff was blindsided last week when they were called into an emergency meeting in a classroom after school and told Wyatt would close in the spring.

The school, he said, is thriving. Its student test scores have earned it the top state rating, signified by the color green. Just last year, DPS renewed Wyatt’s charter for another five years — the longest time period possible, reserved only for the highest-performing charter schools. Plus, he said, enrollment at Wyatt is slightly up this year.

Lewis said the news hit hard.

“Wyatt is a family,” he said. “We’re not just a school. I don’t have any kids of my own. But whenever anybody asks, I say I have 26 kids. It’s the students in my class.”

Denver Public Schools’ attorney has also questioned the Wyatt-UPrep plan. In a letter last week to the Wyatt board, DPS General Counsel Aaron Thompson noted that Wyatt’s charter contract says its assets would transfer to DPS if the school were to close — not to another entity like UPrep.

“We request a meeting with Wyatt Academy as soon as practicable to collaborate on a closure procedure to best serve families and students and ensure all legal obligations are met,” Thompson wrote.

A copy of the letter was shared in a press release Wednesday by former Denver school board member Auon’tai Anderson, who is head of a new organization called The Center for Advancing Black Excellence in Education and is advocating to save Wyatt.

Younggren said Wyatt’s slight boost in enrollment this year is not enough to reverse years of declines due to decreasing birth rates and rising housing prices that push families out of the city.

A chart on Wyatt’s website shows the trajectory. Wyatt has about 200 students this year, which is the highest enrollment since 2018. Colorado schools are funded per-pupil, and 200 doesn’t bring in enough money to sustain robust programming, Younggren said.

As a comparison, Wyatt had about 650 students when it opened in 1998. It was one of two charter schools to open that year, and together they were just the third and fourth charter schools in the entire district. DPS now has nearly 60 charters.

In recent years, less funding has led Wyatt to cut art and science classes, interventionists who help students struggling with math and reading, paraprofessionals from every grade except kindergarten, its school nurse, its deans, and other positions, the website says.

Wyatt also can’t afford to pay its teachers as much as district-run schools can, which makes it hard to recruit and retain staff, Younggren said. “We’ve made painful cuts year after year that impact teacher satisfaction and student outcomes,” she said.

It’s a familiar story in DPS. In the past five years, at least 14 other Denver charter schools have closed due to declining enrollment. Many were single-site charters like Wyatt, meaning they were not part of a larger network that could help them weather financial downturns.

UPrep is a network, albeit a small one. In addition to its two campuses in Denver — University Prep Arapahoe Street and University Prep Steele Street — it’s planning to open a new elementary school in the Adams 14 school district in Commerce City this fall.

Founder David Singer said UPrep was interested in the partnership with Wyatt because both serve the same community, which is largely low-income families of color, and have a similar mission. UPrep’s tagline is “College starts in kindergarten.”

“While it’s incredibly sad to see Wyatt’s likely closure on the horizon, we felt an obligation to lean in and help in any way we could to sustain Wyatt’s tremendous legacy of care, commitment, and love to families and students,” Singer said in an interview.

The partnership is different from a recent merger between two other Denver-based charter networks, STRIVE Prep and Rocky Mountain Prep. That agreement called for Rocky Mountain Prep to assume operation of STRIVE’s schools, most of which remained open.

Under the Wyatt-UPrep partnership, Wyatt will no longer be a school. The building it leases is historic; it was built in the 1880s and functioned as a DPS school until the 1980s. The building was left to decay until Wyatt, then called Wyatt-Edison, opened there in 1998. If Wyatt closes, Younggren said it’ll be up to the building owner to decide what happens next.

There’s still one more step before Wyatt’s closure is official. Its board of directors has to vote to surrender Wyatt’s charter. The board has not yet set a date to do so, Younggren said.

Because of that, teachers and parents are organizing to save Wyatt.

On Thursday, at the next meeting of the Wyatt board, Lewis said they plan to show up en masse and ask the board to give Wyatt one more year to recruit more students and boost its funding. If the board says no, the community will ask the board members to resign, he said.

“We’re going to fight hard, as hard as we can,” Lewis said. “I teach my students that you’ve got to stand up for what you think is right. This is what we think is right.”

Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.

As school leaders, we need to create opportunities for our teachers as well as our students

2023-08-31T12:00:00+00:00

More than a decade ago, while running a high-performing school that I loved, a small moment forever shifted how I lead. As a Black woman who was a teenage mother and had dropped out of high school, I was proud of my career and taking great care to figure out what was next.

While at lunch with a mentor, a leader of a large charter network, she asked, “Have you ever considered being a CEO?” I remember feeling grateful that she thought so highly of my work.

Garland Thomas-McDavid

“You think I could do that job?” I asked. She said she did and went on to explain that I was already doing a lot of that job; I just didn’t know it yet.

Now, after many years of hard work and mentorship, I’ve successfully served as CEO of three different school networks. I find joy in many parts of my job, but what keeps me devoted to this work is so much larger than leading school networks and all that entails.

Ever since that lunch with my mentor, my work, my calling, has been evolving and expanding. I serve in ways that have allowed my life to come full circle — creating pathways to college for children who might otherwise be counted out. I also work to open pathways for the adults who work at the schools I lead. I want everyone to have the full picture of what they can become.

To be sure, I wouldn’t be where I am today without other leaders guiding me on my journey, especially when I lacked the social capital and background knowledge to make the next right move. From my former principal who helped me secure my first assistant principal job to another mentor who encouraged me to seek out executive coaching, I’ve been lucky to receive sound advice and practical support.

But my commitment to professional growth for educators, particularly those who are women and people of color, is not just a matter of paying it forward. It feels like a necessary investment — and a smart one.

While some of the recent efforts focused on recruiting more teachers of color have paid off, keeping those teachers in our schools and classrooms is an urgent challenge. A 2021 RAND study found that nearly half of Black teachers reported that they were likely to leave their jobs at the end of the school year because of stress and challenging working conditions. What if schools retain and grow these educators? Chances are their perspective and leadership could help improve retention across the board.

The current reality, however, holds back rising educators and potential school leaders as well as students of color. That’s because research has shown that when students of color are exposed to teachers who share their race or ethnicity, they perform better academically and are more likely to stay in school.

Yet, we’ve failed to show many educators of color that teaching and education leadership are viable career paths. That means losing the next generation of educators only a little past the starting line.

So what must we do differently? First, access is a game changer.

In too many schools, the leadership team is small and insular. At our school, we schedule leadership and board meetings in the evenings, when our whole staff can attend. We invite team members to show up, contribute to materials, and present directly to the board. This may seem small, but if you don’t know what it looks like to be a principal, chief of staff, or CEO, how can you aim to become one?

Next, it’s time to build on access with resources, information, and opportunities. When you open doors to what is possible, you have to make space for learning and growth to follow. That looks like taking time to mentor people or setting them up with mentors, and providing professional development stipends in amounts that allow them to pursue further education.

“...we’ve failed to show many educators of color that teaching and school leadership are viable career paths.”

A year ago, I had a new middle school principal and assistant principal who showed great potential and were hungry for development. After a year of intentional support and mentorship, both individuals have been promoted and joined our school’s leadership team. They’ve since been invited to speak at conferences, and their work has been highlighted in the media.

Finally, it’s important to be supportive of the many places this kind of development will lead. When you invest in your staff, you might end up with your next great principal or CEO. You might also send people beyond your school walls to other schools, to advocacy organizations, and to district or state offices. Remember, your investment in talent is not just about growing leaders that benefit your school; it’s about building the next generation of leaders and elevating women and people of color who will shape education in this country.

We want our students to dream big and be prepared to chase whatever future they want. We should want the same for our teachers. Increasing access and opportunities — that’s how we diversify the profession, strengthen our schools, and build the kinds of talented, driven leaders that students at every level need.

Dr. Garland Thomas-McDavid is the CEO of Brooklyn Lab Charter School, a sixth to 12th grade charter school in New York. A Brooklyn native, Dr. Thomas-McDavid returned home last year to run Lab after over two decades leading schools in Chicago.

Former virtual school leaders face decades in prison if found guilty in alleged enrollment scam

2024-01-25T20:49:34+00:00

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The federal investigation into alleged fraud at two virtual charter schools required a complex review that included interviews of falsely enrolled students and their parents — including the family of one student who was enrolled even after their death, federal investigators said Thursday.

The former virtual charter school leaders of Indiana Virtual School (IVS) and Indiana Virtual Pathway (IVPA) could face decades in federal prison if convicted of charges that they allegedly defrauded the Indiana Department of Education, officials said.

The operators of the now-closed schools allegedly inflated the enrollment by thousands of students and accepted more than $44 million in state funding, per a federal indictment from last week.

That funding was then allegedly funneled through several for-profit companies and used for personal expenses, including tuition at Park Tudor and a purchase at a boat dealership.

The founder of the schools, Thomas Stoughton Sr., 74, of Carmel, faces one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 16 counts of wire fraud, and 57 counts of money laundering. Director of IVS Phillip Holden, 62, of Middletown faces one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 16 counts of wire fraud. The superintendent of both schools, Percy Clark, 81, of Carmel, faces one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 16 counts of wire fraud, and 11 counts of money laundering.

Additionally, school operations manager Christopher King, 61, of Green Fork, entered a plea of guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Attorneys for Stoughton, Holden, and Clark did not immediately return a request for comment.

“Taxpayers rightfully expect that their hard earned money is being used to educate our children as intended,” Zachary Myers, the U.S. District Attorney for Southern Indiana, said in a press conference Thursday. “Stealing public money from our educational system deprives Hoosier students of the services and opportunities that are vital to all of our futures.”

An unnamed individual described as a manager of student services representatives is also listed in the indictment as a defendant, but Myers did not comment on why they are unidentified. It’s unclear if that person is also charged in the case.

Each defendant faces between 10 and 20 years in federal prison per count, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana.

If convicted, the government could recoup that money directly or seize assets to recover the loss, officials said.

Federal indictment comes six years after Chalkbeat investigation

Chalkbeat Indiana originally investigated the school in 2017, noting ballooning enrollment, few teachers, and multiple companies affiliated with Stoughton that received funding from the school.

At the time of the investigation, state education officials said they could not intervene.

A state audit released in 2020 found the two schools inappropriately spent more than $85 million in public funding on companies connected to school officials. Of that amount, more than $68 million was improperly collected by the schools, the audit reported.

Additionally, the state attorney general sued the charter schools in 2021 to recoup $154 million in state funds. That case is still ongoing per court records.

Myers said the state and federal lawsuits are two different actions working under different laws and periods of time, which may lead to the discrepancy in damages.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Office of Attorney General Todd Rokita said the office will continue its civil lawsuit to recoup damages.

“While we are pleased to see that there will be potential criminal repercussions for at least some of those involved in the diversion of public funds, the criminal charges do not encompass all of the loss or involved parties,” the spokesperson said.

Herb Stapleton, special agent in charge of the Indianapolis FBI field office, said the case was a complex one involving reviews of hundreds of bank accounts and interviews with falsely enrolled students or their parents.

“In this particular case it was the State Board of Accounts of Indiana who put a significant amount of effort into identifying that there was potential fraud here, and then did the right thing by referring it to law enforcement,” he said.

A trial for Stoughton, Holden and Clark has not been scheduled.

Indictment spurs calls for stronger charter oversight

The indictment has spurred charter opponents to call for stronger oversight in a state with a legislature that fully embraces all forms of school choice.

“Instead of depending upon elected school officials, the state has decided to depend on charter schools that use outside contractors who are not under close supervision and lack public accountability,” Democratic State Rep. Ed DeLaney, who represents Indianapolis, said in a statement on Tuesday. “We export our management and oversight responsibilities to people who choose not to perform the function. In the end, the taxpayers lose out.”

The indictment also raises questions about whether charter school authorizers, which are responsible for overseeing charter schools in lieu of a publicly elected school board, are adequately monitoring their portfolio of schools.

“Charter school authorizers do not always monitor the conduct of the schools they are authorizing,” DeLaney said. “Our current charter school management system, or lack thereof, not only creates the opportunity for fraud but has reportedly cost the state at least $85 million of taxpayer money in this one case.”

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. She also covers access to higher education and Warren Township Schools. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Former virtual charter school leaders face federal charges tied to alleged enrollment scam

2024-01-23T22:52:41+00:00

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Several former charter school operators were indicted last week for their alleged roles in conspiring to defraud the state of Indiana by padding student enrollment at virtual charter schools.

The operators of Indiana Virtual School (IVS) and Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy (IVPA) are accused of inflating the number of students who attended the institutions by thousands of students and accepting more than $44 million from the state, according to the 24-page federal indictment.

The defendants face a combined 76 charges including wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and money laundering.

A state audit in 2020 said the two schools inappropriately spent more than $85 million in public funding on companies connected to school officials. Of that amount, more than $68 million was improperly collected by the schools, the audit reported.

The state funding was allegedly funneled through several for-profit companies owned by the schools’ founder, Thomas Stoughton, and then paid out to himself, his family, former IVS and IVPA Superintendent Percy Clark, and others, the indictment said. Federal prosecutors allege the money was then spent on extravagant purchases ranging from a Cadillac and jewelry from Tiffany & Co. to private school tuition.

The federal indictment, filed by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, comes several years after the state attorney general sued the charter schools — which folded in 2019 — to recoup the state funds. That case is still ongoing per court records.

A 2017 Chalkbeat investigation into Indiana Virtual School and Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy uncovered inflated enrollment, conflicts of interest, and dismal academic results.

The former virtual school officials and their attorneys didn’t respond to requests for comment, but officials with the schools have previously denied wrongdoing. Online court records show that Clark submitted a not guilty plea. A person who answered a phone number listed for Clark said “no comment” and hung up.

The indictment also raises questions about charter school authorizers, which are government- or university-related entities that essentially provide the same oversight an elected school board exercises over traditional public schools. But observers have asked if warning signs were missed by the authorizer in this case, and if the state is too lax on the authorizers themselves.

The indictment spelled out a complicated scheme to inflate enrollment in exchange for state money. According to the indictment, the virtual schools were required under state law in 2017 to monitor attendance and withdraw students who didn’t log in for online classes.

According to the indictment, Stoughton, along with Clark, Director of IVS Phillip Holden, school operations manager Christopher King, a manager of student services representatives listed as “individual 2,” and others “conspired to defraud the State of Indiana through their operation of two online charter schools.”

They allegedly did this in part by counting partially completed application forms from students. “Most of these ‘students’ never participated in any way,” the indictment stated.

The defendants are also accused of falsely re-enrolling students who in fact left, as well as telling teachers not to disenroll any students, according to the indictment. (One teacher was allegedly fired for trying to blow the whistle on the arrangement.) These numbers were turned over to the Indiana Department of Education by the schools’ leaders and used by the state to calculate funds sent to the schools.

Teachers at the schools, though, were only paid for the students who were legitimately enrolled, the indictment noted.

Millions of dollars were then transferred to several companies and bank accounts under the control of the defendants, according to the indictment. Money was then drawn from the accounts by the defendants to make purchases that include a Cadillac sedan costing more than $58,000, private school tuition at Park Tudor, and about $11,000 at Tiffany & Co.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. She also covers access to higher education and Warren Township Schools. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Chalkbeat Managing Editor Carrie Melago contributed to this article.

Denver school board vote on Academy 360 charter turns into debate on how to measure academic success

2024-01-12T22:52:14+00:00

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A Denver school board discussion about the future of struggling Academy 360 charter school turned into an at times heated debate over a thorny question: How should the district measure academic progress at low-scoring schools?

Academy 360 is an elementary charter in the Montbello neighborhood focused on health and wellness. Its supporters describe it as both a nurturing school for some of the city’s most vulnerable children and a community hub. But Denver Superintendent Alex Marrero has said Academy 360 is academically failing the majority Black and Latino students it serves, most of whom are from low-income families.

At a school board meeting Thursday, Marrero recommended using state standardized test scores, a common metric, to measure Academy 360′s progress.

He proposed that if the school’s test scores this spring weren’t high enough to boost its rating from the lowest, signified by the color red, to the second-lowest, orange, that the charter should be closed at the end of next school year.

Board member Scott Esserman offered an alternative: Academy 360 could stay open if its students showed academic growth on a lower-stakes test that he argued is a better measure of what students have learned.

Among the advantages, Esserman said, is that all Academy 360 students in kindergarten through fifth grade would take lower-stakes tests, such as i-Ready, several times a year. The state tests, known as CMAS, are only given once per year to students in grades 3, 4, and 5.

“We aren’t saying CMAS won’t be used as an assessment,” Esserman said. “What I believe we’re saying here is that internally, we want to move on from this. We don’t have control over CMAS. But we do have control over how we evaluate our own schools.”

Similar debates have played out in other school districts around Colorado and at the state level, where a task force is currently discussing whether the color-coded state rating system based on CMAS scores is indeed how Colorado wants to measure school quality.

Marrero originally recommended closing Academy 360 at the end of this school year. His advice was based on CMAS scores: Last spring, the school’s third through fifth graders scored in the 1st percentile in math and literacy, meaning 99% of Colorado students scored higher.

But in November, the school board rejected Marrero’s closure recommendation. Members cited the mental health support that Academy 360 provides its students and families, and the fact that nearby elementary schools don’t have high test scores either.

“We want to give you another chance,” Carrie Olson, who is now the board president, said in November. “And we have to see that you’re doing right by all students. Because I don’t want to incur more pain and I know the trauma of having a school being closed.”

For two hours Thursday, board members debated what to do next. They proposed amendment after amendment, tinkering with Esserman’s suggestion by adding requirements for how many Academy 360 students would have to take the tests and clarifying how much academic growth the students would have to make to justify keeping the school open.

At times, a majority of board members said they agreed with Esserman’s idea. But district officials were skeptical. Marrero said Thursday’s meeting was the first time he’d seen the proposal. General Counsel Aaron Thompson noted that using a test like i-Ready instead of CMAS could change the rules for other DPS charter schools too.

“This is creating sort of a brand new accountability framework,” Thompson said. “And I think that’s something we could put together. But it’s not something we currently have.”

Grant Guyer, the district’s associate chief of strategic operations, said that on a computerized test like i-Ready, which gives students harder or easier questions based on how they answer, it can be difficult to calculate how much progress students make over time. Esserman had proposed that Academy 360 students’ scores improve by 20% before the end of the school year, but Guyer said the district would have to “get very creative” to figure that out.

Esserman became frustrated during the meeting. He accused district staff of trying to undermine his proposal by getting too technical. The board’s job is to set the high-level policy and direction, he said — and he said district staff need to “do your jobs and figure this out.”

“We’d rather draw lines in the sand, we’d rather beat this up, because we want this school closed,” Esserman said, smacking the table. “It’s distressing and it’s disappointing.”

Academy 360 leaders were not given an opportunity to speak at the meeting.

In the end, some board members flip-flopped and Esserman’s proposal failed on a 3-4 vote. Esserman, Olson, and board member John Youngquist voted for it. Marlene De La Rosa, Kimberlee Sia, Xóchitl “Sochi” Gaytán, and Michelle Quattlebaum voted against it.

Quattlebaum, who represents the Montbello neighborhood, said the proposal had grown so complicated that she feared “many, many possible unintended negative consequences.”

“We’re so far in the weeds with so many questions out there in the ether right now,” Quattlebaum said. “We have no idea what will actually happen. With the original recommendation, it may not have been to everyone’s liking but it was simple, it was clean, it was agreed upon, and I do believe that there was still room to leverage equity.”

Marrero’s recommendation to use CMAS passed on a 4-3 vote. If Academy 360 doesn’t boost its rating from red to orange next school year, the charter school will close in June 2025.

Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.

Indianapolis’ Andrew J. Brown charter school ditches for-profit manager in bid for local control

2024-01-12T15:04:48+00:00

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One of the oldest charter schools in Indianapolis is severing ties with its national for-profit operator over concerns about transparency, high staff turnover, and a lack of local control.

Andrew J. Brown Academy’s school board is in the process of parting ways with National Heritage Academies, which has run the school on the far eastside since it opened in 2003, as its charter faces a renewal decision from the mayor’s Office of Education Innovation. Instead, the school hopes to partner with Paramount Schools of Excellence, a popular local nonprofit charter operator.

The school’s board hopes that the switch will increase their control over funding that they currently send to National Heritage Academies (NHA), a national organization not based in Indiana. But the transition also brings uncertainty for the future of the troubled K-8 school — named after a local civil rights leader — that serves about 600 students who are mostly Black or Hispanic.

In addition to lagging test scores, unstable leadership, and failures to meet special education requirements revealed by a state investigation, Andrew J. Brown has experienced a striking amount of staff turnover recently. Between the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years, for example, roughly three-quarters of teachers left the school.

The mayor’s office has until April 1 to make a renewal decision — which officials say will depend on whether the school finds a new building and finalizes an agreement with a new operator. The school will likely have to move to a different location for next school year because its current building is owned by National Heritage Academies. The school pays NHA nearly $800,000 a year in rent, according to school board chair Richard Hailey.

Charter authorizers have the power to approve, shut down, or renew a charter school — decisions largely based on how the school performs and operates during the term of its charter. A charter school’s governing board, meanwhile, can designate and pay an operator to run the school.

“Even though Andrew J. Brown has had the backing of a national service provider with considerable financial resources for 20 years, the academic and operational systems we expect to see at a school of this age are quite frankly not present,” said Patrick McAlister, director of the Office of Education Innovation Director, at a renewal hearing for the school in December.

National Heritage Academies, which also operates Aspire Charter Academy in Gary and over 100 other schools in eight other states, argued that the school academically outperforms nearby schools.

“These and other metrics show that we have made good on our promise to provide educational opportunities to the families we serve,” a spokeswoman said in a statement. “So, it’s deeply disappointing the school board has decided not to renew their services agreement with us.”

The separation of the school and NHA means the departure of the last for-profit charter operator of brick-and-mortar schools in Indianapolis, home to a charter community that has placed significant emphasis on schools operated locally and in a non-profit manner.

Hailey said the school’s board feels that the for-profit model doesn’t work well for primary and secondary education.

“There’s a feeling that everything should be spent on students,” he said. “That there shouldn’t be a profit left over.”

School board hopes for better academic results, transparency

The school’s board ended its service agreement with NHA around a year ago, Hailey said. It has been operating on a temporary agreement that has required the operator to share more information with the school — while allowing the school to continue using the NHA-owned building, he said. But the agreement ends at the end of this school year, leaving the school on the hunt for a facility.

Andrew J. Brown and Paramount officials are hoping a new operator will address some of the myriad issues that occurred since the start of the pandemic.

When contacted by Chalkbeat, Paramount Schools CEO Tommy Reddicks referred comment to Andrew J. Brown’s school board until more details are finalized. But at last month’s hearing, Reddicks and school officials made the pitch to Office of Education Innovation officials for Paramount to run the school.

Paramount’s partnership with Andrew J. Brown would be a “confer and consent” model with the school’s board, Reddicks said. That model would offer transparency and oversight for the school board, he said.

The school’s teacher turnover rate has been remarkably high recently. For example, between the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years, when 74% of teachers left Andrew J. Brown, Marion County schools as a whole retained roughly 66% of their teachers, according to the school’s renewal application and an analysis of state data from the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation.

Then there’s test scores. While the school has rebounded from the pandemic to a certain extent, only 46.8% of its third graders passed the state’s IREAD test last year — a drop of roughly 16 percentage points from last year. That was the biggest decline of any of the schools in the mayor’s portfolio of charter schools, according to the Office of Education Innovation.

Leadership at the school was also unstable after it lost its principal at the end of 2020-21, according to the school’s renewal application. That left the authorizer uncertain about the building’s instructional leader until the current principal took the position in the fall of 2022, according to the Office of Education Innovation’s renewal report.

In March 2022, the Office of Education Innovation notified the school that it was failing to meet certain standards in its accountability plan and charter agreement, including legal obligations to students with limited English proficiency.

Two months later, the state found violations of state special education requirements, including a failure to ensure proper licensure for special education teachers and a failure to provide services outlined in students’ individualized education programs. The mayor’s office subsequently placed the school on probationary status. The state later closed the file on the school in December 2022 after the school took corrective action.

Budget transparency, too, has been a problem. NHA prepares a budget which the board must approve, Hailey said, but in the past it’s been unclear to the board how that money has been spent. The school board has historically signed off on monthly payments to NHA for the costs of running the school, he said.

“It’s a model that they run [for] a lot of schools, and they’re not open to negotiating how those schools are run,” Hailey said. “So as a board member there’s not a lot of transparency when it comes to budgets. You really don’t get the amount of information you need to conduct effective oversight.”

The school has sought a new operator that serves a similar demographic of students while delivering excellent results, Hailey said. “We don’t want just [to be] keeping up with the IPS schools,” Hailey said. “We want to excel.”

Hailey also said he hopes the school will stay on the northeast side, serving the same student population.

McAlister said it’s too early to say whether his office supports the idea of Paramount helping to run the school.

Paramount’s work has attracted positive attention. A higher percentage of Black and Hispanic students in Paramount-run schools passed both the math and English sections on the state ILEARN test than in IPS, according to the latest 2023 state data.

“We know that Paramount has a strong track record in Marion County, and have a high degree of confidence in their ability to manage a school,” he said.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Pete Buttigieg’s education plan highlights broad agreement among Democrats on K-12 policy — though differences on charters remain

2019-12-07T11:00:14+00:00

Pete Buttigieg’s pre-K-12 education plan calls for raising teacher pay, addressing school segregation, and banning for-profit charter schools.

If those ideas sound familiar, that’s because they echo many of the proposals of his top Democratic rivals, who have also released education plans. The mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Buttigieg has risen from obscurity to be a top contender, particularly in early primary states, alongside former Vice President Joe Biden and Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.

“My plan will empower teachers,” said Buttigieg, whose husband, Chasten, is a junior high teacher on leave from a private school in Indiana. “I’ve seen up close the incredible challenges that educators across the country face, from late nights grading papers to emptying their own bank accounts to pay for school supplies.”

Buttigieg’s plan highlights how the leading Democratic candidates have converged on many key education policies, with one partial exception — charter schools. His proposal touches on the lightning rod issue only briefly, calling for stronger accountability, but without going nearly as far as his primary rivals, some of whom have called for halting all federal support for new charters. Warren has recently been embroiled in the debate, after being confronted by activists and parents critical of her stance on charter schools.

The campaign did not share whom Buttigieg sought guidance from in crafting the plan. But education activist Diane Ravitch said in a July blog post critical of Buttigieg that the campaign told her it had reached out to former Obama administration officials John King and Jim Shelton, as well as the American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, who praised the plan in a release Saturday.

You can read Buttigieg’s full plan here. Here are four things to know about it:

In many ways Buttigieg’s education plan matches his Democratic rivals — highlighting consensus on several key issues.

If you read Buttigieg’s or other candidates’ plan with their name blotted out, you would have a hard time knowing which Democrat’s plan it was. For instance, Buttigieg wants to triple Title I funding for schools that serve a high percentage of students from low-income families, which Biden and Sanders have also pledged to do. (Warren would quadruple it.)

Most or all of the major candidates have vowed to increase teacher diversity; raise teacher pay; reduce school segregation; close funding disparities; increase access to preschool programs; oppose vouchers for private school tuition; fully fund IDEA, the federal law for students with disabilities; strongly enforce federal civil rights laws, including reinstating regulations rolled back by the Trump administration; and replace Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.

Buttigieg’s plan is no exception on any of these counts, though it varies on the specifics in some cases. For instance, he wants parents to pay for preschool based on how much they earn, with the poorest parents paying nothing — similar to his stance on higher education, which has been met with much debate — whereas others want to offer it for free to everyone.

And the plan also touches on a number of lower-profile issues — like increasing spending on schools for Native American students or expanding access to dual-language curriculum in early years — that some other plans don’t.

Like other candidates, Buttigieg promises to support the teaching profession by raising pay and status. “We need to honor teachers like soldiers, and pay them like doctors,” the plan states. More specifically it says that some of the new infusion of Title I dollars would have to be spent on raising teacher pay to ensure it’s competitive with that of other professionals.

Many of the candidates’ ideas, particularly on civil rights, are in line with those the Obama administration espoused. Notably absent, though, from any of the major candidates’ proposals, including Buttigieg’s, are concepts like more rigorous teacher evaluations and tying teacher pay to performance, which Obama’s Department of Education promoted. Those proved controversial, and the #RedforEd movement has turned focus — and public sympathy — away from performance evaluations and toward stagnant teacher pay.

Buttigieg isn’t promoting charter schools, but takes a less hostile approach than Sanders and Warren.

The plan runs 20 pages, but charter schools get just a single paragraph. Buttigieg seeks to “ban for-profit charter schools and ensure equal accountability for public charter schools.” This is in line with a number of Democrats who largely agree on these points. (We’ll hold aside that it would not be easy for the federal government to ban for-profit schools.)

“He will work with states to ensure that policy innovations from charter programs that benefit students can be subsequently shared to strengthen the traditional public school system,” the plan promises, though it doesn’t explain how. Buttigieg also would “take action” against state and local entities that oversee low-performing charter schools.

Buttigieg is silent on the federal Charter Schools Program, a fund to support new charter schools across the country. Sanders and Warren have called for halting or eliminating it altogether. A spokesperson for Buttigieg said he would stop those dollars from going to for-profit charters. (Federal guidance already prohibits CSP money from going directly to any for-profit entity; it can, however, go to a nonprofit charter that contracts its operations out to a for-profit company, so long as there is an “arm’s length” relationship between the two entities.)

Buttigieg is taking a somewhat more favorable stance towards charters than Warren or Sanders — but a less favorable one than President Obama, who supported the expansion of charter schools.

“I think that the promise of charter schools has been that ideas can be piloted there that will then benefit the overall system and find their way into traditional public schools,” Buttigieg told Education Week in August. “But I’m skeptical that we’re going to gain a lot through expansion of charter schools when we still have such severely underfunded traditional public education.”

The charter issue is fraught politically for Democrats. Recent polling shows support for these schools has declined in the party among white Democrats, but indicates stronger, but still mixed, backing among black and Hispanic Democrats.

Meanwhile, Biden, another leading contender, did not even touch on charter schools in his education plan. But in a recently released interview with the National Education Association, he said, “No privately funded charter school or private charter school would receive a penny of federal money — none,” he said. Asked to clarify, campaign spokesperson told Chalkbeat that Biden would seek to stop federal funding for for-profit charter schools.

Buttigieg plans to tackle school segregation.

Buttigieg offers a number of proposals to address school segregation. He would create a $500 million fund to incentivize “community-led” racial and economic school integration. And he says school districts looking to make major changes to their boundaries would have to first seek clearance from federal officials, who would check to see if those changes would exacerbate racial and economic segregation.

The idea appears to be aimed at preventing so-called “breakaway districts,” in which whiter, more affluent communities establish their own school districts by leaving districts with more students of color from low-income families. (This issue attracted Warren’s attention, too; in her education plan she says the departments of education and justice would monitor attempts to create breakaway districts and possibly take action to stop them.)

Buttigieg also says he would direct the departments of education and housing and urban development to issue guidance to help states integrate their neighborhoods and schools using funds set aside to create more affordable housing in high-performing school districts. Buttigieg plans to reinstate Obama-era guidance that allowed consideration of student race in some circumstances to integrate K-12 schools, which was rescinded by the Trump administration. He would also “immediately remove” restrictions on using federal funds to bus students for desegregation purposes. But those barriers exist in federal law and would require Congress to take action.

These policy ideas come as Buttigieg has faced criticism for saying he “worked for years under the illusion that our schools in my city were integrated, because they had to be, because of a court order.” He added that that was “true within the limits of the South Bend Community School District,” but it wasn’t in the rest of the county. While South Bend’s school district does enroll a much higher percentage of black and Hispanic students from low-income families than the districts that surround it, South Bend has long struggled to fulfill the terms of a desegregation order, and even today some schools are not in compliance with it.

There’s a fund for that.

Buttigieg’s plan calls for large increases in federal spending on education, partially through specific grant programs.

In addition to the $500 million desegregation fund, he’s also calling for a $10 billion “equity fund” for early education. It would go to programs targeting low-income students of color and using “novel teaching methods and materials, targeted support services, school-family partnership programs, communication and personalization technologies, and other innovative strategies.”

There’s also a new grant program of unspecified size that would help school districts adopt new ways to discipline students, instead of suspending or expelling them. Buttigieg also says he would triple funding to $3.5 billion for an existing federal grant program that funds student safety, health, technology, and arts programs. And he would create a fund to help high-poverty districts prepare students for the workforce through apprenticeships.

In total, the campaign estimates that its K-12 education proposals would cost the federal government an extra $425 billion over 10 years — for context, public elementary and high schools got $56 billion from the federal government in a single year, 2016. Buttigieg says he’ll pay for this and other proposals in a variety of ways, including increasing the capital gains tax for top earners and repealing recent corporate tax cuts.

Curious where all the Democratic presidential candidates stand on education? Read Chalkbeat’s tracker.

Charter school to replace tiny Jeffco K-8 slated for closure in remote Coal Creek Canyon

2024-01-11T00:59:07+00:00

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The Jeffco school board on Wednesday approved a new charter school to open in Coal Creek Canyon and replace a district-run school that will close at the end of this school year.

Jefferson Academy, a charter network that has long operated in the district, is proposing to replicate its model with a pre-K-8 school in the same building as the soon-to-be-closed Coal Creek Canyon K-8. The new school, Jefferson Academy Coal Creek Canyon, will open for the 2024-25 school year, and will be designed as significantly smaller than its existing schools.

The board voted unanimously and with little discussion to approve Superintendent Tracy Dorland’s recommendation. The decision means that families in Coal Creek Canyon, a small community near the Boulder school district boundary, will continue to have a nearby public school for their young children.

In October, the Jeffco school board voted to close Coal Creek Canyon K-8 as part of the second phase of the district’s plan to close small schools. With fewer than 100 students the district said the school was not sustainable. But given that the school is in a remote part of the district, officials proposed opening a charter in the building so families wouldn’t have to travel far to a new school.

The district also noted that it may be more feasible for a charter school to operate in that location with relatively few students.

Initially, the district received three letters of intent from charter schools interested in the Coal Creek Canyon K-8 facilities, but it ultimately received only one application from Jefferson Academy.

Staff presenting Dorland’s recommendation to the board Wednesday said the district had been impressed that the charter network had submitted 95 intent-to-enroll forms for its proposed school. That would mark an enrollment increase from the district-run school’s current student count.

The superintendent did include two conditions for the charter to open.

First, the district is asking the charter network to set aside $250,000 for use at the Coal Creek Canyon site, in case enrollment projections or the proposed finance plan don’t pan out.

The district is also asking Jefferson Academy to present a detailed plan by April 5 on how it would provide targeted support to students who are struggling academically.

In addition to the district’s typical review teams for the charter application, the district also had a committee of community members from Coal Creek Canyon review the application and present their thoughts.

In a memo, the committee cited several strengths of the proposed school, such as the options that will be available for before- and after-school care, unique course offerings, and the opportunity to have one local Coal Creek parent serve as a member of the charter network’s school board.

Among its concerns, the group cited a lack of transportation; it asked the school to at least help coordinate carpooling. The committee also asked for increased marketing to help families better understand the school’s proposed Core Knowledge curriculum model.

At the opportunity for public comment in December, only one parent spoke to the school board about the charter application, saying she was impressed with the proposed school plan, which had made her “enthusiastic” about her son’s learning again.

Dorland told the school board she would keep them updated on enrollment projections for the charter school and how it progresses.

Yesenia Robles is a reporter for Chalkbeat Colorado covering K-12 school districts and multilingual education. Contact Yesenia at yrobles@chalkbeat.org.

Literacy, vouchers, and IPS: Indiana education issues we’re watching in 2024

2023-12-21T12:00:00+00:00

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It may be a new year on the calendar, but January marks the halfway point of the school year and the start of the legislative session in Indiana. And there’s no shortage of education news and issues to watch.

Here’s five topics we’re watching in 2024:

How students learn to read

No surprise here, but reading will likely get a lot of attention, just like in 2023.

Lawmakers passed a new state law in 2023 that requires school districts to adopt a curriculum that’s aligned with the science of reading. The law also specifies that districts are no longer allowed to use literacy curriculum that rely mostly on the three-cueing model, in which students use context clues and pictures.

The new law grew out of concerns held by lawmakers and education officials about students’ reading ability, and our story about what it means for students, teachers and schools was our most-read story of 2023.

When discussing next year’s legislative session, lawmakers said they want to continue to address literacy by looking into Indiana’s third grade retention laws for students who don’t pass the state reading exam, the IREAD-3.

2024 elections feature gubernatorial, IPS school board races

The new year means that it’s a big election year — and not just because there’s a race for the White House.

Here in Indiana, there’s an election for governor with no incumbent, since term limits prohibit Gov. Eric Holcomb from running again. There are multiple candidates on the Republican side and former Indiana Superintendent of Education Jennifer McCormick on the Democratic side.

At the local level, four of the seven seats on the IPS Board of Commissioners are up for election in November, plus there will be school board elections across the state.

Rebuilding Stronger becomes reality for IPS

Approved by the Indianapolis Public Schools board in fall of 2022, Rebuilding Stronger is the district’s sweeping overhaul that aims to address pressing challenges of declining enrollment and educational inequities for students of color.

The Rebuilding Stronger rollout started this school year with the closure of several schools. But the bigger piece begins in the 2024-25 school year, when grade reconfigurations at the elementary and middle schools start, along with expanded academic programs and enrollment zones.

The district is working hard to make sure families know their options for the coming year with an invitation for families to “Choose your IPS.”

The enrollment period is underway, and IPS reported in early December that applications were up from the same time last year by about 470 families.

The future of old IPS school buildings

Per state law, school districts must offer closed school buildings to charter schools to buy or lease for $1. But the law comes with exemptions, including one added this year for districts that share funds from voter-approved property tax increases for operating or safety expenses with an “applicable charter school.”

What that new exemption means is the focus of a legal dispute between IPS and the state that will likely continue into the new year. The outcome will determine whether the district can sell the buildings or must essentially give them to charter schools that could enroll former IPS students.

IPS filed a lawsuit in August against Attorney General Todd Rokita and state board of education officials, arguing that the school district is exempt from the state law. A Marion County judge sided with the district, and Rokita appealed the ruling. In the meantime, the IPS has paused the sale of closed buildings, but the district plans to lease one of the facilities (which it previously voted to sell to a nonprofit) while the court battle plays out.

More students using vouchers

Earlier this year, lawmakers expanded the state’s voucher program to make nearly all students eligible to receive public money to attend private school. Indiana was one of several Republican-led states to do so recently.

Roughly 97% of students now qualify, and state projections show that participation could increase by nearly 42,000 students within two years. And in November, we had our first glimpse into what the participation looks like.

More than 69,000 Choice Scholarship applications were approved during the first round of the program for the 2023-24 school year, per the Indiana Department of Education. That’s a record number. And it’s likely to rise after the second application period, which closes in January.

Chalkbeat Indiana reporters Amelia Pak-Harvey and Aleksandra Appleton contributed to this article.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. She also covers access to higher education and Warren Township Schools. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Charter authorizer rejects bid from Indianapolis school with rocky academic, attendance history

2023-12-13T22:02:46+00:00

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The Genius School in Indianapolis has lost its bid for a charter from a second authorizer, after the Education One board at Trine University rejected its application Wednesday, citing concerns with inflated enrollment targets and financial projections.

The 3-0 vote creates uncertainty about the future of the troubled Genius School on the eastside of Indianapolis. The small school, which is co-located with GEO Next Generation High School, has a charter with the mayor’s Office of Education Innovation that expires at the end of this school year.

The Education One board on Wednesday also voted 3-0 to revoke the charter for Thea Bowman Leadership Academy in Gary, citing ongoing struggles with staff turnover, declining enrollment, and academic underperformance. The school is in the second year of a three-year charter extension set to expire in June 2025.

Without a charter, Thea Bowman’s roughly 850 students could be forced to look for new schools in June, when the revocation takes effect. However, the school is seeking approval from Calumet College of St. Joseph, another charter authorizer. In a press release after the vote, Education One’s executive director expressed disappointment that the school has decided to seek approval from another authorizer rather than rectify its deficiencies.

The votes follow a Chalkbeat analysis of Marion County charter schools that found a lack of guardrails in state law to ensure that charter schools and their authorizers are held accountable. State law provides little oversight of schools seeking approval from a new authorizer after facing scrutiny from their existing one.

The Genius School renamed itself after Indianapolis Public Schools removed it from the district’s network of autonomous Innovation schools. In its decision to sever ties with the school, which used to be called Ignite Achievement Academy, the district cited high staff turnover, poor academic results, and low attendance.

The school, which was placed on probationary status by the Office of Education Innovation around January 2022, withdrew from the renewal process with the authorizer earlier this year.

The Genius School’s head of school, Shy-Quon Ely II, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Chalkbeat’s analysis also found that roughly one-third of brick-and-mortar or blended-model charter schools in Indianapolis have closed since the passage of the state’s charter school law in 2001.

Education One staff also cited concerns with the school’s ability to implement a multi-faceted model focused on the whole child.

Staff also had concerns with the Genius School’s ability to hit projected enrollment targets. State records show it had an enrollment of 74 students last school year. In its application, the school set a goal of reaching 150 students in 2024-25.

Staff also cited an insufficient timeline for its facility plans, and noted that the proposed budget would put the school in a deficit within its first two years.

Education One Executive Director Lindsay Omlor said that staff shared their feedback with the school.

“I don’t know if they’ll apply to us again in the spring, if they’ll shoot for another authorizer, if they’ll just call it a day,” Omlor said.

Thea Bowman Leadership Academy’s charter revoked

Meanwhile, staff cited ongoing struggles with staff turnover, declining enrollment, and academic underperformance at Thea Bowman Leadership Academy.

This isn’t the first time a charter authorizer has spurned the school. In 2016, Ball State University declined to renew the school’s charter. That same year, the school sought authorization from the Indiana Charter School Board, but that board also declined to sponsor the school. Eventually, Education One authorized the school in 2016.

The school was able to rectify organizational concerns and greatly improve academic performance within its first two years at Trine, Omlor told board members at the meeting. But things have gone downhill since then, she indicated.

She said Education One staff have had “had really strong ongoing concerns related to both academic and organizational performance” over the last three years.

But in a statement, the school argued that the revocation was retaliation for seeking authorization from Calumet College of St. Joseph, which it pursued beginning in March because a “disconnect” had developed between Education One and the school. The school said it notified Education One of intent to change authorizers on Oct. 30.

The concerns cited in Education One’s notice of revocation are present in other urban school districts and said the authorizer has had “little to no in-person contact”, the school argued. “The challenges are real and require real time and real attention.”

Phalen Leadership Academies, which manages the school, referred comment to the school.

This school year alone, staff turnover at Thea Bowman is the highest it’s been for the school at over 50%, Omlor said. Enrollment has also declined from over 1,200 students seven years ago to 850 this year, she said.

The school also underperforms on state tests compared to some similar nearby schools, according to annual performance reviews — most notably at the high school level. It has consistently failed to meet overall academic standards in such annual reviews.

The school has also not set performance goals with Phalen Leadership Academies and has failed to communicate with stakeholders such as Education One, Omlor said at Wednesday’s meeting.

“Today’s difficult decision was made first and foremost with the interests of students, families, and taxpayers in mind,” Omlor said in a statement after the vote. “While we never set out to close a school, it is our obligation to ensure our schools are upholding their duty to provide high quality educational options for kids and communities across the state.”

This article was updated to include a statement from Thea Bowman Leadership Academy.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

How Indianapolis-area students can earn college credit in high school

2023-12-07T16:10:41+00:00

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This article was originally published by WFYI.

More than a decade ago, only a quarter of Marion County public high school graduates earned college credit. Today, over half of all graduates earn dual credits from Indiana public colleges during their high school years.

The growing popularity of dual credit comes as the price tag of a secondary degree is questioned by debt-averse students, and Indiana’s college-going rate is stuck at the lowest point in a generation.

In Indianapolis, the number of high schoolers going directly to college after graduation fell to about 47 percent in 2021, according to the most recent state data.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, more students than ever were choosing to earn several types of advanced credit that count toward their graduation and can not only streamline the transition to higher education but cut the bill. Nearly 63 percent of Indiana high schoolers who graduated in 2021 had some type of college credit, a slight dip from the previous year.

In the next four years, state education leaders want to ensure that every Indiana high school provides students the opportunity to earn 30 core college credits, covering essential subjects like English composition, introductory biology, and chemistry. That’s called the Indiana College Core — a certificate earned by completing a set of coursework that can be transferred between all Indiana public colleges and universities and some private ones. Today more than 220 high schools offer it.

Proponents of College Core say it’s working. Over 1,800 students from the class of 2021 graduated with the Indiana College Core, and 90 percent of those students went on to attend college.

Those students could also save on the price of a degree. The Indiana Commission for Higher Education estimates the average cost for a year at a state public college at $22,000.

Students can still take classes for transferable college credit that work towards earning the Indiana College Core without taking all 30 credits needed to earn the certificate.

Michael Hansen with the Brookings Institution says many people are rethinking the purpose of college credit — including how it could be a pathway to enrolling in and completing college.

“I think, for many students, it does show them that maybe college isn’t that challenging, after all,” Hansen said. “I think some students just sort of tell a story about their academic ability during school, and they just feel like college is not for me, and so I’m not even going to try.”

High schools in Indianapolis provide various dual credit programs, with some large traditional schools like Crispus Attucks High School in Indianapolis Public Schools and Lawrence North in Lawrence Township, reporting around 68 percent of graduates earning credits, according to most recent state data.

Here’s how two Indianapolis high schools provide programs for students to earn college credits and, for some, even a chance at an associate’s degree.

Earning credit on a college campus

Rhymz Johnson is a junior at GEO Next Generation High School. He’s been at GEO since he was a freshman. He arrives at the school in the Meadows northeast side neighborhood every weekday morning around 8:30 a.m. A little bit later, he gets on a bus.

Johnson and two other classmates are headed a few miles to Ivy Tech Community College. It’s the first day of a new term in October.

Rhymz Johnson is a junior at GEO Next Generation High School. Johnson attends classes each day at Ivy Tech Community College as part of a program to earn credit or an associate degree that can transfer to an Indiana college or university.

Johnson, 17, said he feels more like a college student than a high schooler. This semester, he only has one class at the charter high school. The rest of his classes are at Ivy Tech, like the design technology class today.

“Every year since freshman year, I’ve basically had more college classes than high school classes,” he said about the Ivy Tech courses that also satisfy his graduation requirements.

Kevin Teasley, the founder of GEO Academies, said getting students on campus to take classes prepares them for the experience of navigating and learning at college.

“So they walk away with not only a bunch of credits, saving themselves and their family a bunch of money, but they walk away with a lot of experience,” Teasley said. “That’s the key. So if they get an associate’s degree, fantastic. But what we really want them to get is that life experience of going off to college.”

Teasley opened a Gary charter school in 2005. The goal was initially to thwart the high dropout rate in the Northwest region. What he found was a way to connect students with post-grad opportunities.

Now two GEO schools in Gary offer dual credit programs at local colleges. At Gary Middle College, aimed at non-traditional students, nearly 80 percent of graduates reported employment or college enrollment a year after graduation in 2020, according to the most recent data available.

The GEO Next Generation High School Indianapolis opened in 2020 and it offers the Indiana College Core. About 180 students are enrolled at the 7-12 grade school, according to state data. In 2022, 85 percent of students graduated.

“We’re in the business of dropping all barriers,” Teasley said. “We want our students to succeed. So if we have to provide transportation we do. We do pay for the tuition. We do buy the textbooks. We do provide academic and social supports. It’s a complete approach.”

The cost per credit hour for part-time students at Ivy Tech is $170.

Multiple times each day a bus transports students from GEO Next Generation High School on the city’s north east side to the campus of Ivy Tech Community College.

For Johnson, the experience at GEO Academy led him to reconsider a plan to take off time after high school.

“I think I’ll just go ahead and stick to it and just take another year at Ivy Tech, at least to try to get my associate’s degree,” he said.

Now, Johnson is considering transferring to a four year university after getting his associates to major in engineering.

College classes at your high school

Ben Davis University is a three-story building just outside the I-465 loop west of downtown. From the outside, it appears to be a traditional high school but is a partnership between the Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township and the public Vincennes University.

The curriculum is designed for students to earn a diploma and associate’s degree to ease the path to a four-year college. Students take classes to complete one of four degrees and career paths: liberal arts, business management, information technology, and health careers.

The school district covers all the costs.

Gift Akintomide is a junior who picked IT as her focus. She said the smaller, more intimate educational environment at BDU led to her choosing the school over other options. About 390 students are enrolled at the 10-12 grade school, according to state data.

“There’s a lot fewer people [at BDU] than at other high schools. So you feel like you’re getting a tailored education and you have a more personal relationship with your teachers and your peers,” said Akintomide. “But I will say that the early college did draw me in as well. There are opportunities to grow from it.”

BDU students take college classes every other day from a Vincennes University adjunct professor. This semester, Akintomide is taking an advanced computer science class.

She chose IT because it’s a growing field and the skills she’s learning now will be transferable to whichever career path she lands on.

Vincennes counselors are also in the building to help students stay on track for their degree completion. Akintomide says she learned that if you collaborate with teachers to understand the college coursework, “you will excel.”

In 2022, 100 percent of students graduated. In 2021, nearly 95 percent of graduates reported they were employed or enrolled in college after graduating a year earlier.

Wayne Township offers other dual credit options outside of Ben Davis University. The Early College Career Center at Ben Davis High School offers a program for students to earn their diploma and associate degree in pharmacy technology, culinary arts, or precision machining.

Ben Davis University is part of the Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township. Through a partnership with Vincennes University students can earn an associate degree when they graduate with their high school diploma.

“Wayne Township has always had pathway options for students so that they can individualize what they want to do during high school and what they want to do after high school,” said Rebecca Daugherty-Saunders, the district’s Director of College and Career Readiness. “We definitely have seen a growing trend of interest in career certification programs. And so we’re adapting to meet the needs of our students.”

The Area 31 Career Center, also based at Ben Davis High School, offers credentials in welding, cosmetology, and supply chain management. Students get school credit for hands-on work experience.

Akintomide, the junior at Ben Davis University, hasn’t nailed down exactly what she wants to do for her career but wants to go into the medical field. She is considering a major in bioengineering on a pre-med track and then continuing to medical school.

“I think it gave me an idea of what college is. I may not be like physically in an actual college. but it does let me know how the structure works,” Akintomide said about the school. “I also get to talk to the professors, and they let me know how it is at Vincennes University.”

Contact WFYI Marion County education reporter Sydney Dauphinais at sdauphinais@wfyi.org.

Roughly 1 in 3 Indy charter schools have closed since 2001. Is weak oversight a problem?

2023-11-30T12:00:00+00:00

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On the day the Indiana Charter School Board voted to close Carpe Diem Meridian High School in 2017, Liv Pedigo stepped outside, sat on the family swing in the backyard, and cried.

Pedigo, a junior at the time, had loved Carpe Diem Meridian, a blended-model charter school using virtual and in-person learning that opened to fanfare five years earlier. The closure was a surprising turn of events for the network, which years earlier had been given permission by the Indiana Charter School Board to open six schools across the state — without any restrictions on timing.

But within about a year of the closure vote, all three of Carpe Diem’s schools in Indianapolis had shut down due to financial concerns and academic struggles.

“That was really hard for me and devastating,” Pedigo recalled. “Just because I felt like that was where I belonged. That was my home. That was where I felt safe.”

Liv Pedigo, a former Carpe Diem Meridian student, had to attend a new high school for senior year when the school closed in 2017. About one-third of charter schools that have opened in Marion County since 2001 have closed.

Pedigo’s school is one of 31 in-person or blended-model charter schools that have closed in Indianapolis since 2001 — roughly a third of 91 such schools, according to a Chalkbeat analysis of school identification information from the state. Some, like Carpe Diem, appeared to be given the power by authorizers to expand too soon. Some faced declining enrollment, yet were allowed by authorizers to stay open. And some were rejected by one authorizer, only to be approved by another.

While closing schools represents a form of accountability, the volume of closures turns a spotlight on Indiana’s charter authorizers. These boards, often connected to government agencies or universities, essentially provide the oversight an elected school board would for traditional public schools. As the city’s charter enrollment grows, observers question whether authorizers are doing enough gatekeeping and quality control of schools — and whether the state’s own oversight of authorizers has been lax.

Charter oversight in general has created intense controversy in Indiana in recent years, although perhaps the most prominent example doesn’t involve brick-and-mortar schools. Following a 2017 Chalkbeat investigation, state auditors alleged that operators of two virtual charter schools inflated enrollment numbers to improperly obtain and disperse tens of millions of dollars. The state sued to recover the money, and the case is still in court.

In the wake of that scandal, legislators changed state law to bolster oversight of virtual charter schools, although critics argued the legislation did not go far enough. And the challenge goes beyond virtual schools: Nowhere in Indiana does charter accountability matter more than Indianapolis, which has the highest number of charter students of any city in the state.

“I do think that more standards should be in place to hold authorizers accountable for their portfolio,” said Joseph Waddington, director of program evaluation and research at the Institute for Educational Initiatives at Notre Dame University who has studied charter authorizers. “Especially in an instance like Indiana, which affords the opportunity for many different agencies to serve as authorizer.”

Indiana is heralded by national charter groups as a paragon; last year, for the seventh year in a row, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools said Indiana (in a tie with Colorado) had the best charter school law in the nation. Yet in its model charter law, the same group says states should require automatic closures of chronically low-performing schools, and set a minimum performance standard for an authorizer’s portfolio of schools.

Indiana law requires neither.

While Indianapolis has averaged more than one charter closure per year, it’s not necessarily clear that its closure rate of roughly 34% is a major outlier.

In Ohio, for example, over 42% of the nearly 600 charter schools that opened since 1998 had closed by the end of 2019, according to an analysis from Stéphane Lavertu, a professor at Ohio State University who has studied charter school closures. Last year, a federal watchdog found that 14% of schools receiving money from the U.S. Department of Education’s Charter School Program for states from fiscal 2006 through 2020 had either closed or never opened; that rate was over 30% of such schools in Illinois and over 60% in Kansas.

At the same time, authorizers are making decisions in a state policy environment where school accountability is essentially on hold.

Some in the authorizing community say Indiana’s suspension of A-F grades for schools has made it hard to ascertain whether a school of any type is academically successful. In addition, some in the charter sector argue that decisions like voting to close a school indicate authorizers are doing their jobs.

“Authorizing is not paint by the numbers,” said Karega Rausch, president and CEO of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, who has also worked extensively on charter authorizing in Indiana. “It requires professionals with really high degrees of experience and judgment.”

Low enrollment factors into many charter school closures

Under state law, authorizers grant charters to prospective school operators, revoke charters for failing to meet certain standards, or choose not to renew them at the end of their term.

In addition to the Indiana Charter School Board, there are three other charter authorizers with schools in Marion County: the Indianapolis mayor’s Office of Education Innovation, Ball State University’s Office of Charter Schools, and Education One, the authorizing arm of Trine University in Angola. Authorizers collect fees for their work, which in the 2021-22 academic year ranged from roughly $307,000 to nearly $3 million for those four authorizers.

Authorizers evaluate their schools based on financial, academic, and organizational success, and submit an annual report to the state Department of Education. They also have a pre-opening process for new schools.

Authorizers’ work with each school can be long-lasting as well as detailed: They review schools throughout their charter term, which state law recently expanded to last as long as 15 years.

A Chalkbeat analysis of those four authorizers of non-virtual and blended-model charters in Marion County found that BSU had the highest rate of school closures at 75%, or six of eight.

How each authorizer holds its schools accountable — and how they determine whether to open a school — can vary, and their methods do not always protect against the factors that lead to schools shutting down.

For example, enrollment has a major impact on charters because it is tied to their per-pupil state funding; historically, charters have not been able to collect local property tax revenue like traditional public schools. Authorizers in Indianapolis say they closely monitor enrollment. Some examine the school’s budget to ensure it can remain financially stable, while others cite it as a deficiency in its evaluation of the school that could lead to probationary status.

But such measures don’t always guard against failure. HIM By HER charter school’s first academic year of 2020-21 was disrupted by the pandemic, making student recruitment a challenge. The low enrollment was a red flag for Ball State’s charter office, officials there said — but the warning and any subsequent intervention was not enough to save the school from closing in 2022.

Charter schools routinely close due to low enrollment. In 2018, four non-virtual Indianapolis charter schools closed, and all of those schools or their affiliated networks faced challenges with enrollment. Still, six new charters opened that year in Indianapolis.

Former students and employees of charter schools that struggled with enrollment described a lack of resources, general disorganization, and misplaced priorities.

Sydney Pedigo, Liv Pedigo’s older sister who also attended Carpe Diem Meridian, was skeptical when the school offered her gift cards in exchange for participating in promotional events about Carpe Diem’s expansion.

Pedigo said there was a focus on promoting the school “and not actually further investing anything in the education” of students.

Rick Ogston, founder of the Carpe Diem network, did not respond to a request for comment.

State law places no parameters on how fast a school should grow, or what to do when schools routinely fail to meet their enrollment targets. There is also no limit on how many charters an authorizer can grant to a school operator at once.

For its part, the Indiana Charter School Board eventually decided to avoid approving multiple charters for a single network at once unless the network has a plan for expansion, said James Betley, the board’s executive director. And it’s more cautious in at least one other respect.

“We don’t authorize in Indianapolis any more, really,” said Betley, who did not lead the organization when it approved Carpe Diem’s expansion. “It’s too crowded. It’s oversaturated. There are too many schools.”

After rejection, some charter schools seek approval elsewhere

For Darneatryce Scott, teaching for just a few weeks at the Genius School was “hell” before she quit in 2022.

The school struggled with staffing, she said, and she ended up teaching more subjects than she was hired for. She had to scramble to provide her own curriculum, she recalled, since it did not initially have one for several subjects.

And when she applied for the job, she said, she had no idea the school once had a different name.

The school used to be known as Ignite Achievement Academy and for a time was part of the Indianapolis Public Schools Innovation Network, a group of schools under the district umbrella that have more flexibility than traditional schools and are often charters. But in 2021, the IPS school board voted to kick the school out of the network the next school year, citing low test scores and high staff turnover.

The mayor’s Office of Education and Innovation, the school’s authorizer, allowed the school to rename itself, relocate, and stay open — but put the school on a performance improvement plan.

But this year, the school is seeking approval from another authorizer: Education One.

The Genius School did not return requests for comment.

Since 2001, at least three Indianapolis brick-and-mortar or blended charters have sought and won approval from a different authorizer, after their school or sister schools faced scrutiny from their initial authorizer.

At least another five schools were rejected in the application stage by one authorizer but later approved by another.

The charter office for Ball State approved three schools that had been previously rejected or had schools in the same network under scrutiny, the highest number among the four authorizers for schools that have opened. Trine approved two — and also recently approved a Purdue Polytechnic High School campus after the Indianapolis Charter School Board, which is part of the mayor’s Office of Education and Innovation, rejected a third Purdue Polytechnic campus amid public pushback. That campus is slated to open in 2024.

Lawmakers have added some provisions to guard against schools jumping from one authorizer to another. Authorizers that wish to issue a charter to a previously closed school must request a review by the state board of education at a hearing.

Authorizers, meanwhile, say they talk to other authorizers about previously rejected schools. And state law requires applicants to list any other authorizers they have applied to in the past five years.

But such processes don’t necessarily address those schools that hop to another authorizer before they’re even forced to close.

When Scott heard the Genius School was seeking a new authorizer, she was incredulous.

“We need to get rid of all these schools,” she said, “and stop letting them go from one [authorizer] to another.”

Charter school authorizers in a ‘zombie’ accountability stage?

State law is relatively open-ended about when or why authorizers should shut down schools.

For many years, the state used A-F school ratings for accountability purposes and to determine school improvement status. But in 2020, the state granted a hold-harmless period for those ratings due to a transition in state testing from ISTEP to ILEARN. The pandemic extended that pause, removing a high-profile accountability tool for those overseeing public schools, including charter authorizers.

In 2021, with those A-F grades still frozen, the state repealed a law requiring charter schools to shut down if they remained in the lowest category of school improvement for three consecutive years. The same year, they also repealed a law that allowed the state to suspend authorizers if they failed to close such schools.

Authorizers say the state accountability vacuum has left them to judge schools with a medley of data points – from progress on national assessments to how a charter compares to neighboring schools – to determine academic success. Legislators haven’t enacted new oversight measures for charter schools and authorizers to take the place of the previous two mandates.

“It is a bit of a zombie state right now, I think, as far as trying to evaluate the performance of schools,” said Jamie Garwood, director of Ball State’s Office of Charter Schools.

State lawmakers have tasked the Indiana Department of Education to develop a revised school performance rating, using the A-F grading scale, by December 2024.

Rep. Bob Behning, an Indianapolis Republican who chairs the House Education Committee, said he would be open to new accountability measures for authorizers.

“Do I see that we’ll be putting consequences back in statute soon? Probably not,” he said. “It’s hard to see a world where you’re going to put consequences in place where you don’t have accountability.”

He also warned against overregulation that could hinder authorizers from giving the green light to schools that may deserve a chance.

Victory College Prep, for example, left a charter management network to become an independent charter in 2019, after the mayor’s Office of Education and Innovation renewed the school.

Since then, said the school’s executive director Ryan Gall, the school has gone on an upward trajectory, improving its academic outcomes and financial management. Throughout that time, the mayor’s office has held them accountable, he said.

Students walk in the hallway at Victory College Prep on Sept. 29, 2023. The charter school has exceeded pre-pandemic proficiency levels on both the ILEARN and IREAD state tests since it cut ties with its management organization and renamed itself in 2019.

Gall questioned the scrutiny on authorizers’ work. What matters more, he said, is how charters fare compared to traditional public schools nearby.

A Chalkbeat analysis of the latest state test results show that on ILEARN tests, students in charter schools not affiliated with IPS outperformed students in IPS-controlled schools.

And schools run by IPS close and create instability for students too, Gall noted. Since 2001, at least 17 traditional IPS schools have closed.

“Have charter schools over the last 20 years been a better option?” Gall said. “I would argue we have.”

But that’s not much comfort for Sydney Pedigo, who graduated from Carpe Diem Meridian.

Given another chance, she would tell the Indiana Charter School Board not to approve the other two charters for the additional schools. That way, she said, maybe the network could have focused all its attention on Carpe Diem Meridian.

“It would’ve been solid before actually expanding,” she said. “It could’ve done what it was intended to do.”

Clarification: Nov. 30, 2023: A previous version of this story said Purdue Polytechnic High School’s application was rejected by the mayor’s office. This story has been updated to clarify the rejection was made by the Indianapolis Charter School Board in the mayor’s Office of Education Innovation.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

IPS sale of Francis Bellamy School 102 paused amid legal battle with Todd Rokita

2023-11-17T21:52:11+00:00

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Indianapolis Public Schools board voted to move ahead with the sale of Francis Bellamy School 102 while the legal battle over whether the district must offer it to charter schools for $1 continues in court.

But within a day, that sale was put on hold.

The school board voted 6-0 Thursday to authorize the sale of the school on the far eastside to VOICES, a local nonprofit that works with youth, for $550,000. One commissioner was absent.

The vote came three days after Marion County Judge Heather Welch granted the district an exemption from a state law that requires districts to offer closed school buildings to charter schools for $1. For some time, that law has caused tension between IPS and some in the charter sector, as IPS has closed schools while charter school enrollment has grown.

On Friday, Welch granted an emergency motion requested by Attorney General Todd Rokita to stay her ruling and stop the sale while Rokita appeals the decision.

In a statement, the school board said it is seeking clarity on the meaning of the stay.

“We will continue to advocate for our facilities to be repurposed in ways to meet the needs of our community, as is the case for our agreement with VOICES Corp.,” the board said.

Before the school board vote Thursday, a crowd of parents, students, and others urged the school board to work collaboratively with charter schools under the “Better Together” campaign. The campaign includes groups supportive of education reform, such as EmpowerEd Families.

IPS objected to Rokita’s attempt to stop the sale in a court filing on Thursday, arguing that doing so would harm IPS and taxpayers.

The district indicated that there’s no real downside to selling the school while the legal battle plays out, as far as IPS is concerned. If an appeals court ultimately finds the district in violation of the $1 law, state law would require the proceeds of the sale to go to nearby charter schools, the district noted in its filing.

The state has not provided any evidence that a charter school actually wants to acquire either School 102 or Raymond Brandes School 65 — another closed school the district wants to sell — IPS also said in its filing.

However, last year several charter schools expressed interest in taking over schools that IPS planned to close.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Denver school board rejects superintendent’s recommendation to close Academy 360 charter school

2023-11-17T18:12:30+00:00

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In a 5-2 vote, the Denver school board rejected a recommendation from Superintendent Alex Marrero Thursday to close Academy 360, a small charter school with low test scores.

Board members cited several reasons for keeping the school open, including the mental health support it provides students and families, school leaders’ commitment to boosting academic achievement, and the fact that nearby schools don’t have high test scores either.

“I don’t believe in shifting around Black and brown children from one failing school to another failing school,” board Vice President Auon’tai Anderson said.

Board member Carrie Olson, who was a teacher at a Denver middle school that was closed for low test scores, also noted that school closures can be traumatic for students.

“We want to give you another chance,” she said, addressing Academy 360 staff and supporters, “and we have to see that you’re doing right by all students. Because I don’t want to incur more pain and I know the trauma of having a school being closed.”

Board President Xóchitl “Sochi” Gaytán and member Scott Baldermann were the only two to vote yes on closing Academy 360. Given Denver Public Schools’ declining enrollment, Gaytán said that refusing to close low-performing charter schools would make the district’s problem of too few students and too many schools worse, especially for district-run schools.

Academy 360 opened in 2013 in Montbello, the brainchild of a young educator who imagined a charter school focused on mental and physical health and wellness that would outperform the neighborhood’s struggling district-run schools.

Ten years later, Academy 360 serves 230 students — with five classrooms of preschoolers, one classroom each of kindergarten through fifth grade, and a special education program for students with autism. Nearly 90% of students are students of color, 78% are from low-income families, 34% are English language learners, and 24% have disabilities.

Academy 360 has struggled academically. This year, it earned the lowest possible state rating, signified by the color red. Its students in grades 3-5 scored in the first percentile on state literacy and math tests last spring, meaning 99% of Colorado students scored higher.

The board voted earlier this year to close a different charter school with similar scores. But that school, STRIVE Prep - Kepner, then in the midst of a merger with the higher-performing Rocky Mountain Prep charter network, didn’t protest Marrero’s closure recommendation. Academy 360 did protest — and the majority of board members sided with the school.

Irrespective of the STRIVE vote, Marrero previously expressed concerns that allowing Academy 360 to remain open would set a precedent that Denver Public Schools doesn’t close charter schools, no matter how low their test scores. He said the premise of independently run charter schools is that they’re granted extra flexibility but also held accountable for their results.

Board members said they understood Marrero’s reasoning, but didn’t agree in this case.

“My stance is not an attempt to excuse charter schools from their obligations,” board member Michelle Quattlebaum said. “Rather, it reflects the nuanced nature of the learning process and the exceptional circumstances that may warrant deviations from established norms.”

Melanie Asmar is a senior reporter for Chalkbeat Colorado, covering Denver Public Schools. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.

Denver’s superintendent wants to close Academy 360 charter school. But the school board has questions.

2023-11-15T22:34:48+00:00

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The Denver superintendent has recommended closing another charter school for low test scores — a once-rare option that he used last school year as well.

This time, it’s Academy 360, a small charter school serving preschool to fifth grade in the Montbello neighborhood. Academy 360 supporters describe the school as a village where students grow vegetables on asphalt, where kids who used to kick walls now sit attentively during math, and where 90 3- and 4-year-olds attend preschool in a child care desert.

“Our children are more than their test scores,” parent Ashley Chapman told the school board.

By contrast, Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero described Academy 360 as having one of the lowest state ratings he’s ever seen. At a board meeting earlier this month, Marrero acknowledged the school serves a population of students with high needs, most of whom are Black and Latino, but said “they’re not doing it well.”

“So it’s my duty to make sure we can meet the needs of those students,” he said.

For Marrero, there’s another consideration, too. He said keeping Academy 360 open would set a precedent that DPS does not close charter schools, no matter what.

“Charter schools are built on the promise of autonomy and flexibility, and in turn, accountability,” Marrero said. “So we’re delivering on our promise in terms of holding them accountable.”

The school board is set to vote Thursday on whether to close Academy 360. But five of the seven board members have expressed reservations. That’s notable because they were all elected with the help of the Denver teachers union, which has been hostile to charters. What’s more, the board voted to close another charter school with low test scores earlier this year.

But this recommendation sparked pushback. Board members worried that closing the school — where 88% of students are students of color, 78% come from low-income families, and 24% have disabilities — would be deeply disruptive to a community that one board member described as having “need upon need upon need.”

“Are we sure this is going to make things better?” board member Carrie Olson asked Marrero. “I don’t know what the answer is, but it doesn’t feel like the answer is to close the school.”

Academy 360 Executive Director Becky McLean speaks to a third grade student during class on Friday.

School is in a community hub

Academy 360 opened in 2013 with the promise of being better than “failing” district-run schools.

Its founder, who’d taught in Hawaii through Teach for America and worked for Google, was only 25 when she came up with the concept for a health and wellness charter school where students got an hour of physical activity per day, sugary drinks were banned, and teachers emphasized social-emotional learning and restorative justice.

The school’s founder no longer works there, but current Executive Director Becky McLean has been at Academy 360 since the beginning, when the school was in a leased church space. It now occupies two floors of a building that has become a hub of community organizations.

“This building buzzes from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. most times,” McLean said. “It’s a safe space. It’s a known space. What happens if that gets taken away?”

Child Find, the state agency that evaluates young children for disabilities, had an office there so it could easily see students who might qualify for Academy 360′s inclusive preschool classes.

WellPower, formerly known as the Mental Health Center of Denver, has two clinicians in the building who see students regularly. So does the Struggle of Love Foundation, which provides free mental health support and runs a daily food pantry so popular that McLean said the line of cars snakes all through the parking lot and the food is gone in an hour.

McLean estimates that 43% of the school’s 230 students see either a community-based clinician, the school’s psychologist or social worker, or a University of Denver graduate student for one-on-one mental health sessions or group counseling.

“That is unique to our model,” McLean said. “That is not every elementary model.”

That approach extends to the classroom and hallways, too. When a girl streaked down the hallway last Friday morning, sobbing heavily, Director of Academics Kristen Freeman knew just what was wrong: challenges at home and an issue at breakfast.

“We believe that relationships are the most powerful tool an adult has in this building,” McLean said, after watching Freeman follow the girl into a classroom. “I’m assuming the reason you’re sprinting down the hallway screaming is because you have a need you can’t name.”

School board member Michelle Quattlebaum, who represents the Montbello neighborhood, said she worries that if Academy 360 closes, students’ safety net will disappear.

“What we’re introducing is potentially a significant disruption of wraparound services,” she said. “How are we to ensure that these students will still receive the support that they need?”

Students line up for recess on Friday at Academy 360.

Low scores signal academic struggles

Many aspects of Academy 360 have remained the same or strengthened in the decade it’s been open. The school still partners with local nonprofit organizations, such as Children’s Farms in Action and Swallow Hill Music, to provide enrichments to its students.

In early spring, the bigger students plant vegetables in the school’s raised beds, and in late spring, the younger students harvest them. The school has two therapy bunnies, Baca and Chili, that live in a hutch outside. After learning that Academy 360 had no grassy field, the professional Colorado Rapids soccer team built the school an artificial pitch.

But in other ways, the school has struggled. In 2013, Academy 360 received the highest school rating, signified by the color green, based on its student test scores.

This year, the school received the lowest rating, signified by the color red. Its third- through fifth-graders scored in the 1st percentile on state math and literacy tests, meaning that 99% of Colorado students scored higher. When district officials visited the school in September as part of the charter renewal process, they noted that many students were disengaged.

“Most of the instruction time was spent on correcting behavior, rather than the content, as there were behavior interruptions from multiple students in each class,” a report says.

After Academy 360 got its test scores, McLean said school leaders made a two-year plan to strengthen its academics. The school hired a math instructional coach, as well as a dedicated English language development teacher for the 34% of students who are multilingual learners.

The school holds “skill-and-drill” sessions with students who are behind, and is using a new interim test it hopes will better predict how students will do on the all-important state tests.

Leaders also point out that the school’s younger students, who don’t yet take state tests, are making fast progress. The number of kindergarten through third graders reading “significantly below grade level” fell by 20 percentage points in a single year, Freeman said.

McLean acknowledges that the school has work to do. But earlier this week, she made a public plea to the school board to give Academy 360 two years to turn things around.

“We have a great game plan,” she said in an interview. “We know if we don’t turn around in two years, we will have to look in a mirror to say, ‘What’s the next step for A360?’”

Students walk on the "yellow brick road," a safe path through the parking lot, on their way to the playground Friday at Academy 360.

Are there better options?

Ten years after its founding, Academy 360 is in the same position as the district-run schools it hoped to outperform, a trajectory that has also befallen other charter schools in Denver, more than a dozen of which have closed in the past five years.

But the closest district-run school to Academy 360, McGlone Academy, is also red. Nearly all of the nearby district-run elementary schools are red, orange, or yellow.

“When I look at neighboring schools that are also red, I’m trying to figure out … how we improve outcomes for students by shuffling them around red schools,” board member Scott Esserman said when Marrero presented his closure recommendation in early November.

Marrero said the difference is that his team is working with the district-run schools to improve. Charter schools are independently run, and DPS has little power over their programming.

“Can we visit? Yes,” Marrero said. “But visibility and support? No.”

The superintendent has used that line of reasoning before to explain his recommendations to close other charter schools and to dissolve a semi-autonomous innovation zone — and it represents a departure in philosophy from previous DPS superintendents who believed that giving schools flexibility would lead to better academic outcomes.

Most board members didn’t seem swayed by Marrero’s reasoning. The board is considering a policy that would bar the district from closing district-run schools based on test scores or state ratings. So, some wondered, why shouldn’t the board do the same for charter schools?

Note: This story has been updated to reflect that Child Find had an office in Academy 360′s building but does not anymore.

Melanie Asmar is a senior reporter for Chalkbeat Colorado, covering Denver Public Schools. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.

Philip’s Academy Charter receives award for teacher diversity. Here’s how the Newark school did it.

2023-09-26T20:41:09+00:00

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Ashley Daniels knew she liked kids and had enjoyed working as a camp counselor. But, before applying for a job at Philip’s Academy Charter School, she had never worked in education.

So when she got the position as a student aide, she wasn’t sure what to expect. She was pleasantly surprised.

After about an hour at the Newark school, Daniels thought: This is it.

“Even though I didn’t know what a career as a teacher would look like for me, I just knew I wanted to stay here,” she said.

Daniels, who is Black, is one of dozens of teachers Philip’s has hired since launching a strategic effort to diversify its staff about five years ago.

Since 2018, the percentage of Philip’s teachers who are Black or Latino has climbed from 53% to 81%.

In early September, Philip’s efforts were recognized when the school received a New Jersey Department of Education Lighthouse Award for diversifying the teacher workforce, an area in which Newark schools are generally struggling.

According to recent data, 90% of Newark’s traditional public school student population is Black or Latino, but just over 50% of Newark’s teachers identify the same way.

At Philip’s, 98% of students are Black or Latino.

Studies have shown that diversity within teaching staff, among other factors, is critical to the success of students. A lack of teachers of color can negatively impact attendance rates, test scores, and suspension rates.

Philip’s is seeking to change that reality for its students. Its doors opened just over 30 years ago and the school now serves around 600 students, from pre-K through eighth grade. The private-turned-charter school previously applied to expand to serve grades 9-12, but the state education department blocked that request last year.

One step the school is taking to diversify its faculty is investing in young, less-experienced teachers like Daniels. Since being hired in 2018, she has worked as a student aide, teacher associate, and now as a full-time teacher while she earns a master’s in education.

“People saw this in me and encouraged me to grow as an educator,” said Daniels. “Now I say the only way I’d leave this job is if I leave the state.”

About three years ago, Philip’s principal Yasmeen Sampson sought to expand efforts to diversify the school’s staff. At the time, work with an outside consultant was already underway, the primary goal being to survey current faculty about their long-term needs.

In light of the survey’s responses, Sampson launched a “recruit and retain” initiative, a multi-step plan to hire new faculty who align with the school’s mission and to keep the teachers they already have.

Sampson has incorporated more professional development, hired a faculty life coach who comes to campus twice a week, and offered free courses on financial literacy.

“We made our teachers the ambassadors for Philip’s, and it just kind of took off really nicely,” she said. “Now it’s like clockwork. We always have teachers saying ‘Hey, I know this person. Do we have a vacancy?’”

Finances have also played a significant role in Sampson’s ability to carry out her ideas.

“Philip’s has been blessed with a lot of financial support. We apply for any and every grant. Anything that can remotely bring in support, we’re going for it,” said Sampson. “The charter platform allows us to keep bringing in resources.”

Richard Alua, Philip’s dean of culture, said the way faculty view their jobs is also crucial in keeping them long term. Teachers are encouraged to take a holistic approach to students’ success beyond test scores, which he said makes both kids and faculty happier.

“That is the reason we have kids literally running to our school. We stand outside and tell them to slow down with a smile and a hug,” said Alua.

That holistic approach also means ensuring that students have dependable role models at school, particularly role models that look like them. Alua said that, as a Black man, he is aware of this responsibility, and does not take it lightly.

“I became the person I was searching for as a kid,” he said. “I have to put my cape on each morning, and I love it.”

Last year, Philip’s hired seven male teachers. For students like fourth grader Samuel Coleman, seeing teachers they identify with has made a difference.

“When I first met Mr. Vasquez in second grade I was surprised because not a lot of students get male teachers. A lot of students talked about how smart he is in math. Now that I’m in fourth grade I get to have him and it’s pretty fun,” said Samuel Coleman. “I really like to learn about math now.”

Samuel’s mother, Nicole Coleman, said she’s shocked that her son often wants to come home and play math games.

“I think it says a lot about the education he’s receiving and how excited he is about school,” said Nicole Coleman.

After enrolling her son in pre-K at Philip’s, Nicole Coleman was so impressed by his experience that she left her job at a Newark public school to teach drama at the charter school.

“I realized I wanted to be a part of the environment here,” she said. “This was an opportunity for me to be a part of an educational system that was actually thriving.”

As a member of Philip’s recruit and retain committee, Nicole Coleman brought in her son’s English teacher, Kalika Glover. According to Samuel Coleman, it’s been a success.

“When she teaches me something she makes it fun. I get excited to answer questions,” he said.

Nicole Coleman said she’s still grateful each day that they found Philip’s.

“I think that representation matters, as a parent and as a teacher. Our teaching faculty reflects our students and they’re able to connect with that,” she said. “We tell our students that they should be celebrating who they are every day. It starts at home and in the education system.”

Samantha Lauten is a fall reporting intern for Chalkbeat Newark covering public education in the city. Get in touch with Samantha at slauten@chalkbeat.org or reach the bureau newsroom at newark.tips@chalkbeat.org.

Attorney General Todd Rokita will appeal ruling backing IPS in lawsuit over $1 law

2023-11-15T20:48:26+00:00

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This story has been updated.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita plans to appeal a Marion County judge’s ruling that grants Indianapolis Public Schools an exemption from state law requiring districts to sell closed school buildings to charter schools for $1.

Rokita is also seeking an emergency stay of Judge Heather Welch’s Monday ruling, in order to prevent IPS from selling Francis Bellamy School 102 at Thursday’s school board meeting. IPS plans to sell the building to the local VOICES nonprofit that works with youth.

The lawsuit from IPS against Rokita and state board of education officials sought relief from the so-called $1 law. It also highlighted disagreements between the district and some members of the charter community about the best use of facilities and resources.

The district argues it is exempt from the law because it shares funding from a 2018 operating referendum with charter schools in its Innovation Network of autonomous schools. Lawmakers revised the $1 law this year to exempt districts if they share funds from voter-approved property tax increases for operating or safety expenses with an “applicable charter school.”

Welch ruled that IPS is exempt from the law so long as it continues to share those referendum funds with its charter schools.

But she said that the district would need to comply with a new law — which requires Marion County school districts to share such funds with all charter schools that enroll any of its students — if it extends its current sharing agreement, or if voters pass another funding referendum.

Rokita said in a statement that IPS should be held to the letter and spirit of state law.

“Like every case, we take it head on and do not back down,” he said. “We truly believe in parental rights, so we plan to file an appeal as soon as possible.”

IPS did not offer comment on Rokita’s announcement but referred to their statement sent on Monday that expressed gratitude for the judge’s ruling.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Judge grants IPS exemption from state law in sale of two closed school buildings

2023-11-13T19:47:42+00:00

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Indianapolis Public Schools may sell two closed school buildings without first offering them to charter schools for $1, a Marion County judge ruled on Monday.

Judge Heather Welch’s ruling in the district’s lawsuit against the state over the so-called $1 law — which requires districts to make those buildings available to charter schools or state education institutions for $1 sales or leases — concluded that IPS can sell the buildings because it previously agreed to share referendum funding with its Innovation Network charter schools in 2021.

The ruling against state Attorney General Todd Rokita, Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner, and the Indiana state board of education means the district can sell Raymond Brandes School 65 and Francis Bellamy School 102, both of which closed to students at the end of last school year.

It was not immediately clear Monday if any state agency planned to appeal Welch’s ruling. In a statement, the IPS school board said it was grateful for the judge’s ruling, which the board said reaffirmed the district’s ability to make decisions about the reuse of its facilities.

“We’re proud that we have already worked with organizations and community members so that, along with a number of possible options, some of these buildings will serve students with mental health needs, deaf students, and adult learners,” the statement said. “We continue to strive to not only be a good partner but also be fiscally responsible with the resources that have been entrusted to us by our community.”

In a statement responding to the ruling, a spokesperson for Rokita’s office said it will “continue to fight to uphold the law, as it is our statutorily authorized duty.”

“Charter schools provide a multitude of positive opportunities for children and allow Hoosier parents to have a say in how their kids are being educated,” the spokesperson said.

The Indiana Department of Education did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The lawsuit hinged on a new exemption to the $1 law, and highlighted ongoing tension between IPS and the broader charter community about resources and facilities.

That exemption applies to districts that distribute money from a voter-approved tax increase for operating or safety expenses to an “applicable charter school”

IPS, which sought relief from the $1 law in August, claimed in court filings that it was exempt from the law because it shared funds from its 2018 property tax increase with charters in its Innovation Network of autonomous schools.

Rokita’s office, however, argued that the district also needed to comply with a new referendum-sharing requirement imposed on school districts this year in order to be exempt.

That new requirement says school districts in Marion County and three other counties must share operating or safety referendum funds with charter schools that enroll a student in that district for any ballot question passed after May 10, 2023. Virtual and adult high school charter schools are exempt from receiving such funds.

In her ruling, Welch applied the “unambiguous” language of the exemption statute as written, arguing that the district is already distributing referendum funds to at least one charter school and is therefore exempt from the $1 requirement. The exemption applies for as long as IPS continues to give its charter schools such distributions, the ruling noted. The distributions are slated to last through 2026.

Lawmakers could have been more specific in crafting the new exemption to explicitly require districts to follow the new referendum-sharing requirements in order to be exempt from the $1 statute, Welch said.

But the court “must ultimately apply the statutes as written and cannot otherwise engage in further statutory construction to ascertain the General Assembly’s intent for passing the 2023 amendments to the Dollar Law in the particular manner the Legislature did,” the ruling stated.

But IPS is only exempt due to the “unique timing of the prior referendum and its election to distribute funds to charter schools,” Welch noted.

If IPS were to extend its current agreement to share funding with charter schools or begin distributing funds from a referendum held after May 10 of this year, it would be subject to the new state law requiring it to distribute funds to any charter school that enrolled an IPS student, Welch added.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Circle City Prep celebrates opening of new cafeteria with scratch kitchen and culinary lab

2023-11-10T20:21:12+00:00

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Jonnah Davidson walked into his school’s new cafeteria on Wednesday thoroughly impressed.

The new Circle City Prep cafeteria — known in school as “C3″ — is part of a $1.5 million investment the school made with the help of philanthropic donors to provide a new scratch kitchen with an on-site chef and a new learning laboratory space for the school’s after-school culinary club.

The project also included an overhaul of what students get to eat for lunch. Last year, the school began to transition from prepackaged, reheated food, like warmed-up pizzas, to fresh produce and meals made at the school. Students can choose fresh kale salads, something from the produce bar, and other options.

It’s a big deal for Circle City Prep, a school on the far east side, where family income levels qualify nearly every student for free or reduced-price lunch and many residents struggle with access to grocery stores and fresh food. The school and its community partners hope the new cafeteria and food lab will not only help students discover new food options, but also be open to the community as it addresses food insecurity as a whole.

The cafeteria space, with its sleek new seating, opened to students for the first time last month. During the construction, students were eating food in classrooms.

“This year, it feels like everything’s just new,” said Davidson, a sixth-grader. “I actually went into the kitchen one time and helped make a pizza. I feel like there’s more options.”

The project drew on assistance from the Patachou Foundation, a local nonprofit that works to address hunger. The group helped ensure the project complied with federal regulations for the National School Lunch Program, which covers the cost of lunch for students from low-income families.

Circle City is one of the foundation’s first “PataSchool” sites, where the group supports a transition from prepackaged meals to fresh food prepared on-site.

“Food insecurity is not just about scarcity. It’s a profound issue of justice,” Matthew Feltrop, executive director of the PataSchool program at the Patachou Foundation, said in remarks at the school celebration on Wednesday. “Merely providing food to prevent starvation perpetuates the cycle of poverty, and the real challenge is to break the cycles through innovative approaches and sustainable strategies.”

At Circle City Prep, the foundation’s in-kind aid includes help with recipes, training for kitchen staff, and help with operating the school cafeteria, Feltrop said.

The foundation is also helping Adelante Schools at Emma Donnan, a charter school in the Indianapolis Public Schools Innovation Network, for the first time this year.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Phalen Leadership Academies charter network seeks $10 million for sports complex

2023-11-08T21:14:55+00:00

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For Javonte Bailey, being on the track team at James and Rosemary Phalen Leadership Academy meant running through the hallways and up the cramped staircase by the school’s only small gym.

Track is one of several sports teams at the Indianapolis school that must take advantage of whatever space is available in the hallway, or auditorium, or gym — or even a parking lot turned into a miniature football field outside.

“We’re literally all on top of each other,” said Zion Maxwell, a junior on the cheer team, who worries about being too loud during practice while the after-school tutoring classes are nearby.

To help students like Zion, the Phalen Leadership Academies charter network is seeking to raise $10 million by 2025 for a sports complex at the far eastside school of roughly 800 students. The charter school is located in a high-needs area that relies on community resources to keep students safe and engaged after school.

Students at James and Rosemary Phalen — one of several Phalen schools in Indianapolis — say their peers are currently deterred from enrolling in after-school sports by the space limitations and lack of facilities. A new sports complex, they say, would also ease transportation headaches and provide a secure and healthy environment for students.

Phalen Leadership Academies is seeking $10 million from donors to build a sports complex that will feature a field for football, track, and soccer.

“It’ll be a safe place,” said Lakyi Herring-Jackson, a junior. “A place for people who live over here on the far eastside, for them to stay off the streets, stay away from the violence, stay away from the things that aren’t good for them.”

The network is turning to donors to help build a field for football, track, and soccer on a nine-acre plot of land next to the school. Officials also hope to build a new basketball facility with two full courts for practice.

Having a sports complex at the school would allow parents with limited transportation options to actually see their children compete, students said. It would also mean some students, such as those on the football team, won’t need to leave the school to practice like they did in the past.

James and Rosemary Phalen Leadership Academy is hoping to add new space for basketball.

Earlier this year, the Central Indiana Land Trust donated the nine-acre plot next to the school. In addition to the field for football, track and soccer, officials hope to use it for a concession stand and fieldhouse.

The school has also raised a little under $2 million toward the project so far, said Earl Martin Phalen, the founder and CEO of the Phalen network.

Phalen said he hopes individuals, foundations, and corporations will serve as donors for the complex, which will be named after Sean Cowdrey, his nephew. Naming rights are also available for parts of the complex such as the track or the field, he said.

“It’ll be nice for people to come to Phalen and see what we offer, instead of us having to go out,” Zion said.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

MLK College Prep students will have 6 choices for next year while new school is built

2023-11-03T21:27:45+00:00

Students at MLK College Preparatory High School in Frayser will get to choose from among six schools to attend beginning next school year, as Memphis-Shelby County Schools begins construction of a new high school on the same site.

MLK College Prep is closing as it returns to MSCS control after 10 years in the Achievement School District, a failed state effort to turn around struggling schools, mostly under charter operators. The school board rejected the school’s bid to return to the district as a charter school.

The new school on the site, which is expected to open in 2027, will replace MLK College Prep and nearby Trezevant High School. Trezevant, which is in the district-run iZone turnaround program, is one of the six schools that displaced MLK students can choose to attend next year, district officials said at a town hall meeting Thursday.

The others are Craigmont High, Medical District High, Raleigh-Egypt High, Middle College High and Manassas High.

Patrice Thomas, chief of strategic operations and planning adviser for MSCS, explained that MLK College Prep students will be assigned to Trezevant High by default. Transportation will be provided to Trezevant, but it will also be provided to two other schools that draw the most MLK College Prep students.

“Trezevant is the closest school to MLK, but that might not be the option for all our students,” Thomas said.

“We want to get a list of the top two schools that most of the students are interested in attending, and we’ll provide the transportation,” she said.

Two of the six schools — Middle College High and Medical District High — have minimum requirements for enrollment and may be off limits to some MLK College Prep students.

District communications chief Cathryn Stout said the district doesn’t have a lot of flexibility around the requirements because those schools are connected to college campuses, and many of the requirements were tied to students’ behavior.

“They want to make sure that students who are coming to use their college campuses, their college resources, have a certain behavior level,” Stout said.

A new high school in Frayser has been on the drawing board for some time, and for years, the district has been seeking funding for a school to replace Trezevant, whose deferred maintenance bills are among the highest of the public schools.

This year, MSCS received $9.9 million from the Shelby County Commission to help build the state-of-the-art school, which is expected to cost around $90 million.

Construction is expected to begin next April and end by February 2027, according to a schedule submitted by TWF Builders, the contractors for the project.

Reaction to the announcement of the high school choices for next year was mixed at Thursday’s town hall.

While most parents and attendees welcomed the idea of a new high school, some said they were frustrated, because they thought the students were going to remain in the school at least for the next school year.

Others worried about their children adjusting to a new school, and that “territorialism” at Trezevant might lead to their children being bullied.

“It is frustrating to parents, and I don’t think it’s fair to them that they’ve heard so many different stories,” said Tasha Williams, who came out to support the parent group Memphis Lift.

“We have to roll with the punches,” Williams said, “but the parents had gotten comfortable, because they thought they had time to plan, and they found out that they didn’t.”

Bobby White, CEO of Frayser Community Schools, the charter network that managed MLK College Prep, told parents that the new high school would offer a new beginning for the neighborhood.

“I know that this is challenging. I know that this is life changing,” he said. “But this is a one-time opportunity for 38127. The discomfort of the moment shouldn’t get in the way of the excitement for the future.”

Bureau Chief Tonyaa Weathersbee oversees Chalkbeat Tennessee’s education coverage. Reach her at tweathersbee@chalkbeat.org.

Charter school funding is on the ballot in northwest Indiana. Do voters know?

2023-11-03T16:04:16+00:00

This article was originally published by WFYI.

Residents in Hammond will vote next week on whether to continue a property tax increase to give more money to local schools.

But voters may not know a crucial detail. For the first time in the state, the district will be required to share the money with nearby charter schools. That’s because the question on the Tuesday ballot does not mention charter schools at all.

Charter schools, which are publicly funded but independently managed, don’t typically receive property tax revenue in Indiana.

A law approved earlier this year by the GOP-controlled General Assembly and Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb requires school districts in Lake and three other counties to share the money from voter-approved referendums with charter schools that chose to opt in.

Supporters for changing the law say all students attending public schools should benefit equally from local referendum funds — not just students at traditional school districts.

But citizen advocacy groups and local voters say lack of transparency on the ballot is concerning.

Julia Vaughn, head of the elections watchdog Common Cause Indiana, said the referendum question is missing critical information the public needs to know when casting a vote.

“This is a big change in state law,” Vaughn said. “I think voters might after the fact feel a bit hoodwinked if they come to understand that now there will be charter schools who are eligible and will be receiving this funding.

“I think the legislature missed the mark this year, by failing to require full and complete transparency with the school referendum.”

Referendum funds would be shared with charter schools

The School City of Hammond is the only district in the November election to qualify for the provision since it went into effect in May. Hammond has agreed to share revenue, as required by law, with 10 charter schools. The district is asking voters to extend a previously approved tax rate increase to generate $14.6 million in operational funds for each of the next eight years.

The public question that voters see on the ballot says the tax levy is for funding the “school corporation,” which will use it for costs including teachers, academic programs, and transportation at the Hammond school district. It does not mention charter schools.

The new law does not require the ballot question include an explanation that funds will be shared with charter schools, or the names of those charter schools, according to a recent Department of Local Government Finance memorandum. Rather, the law modified the required ballot language by striking the term “school corporation” as the unit that receives the tax revenue and replaced it with “schools.”

But the law does not modify the question for a referendum to extend an existing tax levy, according to the DLGF memo. The ballot question for Hammond still refers to the “school corporation” as receiving all the funds.

A DLGF spokesperson did not respond to questions about requirements of the law.

Kenneth Davidson, a Hammond resident and property owner opposed to the referendum, said he was “flabbergasted” when learning the ballot question lacked details about sharing revenue with charter schools that are outside city limits.

“I guess the theory is that the dollars follow the students,” Davidson said about the intent of the law. “But my general belief is that my property tax money supports my local community. And when you take that money outside the community, I think that’s a big step for people and especially when they don’t know about it.

“If it was clearly stated, and people knew about it and they still chose to do it, that’s fine.”

Splitting the money between district and charters

If the Hammond referendum passes, about $830,000 annually would be distributed between local charters, according to a district spending plan. Those 10 schools enroll students who live in Hammond. They chose to participate in the referendum and follow certain requirements, like agreeing to post a referendum disclosure statement on their websites.

Charter schools will receive money for each student they educate who lives in Hammond. Most of the participating schools will get less than $20,000 each year.

Hammond Academy of Science & Technology, however, would receive around $700,000 annually. The charter, which serves grades 6-12, enrolls more than 500 students who live in Hammond. School leader Deborah Snedden said the revenue injection would support a full-time social worker, support staff for academic intervention and possibly building improvements — to make more space and modernize high school course offerings.

But Snedden is cautious about what will happen even if the referendum is approved. Guidance on how the new law is supposed to work has been difficult to get.

“We’re on uncharted territory,” she said.

Hammon Schools Superintendent Scott Miller said the district did its best to follow the law and contact all charter schools that qualified to be part of the referendum. In June, the school board passed a resolution to seek the referendum and it included language that revenue would be shared with eligible charter schools.

“This is not just for the School City of Hammond, this is for all Hammond students. And it would help us have a better chance of winning, quite honestly,” Miller said in an interview with WFYI. “So that’s why we intentionally made the decision to revenue share and be fully transparent.”

But details on which charter schools would receive the funding are not easily available for voters. WFYI only received the list after requests to the state Department of Education and Hammond schools. The district website for the referendum does not mention the charter-sharing agreements.

Miller said the district did not add the names of charters to the ballot question because Hammond Academy of Science & Technology, the school that would receive the bulk of the revenue share, confirmed participation in the referendum after the language was submitted to the state.

“So for us, it was a timing thing,” Miller said. “Perhaps if we had more time to plan around that, you know, we could have done that better.”

The Indiana Charter School Network advocated for the passage of the charter-sharing law. Marcie Brown-Carter, executive director, said she was pleased to see the school district and charter schools collaborating. And she was not surprised a major change to how tax dollars are distributed is not perfect.

“It’s such a departure but it’s a great one,” Brown-Carter said of the law. “And I’m sure from what I understand that legislators will be willing to go back and fill in any gaps or any holes that make the law stronger, and better for everybody in this coming session.”

Republican Sen. Linda Rogers, who co-wrote Senate Enrolled Act 391 that changed the referendum law, declined to comment about transparency concerns. Rogers, through a spokesperson, cited ongoing litigation over the law.

The Indianapolis Public Schools Board is suing the state over another provision in the law that exempts school districts from selling closed buildings to charter organizations if they share referendum revenue with local charters.

The School City of Hammond is not the only district in Lake County with a referendum on the ballot this month. But Lake Station Community Schools and School City of Whiting are not required to share revenue with charter schools because their school boards approved resolutions to place a referendum on the ballot before the law went into effect on May 10.

Which charter schools would benefit?

Here are the eligible charter schools, excluding virtual charter schools and adult charter high schools, that would receive a share of School City of Hammond’s referendum funds, according to the Indiana Department of Education. The revenue share is based on the per-student enrollment of students who live in the boundary of Hammond schools. Enrollment is in parentheses.

21st Century Charter School of Gary (3)
Aspire Charter Academy (13)
Charter School of the Dunes (1)
East Chicago Urban Enterprise Academy (37)
East Chicago Lighthouse Charter (33)
Gary Lighthouse Charter School (4)
Gary Middle College (7)
Hammond Academy of Science and Technology (513)
Neighbors’ New Vistas High School (2)
Steel City Academy (1)

WFYI education reporter Dylan Peers McCoy contributed to this report.

Contact WFYI education editor Eric Weddle at eweddle@wfyi.org.

Philadelphia City Council to hold hearing on bias against Black-led charters

2023-11-02T21:27:22+00:00

City Council plans to hold a hearing in December on whether the district has discriminated against Black-led charter schools.

On Thursday, Council approved a resolution, unanimously and without discussion, introduced by Council member Isaiah Thomas declaring that “Black led and founded institutions have been held to standards that are inconsistent and changed regularly, causing a lack of transparency in the School District’s process of reviewing, managing, and closing non-district led schools.” The hearing is scheduled for Dec. 6.

In a report released last month, the law firm Ballard Spahr found what it considered a flawed and problematic charter school authorizing and renewal process that leaves the district open to charges of bias — but uncovered no evidence of deliberate discrimination against Black-led charters. The report was two years in the making and covered the period between 2010 and 2021.

At the same time, the law firm recommended changes, including more transparency in the charter process and anti-bias training for Board of Education members.

The report was commissioned by the Board of Education in response to years of allegations of racial bias from the African American Charter School Coalition, which represents 17 of 21 Black-led charter schools.

Investigators found that during that period eight of the 13 schools whose charters were revoked by the district were Black-led, even though only about 1 in 5 city charters were founded and continuously led by Black individuals or organizations. (The report also noted that this year the Board of Education voted not to renew the charter of another Black-led institution, Southwest Leadership Academy.)

At the time, coalition officials issued a statement saying that the report backed up its charges of discrimination and “shows that the public school charter authorization process needs to be completely overhauled.”

In Pennsylvania, unlike in some other states, only the host district can authorize charter schools, creating an inherent conflict of interest.

Philadelphia has about 65,000 students in 82 charters, educating nearly 1 in 3 children who attend publicly run schools, and making it one of the largest charter sectors in any major city.

The report said that district officials were aware as far back as 2017 that there were “differential” results in the charter authorizing process, but took no action.

The nine-member school board, appointed by the mayor, has no taxing power of its own, relying on City Council to allocate city funds to the district, most of it through property taxes.

Max Weisman, Thomas’s communications director, said in an interview that there is “anecdotal evidence” pointing to a “different set of standards and a different set of processes that Black-led and white-led institutions go through.” He said that constant personnel turnover in the district’s Charter Schools Office exacerbates the problem, and that white-led institutions have more wherewithal to hire consultants and others to contest a proposed charter non-renewal or revocation.

He said witnesses at the hearing would include district officials as well as charter operators who have been making the allegations.

“It is important that we have oversight over our charter school system, so we can ensure that our public dollars are being spent the right way,” said Thomas in a statement announcing his intent to introduce the resolution. “The answer, though, does not lay in unfairly investigating Black-led institutions.”

Thomas, who sits on the council’s education committee, is a volunteer coach at Sankofa Freedom Academy, one of the city’s oldest charter schools. “I’ve seen myself how beneficial this model is,” Johnson said in a statement. “Black-led institutions are vital entities in the city because they open up students to broader perspectives, leadership and learning styles, and curriculums that not only improve tangible results but also make for a more enjoyable learning experience.”

The district’s Charter Schools Office issues annual reviews on each charter school as well as renewal reports every five years. Those reports evaluate the schools in three areas: academics, operations, and financial health. It gives each charter a rating of either “meets standard,” “approaches standard,” or “does not meet standard” on dozens of metrics. It does not make a formal recommendation to the board on whether to renew a charter or not.

Before approving its own budget and taxes, City Council holds annual hearings on school spending, grilling district officials and board of education members about various policies and making known their own priorities and preferences.

The issue of possible bias against Black-led charters has not come up in the mayoral election that will take place next week between Cherelle Parker, a Democrat, and David Oh, a Republican. Parker has recommended increasing the district’s share of the property tax from 55% to 58% as a way to generate more revenue for the schools. Oh has said he would like to elect five of the nine school board members so that they feel more connected to the community – although that would complicate the issue of taxing authority.

But overall, aside from Parker’s proposal for year-round school, which she has not explained in detail, education policy has not been a big issue in the race.

Dale Mezzacappa is a senior writer for Chalkbeat Philadelphia, where she covers K-12 schools and early childhood education in Philadelphia. Contact Dale at dmezzacappa@chalkbeat.org.

Chicago charter schools face potential crossroads with new mayor, dozens of renewals

2023-11-01T12:00:00+00:00

“What happens if our school isn’t renewed?”

Claudia Rodriguez read aloud that question, which was submitted from an audience of more than 100 parents gathered inside Noble School’s UIC College Prep’s gymnasium in mid-October.

Rodriguez, the chief of public affairs at Noble Schools, answered confidently: Non-renewal isn’t really something we’re worried about.

Noble opened one of the first charter schools in Chicago in 1999, when the concept of privately managed public charter schools was brand new. Since then, Noble has expanded to 17 campuses, and the Chicago Board of Education has renewed Noble’s charter agreement four times.

Noble is one of a record 47 charter schools up for renewal in the 2023-24 school year. In all, about 27,600 students are enrolled at these campuses — more than half of the roughly 51,000 students enrolled in charters this year.

The high-stakes renewal process, which scrutinizes charter schools’ academic performance, financial practices, and operational compliance among other factors, comes at a pivotal time, as Chicago’s political landscape is shifting under a new mayor and looming school board elections. Charter communities wonder what it could all mean for their schools.

There’s been a trend toward shorter charter renewals that began under former Mayor Lori Lightfoot. In January 2020, the school board renewed seven charter operators for terms of five or more years. But in the years since, only two have received a renewal of five or more years, according to Chicago Board of Education records.

Lightfoot’s successor, Mayor Brandon Johnson, a former educator and organizer for the teachers union, has historically opposed charter expansion. During the mayoral election run-off, Johnson said that charter school expansion “forces competition for resources and ultimately harms all schools.”

But he has also stressed he does not oppose charter schools — and he is strongly against closing schools, which is what could happen if a charter is not renewed. There’s also a state-imposed moratorium on school closings in Chicago until 2025. The mayor’s office did not respond to Chalkbeat’s requests for comment.

An important limit on charter schools’ footprint is already in place for the next several months. In the 2019 contract agreement between Lightoot’s administration and the CTU, the district extended an agreement from 2016 to have a net zero increase in the number of charter schools until the contract expires in June 2024.

Johnson’s recently appointed school board will manage the charter renewal process alongside the CPS Office of Incubation and Innovation. Board President Jianan Shi is a former teacher who has taught at a district-run school in Chicago and a charter school in Boston. Before joining the board, he served as executive director of Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education, which has previously gotten funding from the Chicago Teachers Union Foundation.

CTU President Stacy Davis Gates believes the way the district handles charters altogether needs to change significantly. She wants more oversight of budgeting at charters and more-equitable engagement of parents and staff.

“The renewal process has to reflect the realities that we’re dealing with. There has been financial mismanagement, there is bloated administrative pay, there is a blind eye to culturally relevant curriculum and practices within the school community,” she said. “Now what do we do about it?”

In a statement, a district spokesperson said CPS is “committed to working with charter leaders and listening to members of our school communities to ensure we make the best possible decisions for our students.”

Nevertheless, charter school administrators, teachers, and parents are keeping a close eye on this year’s renewal process for a hint of what the future holds for the charter sector.

“I think renewal is very important in January,” said Andrew Broy, president of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools. “I think that will be a first signal from this board about what they think about charter public schools.”

The ‘renewal hamster wheel’ can impact classrooms

During the renewal process last school year, 11 of 13 charters up for renewal were granted terms lasting three years or less. In 2022, six of the seven charters up for renewal were given terms of three years or less.

Parents and staff in charter school communities have different views about what the renewal process can mean for charters.

Although Noble staff are confident about their renewal, Rodriguez said the possibility they and other charters might get a shorter contract is a concern.

“From a staffing point, it takes a lot of energy,” she said. “From our parents’ [perspective], the uncertainty and instability that that could cause if we’re always thinking in renewal mode.”

Claudia Rodriguez, left, the chief of public affairs for Noble Schools, is in charge of running the renewal process for the charter school network this year.

The heavy lift, Rodriguez said, is due to the large amount of paperwork required and the amount of data the school has to collect. In addition, Rodriguez — who runs the renewal process — said since the process requires reporting on different aspects of the school’s academic, operational, and financial performance, she has to pull in staff and educators from other departments to get the information she needs.

That, she says, “does take time and resources away from the work that we could be putting back into managing our schools and supporting our students.”

“Having to be in a renewal hamster wheel is not the best option for everybody,” Rodriguez said.

Stephen Palmerin, principal at Horizon Science Academy Southwest, feels roughly the same way.

His charter received just a two-year renewal last January, due to concerns about its suspension numbers compared to those of neighboring district schools, as well as the underperformance of elementary students with disabilities.

The K-12 school, which serves about 760 students, is working to reduce suspensions by 50 percent each year before its charter is up for renewal again in 2025. But Palmerin said it’s not entirely fair that Horizon Science’s stats are being compared to both elementary and high schools, since traditionally, elementary schools have lower suspension rates than middle and high schools.

And apart from his concerns about why his school got a relatively short renewal, Palmerin called the renewal process “so time consuming.”

“I wish people would keep the students at the forefront of all decision making,” he said.

But for some parents, the renewal process serves as a way to make sure their children’s schools hold up their end of the bargain.

Blaire Flowers, a parent liaison for education non-profit Kids First Chicago, which specifically supports Black and Latino families, said when her children were at Plato Learning Academy, a contract school, and North Lawndale College Prep, a charter, renewal season was when the schools would begin to “get themselves together.”

Plato is run by a different principal than when Flowers’ children attended three years ago. But at the time, she said, there was no Parent Advisory Council, which is meant to give parents a voice at schools that receive federal Title I funds for students from low-income backgrounds.

When renewal time came, the school established a PAC and began having meetings, created more programming, and held more enrichment events for students, such as a book fair and a Christmas gym shoe drive, she said.

“That’s when they were really doing what they were supposed to,” she said.

Plato received a two-year renewal term in January. Dating back to 2017, the district has given the school relatively low ratings for its financial status and student performance on standardized tests.

Hal Woods, the executive director of the Office of Innovation and Incubation from 2018 to 2020, said he advocated for more regular check-ins with schools to ensure they were staying on track and to make renewal time “a non-event.”

Giving shorter-term renewals to charter schools that aren’t in compliance is one way the board can show schools that they “mean business” and encourage them to do better, Woods said. But with school assessment data often coming in at renewal time, he felt like his office was playing catch up and addressing issues after they’d already taken a toll.

“I just want to make sure that CPS [is] providing better and more real time information to my old department so these things can be corrected in real time,” said Woods, who is now chief of policy at Kids First Chicago.

Palmerin said there is some concern among his staff about the Johnson administration’s sentiments about charters.

“I have no choice but to remain hopeful, because thinking that our days are numbered here, that’s going to affect our work,” he said. “I just know that if we’re committed to the work that we’re doing, let’s not give them an excuse but to give us a maximum renewal.”

Closing charters could be unlikely under moratorium

By law, a charter school must be given notice that they’re failing academically, operationally, or financially. And they must be given time to resolve the issues before officials can revoke a charter agreement and close the school.

The school can also appeal the decision to the Illinois State Board of Education and if successful, it can still operate under state management in Chicago. If that fails, they can appeal in court. That was the course recently taken by Urban Prep after CPS ended its charter; the state voted to uphold the district’s decision.

After a challenge in court, a Cook County Judge ruled that CPS could not “close, consolidate, or phase-out Urban Prep” until after the school closing moratorium expires in 2025.

Woods said he doubts that there will be any charter closings in the coming years, given the legal requirements and the appeal process. But more importantly, Woods said, “it’s very very hard to close a school … because every school is a community.”

At the same time, Woods said that charter expansion is also unlikely given the decline in school-aged children in the city over the past decade.

Flowers said charter schools have served her family well. Her daughter takes three buses to her school each day because Flowers wants her to take advantage of the Phoenix Pact college scholarship option available through North Lawndale.

Blaire Flowers’ three oldest children, pictured above, attended North Lawndale College Prep and Plato Learning Academy, both charter schools. Flowers hopes Mayor Brandon Johnson will “trim the fact” from the charter sector.

Nevertheless, Flowers said she does hope that the Johnson administration will “trim the fat” from the charter sector.

“Some of these charter schools are not really helping the community like they once were,” she said.

There is quite a bit of variation in student outcomes among Chicago’s charter high schools, according to a 2017 study by the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research, one of the first studies to evaluate Chicago charters according to metrics beyond test scores. The study considered school organization and policies, the incoming skills and characteristics of enrolled students, school transfers, and student performance.

“The single most important takeaway from the study was how much variation there is within the charter sector,” said Julia A. Gwynne, the senior research scientist on the study. “There’s a little bit of a tendency for people to see the charter sector as being sort of monolithic all one way or all another way. And we just didn’t find that to be true.”

With the uncertainty about what a new mayor and new school board will do, Rodriguez said Noble representatives are attending more board meetings and encouraging parents and staff to speak at them to provide “a holistic view of what Noble does in the community and how we support our overall community in Chicago.”

Despite the challenges of the renewal process, Rodriguez said she doesn’t necessarily think the process needs to change. But she does believe that all schools, including traditional public schools who might not be serving students well, should go through that process.

Gates, CTU’s president, said she’s hopeful the education backgrounds of the mayor and new school board will play a role in how the district handles charters going forward. She thinks that the charter renewal process needs to be overhauled to make sure teachers and families have a voice.

Self-proclaimed “charter school mom” Myisha Shields is working to have her voice heard — she spoke at a school board meeting in August and attended Noble’s parent meeting earlier this month. She has had three children graduate from Noble charter schools, and two are current Noble students.

“It’s almost like charters have to prove a point just to stay open. We have to work harder. We have to work our kids harder to prove that these should be an option in the city of Chicago,” she said. “I just wish they would stop making it so hard. It’s so unfair.”

Regardless of how the process changes or stays the same in the coming years, Myisha Shields has one request for everyone involved.

“Just listen to us,” said Shields. “Our kids deserve a great education.”

The Chicago Board of Education is expected to vote on the renewal agreements for the 47 charter schools in January.

Correction: Nov. 1, 2023: This story has been updated with the correct spelling of Julia A. Gwynne’s name. It has also been updated to clarify Plato Learning Academy is a contract school, not a charter.

Michigan bill would require charter schools to disclose teacher, staff salaries

2023-11-01T00:34:49+00:00

Proposed legislation would require Michigan charter schools to tell the public how much they pay their teachers and support staff.

Rep. Matt Koleszar, the chair of the House Education Committee who introduced the legislation, described the bill as a tool to help new teachers make career decisions. “This just helps them be better informed as to what they might make if they choose to teach at a charter school,” said Koleszar, a Democrat from Plymouth, during a committee meeting Tuesday.

But the bill would also fulfill a priority of the State Board of Education, which has sought more clarity on how much public funding charter schools spend on educating their students, and how much goes to the private management companies that operate most charter schools.

Those for-profit management companies are not subject to public disclosure laws, so although Michigan law requires all public schools to post budget and salary information on their websites, charter operators have been able to shield that information from the public, citing the privacy of their employees.

Koleszar’s proposal, House Bill 5269, calls for the average salaries of new and veteran teachers, as well as support staff, such as paraprofessionals, food service workers, bus drivers, and literacy coaches, to be made available on school websites.

The bill was among several bills discussed Tuesday that would push for greater charter school transparency. Others would require charter schools to post the name of their authorizer or management company on any future building signage and promotional materials.

The bill does not specify what consequences charter schools would face for not disclosing employee salary information.

Dan Quisenberry, president of the Michigan Association of Public School Academies, a charter advocacy group, said that charter schools already report teacher compensation and other fiscal reports to their school boards.

“All the information dealing with budgets, spending, contracts, are all made available to those public boards,” Quisenberry said. “When we say charter schools are public schools, it means we are publicly accountable. We’re publicly transparent. This is a different way to post that information.”

Advocates of greater transparency argue that the agreements and budgets that charter operators share with the public often aggregate all expenditures into a single line item for “purchased services.” That means it’s difficult for taxpayers to know how much teachers are being paid, for example, or to compare spending to traditional public schools.

The Great Lakes Education Project, a school choice advocacy group, said in a statement Tuesday that the new bills “target public charter schools with new costs, regulations, and requirements that are not placed on traditional public schools.”

“The bills are designed to limit the effectiveness of public charter schools by tying them up in red tape and regulations not-at-all related to classroom learning or education,” said executive director Beth DeShone, who called on the House Education Committee to reject the bills.

Ethan Bakuli is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering the Detroit Public Schools Community District. Contact Ethan at ebakuli@chalkbeat.org.

One of Philadelphia’s oldest charter schools will close next year

2023-10-10T23:10:05+00:00

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The Mathematics, Civics and Sciences Charter School, one of Philadelphia’s oldest and largest charters, plans to close at the end of the school year with the retirement of its founder, Veronica Joyner.

Joyner, who announced the school’s closure in a Monday letter to parents, said in an interview Tuesday that at nearly 74 years old, she felt she could no longer put in the 12-hour days necessary to keep the school operating, and that she had not identified a successor she thought could continue her legacy.

“For 25 years I’ve been looking for someone to take on” the leadership of the school, she said, “but I haven’t seen anybody with the care and compassion I have for children and parents.”

The school’s closure at the end of the 2023-24 school year means its roughly 900 students will have to scramble to find new schools next year. The district’s school selection process for the fall of 2024 is underway, but ends in two weeks.

The first through twelfth grade school, which opened in 1999, says it offers “an alternative style and setting for children experiencing learning difficulties.” But the school district’s office that oversees charters has questioned its performance in recent years, and the Board of Education recently gave it a short leash. It has also drawn criticism for its admissions practices.

Additionally, Mathematics, Civics and Sciences is losing its home next year. Joyner said that Parents United for Public Schools, the nonprofit organization that Joyner leads, plans to sell the school’s building, which is located in the rapidly developing area around Broad and Spring Garden streets.

In an evaluation published this year, the Charter Schools Office reported that the school did not meet standards for academics or operations, and that it approached the standard for financial health and sustainability. After that review, the Board of Education offered a one-year renewal for its charter instead for five years, which is what charter schools that are meeting standards typically receive.

Joyner said she found the decision to extend the charter for just one year “insulting.”

In her Monday letter to parents, Joyner painted a picture of the school that differs from the Charter Schools Office’s findings this year.

Unlike this year’s official evaluation, Joyner said that the school had received “the highest grade of Meets Standards in all three review areas” of academics, finances, and operations.

Joyner said in her letter that Mathematics, Civics and Science had “the highest graduation rate within the Philadelphia school system over the past nine years and the highest college matriculation rate as well.” Official district statistics for the 2021-22 school year did say that Mathematics, Civics and Science was the only charter — along with four district-run schools — with a 100% graduation rate.

The school has provoked controversy for reasons beyond its academic record. In a 2019 lawsuit, the Education Law Center alleged that the charter school illegally denied admission to a student based on her disability. At the time, Joyner said the allegation was based on a “misunderstanding.”

Peng Chao, head of the district’s Charter Schools Office, said the district “just became aware” that the school will close next year.

“Our focus is to put together a plan to ensure students and families are supported through this transition … and have available to them all the information about their school options,” Chao said.

Last week, the Ballard Spahr law firm issued a report commissioned by the school board that found Philadelphia district leadership did not deliberately discriminate against Black leaders of charter schools when making key decisions about their fate. However, the report did say the closure rate of Black-led charter schools is “concerning” and could feed perceptions of bias.

Dale Mezzacappa is a senior writer for Chalkbeat Philadelphia, where she covers K-12 schools and early childhood education in Philadelphia. Contact Dale at dmezzacappa@chalkbeat.org.

Tennessee charter panel leader backs 5 school appeals, including one from Hillsdale group

2023-10-02T23:47:13+00:00

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The head of a powerful Tennessee commission is recommending the state overturn five of eight local school board decisions denying charter school applications, including two in Memphis and one from a group linked with conservative Hillsdale College.

The recommendations from executive director Tess Stovall, released Monday, will be a key factor in votes set for later this week by the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission. The panel, whose nine members were appointed by Gov. Bill Lee, was created under a 2019 law pushed by the governor in his campaign to open more high-quality charter schools across Tennessee.

If the commission concurs with her recommendations as it usually does, Tennessee would become home to two classical charter schools operated by American Classical Education, a network affiliated with Hillsdale, a small conservative Christian college in south central Michigan.

Their opening would begin to fulfill a key education priority for Lee, who has said he wants the Hillsdale group to open at least 50 charter schools in Tennessee.

But Lee’s courtship of Hillsdale has attracted controversy. It is part of his ambitious plan to revamp the state’s charter sector in part by widening its student demographics beyond low-income urban areas. The governor is also supporting classroom history lessons like Hillsdale’s that emphasize America’s strengths rather than its shortcomings.

Additionally, Stovall recommended Monday that a Memphis school exiting the state-run turnaround initiative known as the Achievement School District should retain its charter, despite not moving out of the state’s bottom 5% of Tennessee schools academically in 10 years.

Stovall also said the commission should overturn the Nashville school board’s votes to reject two charter applications.

In its first two years of operation, the commission granted five out of 16 appeals.

Tennessee meets Hillsdale

American Classical drew national attention in 2022 after Lee endorsed Hillsdale’s approach to K-12 education, and invited its leaders to apply to open charter schools in Tennessee that align with his conservative beliefs regarding civics and other topics.

That drive stalled over public outrage in response to Hillsdale President Larry Arnn’s comment that teachers are “trained in the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges in the country.” And the fallout prompted the network to withdraw applications to open three charter schools.

But this year, American Classical is trying again. It’s already gotten approval by Rutherford County’s school board to open a school in the fast-growing suburban enclave south of Nashville.

Stovall is recommending the state OK another American Classical school in Jackson-Madison County Schools, which is projecting an 8% increase in enrollment because of the impending arrival of Ford’s electric truck assembly plant in nearby Haywood County.

The West Tennessee district’s school board voted in July to deny American Classical’s application, saying the charter school would have a “substantial negative fiscal impact” to the school system. But based on its own financial analysis, staff for the commission rejected that claim, while Stovall commended American Classical’s identification of a school leader and target community.

However, Stovall recommended the state reject another appeal from American Classical to open a school in Maury County, a growing area southwest of Nashville. She cited concerns with the group’s enrollment projections, and dinged the operator for not identifying a school leader or the community in which the school intends to locate.

“Overall, the sponsor has several significant gaps within its proposed plan that it must address before it is ready for approval,” Stovall said.

Recommendations split on four Memphis appeals

In Memphis, Stovall sided with the appeal filed by Capstone Education Group to continue operating Cornerstone Prep Lester, one of five schools seeking to remain open as they prepare to exit the Achievement School District, or ASD, at the close of the 2023-24 school year.

A charter management organization, Capstone has operated Cornerstone in the city’s Binghampton community since the 2012-13 school year but never met its academic goals for automatically exiting the turnaround district.

However, Stovall said Cornerstone has shown improvement the last three years and appears to be “on track” to continue that trajectory.

“A significant reason for my recommendation to approve the application is the track record of the network, [which] has demonstrated that it can have success in school turnaround work in Memphis as it has achieved priority exit status with two of its three ASD-operated schools,” she said.

Stovall also recommended the state OK the application of Empower Memphis Career and College Prep, which wants to open a K-8 charter school focused on career and technical education in the city’s Orange Mound community.

The Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) board denied Empower’s application over concerns that Orange Mound already has too many unoccupied classroom seats while the district seeks to right-size its footprint. But Stovall said Empower’s application is of high quality, and that the commission may want to let the operator see if it can meet enrollment goals; Empower proposes to start with 100 students and eventually grow to 450.

Stovall recommended that the commission reject the other two appeals from Memphis.

One is from Green Dot Public Schools to continue operating Fairley High School in the Whitehaven area after exiting the ASD. The other appeal is from Pathways in Education, a school for nontraditional high school students that once operated two locations under the ASD.

Stovall agreed with the Memphis-Shelby County board that Green Dot has not shown “a clear path to tangible growth, achievement and success for Fairley students” to merit granting a new 10-year charter.

Without a charter operator, the fate of schools like Fairley exiting the ASD has been left up to local school officials. But Fairley, at least, appears poised to remain open under the oversight of Memphis-Shelby County Schools. Its supporters and alumni have turned out in droves imploring officials to maintain operations.

“I am confident in MSCS’s statement in the public hearing that, if the school is returned to MSCS, Fairley High School will remain open and in operation” under the district’s school turnaround program known as the Innovation Zone, or iZone, Stovall said.

In recommending the rejection of Pathways in Education’s appeal, Stovall noted that both of the applicant’s previous schools under the ASD were contract schools, not charter schools, and therefore were held to a different standard.

“As currently proposed, I have doubts as to whether the sponsor’s proposed plan could meet all requirements of charter schools and be successful under the current school accountability framework,” Stovall said.

Stovall also recommended overturning two Nashville school board denials of charter applications.

Invictus Nashville appealed to the state to let it open a Montessori school next year with up to 144 students in the city’s McGavock neighborhood. And Florida-based Noble Education Initiative proposed to open Nashville Collegiate High Schools in the Cane Ridge area.

The Metro Nashville school board said both groups failed to fully meet the state’s standards in academics, operations, and finance. The board also said opening the schools would negatively impact Tennessee’s second largest school district.

However, the commission’s staff disagreed based on their reviews of the applications and an analysis of the district’s finances.

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

Aspira to repay Philadelphia district roughly $3.5 million to settle charter enrollment dispute

2023-09-22T14:26:52+00:00

A leading community development organization that runs two charter schools will repay the Philadelphia school district more than $3.5 million, according to a settlement approved Thursday by the Board of Education

The payment from Aspira, Inc., ends a yearslong legal dispute between the district and Aspira over whether the district can be required to pay charters for students that exceed their agreed-upon enrollment caps. Antonio Pantoja Charter School and Eugenio Maria de Hostos Charter School both enrolled more students than they had been authorized to for several years between 2016 and 2021 — when they did not have active charter agreements with the district.

In addition, Aspira has agreed to withdraw its application to open two new charter schools in the city, one a K-8 and one a high school. It also agreed not to file a new application to open a K-8 school for five years, but can reapply as early next year to open a new high school.

This is the latest chapter in Aspira’s turbulent history of running charters in the district. Several years ago, the organization had to relinquish charters for two formerly district schools it ran. The schools, Olney High and Stetson Middle School, are now back under district control.

De Hostos and Pantoja, both K-8 schools, have separate boards of trustees, but both are operated by Aspira. The resolution says that de Hostos, which is on North Second Street and enrolls 510 students, will repay the school district $3,163,986 in installments over five years. Pantoja, which is in Kensington and enrolls 700 students, will repay $371,537, also over a five-year period.

It is unclear whether these repayments represent the full amount under dispute or a compromise.

As part of the agreement, both schools have new charters through 2028, with predetermined enrollment ceilings that they signed last week, Peng Chao, head of the district’s charter school office, said in an interview.

The board’s vote on the settlement was 8-1, with Lisa Salley voting no. Calls to Aspira’s office asking for comment were not returned. Aspira Executive Director Alfredo Calderon could not be reached for comment.

Chao did not make a presentation at the meeting explaining the resolution that included the settlement. No board members asked questions or commented on the resolution before voting on it. And no one from Aspira came to speak during the meeting’s public comment period. Board members didn’t respond when Lisa Haver, co-founder of the advocacy group Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools, asked for a fuller explanation of the resolution.

According to an explanation provided by the Board of Education in its meeting materials, the disagreement centers on the 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years “regarding the number of students permitted to be enrolled under the Hostos Charter and the Pantoja Charter, respectively.”

De Hostos has been in operation since 1998 and its charter was renewed in 2003, 2008 and 2013. Pantoja opened in 2008 and its charter was renewed in 2013. Both their charters expired, and they refused to sign charter renewal agreements in 2018. Under Pennsylvania’s charter school law, schools can continue operating without an active charter.

During the dispute over enrollment, Aspira and the boards of both schools appealed to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, arguing that the district should give them additional funds for the students above their caps. The agency initially sided with the charters, even though the district “filed multiple objections” and demands for hearings, which led to the negotiations that resulted in this settlement.

As part of the settlement, Pantoja and de Hostos have also agreed to withdraw from a lawsuit now in Commonwealth Court brought by several charter schools over whether the district is paying them the proper amount. The district disputes the way charters account for federal aid, some grant funds, and prekindergarten expenses, saying these practices result in overpayments to them.

Other Philadelphia charter schools still involved in that lawsuit include Esperanza Charter High School and two cyber charters.

Aspira is also withdrawing its applications to open two new charter schools: Aspira Bilingual College and Career Preparatory Academy and Aspira Dr. Ricardo E. Alegria Preparatory Charter School. It will also end any legal appeals related to enrollment at de Hostos and Pantoja that are still pending.

Aspira proposed Alegria as another K-8 school — which the group said would eventually enroll 1,000 students — and the Bilingual College and Career Preparatory Academy as a 1,200-student high school. Aspira agreed not to file another K-8 charter application for five years, but could propose another high school as early as next year.

According to their academic evaluations, based on test scores and other factors, Pantoja and de Hostos perform comparably to — if not slightly better than — district schools.

In 2017, Aspira was forced to surrender the charters for Olney High School and Stetson Middle School. These were formerly district schools ceded to charter organizations in 2011 under the Renaissance school turnaround initiative.

But the School Reform Commission, which then governed the district, cited myriad financial and organizational flaws with how the schools were run. It also determined that Aspira had used state and local per-pupil subsidies to guarantee a $15 million loan to Aspira Community Enterprises, Inc., which had acquired the former Cardinal Dougherty High School building.

At Thursday’s meeting, the board also voted to extend the charters for five years of two schools run by KIPP — KIPP DuBois and KIPP North Philadelphia.

The vote was 8-1, with Salley again the lone vote in opposition. Board member Chau Wing Lam, who voted in favor of extending the two KIPP charters, said that while the academic performance at the schools are “disappointing,” she noted that the decision is based on incomplete information, namely the absence of testing during 2020 and 2021.

The last new charter school approved to operate in the city was Hebrew Public in 2018, when the state controlled the district. Since resuming control of the district that same year, the school board has not approved any new charter schools.

Dale Mezzacappa is a senior writer for Chalkbeat Philadelphia, where she covers K-12 schools and early childhood education in Philadelphia. Contact Dale at dmezzacappa@chalkbeat.org.

As NYC COVID cases rise, one Brooklyn school adopts temporary mask mandate

2023-09-20T15:22:36+00:00

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Just weeks into the new academic year, a middle school in a Brooklyn charter network has reinstated a mask mandate amid a sudden surge in COVID cases, Chalkbeat has learned.

The move follows warnings from some health experts and weeks of steadily climbing case numbers in New York City — signs COVID will once again remain a factor in the nation’s largest school system.

The Brooklyn Prospect Charter School network last week notified families at its Windsor Terrace Middle School, located in Downtown Brooklyn, that a spike of cases among sixth graders prompted the temporary mask mandate. The requirement would last until each grade went five days without any new cases, according to an email sent to families.

Those precautionary measures continued into this week.

Tuesday, another email to families noted the school had seen “a severe spike of new cases across the building,” with “many students and staff being out sick.” That email said a mandate would remain in effect until further notice, requiring all staff members to wear masks, with students “strongly advised” to do the same.

“Throughout the pandemic, in accordance with public health guidance, we have done everything we can to ensure that our school communities are safe spaces of learning,” a spokesperson for the network said in a statement. “No one wants to return to a world where all students are required to wear masks to attend school and so we are following state health guidelines by encouraging students to wear masks while leaving the ultimate decision of whether to do so up to our students and their families.”

Network officials declined to say how many students or staff had tested positive, but said that Brooklyn Prospect has continually tracked COVID cases in its schools.

The impact of COVID on public schools citywide can be difficult to follow. This month, Education Department officials scrapped a map reporting daily case counts among students and staff in the city’s schools. They said schools no longer needed to report cases this year, though the city’s Health Department would continue to monitor cases among school-aged children. (Some individual schools might continue to track cases among their communities, but they no longer need to send the data to the Education Department.)

The Education Department maintains COVID guidance on its website, but little information has been distributed to families this year about protocols in schools. Charters, such as those run by the Brooklyn Prospect network, can create their own protocols.

Overall daily case numbers across the five boroughs have steadily risen in recent months, according to the city’s health department. The average number of new cases jumped from around 250 in June to roughly 1,300 as of September. Hospitalizations as a result of the virus have also spiked upwards, though both metrics remain well below their peaks earlier in the pandemic.

Still, even a modest resurgence in COVID cases could signal an additional challenge for schools, potentially worsening absenteeism rates that have surged in NYC since the pandemic began. Roughly 53% of public school students were fully vaccinated as of November 2022, according to the most recently available public data.

Julian Shen-Berro is a reporter covering New York City. Contact him at jshen-berro@chalkbeat.org

Vanguard Collegiate of Indianapolis to close next month amid declining enrollment

2023-09-19T22:49:51+00:00

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Vanguard Collegiate of Indianapolis will close roughly two months into the school year, citing declining enrollment.

In a letter to parents last week, the charter school’s executive director said its last day will be Oct. 6. The school, which opened in 2018 in the Hawthorne neighborhood on the city’s west side, serves students in grades 5-8 and had an enrollment of 71 as of last school year, according to state records. It recently moved into the Hawthorne Community Center.

“Please know that we fought hard for you, our beloved school community. And in that fight, we realize that the right thing to do is to close,” executive director Robert Marshall said in the letter. “Now, our number one priority is to ensure that your child gets enrolled in a new suitable school of your choice.”

It’s the second charter school in less than a year that has announced a closure during the school year, a practice that charter school accountability experts say causes disruptions for families who then scramble to find new schools. Since the state created the charter school law in 2001, 29 brick-and-mortar and blended learning charter schools in Marion County have closed, or roughly 30% of the 94 that have opened, according to a Chalkbeat analysis.

Marshall did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The school is authorized by the Indiana Charter School Board, which approved a five-year renewal of its charter last fall.

The school’s initial charter application had ambitious enrollment projections, with plans to grow from 120 students in 2018 to 480 by its fifth year.

After Vanguard moved to the Hawthorne facility, it reduced enrollment to operate as a micro-school, said James Betley, executive director of ICSB. The school was aiming for 90 students this year but had 40 students as of a few weeks ago, Betley said.

“That was one of those renewals where we probably could have leaned the other way,” Betley said of last year’s decision to renew the school. “But there was enough evidence that they could keep going.”

The school is directing families to the city’s unified enrollment system, Enroll Indy, to find a new school and is also hosting an enrollment fair later this month.

“Today, our hearts are heavy. We are grateful for the opportunity to educate and build relationships with your child and family,” Marshall said in the letter. “We hope that we have lived up to the promises we made to each family.”

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect the number of charter schools that have opened and closed since 2001.

Herron Prep Academy starts new year at former Indianapolis Children’s Museum site

2023-09-13T20:53:10+00:00

Herron Prep Academy celebrated the start of its new school year in a new building on Wednesday, the latest sign of growth for the Herron Classical Schools charter network, which has three Indianapolis schools.

The new site at 3100 N. Meridian St., which the school purchased from the Children’s Museum in 2022 for an undisclosed price, houses K-5 students who occupied the building for the first time in August. Herron Prep plans to eventually grow to serve K-8 students at the site, and is embarking on a second phase of construction at the location to create classrooms for fifth to eighth grades and a gymnasium.

All three schools are part of the Indianapolis Public Schools network of autonomous schools, known as the Innovation Network. The expansion will allow students in lower grades to enroll in Herron’s classical education offerings.

The school is the newest addition to the Herron Classical Schools charter network, which began in 2006 with Herron High School. The network created Herron-Riverside High School in 2017 at the old Heslar Naval Armory site, and Herron Prep opened with grades K-2 in 2021.

Herron Prep students look on as officials cut the ribbon for the new building at the start of the 2023-24 school year.

Enrollment at Herron Prep school nearly doubled from last school year to this year, according to school officials, with 315 students currently in the new building.

As the charter network grew, officials saw gaps that needed to be addressed.

“Ninth grade students were coming consistently to us struggling to do fractions and reading well below grade level,” Herron Classical Schools President Janet McNeal said at the ribbon-cutting. “We knew our solution was creating and building our own kindergarten through eighth grade school.”

Students previously occupied the lower level of the Herron-Riverside High School and space at Herron High School before moving into their own building this year.

The new campus, which used to be a Salvation Army facility, is just under 3 miles away from the network’s two charter high schools.

Herron Prep plans to grow to K-6 next year, with the second phase of construction expected to be completed around next July.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Corrections and clarifications: This story has been updated to reflect an accurate description of the formation of Herron-Riverside High School.

Is public education dead or just redefined? Author Cara Fitzpatrick on the history of school choice.

2023-09-12T10:00:00+00:00

Journalist Cara Fitzpatrick offers a dramatic thesis in the form of the title of her new book, “The Death of Public School.”

In it, Fitzpatrick chronicles the history of school choice in America — a decades-long political effort that she says has culminated in victory for its advocates. Charter schools have grown rapidly. More states are using public money to help parents pay private school tuition. The pandemic combined with a backlash against school curriculum on race and gender have energized this effort.

Fitzpatrick is agnostic on whether this shift has been a good thing for American education, but she’s convinced that it’s a big deal.

“The war over school choice has been the fiercest of this country’s education battles because it is the most important: it is a struggle over the definition of public education,” she writes. “These thorny questions — about what type of education the government should pay for, whose values are reflected in schooling, and what these issues mean for society and democracy — have been waged since the country’s birth.”

Chalkbeat recently spoke with Fitzpatrick, who as a reporter for the Tampa Bay Times won the Pulitzer Prize for documenting the resegregation of schools in Pinellas County, Florida. Currently, Fitzpatrick is a story editor here at Chalkbeat (and a valued colleague of this reporter). She did not play a role in selecting questions for this interview or editing it.

Chalkbeat asked Fitzpatrick about the early history of school vouchers that started with resistance to desegregation; the more progressive arguments for school choice; choice advocates’ recent focus on culture war issues; and how the title of her book could be true when most students still attend a public school.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Journalist Cara Fitzpatrick, author of “The Death of Public School”

Tell me why you wrote a book about the history of school choice. What interested you in this topic?

I was a reporter in Florida, and I had written a lot about segregation. As part of that, I spent some time following families around who were leaving these segregated, low-income public schools. In Florida, there’s a lot of choice options, so I often encountered families who were moving to a charter school, or they were going to a private school with a voucher, or maybe they were going to a magnet public school. One of the questions that I had was essentially: Were they finding better choices?

Let’s start with the early parts of this history, where you start the book. Can you talk about the role that school choice played in resistance to desegregation starting in the ’50s?

In the few years before Brown v. Board of Education, and then after Brown, there was an effort by segregationists in the South to get around desegregation by using a variety of mechanisms, including school vouchers. It varied in states, but it was basically an effort to abandon the public schools and use state support to prop up entirely white private schools. But it was ultimately unsuccessful, because the courts were united in striking down every attempt that was made, including the voucher programs.

Some school choice critics still use this history to attack the concept of school choice, especially private school choice. Do you think that’s fair?

I don’t know that it’s a reasonable critique of what’s going on now. What I ended up finding, and thought was compelling, was that at the same time that segregationists were using school vouchers to try to exclude Black children from receiving a fair education, there were other voices in there who were viewing school vouchers in a very different way.

Economist Milton Friedman gets credited as the father of school vouchers. He was looking at it as an economic tool. Virgil Blum was a priest in Milwaukee who was interested in vouchers for religious liberty, because he thought that it was discrimination against religious families who had to pay taxes for a public school system and then also pay tuition for private religious education.

It was really striking even in the years that the courts were striking down school voucher programs in the South, progressive voices were also raising this issue of school vouchers as a tool of empowerment. Kenneth Clark, who was involved in Brown v. Board, was one who raised that idea.

So I think understanding that is crucial for having a good sense of whether or not that’s really a fair charge to make against contemporary advocates for school choice.

Can you elaborate on why Kenneth Clark, who was a Black psychologist who testified in Brown v. Board and was cited by the Supreme Court, was interested in school choice and school vouchers?

He was disappointed in the years following Brown with how integrated school systems were working out, not just in the South, but in the North, where many school systems were just as segregated. He was looking for different ways to improve education for Black students. It wasn’t just vouchers. He also made some recommendations that sound a lot like what charter schools are today, which I thought was really interesting to see that far back.

What happened to the idea of private school choice in the decades after desegregation?

So the court struck down the school voucher programs in the South, and then it’s kind of just in the realm of theory for a while — it’s people basically debating it.

Milton Friedman keeps alive his economic argument, which was for every kid regardless of income to have a voucher. Harvard professor Christopher Jenks has an idea of targeted vouchers for low-income children, as a tool of empowerment. There’s a small, sort of failed effort by the federal government in California to try out vouchers.

There was a pretty solid push from a number of quarters in the ’60s and ’70s to provide some kind of government aid to religious schools, especially Catholic schools, because they were struggling during that time period. That didn’t end up going anywhere meaningful.

In the ’80s, President Reagan was an advocate for vouchers. That also didn’t really go anywhere. Then the first modern school voucher program happens in Milwaukee in 1990. That’s when you start to see the beginning of this latest era.

Your book has many characters, but to me if there was a main character, it was Polly Williams. Can you describe her and her role in the school choice movement?

Polly Williams was a Black Democratic legislator in Wisconsin. She was kind of a contrarian. Probably the best explanation for her would be that she was a Black nationalist. She was very interested in education in Milwaukee, and she was very concerned that Black students were not being well served by the Milwaukee school district. She tried legislatively to do a number of different proposals to help Black students in Milwaukee. She was shot down at just about every turn, and so became kind of frustrated with Democrats, with her own party, and willing to look at alternatives.

That’s when she and Tommy Thompson, who was a white Republican governor at the time, became allies on the issue, and were able to successfully push through a small experimental voucher program in Milwaukee.

Walk me through Polly Williams’ evolution on her thinking about school choice.

Polly Williams had a very particular view about vouchers — this progressive model very much for low-income children, Black and Latino children, very much as a form of empowerment. She viewed it as being somewhat small and experimental and intended for a particular group of kids.

She became disillusioned with some of her conservative allies who had different ideas about what choice should be like and who it should be for. She was concerned when religious schools were allowed to participate in the program, because religious schools had more white students. She feared that a program that was largely for Black students might also change to be more of a benefit for white religious families and especially ones who could already afford to pay tuition.

Do you see Polly Williams’ vision for school choice as the opposite of white Southern sector segregationists’, or was it the other side of the same coin?

She viewed it as something that was meant to aid children who were the least well served by the school system, which is different than saying we want all white kids to be separate from all Black kids. That’s not what she was about.

She was, however, very unapologetic about being focused on helping her race, and what she viewed as her people. As a Black nationalist, she thought that integration policies were harming Black kids. She thought that it was taking power out of Black neighborhoods when you had kids bused all over.

Can you talk about when charter schools entered the equation, and why they have been, at least until recently, more politically successful than private school vouchers?

In the ’90s, those ideas were kind of coming up at the same time. Milwaukee’s voucher program passed in 1990, and the first charter school law was in Minnesota in 1991.

I think one of the reasons that charter schools took off was because they were meant to be public schools. It was appealing because it was an alternative to school vouchers, and so it gave Democrats something that they could hold up to say: We are for choice, but we’re for choice within the public school system. Republicans also backed charter schools as maybe not as great as school vouchers would be, but something they also could get behind. So charter schools enjoyed bipartisan support for a long, long time, and that helped the ideas spread all over the place.

It actually seems like the charter school movement was detrimental to the private school choice movement by sucking up some of the political oxygen.

I think that’s mostly right. I think charter schools were just an easier thing to support in some ways, and because there were fewer legal questions, I think that helped propel them.

But in some ways, charter schools are more far-reaching, creating totally new schools, and have been much more disruptive to the traditional public school system than private school choice.

I think that’s true for a period of time — we’ll see how this current wave of choice legislation plays out. But you see that especially in urban areas, and people grappling with what does this mean for the public school system, if suddenly 20%, 30%, 40% of kids are going to charter schools. But it varies so much, because you do have states where they pass a charter school law, but then the law itself was so restrictive that you didn’t have the same explosion of charter schools.

Can you describe how the school choice movement has changed since the start of the pandemic, and why it has been so successful in getting a string of far-reaching private school choice programs passed?

The pandemic gave Republicans a moment politically where there are discussions happening about education. There are parents who maybe are exploring other options for their kids or did for a period of time during the pandemic. It gave Republicans room to seek expansions and pass new programs.

There’s also an argumentative shift happening during the pandemic where we saw advocates go from talking about school choice as a civil rights issue to embracing school vouchers for everyone. This idea that it’s really about parental freedom and about values has taken off. And Republicans are going on the attack against public schools and embracing this idea of using the culture war to win policies for choice.

The cover of Cara Fitzpatrick’s book, “The Death of Public School.”

Let’s talk about your title: “The Death of Public School.” How can public school be dead if the vast majority of students still attend a traditional public school?

I liked that title because I was thinking about, what is this ultimately about? What is the argument that people are having? And why is it such a heated argument? I was thinking about: Can these things coexist? Can you have a robust traditional public school system, and also have state dollars going to private education, especially in greater and greater numbers?

Ultimately, it’s about what happens to the public school system and whether or not it thrives or is diminished in some way by these programs. I felt like the current moment in time was pointing in not a great direction for the public school system.

I also had kind of a wonkier question in mind, which was: What is a public school ultimately? I tried to trace that idea in the book. Republicans really were pushing for a definition of public education that is quite different than the traditional one. Republican governors say right now that any education paid for with tax dollars is public education.

One response to the title would be that the empirical research doesn’t support the idea that the expansion of private school choice kills or even harms public schools.

I don’t know if we know what the effects of this current wave of private school choice are going to be when you’re talking about having every student in a state be eligible, including kids whose families were already paying for private education. We’re seeing numbers of participants balloon in places like Arizona, and the cost projections are so much higher than what they had initially talked about in those places. With the universal programs there’s just a lot that we don’t know about how that’s going to shape up.

Do you think the triumph of school choice has been a good thing for American education?

It’s not for me to say if it’s been a good thing for American education. I very deliberately do not take a viewpoint in the book, partially because I think school choice is a fairly complicated and nuanced thing, which is part of what attracted me to writing about it in the first place.

I had some driving questions in the introduction about what does this mean for community, and what does this mean for democracy, and what does this ultimately mean for the public school system. I very deliberately do not answer, because I think those questions are for the reader to think about by the end of the book.

Matt Barnum is interim national editor, overseeing and contributing to Chalkbeat’s coverage of national education issues. Contact him at mbarnum@chalkbeat.org.

Bill Kurtz will step down as CEO of Denver’s DSST charter school network after 20 years

2023-09-08T21:56:05+00:00

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Bill Kurtz, the CEO of Denver’s largest charter school network, announced Friday that he will leave DSST after 20 years with the organization.

Kurtz said he plans to step down at the end of this school year.

“It is the right time,” he wrote in a letter addressed to DSST families and friends. “DSST is ready for a new leader to take DSST to greater heights. A new CEO will bring different insights, skills and experiences to lead the organization into our next decade.”

Kurtz was the founding principal of DSST’s first charter school, a diverse high school in Denver’s Central Park neighborhood called the Denver School of Science and Technology that was focused on getting all of its graduates into four-year colleges.

Bill Kurtz

Over the past two decades, DSST has expanded to 14 schools in Denver and two in neighboring Aurora. The network serves a total of 7,200 students in grades 6-12, 80% of whom are Hispanic or Black and 73% of whom come from low-income families, according to DSST.

DSST’s high student test scores, a growing number of school-aged children attending Denver Public Schools, and a school board eager to replicate high-performing charters made DSST’s expansion possible. But while DSST still posts high test scores, enrollment in DPS is now declining and the new school board routinely says no to charters.

In 2020, DSST fought with the school board to open its seventh high school in Denver at the same time the network decided to close one of its middle schools due to declining enrollment.

The changing landscape has made things harder for charter schools in Denver. The second- and third-largest charter networks, STRIVE Prep and Rocky Mountain Prep respectively, recently merged under the Rocky Mountain Prep name. The founding CEOs of both networks are gone; STRIVE’s Chris Gibbons left in 2022 and Rocky Mountain Prep’s James Cryan left in 2021.

Kurtz said neither politics nor enrollment projections factored into his decision to step down from DSST.

“The adult politics around all this is necessary because we live in a democracy,” Kurtz said in an interview. “But ultimately, especially post-COVID, we need to have a laser focus on, ‘How are we serving students and families?’”

The students and their accomplishments are what Kurtz said he’s most proud of. The oldest DSST alumni are now in their 30s, and Kurtz said he routinely hears from graduates who are working as doctors, college professors, and engineers. One alumna of DSST’s first school is now a Spanish teacher at the DSST: College View campus. Kurtz said she took two buses two hours each way to high school because DSST promised her a path to college.

“We created DSST together on the premise that we have amazing young people in our communities in Denver and Aurora that did not have access to the opportunities they deserved and we promised,” Kurtz said. “We believed that once our young people had those opportunities, they would do amazing things.”

Kurtz said that while DSST’s mission has remained the same, the way it achieves that mission has changed. The network has worked to make its teacher training, curriculum, and school culture more inclusive, he said. One example, Kurtz said, is that DSST did not have any programs for students with significant disabilities when it started. It now has several.

“We’ve walked a very deep and meaningful journey around equity and inclusion,” Kurtz said.

Kurtz said he does not have another job lined up for when he steps down. Instead, he said, “I’m pretty focused on having my best year as a leader ever and ensuring DSST has our best year ever.” Kurtz said he announced his departure early to help with a smooth transition.

Gloria Zamora, the chair of DSST’s board of directors, said the board will communicate the next steps in the search for a new CEO in the coming weeks.

“We commend Bill for the high-functioning school system he is leaving to his successor,” Zamora said in a statement. “This solid foundation will enable DSST to continue growing to meet the needs of our students and families in the coming years.”

Melanie Asmar is a senior reporter for Chalkbeat Colorado, covering Denver Public Schools. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.

Three charter schools will expand in Indianapolis next year

2023-09-06T17:41:56+00:00

Three more charter schools will open in Indianapolis in the fall of 2024 and plan to grow to a combined capacity of more than 1,100 students over the next several years.

Matchbook Learning, Paramount Schools of Excellence, and Purdue Polytechnic High School will each launch an additional campus or school after receiving approval from Education One, the charter authorizing arm of Trine University in Angola.

The new campuses for Matchbook and Purdue Polytechnic will be high schools on the city’s west side, while Paramount’s new K-8 campus will be in midtown.

The new schools will bolster the city’s charter community, which has grown to nearly 70 schools in recent years as student enrollment at traditional public schools in IPS has declined. IPS and charter schools are competing for students as well as certain facilities and funding streams. And several more charter schools are planning for Indianapolis expansions for 2025.

Matchbook Learning to open career and technical school

Matchbook Learning, a national charter operator that runs Wendell Phillips School 63 as part of Indianapolis Public Schools’ “restart” charter turnaround effort, plans to open a career and technical high school on the city’s west side. The school recently announced a $5 million grant it received from the U.S. Department of Energy to help transform warehouses in that area into a career center.

The Matchbook College, Career, and Technical Institute will serve grades 9-12 and up to 10 adult students after several years, growing to a total enrollment of 280, according to its original application.

The school had initially proposed opening in 2022 or 2023, but delayed its start date as it tried to find a facility.

Matchbook did not respond to a request for comment on its newest location.

‘High-quality high school’ coming from Purdue Polytechnic

Purdue Polytechnic High School, which has two campuses in Indianapolis and one in South Bend, also plans to open on the city’s west side after another charter authorizer rejected its plans to expand in Pike Township.

The school plans to to be a high school option for students seeking a smaller school on the west side, which lacks high school options, the school said in its application. The school also hopes to provide a “high-quality high school option” and a pipeline for students to attend Purdue University.

Purdue Polytechnic, or PPHS, initially applied with the mayor’s Office of Education Innovation, another charter authorizer, to open its third Indianapolis campus in Pike Township. But the Indianapolis Charter School Board denied the application after intense community pushback last year.

PPHS West initially planned to open in 2023, but delayed its start as it looked for an appropriate facility. The school plans to grow to 500 students by its seventh year of operation, according to its original application.

PPHS declined to comment on its new location.

Paramount’s new charter to focus on science, math

Girls IN STEM Academy, operated by Paramount Schools of Excellence, also plans to open a K-8 school for girls in 2024 in the midtown area of Indianapolis near Broad Ripple.

Paramount currently has three campuses in Indianapolis and an online academy that is part of IPS’ Innovation Network of autonomous schools.

The school plans to grow to a capacity of 325 students in the next several years, according to its application.

Paramount did not respond to a request for comment on its new location.

More charter schools planned for 2025 and beyond

Believe Circle City High School, which won approval from the Indianapolis Charter School Board last year to expand to a second location, also plans on expanding to another campus in 2025.

Founder Kimberly Neal-Brannum told Chalkbeat Indiana in June that the school is still interested in the west side of Indianapolis because that is where the majority of its families come from.

Other charter schools also have long-term expansion plans.

Circle City Prep, which plans to grow to K-8 next year, expressed interest in using the closed IPS Francis Bellamy School 102 as its second location.

Adelante Schools, which operates an IPS Innovation Network charter in the Emma Donnan Elementary and Middle School building, also expressed interest in expanding to a second campus at the closed IPS Raymond Brandes School 65.

The Mind Trust, which helps establish Indianapolis charters, recently selected leaders from both Circle City Prep and Adelante — as well as Girls IN STEM and PPHS — for fellowships. The School Launch Fellowship provides leaders with support to grow an existing charter school network, the Mind Trust said in a press release.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Marion County schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Detroit students show slight gains on Michigan’s standardized test

2023-09-01T17:56:32+00:00

Detroit students across charter and traditional public schools performed slightly better on Michigan’s standardized test this spring than a year ago, a reassuring sign for school officials eager to see academic achievement recover after the pandemic.

But local results remained well below the statewide numbers in math and reading, a gap that community advocates said highlights the need to redress historical disinvestment in Detroit education.

The results also spotlight the challenges the Detroit Public Schools Community District faces now that it has run through its federal COVID relief funding. The district received $1.27 billion in aid, and that money has helped pay for academic recovery work such as expanded tutoring, summer school, and after-school programming. Only some of those initiatives will continue when the federal aid runs out.

Results of the 2023 Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress, known as M-STEP, were released Thursday.

In reading, DPSCD students made small improvements across grade levels, in most cases exceeding pre-pandemic results. In third grade, 12.4% of DPSCD students scored proficient or higher in 2022-23, compared with just 9% the previous year, and 11.9% in 2018-19. Fifth grade reading results remain below pre-pandemic levels, but improved a bit from last year.

On math tests, DPSCD students improved on last year’s results, and topped pre-pandemic results in fourth and sixth grades.

Wide as they are, the gaps in performance between DPSCD and the state appear to be narrowing, particularly among Black, Hispanic, and economically disadvantaged students, who are moving toward the statewide average faster than those demographics across the whole state.

“We are not surprised by this improvement,” Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said. “The significant investments made in our staffing, curriculum, professional development, and school student resources over the years are reflected in these results. We have more work to do, and I want our community to know that the formula we have at DPSCD is working. Results do not lie.”

The results, however, cannot mask how much progress needs to be made to bring Detroit students in line with surrounding districts. Statewide, 43.9% of students scored proficient or higher in reading, and 35% did so in math.

Among charter schools in Detroit, results were mixed.

Detroit Edison Public School Academy saw year-to-year gains in both math and reading, but was still below 2019 results. Math results for grades 4 through 7 declined, while third grade saw an increase.

Detroit Enterprise Academy surged above its pre-pandemic results in math: The biggest gain was for seventh grade, where 32.9% of students were proficient in math, compared with 15.3% in 2019. However, reading results in many grades lagged behind pre-pandemic levels.

At Detroit Innovation Academy, fourth and seventh graders made improvements in math, with proficiency rates of 6.8% and 11.1%, respectively. Reading results for grades 3 through 6 were all below 2019 results.

Local education advocates said that despite the improvements, the 2023 results signal that more investment is needed to close gaps in Detroit and accelerate the recovery from the pandemic.

“I think we should be grateful that these scores were not lower, said Christine Bell, executive director of Urban Neighborhood Initiatives, adding that “it’s criminal that before the pandemic less than 50% of our kids were reading at grade level.”

Peri Stone-Palmquist, executive director of the Student Advocacy Center of Michigan, said Thursday’s results were a call for state legislators to pass literacy bills and “invest more deeply in equity, high quality tutoring, and special education supports.”

Education Trust-Midwest, an education research and advocacy organization, said the results pointed to “persistent opportunity gaps for our most underserved students, including Black and Latino students, students with disabilities and students from low-income backgrounds.”

There is more money coming, even with the loss of federal COVID relief aid, which districts have a year left to spend.

Michigan’s new school aid budget includes funding for early literacy and expansion of pre-K programming, and increased funding for special education students and at-risk students.

Districts can also apply for a share of a new $150 million state program to fund tutoring and other academic support initiatives. The funding is based on how many students are considered to not be proficient on statewide assessments.

Among the measures DPSCD has budgeted for is the placement of academic interventionists at select schools. Those educators will work closely with students struggling in reading and math, and are funded in part by a $20 million donation DPSCD received from billionaire MacKenzie Scott last fall. Individual schools also had the option going into this school year of using their Title I dollars to fund after-school tutoring.

The biggest boost for DPSCD will be the $94.4 million it received from the state to settle a 2016 lawsuit that claimed the state denied Detroit schoolchildren proper instruction in reading. The funds are dedicated to programs that support literacy.

Vitti has said he would like to use the money to hire more interventionists, increase literacy support for high school students, and expand teacher training on how to help students who are several grades below reading level.

Ethan Bakuli is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering Detroit Public Schools Community District. Contact Ethan at ebakuli@chalkbeat.org.

Micah Walker is a reporter for BridgeDetroit, where she covers arts, culture, and education. Contact Micah at mwalker@bridgedetroit.com.

Tennessee hires leader to jump-start school turnaround efforts statewide

2023-09-01T01:00:09+00:00

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Tennessee has appointed a school improvement leader to manage all of its school turnaround work under a powerful new position that will touch urban, suburban, and rural districts.

Bren Elliott, who was a Nashville school administrator from 2001 to 2007 and has been school improvement chief for District of Columbia Public Schools since 2017, will begin her job as state turnaround superintendent on Tuesday.

The Tennessee Department of Education announced Elliott’s hire on Thursday, three years after launching its first search to fill the job. The position is considered key to jump-starting school improvement work in Tennessee, which has helped pioneer several turnaround models with limited success.

Bren Elliott, Tennessee’s new school turnaround leader, returns to the state from Washington, D.C., where she was a school improvement leader. Elliott has previously been a teacher, principal and administrator in Nashville.

She is among the first major hires for Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds, who started her job on July 1 with an early focus on school accountability.

Elliott’s experience in school improvement “will be an asset to the state and provide intentional support to these schools to ensure all students receive a high-quality education,” Reynolds said in a statement.

Chief among Elliott’s new responsibilities will be overseeing the Achievement School District, the state’s most aggressive lever for improving low-performing schools. The state-run district, which takes over schools and assigns them mostly to charter operators to manage, has itself struggled, with little to show so far for its turnaround efforts over the past decade.

Elliott also will be responsible for supervising interventions for all 95 of the state’s so-called priority schools — those that score academically in the bottom 5% — as well as schools that need targeted support due to large achievement gaps among groups of historically underserved students such as English language learners, students with disabilities, or those from low-income families.

In all, nearly 300 Tennessee schools fall in those categories.

She will also work closely with local leaders of district-level turnaround initiatives, from the Innovation Zone in Memphis and Nashville to the Partnership Network in Chattanooga.

“I look forward to working with our schools most in need of support and intervention, including the Achievement School District, to improve student achievement and help all students in these schools succeed,” said Elliott.

Turnaround efforts are at a crossroads

For many local school improvement leaders, the education department’s naming of a statewide turnaround chief came as a surprise. Under Gov. Bill Lee, the department launched multiple searches to fill the job, even naming three finalists in 2021. But those searches stalled due to the pandemic, budget issues, and uncertainties about what direction the state wanted to take its turnaround work.

Victoria Robinson, the department’s spokeswoman, said making the hire was a priority for Reynolds.

“Dr. Elliott was identified several months ago as a potential candidate, and since that time has completed the interview, hiring and other processes with the state, including with Commissioner Reynolds and TDOE leadership,” Robinson said.

Reynolds has not said what she has planned for the ASD and other turnaround work. State law gives the commissioner the authority to identify schools for state takeover and place them in the ASD.

Under Reynolds’ predecessor, Penny Schwinn, the department unveiled a new vision for the ASD that would have had a “smaller footprint” and new takeovers, but none of the updates materialized.

The ASD, which launched in 2012, has been mostly a disappointment. Under charter management, its schools typically performed no better than low-performing schools receiving no intervention. As a result, Tennessee has not taken control of a neighborhood school since taking over four in Memphis in 2016.

Most of the ASD’s schools are Memphis, with a few in Nashville, but the district has shrunk by more than half to just over a dozen schools in recent years. A few have closed, some have returned to their local districts, and many that have shown the most improvement have moved under the oversight of a new state commission for public charter schools.

A lack of steady leadership in the ASD has complicated the complex exit process for schools once their charter contracts expire. The district’s last leader, Lisa Settle, departed in summer 2022. Since then, other staff with the education department have managed it.

Elliott has Tennessee ties

Elliott, who is a member of Chiefs for Change, an influential national education leadership network, is a native of North Carolina and no stranger to Tennessee.

She was a teacher and administrator in Nashville public schools for 15 years, and spent her last year at the district as a director focused on priority schools. She earned her master’s degree from Tennessee State University.

In 2020, Elliott lost a bid to become director of Metro Nashville Public Schools to Adrienne Battle, who was the interim leader at the time. This summer, Elliott was a superintendent finalist for Huntsville City Schools in Alabama, which also picked its interim leader instead.

Before joining the Washington, D.C., school district, she spent eight years as an administrator for two school districts in North Carolina, where she focused on support services for students in Wake and Guilford counties.

As the state’s overarching turnaround leader, Elliott also will work with local officials who manage district-run turnaround models.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools operates the Innovation Zone with funding assistance from the state. The so-called iZone gives its schools autonomy over curricular, financial, scheduling, and staffing decisions, similar to charter schools.

State officials also have worked closely with Hamilton County Schools’ Partnership Network, a model that seeks greater collaboration between the state and the local district.

But the ASD is the state’s most scrutinized turnaround program.

This spring, state Rep. Antonio Parkinson received bipartisan support for a bill that would revamp the state’s turnaround model and halt school takeovers altogether.

On Thursday, the Memphis Democrat said the department needs a school turnaround leader, whether his legislation passes or not next year.

“We need to be utilizing and putting our efforts and resources behind those practices that actually work,” Parkinson said, “and stop feeding millions and millions of dollars into the practices that didn’t work.”

Laura Testino covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Laura at LTestino@chalkbeat.org.

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

Indianapolis Public Schools seeks relief from law on selling buildings to charters for $1

2023-08-21T22:37:01+00:00

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Indianapolis Public Schools is seeking legal affirmation for its position that it is exempt from a state law governing how and when districts must make underused or closed school buildings easily available to charter schools.

In a Monday filing with Marion Superior Court, IPS sought a declaratory judgment that it is exempt from the Indiana law that requires districts to sell or lease those buildings to charter schools or state education institutions for $1. The district is also seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent the Indiana Department of Education from enforcing the law with respect to IPS.

Lawmakers revised the so-called $1 law this year that made it friendlier to charters and education institutions in districts with declining enrollment, but the district stated in July that it’s not covered by the statute because of a 2021 decision it made about sharing certain tax revenue.

The district also issued a statement on Monday underscoring its view that it’s exempt from the law. But charter groups have argued that it is not. And earlier this month, the state education department directed IPS to notify the agency about its school closures, and noted that as a school corporation IPS was subject to the $1 law.

The court filing by IPS is the latest move in a long-running dispute between the district and the charter sector over facilities and resources, as charter enrollment grows and IPS enacts academic and other changes to attract students. The court’s interpretation of the law could also have big implications for the buildings that used to house Raymond Brandes School 65 and Francis Bellamy School 102, both of which closed earlier this year. The buildings have garnered interest from charter schools.

“The IPS Board is committed to complying with Indiana law, believes it is doing so, and believes Indianapolis Public Schools qualifies for the exemption from the $1 Charter Law,” IPS Board President Venita Moore said in a statement. “The IPS Board believes the courts will provide needed clarity regarding the exemption from the $1 Charter Law, and IPS will abide by the ultimate decision from Indiana courts.”

But the Mind Trust, which cultivates charter schools in the city, said in a Monday statement from CEO Brandon Brown that the court filing is “an unfortunate escalation in the district’s ongoing efforts to circumvent state law.”

“By choosing a potentially long and divisive legal battle instead of collaboration, IPS is closing the door on longstanding partners who want to work alongside the district in service to Indianapolis students,” Brown said.

The state education department declined to comment about the Monday court filing from IPS.

Lawmakers tweaked the $1 law this year after school districts successfully maintained exemptions from the law, which targets vacant or unused buildings. Sen. Linda Rogers, a Republican who authored the revised $1 law, said her intention was to create an appropriate balance between the interests of traditional public schools and charters.

But IPS maintains that even the new changes to the statute mean the law does not apply to its sale of School 65 and School 102.

The revised law exempts districts from having to sell or lease closed buildings to charters if they split funding from voter-approved property tax increases meant to pay for operating or safety costs with “applicable charter schools.”

IPS claims it is exempt because it shared funds from its 2018 property tax increase with charters in its Innovation Network of autonomous schools. The district has provided over $4 million annually to Innovation charters, IPS said in its motion for a preliminary injunction.

The school board voted in July to authorize the sales process for those two buildings, with priority given to nonprofit groups or government agencies. The district highlighted one local nonprofit that offers youth programming, Voices, as a potential buyer for the former School 102 building.

“IPS has sought to dispose of Brandes 65 and Bellamy 102 in a strategic manner that benefits the community, IPS students, and IPS,” the district said in its motion for a preliminary injunction. “IPS has not looked to simply offload the buildings to the highest bidder.”

But the district’s interpretation has been criticized by charter supporters. They have argued the district must share referendum funds with all charter schools within the district’s borders.

Rogers previously told Chalkbeat that sharing revenue from the 2018 referendum does not exempt IPS from the revised statute.

A separate state law requires the district to share tax revenue stemming from future ballot questions.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Marion County schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia school board votes to explore closing Franklin Towne, alleging ‘racist’ admissions

2023-08-18T17:23:32+00:00

The Philadelphia Board of Education took the first step towards closing a nationally recognized charter school that board members accused of discrimination in its lottery admissions system.

In a meeting that ran late into Thursday night, the board voted to send Franklin Towne Charter High School a notice of charter revocation, kicking off what could be a years-long process of hearings and investigations into the Blue Ribbon school.

Earlier in the week, the school district recommended that the board should start the process of revoking the school’s charter, citing evidence that Franklin Towne’s admissions process was not random and therefore may have systematically discriminated against students in majority Black neighborhoods.

“This decision is about ensuring that the school and its leaders are complying with required laws and regulations, as well as their charter, to implement a fair and equitable admission and lottery process that allows any student from any part of the city to have an equal opportunity to access public education,” Board President Reginald Streater said.

Streater said if a charter school is “picking and choosing” which students they enroll, “the credibility of the subsequent successes of that charter school could potentially be called into question.”

The board’s action comes amid the district’s own reckoning with its lottery admissions process for selective schools, in addition to longstanding accusations that the board discriminates against Black-led charter schools. Janice Hatfield, a spokesperson for the board, told Chalkbeat there has been no update on a law firm’s investigation into allegations of racial bias within the charter school authorization process.

The notice of revocation was approved 8-1 with board member Cecelia Thompson casting the dissenting vote.

Brianna O’Donnell, the CEO of Franklin Towne, said in a statement to the school community on Friday that the school district’s “revocation campaign is politically motivated” and accused the district of “trying to force as many charter schools back into its budget as it can.”

“We believe the facts and the evidence do not support revocation,” O’Donnell said, adding that even if, after rounds of hearings, the board does vote to revoke the school’s charter, “we remain confident in our likelihood of success on appeal.”

Earlier this week, O’Donnell said she was “blindsided” by the district’s move to begin revoking the school’s charter. She also said she was puzzled that the district was able to reach its conclusion before a probe by an outside group into the charter’s admissions practices commissioned by the school could be completed.

The 1,300-student school that serves grades nine through 12 will remain open and funded during the revocation process.

The city’s African-American Charter School Coalition issued a statement earlier this week welcoming “accountability” for Franklin Towne but added that it was “concerned by the timing.”

“We are still waiting for the Board to address the glaring bias and inequities in the charter evaluation and oversight process that continues to negatively impact Black founded and led public charter schools,” the group said in its statement.

District says charter school violated state law

In a memo dated Aug. 14, Peng Chao, the district’s acting chief of charter schools, reported that there were 17 city ZIP codes — some of which include majority Black neighborhoods — where no students were offered admission at Franklin Towne despite 110 students from those areas applying for the upcoming school year.

Chao said his office’s analysis revealed that Franklin Towne high school “has failed to conduct a lawful and compliant admissions and lottery process for students applying to the school over the course of the charter.”

Chao also said the school’s admissions process violated the enrollment section of the Pennsylvania charter school law, which says if more students apply to the school than the number of attendance slots available, students “must be selected on a random basis.”

Looking at a map of those ZIP codes, Board Vice President Mallory Fix-Lopez said Thursday she could only think of “a couple of words” to explain it: “offensive, redlining, racist practices.”

“I just don’t know how to look at that data and not interpret it any other way than a blatant racist practice that they have been on alert for for quite some time and just choose to ignore,” Fix-Lopez said.

Franklin Towne has been accused of discrimination in the past. In 2014 and 2016, Chao said at the board meeting, the district warned the school’s leaders that they were asking for inappropriate information on their application including the special education status of potential students.

And in 2018, the advocacy group Education Law Center - PA sent the school an open letter alleging discrimination against students with Individualized Education Programs, commonly known as IEPs. The school’s lawyer denied the allegations at the time.

Fix-Lopez also questioned whether similar non-random admissions processes are “pervasive throughout the city and other charter schools.”

Chao previously told reporters that his office is “looking into” doing such an analysis for other charter schools in the city. But, he cautioned, his office requested the same data from Franklin Towne’s charter elementary school and did not find anything that would indicate “a level of concern” on par with the high school.

Jennifer Clement, an assistant principal and long-time faculty member at Franklin Towne, told the board members that “punishing” students, families, and staff “for the alleged actions of a few” who oversaw admissions decisions would be “incredibly wrong.”

Two other Franklin Towne staff members shared sentiments similar to Clement’s on Thursday, emphasizing that the new administration under O’Donnell is still investigating its admissions process.

In February, before the discrimination allegations surfaced in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Joseph Venditti, Franklin Towne’s longtime CEO, resigned.

Board member Chau Wing Lam said she sees the revocation process as an opportunity to get more information, rather than as a definitive ruling about the allegations.

“I think it’s difficult to ascertain whether the violations that were uncovered are indicative of something more pervasive in the culture,” Lam said. But she added that if the allegations are true, “it’s analogous to cheating and it’s illegal.”

Just before voting, Streater said he understood that revoking the school’s charter will have an “unintended impact” on the students and staff.

Still, he said, “more must be done to remedy the situation to ensure that future students and applicants have an equal and fair opportunity to access Franklin Towne Charter High School.”

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

KIPP SPARK, Justice Academy students among first in Newark to head back to school

2023-08-17T17:26:06+00:00

The night before his first day of school at KIPP SPARK Academy, 9-year-old Francisco laid out his uniform, packed his “big boy” backpack, and decorated it with his favorite keychain — all on his own.

His mom, Loto Chung, felt a mix of emotions as she watched her fourth grader prepare for his last year as an elementary student.

As she dropped him off in front of the Newark charter school’s entrance, she hugged him tight, wished him a good first day, and took a picture of him with his solid green Reebok backpack.

“He didn’t want cartoon characters or superheroes on his backpack this year. He’s a big boy now,” said Chung in Spanish, as she stood outside KIPP SPARK with a group of moms reminiscing about their own first days of school.

The fourth grader is among Newark’s first students to head back to school this year, more than two weeks before the city’s roughly 38,000 public school students, who start classes on Sept. 5. He joins nearly 800 kindergarten through fourth grade students at KIPP SPARK, up from 500 students last year. Another 200 fifth through seventh grade students at KIPP Justice Academy will also be in the same building.

On Thursday morning, teachers greeted their students with hugs and high fives. Volunteers from other KIPP New Jersey schools welcomed KIPP SPARK and Justice students getting off yellow school buses. Police officers guided traffic as children wearing yellow and blue polo shirts pointed at balloons on the corner of Second and Sussex Avenue.

Morgan Thomas, assistant principal at KIPP SPARK Academy, hugs Foshea, one of her students.

The elementary and middle schools moved to their North Ward location this year after being on Halsey Street in downtown. Previously, the new building was home to KIPP Truth, which is now part of KIPP SPARK.

With more than 300 new families and over 100 staff members, KIPP SPARK principal Tamika Killins said there “is a lot of people to manage and lots of students to be responsible for” but the most important thing for her this school year is making sure her students and families “feel planted here.”

Earlier this month, she welcomed new families, students, and staff members to a back-to-school night where she was able to “start developing relationships with parents,” an ongoing goal for Killins as school leader.

“I have such a strong leadership team and if any school can pull this off, it’s definitely us,” Killins added.

Hundreds of KIPP SPARK and Justice Academy students made their way to school on Aug. 17, 2023, marking the first day of their 2023-24 school year.

The new brick school building comes with more outdoor space and this year, the elementary school plans to build a school garden with the help of the Greater Newark Conservancy, Killins said. Students will also have a chance to delve into space and engineering in a new after-school STEM club led by a first grade teacher.

At the middle school, the staff is incorporating more social emotional learning activities, including 30-minute sessions twice a week to focus on peer mediation and leadership opportunities for seventh graders to lead mediation sessions.

And across KIPP New Jersey schools, the work to boost academic performance after the pandemic set students in Newark and across the country behind will continue this school year with partnerships to provide high-dosage tutoring in math and reading.

Like Chung, Miram Mieles felt nervous about her fourth grader, Santiago, navigating a new school building and making friends. Santiago’s first language is Spanish and he is learning English after his family immigrated from Ecuador earlier this year.

As a result of their move, Santiago attended Newark schools for the first time at the end of last year, Mieles said. He has received help from teachers to develop his language skills and Mieles is hopeful her son will learn English in the coming months.

“He woke up on his own today and he was excited to see his new friends,” Mieles added.

For Ashley Brooks, the nerves set in after she dropped off her second and fifth grade students, Ava and Aubrey. Her oldest daughter has an Individualized Education Program and Brooks wants to make sure she continues getting the support she needs. Brooks’ children are entering their second year at KIPP Spark and Justice and are former North Star students.

“So far, I have no complaints, but I’m always talking to her and asking her questions about her class and teachers,” Brooks said.

Younger students were also eager to wake up at 7:00 a.m. to get ready for school. Shaunice Ross’s third grade son, Dionte, walked to the front entrance of the school, grinning from ear to ear and eager to get inside. He nodded as his mom asked him if he was excited to see his friends and teachers.

Said Ross: “He’s so happy to be going back.”

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

IREAD scores rise slightly for most Indianapolis districts but remain below pre-COVID levels

2023-08-17T11:00:00+00:00

The share of third graders passing the state’s IREAD literacy test rose slightly in most Marion County school districts this year, although none have returned to pre-pandemic rates.

The majority of Marion County districts and charter schools also remain well below the statewide pass rate of 81% for public school students.

Passing rates for Indianapolis Public Schools, the city’s largest district, declined from 62.8% last year to 60.6% this year. The rates for schools in Speedway, Perry and Franklin Townships also fell. Meanwhile, scores rose in seven other township districts, including Decatur, Warren, and Washington.

Proficiency rates for independent charter schools within or near Indianapolis Public School borders rose slightly as a whole, but are still far below their pre-pandemic pass rate of about 84% in 2019.

And charters within the IPS Innovation Network — which are run independently but are considered part of the district — also showed slight improvement overall.

The results for Indianapolis schools show the pandemic’s ongoing disruption to students in the early grades, which educators and others consider crucial for building students’ literacy skills.

In a statement, IPS said the district’s drop “further reinforces the need for the investments we have made to date, as well as new investments we will make in literacy throughout the district that are critical for student achievement.”

Districts and individual schools that improved significantly from last year highlighted efforts like a local summer learning initiative, state-funded coaching for teachers, and embracing training in the science of reading, which emphasizes phonetic instruction and science-backed ways of learning.

“We really leaned heavily into the science of reading, given the number of second-language learners we have,” said Alicia Hervey, founder and executive director of the Path School at Stephen Foster School 67, an Innovation charter school where the IREAD passing rate jumped more than 13 points from last year to 35.8%.

Warren Township schools see biggest growth on IREAD

IREAD scores for school districts across Marion County showed only slight increases or decreases, mirroring a stagnation in both the latest statewide IREAD and ILEARN results.

Among township school districts and IPS, Warren Township schools improved the most since 2022, increasing from 64.7% to 69.8%.

Ryan Russell, associate superintendent for Warren Township schools, said the district made K-3 literacy a priority last school year, focusing on training K-3 staff on the science of reading over the past three years.

All nine of the district’s elementary schools also participated in the state’s literacy coaching program, which guided the district’s own literacy coaches and teacher leaders.

But like all other school districts, Warren Township schools still have significant gains to make before reaching the district’s 78% passing rate of 2019. The biggest such gap is in Perry Township schools, where the gap between 2019 and 2023 IREAD scores is approximately 12 percentage points.

Russell said the district’s goal is to grow by 10% every year, reaching pre-pandemic levels at the end of this school year.

“We’re certainly celebrating our growth and we are happy to experience that growth, but at the same time we realize how critical of a measuring stick this is for our students and their future,” he said.

Independent charter schools outperform IPS

Independent charter schools in or near IPS boundaries continue to perform better than IPS as a whole, but also remain well below the statewide average.

The K-5 Ace Preparatory Academy, where the proficiency rate rose more than 14 percentage points to 76.3%, also participated in the state’s literacy coaching program to provide guidance for the school’s literacy coach.

Principal Amanda Liles also attributes the growth to the school’s small class sizes, its focus on student data, the skill and consistency of the school’s teachers, and an extended literacy-focused teaching period of 90 minutes.

“We’ve really been intentional about how we interpret our student data and how we help our scholars understand what that means for them as far as their growth,” she said.

Black students in independent charters for which disaggregated data was available had higher pass rates as a whole compared to Black students in IPS, with 67% of students passing. Data for some schools, however, wasn’t publicly reported by the state due to the small number of Black students taking the test.

The number of Hispanic and white students in many independent and Innovation charters was also too small to reach a firm conclusion about their success compared to their peers in traditional school districts.

Among all Marion County districts, IPS had the highest gap in the passing rate between white and Black students, with 52.6% of Black students passing compared to 83.9% of white students. The gap in IPS between white and Hispanic students is also the greatest of all the Marion County school districts, with 50.7% of Hispanic students passing the test.

But the IPS statement pointed to some “bright spots” from this year’s data, noting that eight schools outperformed the state average for Black students.

The district’s Emerging Schools, which are a set of low-performing schools, made gains that on average outpaced state gains, the district said.

Restart charters had significant score increases and decreases

The passing rate at IPS Innovation charters, meanwhile, increased as a whole from roughly 46% to nearly 51%. But at Innovation Restart schools, which are chronically underperforming schools that charter operators are trying to improve, there was significant variation.

Four schools’ scores dropped from last year’s passing rates: Global Prep, Phalen Leadership Academy (PLA) at Francis Scott Key 103, Adelante Schools at Emma Donnan Elementary, and Liberty Grove Schools at Elder Diggs School 42.

But there was sufficient improvement at the remaining four — the Path School, Urban Act Academy at Washington Irving School 14, Matchbook Learning at Wendell Phillips School 63, and PLA at Louis B. Russell School 48 — for the overall passing rate at Innovation Restart schools to rise.

The Path School required students who did not pass the IREAD in the spring to attend an Indy Summer Learning Lab that helped a few more students pass the test over the summer, Hervey said. The school also did after-school tutoring twice a week, she said.

Still, the school’s 35.8% pass rate is well below the 61.3% rate from 2018-19, two years before School 67 became a charter school. Hervey said the school’s goal is to reach a 95% pass rate.

“I do expect we’ll be around 80% over the next few years,” she said.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Marion County schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

As students left Indianapolis Public Schools, leaders paid COVID aid to a company to get them back

2023-08-07T11:00:00+00:00

Indianapolis Public Schools faces competition on nearly every street corner.

“Vouchers accepted,” read signs for a private Christian school strewn throughout the Fountain Square neighborhood.

“Now enrolling!” signs for multiple charter schools beckon in Mapleton-Fall Creek.

“Free college in high school,” touts one charter school on the east side.

In short, IPS is fighting for students — and the state funding that follows them — with local charters and private schools that continue to grow. And students have been leaving the school system in droves. So as IPS spent millions of dollars of federal COVID relief on high-profile priorities like academic recovery and staff retention, it also directed some of that aid to a different goal: enticing students back to the district, with the help of a private company.

The $269,600 the district paid to the Memphis-based Caissa K-12 firm to recruit and retain students as of March 31 is less than 1% percent of the district’s $217.2 million in COVID relief money. But the effort highlights the district’s ongoing challenge with long-term declining enrollment that worsened during the pandemic. At its worst, roughly one out of 10 IPS students left the district from 2019-20 to 2020-21.

Signs for Trinity Christian School, a private religious school, and Christel House Indianapolis, a charter school, in the Garfield Park neighborhood of Indianapolis.

Meanwhile, charter school enrollment within and near IPS borders has grown almost every year — as has the number of IPS students attending private schools using state-funded tuition vouchers, which lawmakers expanded this year.

Ultimately, IPS is relying heavily on its Rebuilding Stronger plan to improve academic offerings and school facilities as a strategy to attract families to the district.

Caissa K-12 President Adrian Bond said the firm works with traditional public school districts on marketing themselves to parents — something charter schools, private schools, and homeschool networks have done a better job of in years past.

“Districts have to realize this is almost like a business now,” he said. “You’re not the only business in town anymore.”

IPS says the money spent on Caissa K-12 helped a student recruitment campaign that brought nearly 400 students into IPS through a contract that lasted for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years. But raising even a small portion of federal relief funds this way could raise questions.

“From my perspective, I’m seeing so many other compelling needs in terms of supporting student development,” said Thomas Dee, professor at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education who has tracked student enrollment declines from the pandemic. “It’s difficult to look at that expenditure and characterize it as the best available use of scarce funds.”

Pandemic exacerbated declining enrollment for IPS

For several years before COVID hit, IPS lost between 3% and 4.4% of its enrollment annually. But between the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school year, that loss jumped to 10.5%.

After COVID shut schools down and ushered in virtual learning at the end of the 2019-20 school year, IPS decided to open the 2020-21 school year virtually. Such a decision may have had a significant impact on the district’s enrollment.

Schools that offered remote instead of in-person instruction saw a decline in enrollment, particularly in kindergarten and elementary grades, according to research Dee and others conducted using data from across the country.

Meanwhile, charter school enrollment within IPS borders grew from roughly 7,500 students in 2018-19 to over 9,400 in 2022-23. The number of students who live within IPS borders but use vouchers to attend private schools has also grown steadily from roughly 3,580 students in 2017-18 to roughly 4,240 in 2022-23.

Now, many districts have settled into a new equilibrium with fewer students, Dee said. They also face financial pressure to close under-enrolled schools, once federal COVID relief expires and districts face a fiscal cliff.

“Part of the critical narrative going forward isn’t so much that the exodus has stopped,” Dee said, “but rather that the kids haven’t returned.”

IPS says Caissa K-12 brought back students

The district worked with Caissa K-12 to launch a student retention campaign that focused on contacting families who had previously been enrolled in an IPS school, the district said in a statement. The IPS contract with the company lasted from May 2021 through June 2023.

The campaign reached out to families through text, email, and phone calls. The campaign focused on understanding why students left the district, and highlighting the programs that the district has to offer, Bond said.

“There’s a lot of other educational options out there that parents may see as the shiny and bright toy, and then they just don’t realize that they have similar or better programs at the traditional public school,” Bond said. “But oftentimes the traditional public schools do not have the ability to be able to put that out at a grassroots level.”

Caissa’s work requires anywhere from nine to 22 contacts with parents in order to get them to return, Bond said.

Caissa K-12 and its affiliated Memphis-based communications firm, Caissa Public Strategy, have worked with districts across the country. Since the pandemic hit, Caissa has scored contracts to recruit students with Florida’s Duval County Public Schools, which includes Jacksonville, and Louisiana’s Jefferson Parish Schools, the largest district in the state.

And in March, the Metropolitan School District of Washington Township approved a contract with Caissa K-12 for customer service training, a student recruitment campaign at $953 per student, and $31,200 in “secret shopper” campaigns, in which the firm poses as a family interested in attending the district and provides feedback on the school staff’s response.

“Spending time and resources on recruiting and retention became necessary after Covid-19 when we noticed that a number of students were not returning to school,” a spokesperson for Washington Township schools said in a statement.

Caissa’s website frames student recruitment in terms of customer service, offering secret shopper evaluations, training, and other services “exclusively for public schools.”

Caissa isn’t afraid to be blunt when marketing its services. The firm advertises itself with phrases such as “Sick of screaming parents?” and “The customer is not always right! But we sure do need them.”

Asked about Caissa’s use of that language, Bond said the company works with districts to make sure their front desk workers and registration teams put their best foot forward to parents. The group trains staff to advocate for the goal they are trying to accomplish and emphasize how it benefits the students and parents at the end, he said.

IPS did not use Caissa’s training services. But the district said that the campaign recruited nearly 400 students into the district. At the start of this school year, Superintendent Aleesia Johnson said IPS enrollment was similar to last year’s figure, which state records show was just over 22,000 students when excluding the district’s non-charter schools. When counting the district’s charter schools within its Innovation Network, that number stands at about 31,000, per the district.

IPS believes its contract with the firm brought “significant additional revenue for the district,” but did not specify how much. Basic state per-pupil funding was about $6,000 in 2021-22, and $6,234 in 2022-23.

But Bond said Caissa’s work should be just one part of districts’ efforts to stem declining enrollment.

“It is only a Band-Aid,” he said. “What we’ve seen is districts need to make this part of their overall strategy for the stabilization of enrollment. We help recruit students in the front doors, but also districts have to figure out ways to retain those students from leaving out the back door.”

The district said in its statement that its work with Caissa inspired it to build its own recruitment and retention team. As of March, the district had spent about $5,400 more in pandemic relief funds to do so.

Dee, however, said such recruitment campaigns aren’t a “scalable solution for academic recovery.” He also said that amidst many acute challenges schools now face, such efforts have limited value because they’re “chasing a fixed population of students.”

“I bristle at the idea of simply trying to market yourself better to attract kids,” he said. “Because from a broader policy perspective, it’s robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Marion County schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Clarification: This article has been updated to include IPS’s enrollment with students who attend charter schools in the district’s Innovation Network.

Newark’s state test scores dropped last spring. What’s helping students get back on track?

2023-08-03T11:30:08+00:00

In Newark’s North Ward, students in Ms. Murphy’s second grade class at Park Elementary School sat quietly on a colorful rug at the front of the classroom in mid-July, listening to their teacher read a book.

The summer school class was practicing reading comprehension skills by answering questions about the story and summarizing the main ideas.

“Look at the sun, the rain,” said Kathleen Murphy as she showed students the drawings in the book. “Where is our setting?”

Two students quickly raised their hands.

“Outside by a tree!” one student.

“What kind of tree?” Murphy asked the class.

“Oak!” several students shout out, eager to answer.

Murphy’s class is part of Newark Public Schools’ five-week summer school program, one of many efforts across city schools to help students get back on grade level after spring 2022 state test scores showed dismal drops in English language arts and math.

As Newark students get ready to return to class in five weeks, officials are hoping that such initiatives aimed at helping those who have fallen behind will pay off.

Some of those interventions began last spring with high-dosage tutoring during the day at KIPP New Jersey schools. Others – such as Murphy’s class – took place during summer school programs.

About 10,000 public school students were required to attend summer school this year – double the number from last year – with more scattered throughout city charter schools.

In Newark Public Schools, students are required to attend summer school based on attendance, grades, and state test scores. Those who did not attend within the first three days were at risk of losing their seats and high schoolers enrolled in the summer accelerated program needed to attend every day to keep their spots, according to the district.

“The effort to close the achievement gap and accelerate learning is a collective effort,” said Newark Public Schools Assistant Superintendent José Fuentes. “And hopefully we’ll see robust gains from this summer.”

New Jersey students took the state’s standardized test last spring – the first time since 2019 – providing a glimpse into students’ slow recovery after COVID-19 disruptions. The scores pointed to the severity of the pandemic’s toll on student learning and the efforts Newark leaders must take to recover from it.

In spring 2022, only 49% of New Jersey students passed the state’s English language arts test, 27% of Newark public school students, and 47% of the city’s charter school students reached proficiency levels in the same subject.

Newark’s younger students suffered the biggest declines from pre-pandemic levels, with only 19% of Newark Public School third graders and 40% of the city’s charter school third graders reaching proficiency levels on the state’s English language arts test. Third grade is widely viewed as a critical age for reading and a measure of a student’s future academic success. The scores also showed that Newark’s struggles with achieving math proficiency have only grown since the pandemic.

In July, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka declared an “urgent” literacy crisis throughout the city and launched a 10-point Youth Literacy Action plan that calls on local schools, parents, community partners, and programs to get young children reading and writing.

Rising second grade students work on math problems in Kelly Stern’s class on Thursday, July 20, 2023, at Achieve Community Charter School in Newark, New Jersey.

The sobering test scores are part of the crisis that led city educators to develop strategies to refine students’ skills in reading, writing, and math this summer. In the classroom, teachers are working with students who need help practicing handwriting and strengthening reading comprehension skills, while others implement group work that challenges students to discuss different ways to solve math problems.

For public school leaders, home to roughly 38,000 students, federal COVID relief dollars have been the district’s “saving grace” in expanding summer programs to 14 schools this year, said Superintendent Roger León during a press conference in June.

Part of the district’s strategy is ensuring those dollars “last a long time” so they continue to offer tutoring and other recovery support during the school year, León added.

‘Learning happens when students are having fun’

Park Elementary’s summer school principal, Ladylaura Bueno, is responsible for making sure her 127 students required to attend summer classes are there.

The program “moves very quickly,” Bueno said, and missing one week of summer school “is like missing one marking period.”

The goal is for the summer school experience to mirror that of the academic year, Fuentes added. On day one, students are tested in either reading or math and then tested again at the end “to see the efficacy of the program,” Bueno said. Instruction is tailored to each student’s need, making participation a key component of the program.

School leaders like Bueno, normally a vice principal at Salomé Ureña Elementary school, say summer school planning takes months, and ensuring that parents understand the importance of it is part of the work to help students succeed.

“We’re working to engage parents and make sure they understand that their kids aren’t done just because it’s summer,” Fuentes said. “If you miss school, we make calls.”

Developed by Newark Board of Education curriculum experts, the district’s Summer Plus program combines academic and enrichment activities into a full-day summer program for students who will be entering grades one through eight. In the morning, students work on improving math and literacy skills, and in the afternoon, students are free to join extracurricular activities led by partnering organizations in Newark.

“The teacher is the facilitator here and that places the onus on students to solve the problem and find different ways to reach a solution,” Fuentes said.

In one fifth grade class at Park, for example, 12 students who need extra support in math focus on collaborative work and finding ways to solve problems on their own. Then they discuss different solutions with their peers. Students are also pulled from class at different times of the day and placed in smaller groups with teachers who provide more targeted support in reading and math.

During the regular academic year, León said they plan to implement a similar structure and provide tutoring for students throughout the school day – a requirement under Baraka’s 10-Point Action Plan.

Ultimately, “learning happens when students are having fun and are engaging in hands-on activity,” Fuentes said.

Newark charter looks for ways to refine student learning

Overall, Newark’s trends showed that students performed lower in math state tests than in English language arts. That’s one reason Achieve Community Charter School is focusing on improving student performance in math as part of its summer program.

Achieve students entering grades one through seven are tested during the first week of school to assess their needs, said Tina Leake, Achieve’s summer school site director. Based on that data, students are placed in tutoring groups that target specific skills in math and literacy.

Rising fifth grade students work in small groups with an “All Star” tutor in Vanessa Simon’s class on Thursday, July 20, 2023, at Achieve Community Charter School in Newark, New Jersey.

Summer tutoring can include group instruction or one-on-one learning during the school day, in addition to instruction in the classroom in the morning, said summer school principal Patrice Norwood. School leaders and teachers then evaluate their tutoring strategy on a daily basis as students move through the program.

“They’re not going to stay in the same group for the whole program, or the whole week or even daily,” Norwood added. “It might change based on what we’re seeing.”

Keeping Achieve’s 184 summer school students engaged is also part of the work to support student learning, Norwood said.

Through a partnership with After School All Stars, a nonprofit organization working with low-income youth, students are spread throughout 10 classrooms with one instructor and an “All Star” tutor who helps out during the small group hour built into the day. In their classrooms, students rotate among three different groups: instruction with a teacher, iReady lessons in math or reading on their Chromebooks, and group work specific to students’ needs.

Students may also need extra support in skills not usually worked on during the school day such as handwriting or adding and subtracting. Small groups and tutoring are a way to build those skills, Norwood said.

School leaders also keep a close eye on students’ emotional and mental health and work with community partners to support children and their families. Recently, for example, one of Achieve’s students was dealing with the loss of a family member and school leaders offered to provide therapy and support services for the family.

“We’re here to help both students and their families,” Norwood said.

Their approach to supporting students and evaluating and reassessing their program is part of “the love students get,” she added.

KIPP schools maximize impact of tutoring

For KIPP New Jersey Schools, which serves students in Newark and Camden, the work to boost student performance began this spring with two new partnerships that helped provide high-dosage tutoring in math and reading. That goes along with recent research that shows intensive tutoring can be effective in helping students improve in problem areas.

Two of the charter school network’s elementary schools partnered with the New Jersey Tutoring Corps, a statewide nonprofit created to address academic recovery needs post pandemic, to provide in-person tutoring to 100 students. The preliminary data for elementary student outcomes is “promising” and reflects on the efforts of the corps to provide targeted tutoring, said Joe Hejlek, director of wraparound services at KIPP New Jersey.

Overall, the state’s Tutoring Corps served 500 students across New Jersey schools during the 2022-23 pilot. The percentage performing at grade level in math improved from 16% to 40%, and from 23% to 40% in literacy across all grade levels, the Tutoring Corps reported.

But Hejlek says the program’s success in KIPP New Jersey schools is in part linked to student attendance.

“There’s a very direct correlation between the number of sessions students participate in and the amount of growth that they make,” he said.

At the middle school level, three KIPP New Jersey schools partnered with Tutored by Teachers, an organization that provides personalized virtual tutoring for students. Nikeya Stuart is a school leader at TEAM Academy working with students from fifth through eighth grade. At TEAM, 20 students worked with Tutored by Teachers instructors this spring and received virtual tutoring in math twice a week during the school day.

Achieve Community Charter School student’s work on adding and subtracting during the school’s 2023 summer program.

Students were chosen to participate in the program if they were within 10 points of passing the state’s math test and had 95% daily attendance or higher during the academic year, Stuart said. The goal was to choose students who would commit to tutoring “so the program could really yield the results that we were hoping that it would,” Stuart added.

She found sixth and seventh graders were more engaged than students in fifth and eighth grade but noted the importance of finding “a program that works for each student.”

Not all students will benefit from online learning after the pandemic and “if a student did not like learning behind the computer, they may not be the ideal student” for virtual tutoring, Stuart said.

By learning about the impact the tutoring efforts had on students, the charter network is looking to scale up its tutoring program by expanding it to five more schools this year. But it remains unclear whether there will be funding to continue such high-dosage tutoring and other avenues for student academic recovery.

”It’s just a question of making sure we have enough tutors to meet demand,” Hejlek said, “and then making sure we’re being thoughtful about how we select the students and how we set our schools up to maximize the impact of the tutoring.”

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

IPS plan to sell closed school buildings could tee up conflict with charters, GOP lawmakers

2023-07-28T00:50:04+00:00

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Indianapolis Public Schools says its planned sale of two school buildings that closed this year is exempt from a state law designed to make such district facilities available to charter schools for $1.

The school board on Thursday voted unanimously to authorize officials to begin the sales process for Raymond Brandes School 65 and Francis Bellamy School 102, two of the six schools that closed at the end of the 2022-23 school year as part of the district’s Rebuilding Stronger reorganization.

But the district will only consider transferring the properties to another government agency or selling them to a nonprofit organization for the first 30 days of the process before opening up the sales to other buyers.

The state’s so-called $1 law in general requires districts to make such buildings available to charter schools or state educational institutions for a sale price or annual lease of $1. But IPS maintains that changes to the statute that lawmakers approved earlier this year mean the law does not apply to its sale of the two facilities. That interpretation of the law has garnered pushback from charter supporters.

The district’s argument underscores an ongoing conflict between IPS, charters, and GOP officials over the best way to use and reallocate school facilities as IPS enrollment declines and the district looks to shore up its finances.

Charter schools had previously expressed interest in occupying some of the six buildings closed this year, including Adelante Schools, which had hoped to start a second school at School 65. Last year, the Indiana Charter School Network filed a complaint with Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office that IPS had failed to comply with the $1 law by not making the six schools it planned to close available to charters. Rokita’s office later ruled in favor of the district.

State lawmakers revised the $1 law in their most recent session to allow the Indiana Department of Education to force the closure of schools operating at less than 60% capacity in districts that have lost at least 10% of their students in the past five years. Once closed, districts must offer to sell or lease those schools to charters. That change gave charters a new edge, at least in theory.

Yet the revised law also exempts districts from having to sell or lease closed buildings to charters if they share funding from voter-approved property tax increases for operating or safety costs with “applicable charter schools.”

Francis Bellamy School 102 on the far eastside previously housed prekindergarten and a Step Ahead Academy for students who were retained, before it closed at the end of the 2022-23 school year.

In 2021, the IPS school board voted to share funds from its 2018 property tax increase with charters in its Innovation Network of autonomous schools. On Thursday, the district in its resolution cited that revenue-sharing to argue that it is exempt from having to sell or lease its closed buildings to charters for $1.

“In 2023, there were significant modifications to the so-called dollar law that we believe exempt IPS from” the statute, the district said in a statement after the vote. “Our legal team will continue to engage in the analysis and implications moving forward.”

But Sen. Linda Rogers, a Republican and the author of the change to the $1 law, previously told Chalkbeat that the exemption would not cover IPS just because the district had shared funds from a previous referendum.

Instead, she argued, the exemption only covers districts that share such revenue with charters through measures that voters approve this year or in subsequent years. (In fact, under a separate state law, IPS and other Marion County school districts will be required to split revenue in this way with charters for any future ballot question that voters pass.)

“We don’t think IPS has met the requirement of the statute to share property tax dollars proportionately with all charter schools in the IPS boundaries, and thus the action they are taking violates the law,” Marcie Brown-Carter, executive director of the Indiana Charter School Network, said in a statement before the vote on Thursday.

Superintendent Aleesia Johnson said the directive to prioritize a sale or transfer to a nonprofit or government agency will give “mission-aligned organizations … the opportunity at the front of the line” to acquire the buildings.

VOICES, a nonprofit that offers youth programs, told the school board that the space at School 102 would allow it to grow.

Circle City Prep founder and executive director Megan Murphy told Chalkbeat that the school is also interested in pursuing a partnership with IPS to use School 102 for a second campus as the charter school grows. But she said the school is not interested in purchasing the building at this time, even for $1.

Both School 65 and School 102 were built in the early 1960s and had low utilization rates in the 2022-23 school year. School 102 on the far eastside operated at just 24% capacity, and School 65 operated at 45% capacity. The sale price for these buildings is not yet determined.

School 102, which housed a prekindergarten center and the Step Ahead Academy for students who had been retained, was given a building condition score of “poor” in a third-party assessment. School 65 was rated as “fair.”

Although the district had discussions with Adelante about potentially occupying School 65, IPS Chief Operations Officer Bill Murphy said the neighborhood in the south side area would not have sustained a second Adelante campus. Adelante, a charter school in the Innovation Network that operates in the district’s Emma Donnan Elementary and Middle School building, has an enrollment that only uses 35% of the capacity available in that building, Murphy added.

“We really want to make sure that they have an opportunity to thrive,” he said. “When we looked at the projections, splitting them in between two campuses, for example, would have engineered their failure in at least one.”

Adelante Executive Director Eddie Rangel declined to comment on the plan to sell the buildings.

School for the blind to lease two other closed schools

Board members also approved lease agreements with the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ISBVI) to occupy two other schools that closed this year as part of Rebuilding Stronger.

ISBVI will pay $8,885 per month to occupy Floro Torrence School 83 in the northeast part of the district through July 2030, while its campus undergoes renovations. The school will pay $13,845 per month for George Buck School 94 on the far eastside.

Paul Miller School 114, which also closed this year, will serve as a new campus for the Excel Center adult charter high school. The district is still working on plans for Francis W. Parker Montessori School 56, the sixth school to close under the reorganization.

Correction: This article has been updated to accurately describe the state law governing the lease or sale of closed and underused school buildings to charter schools and education institutions under certain circumstances.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Marion County schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

DSST school nixes namesake William Byers, Denver newspaper founder who defended Sand Creek Massacre

2023-07-20T11:00:00+00:00

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The Denver-based DSST charter school network is changing the name of another of its schools in a move that distances the schools from a prominent, long-deceased Denverite who held racist views.

DSST: Byers Middle and High schools will no longer bear the name of William Byers, founder of the now-closed Rocky Mountain News and a defender of the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre, in which U.S. soldiers attacked a peaceful camp of Cheyenne and Arapaho people on Colorado’s Eastern Plains. The schools will now be called DSST: Cedar Middle and High schools.

The Cedar name honors the cedar tree, which is native to Colorado and played “a crucial role in various aspects of indigenous life,” according to a press release from DSST. The school is also located at the intersection of South Pearl Street and East Cedar Avenue.

“From cradleboards for carrying babies to its resilience in the face of drought and harsh winds, Cedar embodies the spirit of resilience and holistic well-being that we hope to imbue in our students,” the press release said.

DSST said the name change was made after “extensive community engagement.”

“Our school motto is ‘growing together,’” School Director Elin Curry said in the press release. “The change of our school name through a community-driven process has been exactly that.”

The press release doesn’t mention Byers, the school’s prior namesake. Throughout 1864, Byers’ newspaper ran articles vilifying Native Americans and encouraged readers to join militias to fight them, according to the Denver Public Library.

After U.S. soldiers killed more than 200 Cheyenne and Arapaho people in what became known as the Sand Creek Massacre, the Rocky Mountain News celebrated their deaths and said soldiers “should not be blamed for killing women and children.”

Denver Public Schools opened the Byers school campus in 1921 on land once owned by the Byers family. The school was a junior high for decades and later a temporary home for Denver School of the Arts. The building sat vacant for more than a decade before DSST reopened it in 2014 after a $19 million renovation funded by a taxpayer-approved bond.

In 2021, the Denver Public Library renamed a branch that had been named for Byers. The new name, John “Thunderbird Man” Emhoolah, Jr. Branch Library, honors an Indigenous activist.

This is the second time DSST, which has 14 schools in Denver and two in Aurora, has changed a school name. In 2019, DSST: Stapleton became DSST: Montview. The middle and high schools were originally named for the Stapleton neighborhood, which bore the name of former Denver mayor Benjamin Stapleton, who was a member of the Ku Klux Klan.

The neighborhood has since been renamed Central Park. DSST: Montview is a reference to Montview Boulevard, which touches many of the neighborhoods served by the school.

Melanie Asmar is a senior reporter for Chalkbeat Colorado, covering Denver Public Schools. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.

Memphis-Shelby County School Board OKs two charter school applications, denies seven

2023-07-19T23:28:34+00:00

The Memphis-Shelby County Schools board on Tuesday approved applications for two charter schools to join the district in 2024-25, while denying seven others.

Journey Coleman, an Achievement School District charter school, will become a charter school under MSCS. Tennessee Career Academy, a new charter school, will also open in the district. Both schools will join the MSCS district in 2024-25.

Other charter applicants were denied, but will have a chance to appeal.

Denying the four other ASD charter school applications leaves the students and staff at the schools in limbo.

Another web of decisions will determine what happens next. Without approval to operate under the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission, the fate of the schools is left to MSCS. If the district doesn’t decide to make them traditional schools, the four charter schools will close when their charters expire after the 2023-24 school year.

MSCS officials Tuesday suggested plans for some of the schools to return as traditional schools, but none of those plans are final.

So far, neither the district nor the board has articulated a comprehensive strategy for dealing with the fallout of the ASD’s collapse.

Here are the MSCS board’s votes. Five are existing schools in the Achievement School District:

Cornerstone Prep Lester Campus School, sponsored by Capstone Education Group: Denied
Fairley High School, sponsored by Green Dot Public Schools TN: Denied
Humes Middle School, sponsored by Frayser Community Schools: Denied
Journey Coleman, sponsored by Journey Community Schools: Approved
MLK College Prep High School, sponsored by Frayser Community Schools: Denied

The other four are proposed new charter schools:

Change Academy, sponsored by Trust God and Never Doubt Outreach: Denied
Empower Memphis Career & College Prep, sponsored by Empower Career and College Prep: Denied
Pathways In Education-Memphis, sponsored by Pathways Management Group: Denied
Tennessee Career Academy, sponsored by TN Career Academy Inc.: Approved

Approvals for the two successful applicants take effect July 25, 2023.

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Laura Testino covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Laura at LTestino@chalkbeat.org.

More Memphis charter schools could face closure after state’s failed turnaround effort

2023-07-17T16:37:46+00:00

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Several of Memphis’ lowest performing schools face an uncertain future — and possible closure — as their charter agreements with Tennessee’s turnaround district near expiration.

Five of them, including MLK College Prep High School, are seeking approval to return to Memphis-Shelby County Schools as charter schools after a decade in the state-run Achievement School District. But MSCS officials have recommended denying their charter applications, along with bids from four proposed new charter schools.

If the MSCS board votes to accept the district’s recommendations and deny the charters when it meets Tuesday, it would leave some 2,000 students with high academic needs in limbo, unsure of where they’ll attend classes in the 2024-25 school year.

Another web of decisions would determine what happens next to those students, and to the schools. So far, neither the district nor the board has articulated a comprehensive strategy for dealing with the fallout of the ASD’s collapse.

“We should have talked about this two years ago, since we all knew it was coming,” said Bobby White, head of the charter company that runs MLK College Prep.

MSCS officials have said they talk to operators and tailor individual decisions because “each school in the ASD is unique.”

Nine charter schools want to open in MSCS

Memphis-Shelby County Schools officials have recommended that the school board reject nine charter schools that submitted amended applications in a second-round process.

Five are existing schools in the Achievement School District:

Cornerstone Prep Lester Campus School, sponsored by Capstone Education Group
Fairley High School, sponsored by Green Dot Public Schools TN
Humes Middle School, sponsored by Frayser Community Schools
Journey Coleman, sponsored by Journey Community Schools
MLK College Prep High School, sponsored by Frayser Community Schools

The other four are proposed new charter schools:

Change Academy, sponsored by Trust God and Never Doubt Outreach
Empower Memphis Career & College Prep, sponsored by Empower Career and College Prep
Pathways In Education-Memphis, sponsored by Pathways Management Group
Tennessee Career Academy, sponsored by TN Career Academy Inc.

The board could defy the district recommendations and approve the charters, as it has done before. But the district argues that it’s not in its interest to bring poorly performing charter schools back into the district. This year, all five applicants bear the same low-performing “priority” designation that primed them for state takeover a decade ago.

“We want high quality seats for our students,” said Brittany Monda, MSCS’ assistant superintendent of charter schools.

ASD schools could close

When the state assigned its lowest-performing public schools — most of them in Memphis — to the Achievement School District, the idea was that charter operators would take them over, turn them around, and eventually return the schools to the home districts in better shape.

But the plan didn’t work. Many of the schools languished or continued to perform poorly under the charter operators. That means that despite 10 years of state oversight, most do not meet state and local performance standards used by local officials to evaluate charter applications.

Data presented by MSCS indicates that despite some gains over the years, each of the five schools has fewer than 12% of students on track in reading and math.

State law allows Tennessee school boards to close charter schools in their own portfolios that have priority designations, and that could happen in Memphis if the MSCS board accepts the ASD schools and they don’t make significant academic gains. Memphis policy favors new charter schools that would give other options to students who go to a low-performing school.

If the board turns down the ASD schools, MSCS could decide to resume operating them as traditional schools. Otherwise, the ASD schools would close when their charters expire at the end of the 2023-24 school year.

MSCS facilities plan complicates unraveling of ASD

It’s no surprise that MSCS is wary of assuming responsibility for more schools. District leaders have been trying over the past decade to align school capacity with shifts in enrollment, and to figure out how to improve the condition of decaying school buildings. Facility plans have been continually revised in recent years, but have never been fully executed.

Consolidating schools that are operating under capacity would offer better learning environments for students, officials say, and cut down on a costly list of building repair projects.

Interim Superintendent Toni Williams is poised to deliver a new facilities plan next month. The ASD charter schools — operating in buildings MSCS still owns — could be part of this plan.

Already, the district is planning for a new Frayser high school that would combine students at Trezevant High School and MLK College Prep. The district plans to build it at the MLK site.

White, the leader of MLK College Prep’s charter operator, Frayser Community Schools, has said that if the MSCS board approves the charter school, he would end the charter agreement early, when it’s time for students at MLK College Prep to move into the new building.

But if the school isn’t approved as a charter, the district will have to choose between operating it or letting it close. If it closes, students currently zoned to MLK College Prep would have to be reassigned to Trezevant or other schools until a new high school is built.

Stephanie Love, a school board member and longtime advocate for students in the ASD, peppered district officials with questions about school closures and consolidations during a committee meeting last week.

She pointed out that the district makes decisions to close and consolidate traditional schools based on academic performance, enrollment, and school building needs — criteria similar to the ones it uses to evaluate charter schools.

Many ASD schools have closed already without any MSCS school board vote.

If the five ASD schools seeking charter approvals eventually return to the district as traditional schools, they could become part of MSCS’ own turnaround model, called the Innovation Zone, or iZone. The model takes advantage of centralized resources and pays teachers more for working a longer day.

A handful of former ASD schools joined the iZone last year, as traditional MSCS schools, and another will join this school year. Monda, the charter office leader, said the returned schools have shown “promising results,” but did provide any data. (Charter schools cannot be part of the iZone.)

Charter operators may have a chance to appeal or reapply

Tuesday’s board vote on the five ASD schools — and the four new applicants — won’t be the end of the story for any of them.

If they lose their bids for charter approval, they could appeal the decision to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission, or in some cases reapply next year.

White, the ASD charter operator, said that if the board turns down his applications, he doesn’t plan to appeal. He said he wants to support the district’s plan for Memphis students. But he said there should have been a more comprehensive plan for the schools serving the Memphis and Tennessee students who have struggled the most academically.

“Our contracts say our time is up after the 10th year,” he said. “And I’m hoping that we have an opportunity after this round … to really dig in on what’s going to happen to … all the other schools coming back in the years to follow.”

Another set of ASD schools serving about 2,000 more students have charters set to expire in coming school years.

Laura Testino covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Laura at LTestino@chalkbeat.org.

IPS ILEARN scores improve some, but remain below independent charters

2023-07-14T12:00:00+00:00

Indiana’s latest ILEARN scores show that Black and Hispanic students in independent charters in Indianapolis continue to outperform their peers in Indianapolis Public Schools and the district’s own charter schools.

IPS, however, is inching along in its pandemic academic recovery with a greater share of students proficient in both subjects than in 2019, while independent charters and charters in the IPS Innovation Network as a whole have yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels.

The results for the three public school systems serving students within IPS attendance boundaries show slow growth in some areas and stagnation in others, in some cases mirroring a recent national analysis showing students experienced little to no academic progress in the 2022-23 academic year. (Chalkbeat’s analysis of independent charters included some schools that are physically outside of IPS boundaries but enroll a majority of IPS students).

IPS rates remained low: 14.8% of students scored proficient in both math and English, up slightly from 14.1% the year before, and more than 4 percentage points above 2021 scores. The most recent scores are one point higher than rates from 2019, the first time students took the exam.

The gains since 2021 have largely been driven by the district’s white students, whose proficiency rates have jumped by roughly 10 percentage points since the pandemic low in 2021 and are even higher than when students first took the ILEARN in 2019. Black and Hispanic students in IPS, however, have not recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

Charter schools within the IPS Innovation Network — a consortium of autonomous schools considered a part of IPS — collectively also increased combined English and math proficiency rates slightly from 6.7% to 6.9%.

On average, independent charters that are not affiliated with IPS slightly increased rates from 17% to 18% proficiency in both math and English. Black and Hispanic students in these schools continue to perform better than their peers in IPS. As a group, however, these schools have yet to reach pre-pandemic proficiency levels.

The results are similar to statewide rates that have also largely stalled — proficiency rates in both subjects increased from 30.2% to 30.6%.

IPS, however, is the only school district in Marion County that has exceeded 2019 rates for the percentage of students proficient in both subjects.

Superintendent Aleesia Johnson said she’s not satisfied with the outcomes, but is pleased to see continued progress.

“The fact that we stayed stable in English language arts, saw some positive movement in math, I think is a positive for us as a district given the context of the past year,” she said.

IPS mirrors statewide math gains and English losses

In IPS, proficiency rates in English dipped minutely from 22.3% to 22.2% while rates in math slightly increased from 19.5% to 21.1%.

IPS maintains a significant gap between white students on one hand and Hispanic and Black students on the other for percentages of students scoring proficient in English, math, and both subjects.

Johnson said the district has to double down on successful initiatives to drive student achievement, including tutoring programs.

This year, the district is expanding virtual tutoring during school hours to all schools that wish to participate. The district began an overhaul in curriculum in 2020.

“We have to be really urgent about the work we’re doing,” Johnson said.

Different circumstances may affect scores for school systems as a whole. For example, eight Innovation Network charter schools are chronically underperforming schools. To improve achievement, the district assigned them to a charter operator, but several still struggle.

Half of the eight so-called restart schools last spring increased the percentage of students proficient in both subjects.

Combined proficiency at Adelante Schools at Emma Donnan Elementary and Middle School dipped slightly from 12.4% to 12.2%, but the school still maintains the highest rate among restart schools. Adelante’s individual rates for English and math also declined.

Eddie Rangel, Adelante’s executive director, said the school enrolled 194 new students in the 2022-23 year. He said new students had lower proficiency rates than longer-enrolled students.

“I don’t think any of us really know what’s going on, and it is frustrating to think we can’t pinpoint one thing,” Rangel said of national reports of stagnant learning. He said Adelante is focusing on grade-level scores and improvement.

Rangel said he hopes new state standards and revised school attendance boundaries will help stability and academics.

Black, Hispanic students in independent charters perform better

Independent charters continue to show higher rates for students proficient in both English and math.

This group of schools also maintains the highest proficiency rates for Black and Hispanic students, rates that have risen the most since 2021 but have still not reached 2019 levels.

“I do think that we have enough evidence that the independent charter schools in Indianapolis for Black students in particular are making tremendously larger academic gains than what we’re seeing for other schools,” said Brandon Brown, CEO of the Mind Trust nonprofit that helps incubate charter schools in Indianapolis. “The question is ‘What are the conditions that are driving those gains?’”

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Marion County schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

What did a big new study of charter schools really find?

2023-07-05T11:00:00+00:00

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In the small world of education research, the Stanford-based institute CREDO is a big name.

The organization has produced a series of much-cited, oft-debated studies on charter school performance since 2009.

Its latest research, released in June, concluded that charter schools outperform district schools on both reading and math exams. The results have drawn significant attention: The Wall Street Journal editorial board, for instance claimed the findings are “unequivocal” and show that charter schools are “blowing away their traditional school competition in student performance.”

The study is likely to be a key data point for years to come in continued policy debates over charter schools. But are the results as conclusive as the Journal and others have suggested? Not quite.

The research provides credible evidence that charter schools now have a test-score edge over district schools, although the advantage is small. But CREDO’s methods — which other researchers say have significant limitations — mean the conclusions should be viewed with some caution. Moreover, CREDO’s description of “gap-busting” charter schools may be widely misinterpreted.

CREDO: Charter schools have small performance edge

CREDO researchers draw on a vast swath of data across 29 states plus Washington D.C. to compare students’ academic growth in charter and district schools from the school years 2014-15 to 2018-19. CREDO concludes that achievement growth is, on average, higher in charter schools.

How much higher? Charter schools add 16 days of learning in reading and six days in math, CREDO says. This “days of learning” metric is controversial among researchers, though, and hard to interpret.

Here’s another way of thinking about the same results: CREDO found that attending a charter school for one year would raise the average student’s math scores from the 50th percentile to the 50.4 percentile and reading scores to the 51st percentile. By conventional research standards and common sense, these impacts are small.

“Generally, those aren’t seen as big effects,” said Ron Zimmer, a professor at the University of Kentucky who has studied charter schools. “They’re modest.”

That said, moving the needle on educational achievement even slightly is challenging, and these effects apply across a large swath of students who attended charter schools.

The charter effect varies widely across the U.S.

Generally, charter schools in the Northeast, including New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, posted larger test scores gains, according to CREDO. Charter networks outperformed stand-alone schools. Some of these networks improved test scores quite substantially, which is consistent with prior research looking at so-called “no excuses” charter schools, such as KIPP.

Overall, Black, Hispanic, and low-income students seemed to benefit more from attending a charter school. Here, the size of improvement might be described as small to moderate.

On the other hand, virtual charter schools had large negative effects, according to CREDO. Notably, since the pandemic these schools have expanded substantially. (CREDO’s data did not include any post-pandemic years.) Students with disabilities also appeared to perform worse in charter schools than in district schools.

CREDO’s methods come with important caveats

CREDO reaches its conclusions by matching charter school students with one or more “virtual twins” from a nearby district school. The “twins” are other students who have a similar set of characteristics, including test scores and free-or-reduced price lunch status (a proxy for family income). Then the researchers compare test score growth across millions of students in charter schools versus their virtual twins in district schools.

CREDO’s methods are a serious attempt to understand the effects of charter schools, but this strategy has limitations that are well-known among researchers. The basic problem is that the “virtual twin” approach does not guarantee a truly apples-to-apples comparison.

For instance, CREDO researchers compare two students who both have a disability — but those students may have very different types of disabilities. CREDO also cannot directly account for numerous other factors such as student or parent motivation that may lead to enrollment in charter schools.

These methods may be particularly problematic for examining students in unusual situations, such as those who opt for virtual schools because of personal challenges like bullying or illness. (Another problem is that CREDO has to exclude one in five charter students because they can’t find a suitable “virtual twin.” We don’t know if those students would shift the overall findings.)

Macke Raymond, the director of CREDO, says she is confident in the center’s findings but acknowledges that the methods are constrained by the data.

”There is no way with the amount of data that is available to researchers that we can measure every single possible dimension of all students and their backgrounds,” she said.

CREDO’s prior analysis suggests potential for small bias in results

No research method is perfect, so it is common for researchers to subject their conclusions to a battery of statistical tests to confirm the results.

CREDO did not do this in its most recent study. Instead it features an appendix from a 2013 study that compared findings from its main “virtual twin” method to those from a different, commonly used statistical approach. CREDO showed that the results from these two methods were not far off from each other.

But they were not identical. The CREDO researchers found in 2013 that charter schools had slightly worse results under the alternative method — by about 12 days of learning in math, to use the study’s metric. Again, this difference was small, but a shift of 12 days of learning would be enough to flip the recent math results from slightly positive to slightly negative.

James L. Woodworth, a researcher at CREDO, acknowledged this point, but said the alternative method was not necessarily preferable to the main model. CREDO also points to analyses by other researchers who have shown that its findings are fairly close to those of other methods. As for not doing further checks in the most recent study, Woodworth said, “We felt we had done our due diligence.”

Zimmer, the University of Kentucky researcher, says there is no perfect way to study the effects of charter schools and that CREDO’s approach is defensible. But he said the study would have benefitted from additional tests to support its results.

“It sure would be nice to say, here’s our model and here’s what we’re relying on, and we also checked it in other ways to see if it came to similar substantive conclusions,” he said.

CREDO’s description of ‘gap-busting’ schools may be misunderstood

One particularly evocative conclusion from CREDO’s latest study is its description of “gap-busting” or “gap-closing” charter schools. “These ‘gap-busting schools’ show that disparate student outcomes are not a foregone conclusion: people and resources can be organized to eliminate these disparities,” CREDO researchers write. “The fact that thousands of schools have done so removes any doubt.”

Typically when people talk about the “achievement gap,” they mean disparities in absolute levels of performance between, for instance, low-income and more affluent students. But that’s not how CREDO defines these gaps.

CREDO considers a “gap-busting” school one with overall achievement above the state average and where the historically disadvantaged students make similar levels of growth as more advantaged students in the same school.

A school could meet this definition without closing gaps in student outcomes, though. Research has long shown that students from low-income families, on average, enter school with lower achievement levels compared to better-off peers. That means that similar rates of growth would not eliminate disparities in performance. CREDO does not examine whether actual gaps in overall achievement had closed in the schools it defines as “gap-busting.”

“A lot of those schools where we’re not seeing a growth gap, they’re still going to have an achievement gap,” said Woodworth.

Matt Barnum is a national reporter covering education policy, politics, and research. Contact him at mbarnum@chalkbeat.org.

Denver’s first big merger of charter school networks poses leadership test

2023-06-28T20:48:25+00:00

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It was portrayed as an exciting plan with lofty goals: Two of Denver’s homegrown charter school networks would join forces to strengthen academics, support students’ mental health, and better prepare them for life beyond high school. English learners and students with disabilities would achieve exceptional results.

The merger of Rocky Mountain Prep and STRIVE Prep, announced last summer, also would help the organizations survive a host of challenges: declining enrollment, tighter budgets, and more scrutiny of their academic records by a skeptical school board.

To shepherd the merger, the schools’ leaders chose a charter school executive named Tricia Noyola, who had overseen a major charter expansion in Austin, Texas.

But the past year has been tense and chaotic, with hundreds of employees from the two networks leaving, an about-face by network leaders on which name the new network will carry, and a chorus of concerns about Noyola’s leadership. Now, with just days until the merger becomes official, it remains to be seen if the two networks will be stronger together or an ill-fated match.

The new network will take the Rocky Mountain Prep name and serve nearly 5,000 students in preschool through 12th grade across a dozen campuses. It will be the second largest charter network in the city and carry the hopes and dreams of thousands of Denver families, many of them low-income parents of color and immigrant families who fear their children won’t get the education they deserve in district-run schools.

Meanwhile, STRIVE Prep, once a key player and thought leader in the charter sector, will cease to exist.

Supporters of Noyola, who has been CEO of both networks for the past eight months though they are still separate organizations, see a Latina leader who comes from the same background as many students, champions student achievement, and brings a strong hand to management decisions.

Patrick Donovan, chair of the Rocky Mountain Prep board, said Noyola has tremendous expertise in running schools, particularly when it comes to academics and school culture.

Detractors paint a different picture, describing a leader who rules through fear, drives away experienced educators, and fails to support new teachers. They also see a single-minded pursuit of higher test scores and a diminished focus on student mental health, support for students with disabilities, and programming that elevates student voices, such as middle school speech and debate classes and social justice-themed events for high schoolers.

Tricia Noyola, CEO of STRIVE Prep and Rocky Mountain Prep

Under Noyola, who’s on track to earn $340,000 from the two networks this school year — more than any superintendent in Colorado — teachers have been urged not to unionize and warned not to talk to the media about the merger.

“There’s only one reason people want to unionize, and it’s because there’s mistrust and dissatisfaction, and you feel unappreciated,” said Jenny Bisha, whose job as STRIVE Prep’s director of continuous improvement is being cut at the end of June. Bisha has not been involved in any unionization efforts.

Several educators said their recent experiences at Rocky Mountain Prep or STRIVE Prep schools were so toxic or upsetting, it soured them on charter schools or teaching for good. Two said they counseled families to leave Rocky Mountain Prep because the schools weren’t meeting their children’s needs.

Chalkbeat spoke to more than three dozen people for this story, including current and former employees, network board members, parents, students, and education policy experts. Some asked that their names not be used for fear they could lose their jobs, have trouble getting references, or face retaliation.

Noyola declined repeated requests for interviews, but provided written answers to questions.

“I certainly set a high standard and expect everyone to meet it. To do any less would be a disservice to our students and families,“ she wrote. “I may be demanding, but I always strive to be fair.”

Board members from both networks suggested that Noyola’s critics are holding her to a higher standard than they did the former leaders of STRIVE and Rocky Mountain Prep, both of whom were white men.

“As a woman of color in this space, sometimes you’re subjected to more criticism than, I think, white men,” said Amber Valdez, vice chair of the STRIVE Prep board. “I think that Tricia came in with a clear vision and made no apologies. She’s not conflict averse, because she wants to get things done.”

STRIVE, Rocky Mountain make plans to merge

Leaders from STRIVE Prep and Rocky Mountain Prep publicly announced plans to join forces last August, saying the merger would create a cohesive preschool through 12th grade pathway — something they said families had sought for years.

Rocky Mountain has four elementary schools and STRIVE, since the closing of two middle schools this month, has eight mostly secondary schools.

Last summer, both organizations were in moments of transition.

“No [charter] network that I know of came out of a pandemic feeling like they were in a strong position,” said STRIVE Prep founder and former CEO Chris Gibbons.

Schools were also facing the end of a huge influx of federal COVID stimulus dollars that had helped pay for extra staff and services over the last few years, he said. Budget cuts were inevitable.

Valdez also said STRIVE families and stakeholders told leaders “that what STRIVE was missing was a clear vision, a clear goal.”

She and other board members say that’s what Noyola brought to the table.

Noyola had moved to Denver from Austin in spring 2021 to take the helm of Rocky Mountain Prep when founder and CEO James Cryan left.

In spring 2022, Gibbons announced he was leaving STRIVE for a job with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. (The foundation is a supporter of Chalkbeat. See a full list of our funders and read our ethics policy.)

Noyola applied to replace Gibbons, proposing that STRIVE and Rocky Mountain Prep merge and that she lead the combined network, according to STRIVE Board member Ulysses Estrada, who chaired the network’s CEO succession task force.

Gibbons said STRIVE leaders had previously considered the possibility of merging with another charter school or network. Rocky Mountain Prep had gone further, doubling the size of its network by taking over two struggling schools — a charter school in Denver and a district-run school in Aurora — by 2018.

STRIVE Prep and Rocky Mountain Prep serve similar populations, mostly students of color, with many coming from low-income families. About half of Rocky Mountain Prep students and nearly three-quarters of STRIVE students are English learners.

“Quite frankly, we were evaluating Tricia as any other CEO candidate,” said Estrada. “If we didn’t think Tricia had the right skills to lead STRIVE, we wouldn’t pursue [the merger].”

By July of 2022, the board decided that Noyola and the merger both were right for STRIVE. The two networks decided she would continue leading Rocky Mountain Prep for another year and become CEO of the united network when the merger was final on July 1, 2023.

Denver is a tough market for charter school expansion

Experts say the number of charter school mergers around the country has ticked up in recent years, sometimes fueled by the departure of founders who launched networks in the early 2000s, declining enrollment, or financial pressures.

STRIVE has closed three schools in the last three years, including the Lake and Kepner campuses earlier this month. Denver has seen a spate of other charter school closures and other networks have slowed their growth.

“Sadly, this wasn’t a merging. It was a takeover.”

A 2021 analysis by the Charter School Growth Fund concluded that if charter networks want to grow in the Denver market, mergers are the only reasonable path. The growth fund, which has provided funding to both STRIVE and Rocky Mountain Prep, helps fund charter school expansion around the nation.

Gibbons said the step is an important long-term strategy to address shrinking enrollment, financial sustainability, and a political climate in Denver that’s become less friendly to charter schools.

As for the recent spate of staff departures and simmering discontent in some quarters, he said, “We always knew this would be a very disruptive strategy in the short term.”

Merger prompts major cultural change at STRIVE Prep

When leaders from the two charter networks unveiled the merger plan last August, they said the new network would bear the STRIVE name. STRIVE leaders tapped the network’s lead attorney, Jessica Johnson, to serve as interim CEO until the union was official.

But within three months, Johnson was gone — a major personnel change that current and former employees said happened abruptly with no explanation.

Both Johnson and the network agreed to “communicate to everyone that Ms. Johnson’s departure from STRIVE Prep was voluntary,” according to a copy of Johnson’s severance agreement obtained by Chalkbeat through a public records request. The agreement promised Johnson would receive her interim CEO salary through June 30.

Johnson declined to comment for this story.

On November 2, the STRIVE Prep board named Noyola the new CEO of STRIVE Prep, making her the leader of two different charter school networks simultaneously. She received a base annual salary of $220,000 from Rocky Mountain Prep and, when she took the top job at STRIVE, her monthly consulting fee was upped from $4,000 to $5,000. In April, that consulting fee was doubled to $10,000 a month, retroactive to Oct 1.

That means Noyola’s pay, including a $24,000 bonus she received from Rocky Mountain Prep this year, totals $340,000. That’s more than the CEO of DSST, Denver’s largest charter school network, or the superintendents of Denver and Jeffco, Colorado’s two largest school districts, earned this year.

Noyola wrote, “I was asked to do the job of two individuals when I became CEO of both networks, and my compensation remains lower than that of the combined compensation of both roles.”

Next school year, Noyola will earn a base salary of $290,000, with the possibility of a bonus.

In February, STRIVE board members announced a reversal on the new network’s name. Rocky Mountain Prep’s name, practices, and standards would replace those of STRIVE. They cited data from a consultant’s report that showed better academic and instructional results at Rocky Mountain Prep than STRIVE.

In 2022, fewer than 10% of students at five STRIVE schools were proficient on state math tests. The same was true in literacy for one STRIVE school. About 30% of all Rocky Mountain Prep students were proficient on math and literacy tests, still below the state average.

Parent Tracy Hill said her fourth grader has had a good experience at Rocky Mountain Prep–Berkeley since preschool. Keeping the Rocky Mountain Prep name feels like a win.

But this spring, Hill was surprised to learn from a reporter that the closest STRIVE school — the Lake campus — would close and won’t be an option when her daughter goes to sixth grade.

“That is a shame, because that’s walking distance from our house,” she said.

Meanwhile, the name change rocked some STRIVE students and families.

“Everyone in my neighborhood has probably gone to a STRIVE Prep school,” said Jacobo Gracia-Meza, who graduated from STRIVE Prep–SMART Academy in June and is headed to Colorado State University in the fall.

“The thought of our name being taken away, it’s also taking the hard work we put in,” he said.

His parents, meanwhile, are worried about the cost of buying new school uniforms for his younger brother.

This summer, STRIVE Prep–SMART will become Rocky Mountain Prep–SMART.

Educators see new emphasis on test prep amid merger plans

Zion Gezaw, an assistant principal at STRIVE Prep’s Westwood middle school for most of the 2022-23 school year, noticed a shift around the time Noyola was named CEO of STRIVE schools.

First, it was little things. Teachers were told they had to use the same colors and borders on their bulletin boards. Then rules came down requiring strict adherence to the lessons and pacing in the curriculum.

The adaptations that Gezaw and the school’s eighth grade English teacher had made to create more culturally responsive and engaging lessons, such as adding the young adult novel “The Poet X,” were no longer acceptable.

Student grades and interest in those classes plummeted, Gezaw said.

“They made sure we knew they didn’t like it,” she said. “They would just not do it. They would put their heads down; they would sleep.”

Jeremy Story, a public relations contractor who emailed answers to Chalkbeat on behalf of the networks, said STRIVE schools continued to use their own curriculum, and there were no pacing guides last school year. He didn’t address questions about whether modifications were allowed to make lessons more culturally responsive.

As a Black educator, Gezaw said she’d been attracted by STRIVE’s focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, but grew disillusioned as the emphasis shifted to test scores and uniformity. She quit in April.

Some former Rocky Mountain Prep employees say this approach is typical of the network’s philosophy, even with the youngest children, and they’re dismayed to see it spread.

Ellarie Anderson said when she learned of the merger, she thought, “Wow, we really don’t need more schools becoming like Rocky Mountain Prep.”

Anderson spent two years at Rocky Mountain Prep, starting a year before Noyola’s arrival. Throughout that time, she said her students, kindergartners and third graders, were expected to sit up straight at their desks, with their hands folded and eyes following the teacher. She said when supervisors observed, they’d count the number of students who met those standards. Those children were considered “engaged.”

Rocky Mountain Prep officials denied that students are expected to sit this way, with Story writing, “Absolutely not.”

Anderson also said she was expected to follow rigid lesson plans prescribed by the network.

“You’d show up every day and read your script to the kids, and if the kids got it or didn’t, it didn’t matter. You just moved on the next day,” she said.

Story said Rocky Mountain Prep schools do use scripted curriculum, but that teachers can make adjustments based on the needs and best interests of students.

Annie Nelson, a former fifth grade teacher at Rocky Mountain Prep who left a year ago, said as state tests approached during the 2021-22 school year, she was asked to put more focus on students who were on the cusp of reaching proficiency at the expense of students who were far behind.

An English teacher at one of STRIVE’s high schools described a change this year that required math and English teachers to drop their regular lessons starting in February to focus on SAT prep until the tests in April.

“It’s been SAT all day every day for kids, which has not been great,” the teacher said in late March. More kids were missing classes and their behavior was getting worse, he said.

But Adam Lenzmeier, the vice president of schools for STRIVE, sees test prep in a different light. “The best thing we can do for kids is to position them to go into those assessments with the confidence they deserve,” he said.

Asked about whether there is a growing emphasis on test prep and test scores, Noyola wrote that test scores are “only one way we measure success,” and that other measures include state ratings, student attendance, and whether students and teachers return each year.

STRIVE Prep evolved to focus more on equity

The history of STRIVE Prep traces the evolution of Colorado’s charter sector. STRIVE launched in 2006 with a single school called West Denver Prep. The idea was to provide a rigorous alternative to district-run middle schools with low test scores. Gibbons promised the mostly Latino families in southwest Denver eight hours of school per day, no summers off, strict discipline, and a focus on getting their children to college.

With high test scores and a long wait list, West Denver Prep opened more schools. By the time the network changed its name to STRIVE Prep in 2012, it was growing from four schools to seven. That same year, Rocky Mountain Prep opened its first school in southeast Denver.

By 2014, test scores at STRIVE’s eight schools began to fall. Gibbons pointed to high teacher turnover, curriculum changes, and too many innovations at once. Around that time, STRIVE began accepting a larger share of students with disabilities than in the past, part of the network’s “equity agenda.”

Josue Bonilla, left, gets a high five from special education teacher Wendi Sussman at STRIVE Prep–Federal in 2016.

In many ways, it signaled a shift away from the network’s “no excuses” style origins and a commitment to serving all students.

Bisha, STRIVE Prep’s director of continuous improvement who oversaw a grant related to special education, worries that Gibbons’ legacy is “being destroyed” through the relentless push for better test scores and the state’s top green rating.

“Is that the be-all end-all that gives kids equitable access after high school?” she said. “No, it’s not.”

Some current and former STRIVE employees worry the merger will rob the schools of STRIVE’s unique traits, including its focus on antiracism, its commitment to serving students with disabilities, and its robust college and career readiness programming.

A current STRIVE employee who helps oversee college and career programs said impending staff cuts will make it impossible for the merged network to continue offering overnight college trips, extensive concurrent enrollment classes, work-based learning, and career and financial aid advising for alumni.

“College and career readiness is not a priority from this new central team,” the employee said. “Sadly, this wasn’t a merging. It was a takeover.”

Noyola acknowledged the cuts and said each high school “is now empowered” to lead its own college and career programming.

Noyola disputed that the focus on students with disabilities and antiracism is diminishing, and said the network’s commitment to both “is greater than it has ever been.”

Through the changes, Noyola has maintained the support of both boards.

Estrada, the STRIVE board member who himself attended the network’s first middle school, said it’s misleading to say the network is moving away from its commitment to antiracism.

“I think our priority as an organization and the most antiracist work we can do is giving each student a college prep education,” he said.

Who is Tricia Noyola?

Noyola grew up in the Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas and has often talked about being underestimated by her teachers growing up. She has described herself as opinionated and headstrong, and said she fell in love with education while working in an elementary school during college.

On the weekly podcasts Noyola records with updates for STRIVE and Rocky Mountain Prep staff, she strikes a conversational tone, discussing movies she plans to see with her husband and children and network goals like getting students to read a million words.

Noyola started her career at a large Texas-based charter network called IDEA Public Schools, which promotes a no excuses, college-for-all philosophy. Prior to her arrival in Colorado two years ago, Noyola helped IDEA grow from four to 16 schools in the Austin area.

Lenzmeier, who started as a STRIVE principal in 2020 and will manage four principals in the new network, said Noyola is uncompromising in what she believes is possible.

A former army officer, he believes that “Tricia Noyola shares a lot of similarities with the best commanders I worked with.”

But many STRIVE and Rocky Mountain Prep employees describe her as harsh and intimidating, with little tolerance for dissent. Under her leadership, staff have been fired with little or no notice, and others have been notified of impending job cuts on group Zoom calls that lasted just a few minutes, according to current and former employees.

“At my campus, staff were very afraid of her,” said one former mental health provider at Rocky Mountain Prep. “I’m very afraid of her. I do not want to be on her list or her radar.”

Noyola’s most recent performance review from the 2021-22 school year at Rocky Mountain Prep credited her with achieving three of five key goals and praised her for showing “leadership, resolve, and courage to make the necessary changes to achieve student results.” The review urged Noyola to give more attention to how changes are communicated, show more “vulnerability and humility,” and work with the board to avoid the strained relations that sometimes occurred over the previous year.

Gibbons said he hasn’t followed every change that Noyola has made, but said, “Tricia is coming into this experience with a lot of urgency, appropriately so, around raising results for kids,” he said. “I have tremendous confidence in her.”

Cryan, the founder and former CEO of Rocky Mountain Prep, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Hundreds of employees left their jobs before the merger

About half of STRIVE Prep staff and two-thirds of Rocky Mountain Prep staff — nearly 400 of 730 total employees — left their jobs between June 2022 and mid April 2023, according to numbers provided by the networks. Districts around the country are grappling with high turnover and teacher burnout, but teachers and staff interviewed by Chalkbeat say the level of turnover reflects a punitive network culture and hurts students.

Several educators told Chalkbeat the flood of departures meant that students missed out on legally required special education services, English language development instruction, or mental health support. Sometimes, students felt confused or hurt after a trusted teacher disappeared without notice.

Among the departures, which resulted from resignations, firings, and job cuts, were more than 160 teachers and 40 principals, assistant principals, deans, or principal fellows. STRIVE lost 32 high-level central staff — chiefs, directors, and managers — and Rocky Mountain Prep lost 24. The networks lost 18 mental health providers, including social workers, social emotional learning specialists, and a psychologist.

Eleven STRIVE employees, most of whom are Black or Latino and half of whom were central administrators, have left since last June with severance agreements that awarded them between one and eight months of pay but also banned them from criticizing the network. Chalkbeat obtained the agreements through a public records request. No Rocky Mountain Prep employees received severance pay or signed separation agreements during that period.

“We want teachers in our network who are behind our new mission, all of our values, and our new leadership.”

Noyola attributed some of the turnover to the so-called “Great Resignation,” a pandemic-era trend in which many employees, including teachers, left their jobs. More STRIVE administrators left because their network is undergoing bigger changes, she said. Some of the employees who left were in temporary positions, and their departures may have inflated the turnover rate, she added.

Noyola acknowledged that the networks have suffered from a shortage of special education providers but said her team aims to rectify problems immediately when they are identified. She did not address the claim that English learners have missed language development sessions.

Valdez, vice chair of the STRIVE board, said, “We knew with the change of leadership … some people were going to leave and that we were okay with that because we want teachers in our network who are behind our new mission, all of our values, and our new leadership.”

Donovan, the Rocky Mountain Prep board chair, said the board has monitored departures and that turnover is slowing.

Nelson, the former fifth grade teacher, said the network struggles with teacher retention in part because it recruits young, inexperienced teachers, provides them insufficient support, and holds them to an impossible standard.

Noyola said the network “has a number of positions whose responsibilities include directly coaching and supporting teachers. I’m confident based on our outcomes that our system is effective.”

Even as Noyola cut some employees in response to purported budget pressures, she gave generous raises and bonuses to others — a move she said was warranted by the additional work those employees are doing and the value they provide to students.

School staff protest their working conditions

Throughout fall of 2021, teachers or other staff members at Rocky Mountain Prep–Berkeley seemed to be quitting almost every week, said Meghan Mallon, a former music teacher at the school. Teachers who stayed were constantly juggling extra kids or classes to cover for departed colleagues. For students who were supposed to get daily instruction to improve their English language skills, that meant sometimes missing three or four sessions a week because their teacher was assigned elsewhere, she said.

In late January 2022, after one lead teacher was told she’d be removed from her position and reassigned elsewhere in the building, Mallon and a colleague organized a one-day sick-out in protest. About a dozen teachers participated, sending an email to Noyola and other Rocky Mountain Prep administrators with a list of the group’s concerns, including the teacher’s abrupt demotion, the missed sessions for students learning English, and the lack of coaching for teachers.

Cesar Chavez Academy, a struggling single-site charter school, was taken over and became Rocky Mountain Prep–Berkeley in 2018.

Mallon and the other main organizer were fired the day of the sick-out, and other participants were given a warning and told they couldn’t talk about it, according to a charge later filed by Mallon with National Board of Labor Relations.

A lawyer for Rocky Mountain Prep responded to the labor board’s charge with a nine-page letter arguing the case should be dismissed because charter schools don’t fall under the labor board’s jurisdiction. The labor relations board ultimately agreed and dismissed the case.

Grievances describe ‘worst’ work environment

Shortly after Mallon and the other sick-out organizer were fired, Ana de Vries, the principal of the Berkeley campus, filed a grievance against Noyola.

In response to a public records request, Rocky Mountain Prep provided a copy of the grievance that was heavily redacted to protect the privacy of minors. A less redacted copy of the complaint obtained by Chalkbeat contends Noyola used her power to “harass, intimidate, discriminate against, and coerce RMP staff.” It describes a meeting in which Noyola demanded that a teacher “admit her white privilege” as well as wrongdoing unrelated to the reason for the meeting.

De Vries, who is Latina, said in an interview she felt Noyola’s demands of the teacher were inappropriate. She filed the grievance after Noyola refused to meet with her to discuss the meeting. After she submitted the complaint, she said Noyola cut her out of all communications related to the Berkeley campus.

It “created the worst environment I’ve ever worked in,” said de Vries, who resigned in February 2022 after two and a half years with the network and 12 years in the charter sector.

Rocky Mountain Prep officials said de Vries’ grievance prompted the board to adopt a policy outlining how conflicts should be addressed in select circumstances. (Chalkbeat is not describing the circumstances to protect the privacy of children.)

In a second grievance, a Berkeley teacher named Alyssa Papiernik described a culture of fear and constant hostility between Noyola and some employees.

Papiernik closed by writing, “I dread coming to work everyday ... I am hoping next year Tricia changes her attitude towards her staff.”

The Rocky Mountain Prep board found no substance to Papiernik’s claim.

A third grievance came last November, shortly after Noyola was named CEO of STRIVE Prep and was conducting a series of town hall meetings to introduce herself to STRIVE staff. Mallory Tozier, a white assistant principal at STRIVE’s Smart Academy, described a tense exchange during the question-and-answer period in which she felt Noyola implied she had a white savior complex.

A staff member of color whose account was included in the grievance echoed Tozier’s account and said Noyola’s reaction “seemed cruel and unnecessary” and “painfully silenced people like me.”

Chalkbeat obtained Tozier’s grievance through a public records request. STRIVE Prep officials said an investigation found no wrongdoing by Noyola.

“I doubt there is a principal or CEO in [Denver Public Schools] who hasn’t had a complaint filed against them at some point,” Noyola wrote in response to questions. “Grievances reflect a single point of view, and we have a process that takes every grievance seriously.”

Rocky Mountain Prep enters a new era

When the new school year starts in August, STRIVE Prep will no longer exist, and Rocky Mountain Prep will have triple the schools it had last year.

Some current and former staff from both networks have serious misgivings. They say Rocky Mountain Prep’s “rigor and love” slogan now rings hollow.

But for Noyola and other network leaders, it’s an exciting time.

They say student achievement is increasing, and almost all families are planning to return next year. Enrollment projections provided by the network suggest K-12 student numbers will hold steady at about 4,700 even with this summer’s closure of two STRIVE schools.

“The sheer optimism is remarkable,” Rocky Mountain Prep’s Chief of Staff Indrina Kanth said in an email.

In a recent message to staff, Noyola thanked those who remain and those who have joined her for the “awe-inspiring” results produced this school year.

“I know this came at costs and sacrifices that each of us made to further the mission,” she wrote.

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.

Supreme Court won’t weigh in on whether charter schools are legally private or public

2023-06-26T14:14:57+00:00

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear a case that hinged on whether charter schools are considered public or private.

The decision to punt indicates the highest court won’t offer an early hint on the validity of religious charter schools. It also leaves in place a patchwork of rulings on whether charter schools are considered private or public for legal purposes.

But the legal debates are not over.

“The issue will percolate and the Supreme Court will eventually hear a case,” predicted Preston Green, a professor of educational leadership and law at the University of Connecticut.

The case, Charter Day School. v. Peltier, focused on a dispute over a charter school’s dress code. The “classical” school in southeastern North Carolina had barred girls from wearing pants, as a part of an effort to promote “chivalry,” according to its founder.

Backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, some parents sued over this policy. They argued that the dress code amounted to sex-based discrimination and is illegal under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The school countered that it is not a government-run institution so is not bound by the Constitution, which does not apply to private organizations. (Charter Day also maintains that the dress code is not sexist.)

Last year, a divided circuit court sided with the parents. The majority ruled that charter schools, at least in North Carolina, are bound by the Constitution and that the dress code amounted to illegal discrimination.

The charter school appealed to the Supreme Court. Attorneys for the Biden administration argued that the lower court decision was correct and urged the court to accept that ruling. A string of conservative writers and groups had urged the court to take on the case.

On Monday, though, the Supreme Court declined to grant a hearing, leaving the circuit court decision in place. This indicates that there were not four justices who wanted to take on the case. As is typical, the court did not issue any further comment.

The case turned on whether Charter Day School is a private entity or a public “state actor.” This issue is also crucial for the brewing legal dispute over religious charter schools. If charter schools are state actors then they likely cannot be religious. If they are private, though, religious entities would have a stronger case for running charter schools. These debates will likely be tested in Oklahoma, which recently approved what could be the country’s first religious charter school. Ultimately, this may end up being sorted out via years of litigation — which could end up back at the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, the court’s decision to pass on the case is a win for the parents who sought to change the North Carolina charter school’s dress codes.

“Courts may not subjugate the constitutional rights of these public-school children to the facade of school choice,” concluded the majority opinion for the Fourth Circuit court of appeals.

The majority also noted that the school’s founder said the dress code was intended to promote “chivalry,” including the idea that women should be “regarded as a fragile vessel that men are supposed to take care of and honor.” The court responded: “It is difficult to imagine a clearer example of a rationale based on impermissible gender stereotypes.“

The circuit court ruling applies to North Carolina, Maryland, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. Appeals courts elsewhere, though, have found that charter schools are private for certain purposes.

The school itself and allies had suggested that the decision would chill innovation in the charter sector. It would limit charter schools’ “autonomy, subjecting them to the same rules, regulations and political machinations that have crippled government-run school systems,” wrote Charter Day leaders in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal.

Leading national charter school groups disagreed. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and the National Association of Charter School Authorizers have maintained that charter schools are fully public and thus the constitution applies. Both groups have said they support the parents over the charter school in this case.

On Monday, the Alliance praised the Supreme Court’s decision not to take the North Carolina case. “We are pleased that the Supreme Court has declined to hear the case, allowing the Fourth Circuit’s decision to stand,” Nina Rees, the group’s president and CEO said in a statement. “The actions of the high court affirm that as public school students, charter school students are entitled to the same federal protections as their counterparts who attend district schools.”

Matt Barnum is a national reporter covering education policy, politics, and research. Contact him at mbarnum@chalkbeat.org.

State agency approves two charter schools rejected by Adams 14

2023-06-20T22:36:39+00:00

Two charter schools received approval Tuesday to open in Adams 14 despite the school district’s opposition.

The school district north of Denver had tried to block both schools — University Prep and Be the Change — from opening, but the State Board of Education last month took away the district’s exclusive say in approving or denying charter schools within its boundaries.

Adams 14 is under state reorganization orders after years of low test scores, and a majority of State Board members said it seemed the district showed a pattern of being unfair to charter schools.

Because the district lost its chartering authority, the two schools were able to apply through the state agency, the Charter School Institute. Now, both schools are expected to open in fall 2024.

At a special meeting Tuesday, the CSI board of directors unanimously approved both schools.

Joe Salazar, an attorney for Adams 14, said the district had asked CSI to hold off on their vote because of pending litigation. The district has sued the state for removing their exclusive chartering authority and requested that the judge issue a stay on the order. Salazar said the judge has not issued a ruling.

“If they issue a stay, then what CSI did today is void,” Salazar said.

The Adams 14 school board initially approved University Prep, a charter network that already operates schools in Denver, but then contract negotiations broke down. The charter network successfully appealed to the State Board of Education — twice — but the district still said it could not reach an agreement to open the school.

Leaders of University Prep said they worked with parents in the community, some of whom already drive their kids out of the district to attend the network’s Denver schools. Together they designed a school that is to include a preschool and programming in Spanish.

The school now has plans to open in fall 2024 serving students in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten, expanding over time to enroll students up to fifth grade.

Adams 14 leaders cited uncertainty about whether the school would offer preschool in the first year as the issue that began the breakdown in negotiations. At that time, the network still hoped to open in fall 2023.

Be the Change leaders also say they had a lot of community engagement in designing their high school under a community school model with a biliteracy approach. The district denied their application after criticizing the plans as not rigorous enough.

On an appeal, State Board members sided with the district. That didn’t stop Be the Change founders from trying again, though.

Now, Be the Change expects to open in the fall of 2024 with students in grade 9, eventually serving students through grade 12.

“We are absolutely honored by the approval and thrilled for our Commerce City community to have an additional high school option in order for families to make the best decision for their children,” said Amanda Gonzales, Be The Change co-founder, in a written statement.

Yesenia Robles is a reporter for Chalkbeat Colorado covering K-12 school districts and multilingual education. Contact Yesenia at yrobles@chalkbeat.org.

First religious charter school approved in Oklahoma despite state ban

2023-06-06T00:59:45+00:00

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A state board in Oklahoma voted Monday to approve an application for the country’s first religious charter school, despite a state law prohibiting such schools.

If it opens as planned, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School would offer students an explicitly religious curriculum based on the teachings of the Catholic Church.

The move sets the stage for a lengthy legal battle that could well reach the U.S. Supreme Court. The ensuing debate could also splinter the charter school movement. And the result could ultimately lead to the growth of religious charter schools around the country.

“Politicians in Oklahoma and some of these other states want this. They see the Supreme Court moving in that direction,” said Preston Green, an education and law professor at the University of Connecticut who has long written about the possibility of religious charter schools. “It has major implications nationwide. “

The Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board voted 3-2 to approve the application. Last month, board members unanimously rejected the school’s initial proposal, citing a number of issues including constitutional questions about the separation of church and state.

On Monday, board members were divided on the legal implications of approving a religious charter school. Before the vote, Robert Franklin, the board’s chair, called the vote “weighty,” and warned the board that a religious charter doesn’t align with the state constitution and was “outside” the advice of the board’s legal counsel.

Another board member, Scott Strawn, said he received more than 3,000 emails about the issue. “We’ve heard… the entirety of an argument and a constitutional debate in this room today,” he said.

Franklin voted no, while Strawn voted yes. Both said they were acting according to their oaths as public officials.

A new board member, Brian Bobek, also voted yes. Franklin had asked Bobek to abstain since he had only been appointed Friday. He replaced Barry Beauchamp, who had continued to serve after his term expired, according to the Tulsa World.

Oklahoma’s charter statute states that such schools must be “free from sectarian control.” But supporters of religious charter schools insist that this prohibition amounts to religious discrimination and violates the U.S. Constitution. They cite a string of U.S. Supreme Court cases that concluded that states cannot bar private schools from receiving public funds just because they are religious.

“Recent decisions of the United States Supreme Court make clear that states may not exclude religious schools from participating in public benefit programs that support K-12 education,” the charter’s application states.

However, those rulings do not speak directly to charter schools. Such cases “concerning private schools have little precedential value as it relates to charter schools,” wrote current Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond earlier this year. (Drummond withdrew an earlier opinion from the prior attorney general, John O’Connor, who argued that Oklahoma’s bar on religious charter schools was likely unconstitutional.)

The group Americans United for Separation of Church and State said Monday that it was preparing a lawsuit over the charter approval.

Ultimately the legality of religious charter schools may hinge on whether charter schools are considered private or public entities. On Monday, the board’s legal counsel called that distinction the “heart of the matter.”

If charter schools are deemed public — “state actors” in legal terms — they would likely not be able to be religious. If they are private, the Supreme Court’s recent rulings would logically seem to apply.

Supporters have long argued that charter schools are public, and state laws define them as such. But charter schools are run by private boards, and courts have split on how to treat them for legal purposes. The U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering taking a case on whether charter schools are public or private for the purposes of a discrimination suit under the 14th Amendment.

Some legal experts believe the Supreme Court’s conservative majority would be sympathetic to religious charter schools — continuing a two-decade march of cases that have made it easier to subsidize private education with public dollars.

“I just think if this case comes up to the Supreme Court, they’ve got the numbers,” said Green.

Charter schools could face existential moment

The prospect of private, religious charter schools would amount to a stunning shift for the charter school movement. Charter schools have long garnered bipartisan support, including from many progressive supporters as an alternative to private school vouchers.

The country’s leading charter school advocacy group has staunchly opposed religious charter schools and quickly condemned Monday’s approval of the Oklahoma school.

“The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City is trying to make charter schools into something they are not,” said Nina Rees, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, in a statement. “We stand ready to support charter school advocates on the ground in Oklahoma as they fight to preserve the public nature of these unique schools and protect the religious and civil rights of the students and teachers who choose them.”

Leaders of the planned Oklahoma charter school have not said whether they would admit gay or transgender students. Oklahoma law requires charter schools to offer open enrollment and to conduct a lottery if there are more applicants than seats.

In its charter application, the church vowed to comply with state and federal law — while indicating it would seek “religious exemptions … with priority given to the Catholic Church’s understanding of itself and its rights and obligations pursuant to the Code of Canon Law and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.”

The school’s proposed employee handbook notes: “All employees are expected to adhere to and support the positions and beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church in the performance of their duties.”

Some private Catholic schools have fired teachers for marrying a same-sex partner.

“Charter school laws were passed based on assurances that they are public schools open to all students,” said Robert Kim, executive director of Education Law Center, a legal advocacy organization that is typically critical of charter schools. “Allowing a religious charter school upends the very notion of public education by endorsing a school that has signaled it does not consider itself fully bound by state or federal laws, including non-discrimination requirements, that are essential to a public education system.”

The possibility of religious charter schools could also spill beyond conservative states like Oklahoma and into blue states with charters, like California and New York. That’s because advocates of religious charter schools have argued that not only are such schools allowed, but that prohibiting them violates the Constitution.

“If they can be religious, states with charter schools must permit religious charter schools,” Notre Dame law professor Nicole Stelle Garnett, a leading advocate of religious charter schools, has argued.

The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City proposed the online charter school as a way to reach students in rural areas with few local schools. Named for the patron saint of the internet, the St. Isidore school aims to enroll students from kindergarten through 12th grade.

“The mission of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School is to educate the entire child: soul, heart, intellect, and body,” the application states. It would seek to merge “the best of online instruction with its capacity for individualized flexible learning.”

Before Monday’s vote, several people told the board that they opposed religious charter schools.

Doug Mann, a lawyer from the Oklahoma Parent Legislative Action Committee, a group that supports public education, said it was clear from St. Isidore’s application that the school “will seek to indoctrinate” students in Catholic beliefs. He warned that the board could face a court challenge.

“There are dire consequences to this board if it goes forward with this,” he said.

Some board members who voted to approve the application Monday said they were ultimately persuaded that a no vote would violate the U.S. Constitution. Bobek, the board’s newest member, said it could “hardly be clearer to me” that it is the Oklahoma statutes that are unconstitutional.

Strawn, who had previously expressed some concerns about the application, said he concluded that voting it down would violate his oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution.

Franklin, the board’s chair, said he took the same oath, but “I just can’t get there.” He said a yes vote was a “hard no.”

Kalyn Belsha contributed to this story.

Cara Fitzpatrick is a story editor at Chalkbeat.

Matt Barnum is a national reporter covering education policy, politics, and research. Contact him at mbarnum@chalkbeat.org.

Passing a budget, praising a plan, telling a charter school no: Philadelphia’s long board meeting

2023-05-26T16:17:26+00:00

At a jam-packed meeting running deep into Thursday night, Philadelphia’s Board of Education adopted the district’s budget, reviewed Superintendent Tony Watlington’s proposed strategic plan, rejected a charter school application, and more.

But while Watlington presented a hopeful vision for the district through his strategic plan, dubbed “Accelerate Philly,” the running theme of the meeting was doing more with less. Officials said without more funding and resources, it would be nearly impossible to accomplish some of their loftiest goals.

Asked by a board member if the district has the staffing to make all of the programs in his strategic plan a reality, Watlington replied: “The short answer is no.”

“We don’t have the resources and the infrastructure” to accomplish everything the district needs to do, Watlington said. He added his administration is looking at how they can “massage” the resources the district has “before we ask for more,” from the state.

Still, board member Leticia Egea-Hinton said Watlington’s five-year strategic plan “certainly fills me with not just hope, but expectation” that the district can make gains in student achievement, safety, and well-being.

Board praises strategic plan work from educators, students

Watlington presented to board members the same summary of his five-year strategic plan his office published on Wednesday. After members of the public implored the superintendent and the board to release the plan to the public before discussing and voting on it, the board delayed its vote on whether to adopt “Accelerate Philly” from Thursday’s meeting until June 1.

One of the plan’s most notable elements is its year-round school pilot; Democratic mayoral nominee Cherelle Parker supports a move to year-round schooling in some form. Other proposals in Watlington’s blueprint include:

Replacing all security cameras at the 150 schools that have them.
Piloting a controversial “Opengate weapons detection” system for middle schools.
Expanding the Safe Path Program where adults are hired to monitor the streets surrounding schools to ensure students can walk home safely.
Recruiting and retaining certified school nurses for all schools.
Launching a “two-way communication system” to respond to parent and community member inquiries. Watlington said that many community members have complained they would reach out to the district and never hear back. Under the new two-way system, Watlington said, everyone who reaches out should expect a response.

The plan also proposes expanding the ninth grade On-Track (also referred to as Success Networks) program in an effort to boost graduation rates and reduce the number of students who drop out. According to Watlington, 3,609 students have dropped out of Philadelphia schools this academic year so far. As of October 1, 2022, total enrollment in Philadelphia public schools was 197,288, according to district data.

Board President Reginald Streater and other members largely praised the plan on Thursday and acknowledged the “sweat equity” from educators, students, administrators, and community members that went into writing the plan.

Board member Lisa Salley asked how the district will track its progress putting the plan into action. Watlington said he will create a new team within his office and will employ “external folks” to “advise a small and minimal staff” who will make sure the plan is carried out.

Watlington said he intends to give an update every January on how the district is making progress on the plan.

Board member Chau Wing Lam, speaking first in Chinese, also drew attention to the fact that there is nothing in the plan about “cultivating the diversity of the students in our system.” Lam said she would have liked to see specific attention paid to improving the district’s delivery of language offerings.

New $4.45 billion budget funds teachers, counselors

Watlington’s long-term vision got an early boost from the board’s Thursday vote to approve a $4.45 billion budget for fiscal 2024 that includes funding to:

Hire additional counselors for the highest-need schools.
Add 15 new safety officer positions.
Hire more general education teachers and special education teachers.
Purchase the new two-way communications system Watlington has touted among other costs.

Still, district officials said the money they have is not nearly enough to fund the district’s needs. Estimates from the Education Law Center and Public Interest Law Center have said “fair funding” for the city’s schools would require an additional annual funding of $1.1 billion and $318 million from the state and city, respectively.

And making progress on all of Watlington’s proposals in his strategic plan will become more difficult as the district approaches an anticipated fiscal cliff after 2024 when federal COVID relief money is scheduled to run out, Chief Financial Officer Michael Herbstman warned.

Millions in spending for new curriculum, tech, admissions

The board also voted to approve more than 70 separate items, including:

$50 million in contracts with various vendors for new curriculum in math and language arts.
$72 million for Apple and PC computers for all district instructional staff, school leaders, students and staff.
$289,000 for Accenture, LLP to conduct an audit on the district’s much-maligned lottery admission process at selective schools.
$500,000 to Teach For America to hire new teachers.
Millions more for summer programming, special education services, and other items.

The full list of action items can be found on the board website here.

The board also voted to approve an agreement with the city to reopen West Philadelphia’s Sayre Pool, which has been at the center of a citywide debate over swimming access for Black and brown children.

Board rejects charter high school application again

Notably absent from the strategic plan presentation was any board discussion of charter schools.

As written, “Accelerate Philly” does not include any proposals, programs, or policies specific to charter schools, although some initiatives appear to be broadly inclusive of all schools under district purview.

Charter expenditures in the district are increasing at “a much greater rate” than expenditures on traditional public schools, board member Joyce Wilkerson noted.

Watlington subsequently said the “elephant in the room” is that charter enrollment is rising as traditional public school enrollment is falling.

However, the school board voted Thursday to deny Global Leadership Academy International Charter High School’s application to open a standalone high school this August. The board cited issues with curriculum and dissatisfaction with the performance of other charter schools in the city under the Global Leadership Academy (GLA) name.

This is the second time the board has denied GLA’s application to open a high school. The school revised and resubmitted its application in April.

Peng Chao, the acting director of the district’s Charter Schools Office, said despite applying to open the new school for the 2023-2024 academic year, Global Leadership Academy did not “identify a school leader or include updated information regarding staffing a brand new charter school.”

There is a “growing concern about the viability of those start dates,” Chao said.

Chao also said the two current GLA K-8 schools in Philadelphia had “mixed outcomes” when it comes to academics. The application said the proposed high school should be evaluated as a separate entity from those schools.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Detroit charter school to offer $100,000 teacher salaries

2023-05-25T18:44:38+00:00

A Detroit charter school is offering $100,000 annual salaries to certain teachers with five or more years of experience, in a bold bid to increase the number of certified teachers at the school.

The Detroit Academy of Arts & Sciences, which serves a little over 1,000 K-8 students, made the announcement Thursday morning. The school said the six-figure salary offer is part of an effort to improve student outcomes and to attract what it calls “best in class” teachers.

Teachers must meet a set of criteria in order to be eligible for the $100,000 pay.

They must have at least five or more years of experience as a classroom teacher or a lead teacher.
They must be rated highly effective in two of the last three years.
They must be fully certified.
They must demonstrate an impact on student outcomes, professionalism, commitment to equity, and family and community engagement.

“Revolutionary” is how Krystal Thomas, a 7th grade science teacher at DAAS, described the salary offer, according to the release.

“When you give teachers a livable wage, it makes the profession important,” said Thomas, who plans to pursue becoming a model teacher. “I’m really excited about this opportunity.”

Said Ja’Myrea Jones, an eighth-grader and the school’s valedictorian: “I think it is great that DAAS is committed to ensuring that our students have the best teachers in the classroom. Having highly effective teachers will help us become stronger scholars and future leaders.”

The district expects to hire 18 teachers with the $100,000 salary in time for the start of the 2023-24 school year. The new hires would receive a three-year contract, and would be required to maintain their ratings during that time.

Current staff are also eligible, though they would have to apply, and it’s unclear how many would qualify, a spokesperson for the school said Thursday.

At DAAS, 35% of the teachers aren’t fully certified, though many are going through the steps to earn certification. Seven years ago, 95% of the teachers were certified.

“Every child deserves to be taught by a best-in-class teacher,” Maurice Morton, CEO of the district, said during a news conference held at the school Thursday, according to a press release.

“By creating strong criteria to measure excellence for teachers and investing in their growth with a best-in-class compensation plan, we believe that we will have a profound impact on the educational outcomes for the children we serve.”

It’s not unheard of for teachers to make $100,000, but generally teachers earning at that level have many years of experience and/or are often receiving additional compensation for coaching or leading other extracurricular activities. Michigan ranks 16th in the nation for teacher pay, with an average of $64,884, according to the 2023 review of salaries by the National Education Association.

At DAAS, current teachers make salaries of between $49,000 to $72,000. The school will cover the higher salaries by reallocating portions of its budget.

The DAAS offer is one of many initiatives Michigan schools are using to address teaching shortages that are affecting districts across the state. A new program to recruit, retain, and develop teachers in five Michigan districts was announced Thursday by Teach for America Detroit.

Nikolai Vitti, superintendent of the Detroit Public Schools Community District, has made increasing staff salaries a critical budget initiative for the next school year, even as the district seeks to make budget cuts to account for the loss of federal COVID relief funding.

Battle Creek Public Schools on Wednesday announced an agreement with its union to provide a $10,000 increase to base pay, on average. District officials say the pay increase will make it one of the highest paying districts for new teachers in southwest Michigan.

“Everything that we do for our students begins with teachers, and we will continue to invest in them to ensure that together we are creating the conditions for success that our students need and deserve,” Battle Creek Superintendent Kimberly Carter said in a news release from the district.

Lori Higgins is the bureau chief of Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at lhiggins@chalkbeat.org.

Newark’s decision to appeal state-approved city charter school expansion sparks concern

2023-05-25T14:00:00+00:00

A Newark school board member raised questions about the district’s process for filing an appeal of a state-approved charter school expansion, saying the appeal had been filed without a board vote.

Crystal Williams, who was elected in 2022, then introduced a motion during Tuesday’s board meeting to withdraw the appeal. Her motion died for lack of a second by any of the other eight members on the board.

In February, the state approved North Star Academy’s charter school expansion of 492 additional seats, increasing enrollment from 7,300 to 7,792 by the 2025-26 school year, according to an approval letter obtained by Chalkbeat. North Star is one of the largest charter school networks in the city with six elementary, six middle, and two high schools.

But the district appealed the state’s decision in March, saying the charter school does not meet enrollment demands that warrant an expansion, places a financial burden on Newark Public Schools, and creates “a segregative effect” on the public school system, according to the appeal filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division. No court date has been set on the matter, according to the appellate court.

Newark Public Schools spokesperson Nancy Deering did not respond to comment on the discussion.

North Star’s expansion approval also comes after the state denied several requests for charter school expansions over the last few years.

“We believe that the appeal lacks merit for many reasons, including those in the Commissioner’s approval letter which cite the high achieving results of our students and North Star’s fiscal and organizational strength and stability,” said Barbara Martinez, a spokeswoman for North Star, in an email to Chalkbeat Newark on Wednesday.

During Tuesday’s board of education business meeting, Williams was the only board member to raise the concerns at the meeting and referenced New Jersey law, which states that “a district board of education or state district superintendent of the district of residence of a charter school may file an appeal.”

“We are under local control,” said Williams. “So this superintendent is not a state superintendent. It has to be voted on by the full board. When he or you decide to do court proceedings without our vote, you’re going around us.”

But Brenda Liss, the district’s general counsel, said “there is no rule that says that an appeal must be acted upon by the Board of Education” and that the law referenced by Williams is not “intended to delineate or address the relationship between the Superintendent and the Board of Education.”

North Star, which has been in Newark since 1997 and operates in the city’s south, central, and west wards, reported an enrollment waitlist of 633 Newark students and 133 non-resident students last year, according to the state’s approval letter. Although the school hasn’t met its maximum approved enrollment, North Star says all schools are at 90% capacity or more, according to the charter schools’ Jan. 2023 letter to the state justifying its need for an expansion.

“Though North Star is chartered for a higher number of seats in high school, the size of its current facilities makes it impossible to fill high school seats to capacity,” the letter read.

North Star’s letter also noted that “Newark is a growing city” and “should expect more students, more new schools, and with them more school funding.”

According to the Newark Public Schools budget approved in April, charter school payments make up the district’s second largest expenditure at $353.8 million, an $11.8 million increase from last year.

For the 2023-24 school year, Newark received an additional $114 million in state aid, or an increase of about 11% from last year.

Kyle Rosenkrans, executive director of the New Jersey Children’s Foundation, in an email to Chalkbeat on Wednesday said Liss’s statements about the district’s appeal process are contrary to state law and go back on the community strides to return Newark schools to local control.

“Newark was once a national model for charter-district collaboration, and no amount of Leon’s rhetorical gaslighting can hide the fact that he has single-handedly squandered the goodwill that many—including its elected school board—spent years to build,” Rosenkrans added.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Charter school centering Black students misses enrollment target, won’t open in Denver this fall

2023-05-23T21:17:30+00:00

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A charter elementary school centering Black students won’t open as planned in Denver this fall. 5280 Freedom School did not enroll enough students for next school year, and the Denver school board isn’t considering giving the charter school more time.

The refusal is a departure from past practice and emblematic of the increasingly tough outlook for charter schools in Denver, which was once among the friendliest districts for the publicly funded, privately run schools. But declining enrollment and shifting politics have changed that — even for a school aiming to fulfill one of the school board’s priorities: improving education for Black students.

“It’s unfortunate because the longer we wait, there are still Black students entering schools … and not learning, not getting the quality instruction they need,” said Branta Lockett, founder of 5280 Freedom School. “That’s what’s most devastating to me.”

The school board initially denied the application of 5280 Freedom School last June along with the applications for two other charter schools that wanted to open in Denver Public Schools.

The district feared 5280 Freedom School would fail to enroll enough students, with Superintendent Alex Marrero noting that “school models of this limited size are not in the best interests of pupils, the district, or the community.”

More than a dozen charter schools have closed in recent years, often because of low enrollment. Denver schools are funded per pupil, and schools with low enrollment struggle to afford enough staff to offer robust programming. District-run schools are closing, too. The school board recently voted to close three small district-run schools at the end of the school year.

5280 Freedom School appealed its denial to the State Board of Education, which ordered the Denver school board to reconsider. State Board members said it was unfair to assume that 5280 Freedom School would face the same enrollment challenges as other Denver charters.

In September, the Denver school board complied with the State Board’s order and approved 5280 Freedom School to open this fall. But the approval came with conditions, including that the charter fill all of its open seats in its first year. 5280 Freedom School pledged to open with 52 students in kindergarten and first grade, and gradually build the school from there.

But the school wasn’t able to enroll 52 students. Lockett said only 38 students — 27 kindergarteners and 11 first graders — enrolled in 5280 Freedom School during the school choice window this spring, when families submit their choices for next school year.

The school’s agreement with DPS said failure to enroll 52 students “would result in a breach of contract and would prevent the school from opening.”

In March, 5280 Freedom School sent DPS a letter proposing two other options, according to a copy obtained by Chalkbeat. The school proposed opening this fall with kindergarten only or delaying its opening until 2024, giving it more time to recruit students.

“5280 is providing this letter as a demonstration of its interest in working proactively with DPS to address any concerns as early as possible,” the letter said.

But school board President Xóchitl “Sochi” Gaytán said in a statement this week that the board “is not currently considering” 5280 Freedom School’s request.

That was news to Lockett, who said Tuesday that neither the board nor DPS ever answered 5280 Freedom’s School’s letter. “They’re not obligated to respond to us,” Lockett said. “But if you believe in equity, if you believe in students first, if you believe in supporting Black families and communities, the least you could do is respond.”

Past school boards have given other nascent charter schools more time to recruit students. In 2018, the board allowed a charter school called The CUBE to delay its opening after it missed its enrollment target. The board did the same for the American Indian Academy of Denver in 2019. However, both schools continued to struggle with enrollment. The CUBE closed in 2021, and the American Indian Academy of Denver will close at the end of this school year.

5280 Freedom School is now considering reapplying to DPS next year or opening as a private school, Lockett said. It already runs a successful summer program that teaches children about Black history, African drumming, poetry, nutrition, and more.

“It has been a difficult journey,” Lockett said. But she said not everything has been a loss. “There were a lot of obstacles placed in front of us that we were able to overcome time and time again,” she said. “The only one we didn’t meet was enrollment.”

Melanie Asmar is a senior reporter for Chalkbeat Colorado, covering Denver Public Schools. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana charter schools get state funding boost with help from influential voucher supporters

2023-05-17T21:24:25+00:00

The argument in the video was simple.

Two fictional students, Andy and Anna, both go to a public school — but Andy’s school receives less state funding because it is a charter school. The ad from the Indiana Student Funding Alliance prompted viewers to ask: Shouldn’t Indiana lawmakers close this unfair funding gap between charters and traditional public schools?

The message reached voters throughout Indiana just as state lawmakers convened for this year’s legislative session. The roughly $500,000 ad campaign was the latest in a years-long push to direct more state and local funding to charters with the help of the alliance, an influential group of charter backers and nonprofits.

As the session began, charter schools and their backers had particularly pressing reasons to step up their lobbying and marketing efforts. Indianapolis Public Schools, the state’s largest district, planned on seeking roughly $413 million in new property taxes through a 2023 ballot measure. And charter schools were frustrated with the prospect of getting a relatively small slice of that money; some charters wouldn’t get any of it. Additionally, property values in general were rising, sending extra funding to some local school districts but not to charters.

Although the alliance had existed informally for a few years, last year its members organized the group under a formal name. It got support for its marketing campaign from groups like the Hoosiers for Quality Education nonprofit — which also has a political action committee that has donated nearly $1 million to lawmakers in the last three years alone and supports school choice of various kinds.

The Indiana Student Funding Alliance’s campaign paid off. After lawmakers enacted several changes this year, charter schools scored one of their biggest wins since they started in Indiana over 20 years ago: a modified state funding system that gives them more money. The changes, combined with a nearly universal voucher system lawmakers passed this year, mark a critical milestone for an Indiana education landscape that favors school choice now more than ever.

Education interest groups and PACs have long lobbied state lawmakers and tried to sway public opinion. The Indiana Political Action Committee for Education, for example, is the political arm of the Indiana State Teachers Association that consistently gives money to lawmakers’ campaigns.

But the changes this year represent a critical juncture for school funding in Indiana. In addition to increasing the state’s per-student charter funding, school districts in Marion County and three other counties now must not only share referendum funds for operating expenses with charters, but also future property tax increases as well.

Even with the Republican supermajority’s strong support for school choice in general, it was important for advocates like the Indiana Student Funding Alliance to highlight charter schools’ funding challenges, said Scott Bess, the executive director of Purdue Polytechnic High School, an Indianapolis charter that is part of the alliance. The group had existed loosely for years, he noted, but the IPS referendum — and charters’ inability in general to tap local property tax revenue — elicited a more organized response.

“Those two things happening at the same time really sent home the message that if we don’t do something and do something more aggressively, these gaps are going to get to a point where it’s not financially sustainable,” Bess said.

Rep. Ed Delaney, a Democrat on the House education committee who has consistently opposed charter schools and vouchers, sees lobbying by the alliance and similar efforts as the work of an “education industrial complex.”

“I think they’ve reached a point of excessive power,” he said. “And what comes with that is greed and a lack of judgment.”

Charter school backers turn to Facebook ads

How these changes will affect traditional public schools’ budgets is unknown, given fluctuating property values among other factors.

The Mind Trust, a powerful Indianapolis nonprofit that advocates for charter-friendly policies and which joined the Indiana Student Funding Alliance, estimates those changes will ultimately provide an additional $2,259 per student for charter schools within IPS.

Changes to Indiana charter school funding

The new laws for charter funding stem from two bills, one from the Senate and the state’s budget legislation from the House. The laws:

Require school districts in Marion, St. Joseph, Vanderburg and Lake counties to proportionally share revenue increases from rising property valuations with charter schools, beginning in 2025. This would apply to charters located in the same county that enroll students living in those districts. The provision means that altogether, school districts in those counties will lose $9.3 million in 2025 and $12.5 million in 2026 to charter schools, according to the fiscal analysis from the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency (LSA).
Require school districts in Marion, St. Joseph, Vanderburg and Lake counties to proportionally share additional property tax revenues from any operating or school safety referendum passed by voters after May 10 with charter schools that enroll a student living in that district. Virtual and adult high schools do not receive this funding. The LSA estimates that if the law were applicable in 2022, school districts in these four counties would have distributed about $23.9 million of $210.1 million collected in referendum funding to charters.
Increase the annual charter school grant amount from $1,250 per student to $1,400 per student for operational costs. Statewide, the funding is set at $52.6 million in fiscal 2024 and 2025.
Provide $25 million in fiscal 2024 statewide to charter schools for facility needs.
Allow charter schools to access loans through the state Common School Fund for facility and technology needs. All charters may also now access loans for large projects — such as new buildings — through the Indiana Bond Bank at a low interest rate.

Members of the alliance are celebrating these changes as wins.

The alliance is made up of partners such as the Indiana Charter School Network and the Walton Education Coalition, an education advocacy group, said Betsy Wiley, president of the Hoosiers for Quality Education nonprofit that helped fund the alliance’s campaign. (The Walton Family Foundation, which is legally separate from the Walton Education Coalition, is a funder of Chalkbeat.)

Hoosiers for Quality Education also has a political action committee that has received funding from wealthy donors and groups frequently associated with education reform efforts such as charter schools and vouchers.

Together, the Hoosiers for Quality Education nonprofit and the related Institute for Quality Education nonprofit — which distributes private school tuition support as a scholarship granting organization — paid for at least $49,000 in Facebook ads, such as the one featuring Andy and Anna that promoted more funding for charters, according to Facebook’s Ad Library. Those ads ran from September 2022 to the end of the session in April.

“This year was different in that a group of folks who strongly believe that public charter school students deserve the same funding as their traditional district student peers came together in a more coordinated fashion,” Wiley said in an email.

Rep. Bob Behning, the Indianapolis Republican who was chairman of the House education committee in the 2023 session, had previously pushed for school districts to share referendum revenues with charters. But this year, he said, the IPS referendum elevated the issue’s importance in his mind. (IPS ultimately nixed its plan to put the referendum on the May primary ballot, although the district may revive the proposal in some form.)

The advertisements by charter backers indicated a general motivation to push for “some level of parity” for charter school funding, he said.

Lawmakers did also approve a $312 million increase for traditional public schools right before the end of this year’s legislative session. But critics such as Delaney argue the push to increase funding for charters is just part of a bigger agenda to dismantle the traditional public school system.

“The fundamental truth is they are not interested in traditional public education,” he said. “They do not support it, they do not believe in it, but they don’t have the courage to stand up and say” that traditional public schools should close.

What increased funding means to charters

Anna and Andy used in the Indiana Student Funding Alliance ads may be fictional, but Dwayne Sullivan and his mother, Susan Sargeant, are very much real.

Dwayne is in the first class due to graduate next year from the Rooted School, an Indianapolis charter school with grades 7-12 that opened in 2020.

Even though her son will graduate soon, Sargeant is hopeful the additional funding enabled by the changes to state law will support higher teacher salaries to attract high-quality teachers to Rooted.

“That’s a big, big, big deal, especially for a charter school that’s starting out,” she said.

Jack Langlois, a junior at Purdue Polytechnic High School’s north campus in Indianapolis, helped start a cafe run by students at a cost of $5,000. School officials hope more funding for charters will help cover the cost of materials for projects at the school, which emphasizes project-based learning.

At Purdue Polytechnic High School, which has two campuses in Indianapolis, extra operating revenue will also help cover the cost of materials needed for the experiential learning that the school emphasizes through robotics, woodshop, and even a coffee shop that students recently opened at the Englewood campus of Broad Ripple High School.

Both charter school and traditional public school advocates see the referendum sharing requirement as an opportunity to collaborate to convince voters to pass future property tax increases for schools.

Still, some school district officials are worried about the net effect of sharing incremental property tax revenues with charters.

Rafi Nolan-Abrahamian, chief of staff for South Bend Community Schools, said the district is grateful for the $2.1 million in additional yearly revenue it’s getting due to the last-minute change made by lawmakers. And he said each funding change favoring charters on its own is probably manageable.

“But we are concerned in particular about the precedent that some of these are setting, and the sort of underlying motivations and rationales behind them,” he said.

Meanwhile, pro-charter groups are stressing that this year’s policy changes don’t meet all their long-term goals.

“Our goal remains the same, the same that it’s been for many, many years, which is parity in funding for public charter school students,” Wiley said. “And we’re not there yet.”

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Marion County schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

$9 billion Colorado education budget signed, but still doesn’t meet obligations for full funding

2023-05-16T00:02:49+00:00

Gov. Jared Polis on Monday signed into law Colorado’s school finance act, laying the path toward eliminating a state practice used since the Great Recession that holds back money from schools.

In the 2023-24 school year, the state will spend more than $9 billion on education and withhold $141 million from schools. Statewide, spending per student next year will increase to $10,614, $1,000 more per student than this year.

The school finance bill also will fund state-authorized charter schools at a level similar to other schools starting in 2023-24, adding more than $42 million for those schools. State-authorized charter schools don’t get a cut of locally raised tax dollars as district schools do.

Rural schools will get $30 million more to help with their higher costs related to smaller student populations. Colorado rural schools have gotten similar state aid since 2017.

Polis, surrounded by lawmakers, educators, and students at Thornton Elementary School, also signed two bills on Monday that will boost special education funding and provide statewide support for math instruction.

Together, the bills represent a significant investment in K-12 education statewide and a promise to fully meet the constitutionally set minimum for education spending by the 2024-25 school year.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis sits ready to sign the 2023 school finance bill as Lt. Gov. Diane Primavera stands behind him and state Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, an Arvada Democrat, talks about the bill on Monday at Thornton Elementary School.

Polis said the school finance bill means a stronger education system for Colorado, including better teacher pay, smaller class sizes, and more funding for the arts.

“We are catching up to where we should be for all public schools next year, and that’s very exciting news for Colorado kids,” he said during the bill signing.

Since 2009, lawmakers have diverted money that should go to K-12 schools to fund other priorities, a practice known as the Budget Stabilization Factor. This year’s school finance law, however, aims to eliminate that practice by the next budget year. The state has withheld over $10 billion from schools since 2009.

The constitution requires Colorado to increase funding yearly by the rate of student population growth plus inflation. The state withholding, however, has meant schools haven’t gotten what’s required by its school finance formula.

State Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, an Arvada Democrat who chairs the Joint Budget Committee that helps craft the budget and school finance act, said the state will also meet its obligation to fully fund its share of special education.

The state will spend $40.2 million more next year on special education, increasing total spending to about $340 million, or a 13% increase.

Polis also signed a bill that will invest more in teaching math after state and national tests showed students lost ground in that subject during the pandemic. The state will spend $25 million via three-year grants for after-school math tutoring programs that will be run by school districts, charter schools, and community groups.

The bill also will provide optional training for teachers and parents, offer evidence-based resources for math programs, and require teacher preparation programs to train prospective educators in math instruction.

Zenzinger said now that the state is on track to fully fund schools within the next budget cycle, she wants lawmakers to rethink what it costs to fully educate a student.

“It’s going to be really, really important that once we have established full funding, whether that is then adequate,” Zenzinger said.

Jason Gonzales is a reporter covering higher education and the Colorado legislature. Chalkbeat Colorado partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. Contact Jason at jgonzales@chalkbeat.org.

New York state budget boosts school funding and allows more charter schools

2023-05-03T19:44:20+00:00

New York’s state lawmakers approved a budget this week that will usher in record funding for schools and a controversial plan allowing 14 charter schools to open in New York City.

The budget, finalized more than a month past the April 1 deadline, will increase aid for schools by $3 billion compared to last year. That brings the total state support for schools to $34 billion, with more than a third of that going to the nation’s largest district, New York City public schools. (Even so, because of city and federal funding cuts, Mayor Eric Adams is proposing to slash the education department’s budget by nearly $1 billion.)

The late budget caused frustration among local lawmakers and education organizations. Even though there was no dispute over school funding this year, local leaders were still waiting to know final details, such as how much they could expect to receive, said Bob Lowry, deputy director for advocacy and communication at the state’s Council of School Superintendents.

“It’s been aggravating that it’s dragged on without any apparent urgency,” Lowry said.

Unlike past years, funding was not a hot-button issue since lawmakers had previously agreed to significantly boost dollars for schools. However, in a surprising twist, charter schools emerged as a sticking point in final budget negotiations.

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal to open more than 100 charter schools across the five boroughs was one of the final issues that lawmakers picked apart. They reached a deal last week to open just a chunk of the schools Hochul had proposed.

The day after the deal was struck, Hochul announced that she and Democratic leaders had conceptually agreed to a final budget.

Here’s a look at two big education highlights from the state budget:

‘Zombie charters’ allowed to open in the city

In 2019, New York City reached a state-imposed cap of how many charter schools could open across the five boroughs. That cap included 14 “zombie” charter schools, which have either closed or never opened.

As part of the budget, 14 of those zombies will be allowed to open in New York City, while another eight will be allowed to open elsewhere. The city schools can only open in districts where the total charter school enrollment is 55% or less than that of education department-run school enrollment, according to budget records.

Hochul’s original proposal was pared down in the face of significant pushback from teachers unions, lawmakers, and advocates, who argued that the state needed to prioritize more resources for traditional public schools, which have struggled with declining enrollment.

Many charter advocates applauded the compromise, allowing the sector to expand its footprint in the city. Some operators, who were pre-approved to open schools in 2019 after the city had reached the cap, are expected to receive priority if they reapply now for a zombie charter, according to the SUNY Charter Schools Institute, one of two entities that can authorize charter schools to open. (The other is the New York State Board of Regents.)

Opponents to the proposal, including some local New York City officials, shared frustration.

“It took a month to convince the governor not to lift the cap on charter schools, which would pull vital funds from the traditional public school system, and even a month later, the governor insisted on reviving zombie charters,” Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said in a statement.

The city typically must cover rental costs for charters, but as part of the deal, Hochul agreed to use state funding to cover that cost.

School funding rises to record-high levels

The state’s $34 billion school funding plan includes a final, planned increase to Foundation Aid, the state’s main school funding formula that sends more money to higher need districts.

For years, boosting Foundation Aid was a contentious matter in Albany. While funding for schools increased under former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, he declined to fund Foundation Aid at the level the formula calculated for each district’s needs. After years of advocacy from policymakers, advocates, and lawmakers, Cuomo agreed in his final months in office to fully fund the formula over a three-year period.

Hochul agreed to stick to that plan, which was originally expected to boost Foundation Aid by $4 billion over that three-year period. That figure has grown by $800 million because of inflation.

New York City — which sends much of its Foundation Aid dollars directly to schools — will receive an increase of 5.5% in those funds compared to this current school year.

In total, New York City will receive $12.9 billion in funding for schools from the state — equivalent to 42% of what the mayor has proposed for the education department’s operating budget next year.

The mayor’s budget office projected receiving close to that from the state — about $12.7 billion — next year for city schools. But with drops in city and federal funding, Adams has proposed a nearly $1 billion smaller education department budget for next year.

Reema Amin is a reporter covering New York City public schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.

2023 election results: Democratic and Republican primary elections for Indianapolis mayor

2023-05-03T02:10:49+00:00

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization covering public education in communities across America. Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools and statewide education news.

Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett, a Democrat, will face Republican challenger Jefferson Shreve in the November general election.

Both candidates had more than half of the vote in their respective primary elections, despite multiple challengers. Per unofficial election results, Hogsett had 58.37% of the votes in the Democratic primary and Shreve had 65.89% in the GOP primary.

Tonight’s election results are unofficial until the Marion County Election Board certifies results on May 15.

Joe Hogsett

The winners of each of the primary elections will be on the Nov. 7 ballot for the general election. (Independent candidates and minor party candidates have until the summer to declare their candidacy for the general election.)

Voter turnout on Tuesday was around 13% of registered voters. More than 78,000 voters cast ballots in the municipal primary election, an increase of 45% from 2019, per the Marion County Election Board. There were also more than triple the number of early votes.

In the Democratic primary, Hogsett’s closest opponent was state Rep. Robin Shackleford, who had 37.87% of the vote.

The remaining four candidates, including two who stopped campaigning ahead of primary Election Day, each had no more than 1.5% of the vote.

Jefferson Shreve

Similarly in the GOP primary, Abdul Hakim-Shabazz had 26.25% of the vote, while James Jackson and John Couch each had around 4% of the vote.

Mayor has impact on schools in Marion County

The biggest way that the mayor impacts education in the city and its townships is through the Office of Education Innovation, which is a charter school authorizer.

That means the office is responsible for overseeing charter schools and making sure the schools meet the promises in their charters.

Currently, the mayor’s Office of Education Innovation is the authorizer for nearly 50 charter schools, including roughly a dozen schools in the Indianapolis Public Schools Innovation Network.

The mayor also selects six of the nine members of the Indianapolis Charter School Board, which reviews charter school applications and approves or rejects them. The board can also make recommendations on renewals.

Plus, the mayor has a significant impact on crime, the economy, and housing in Indianapolis — all of which affect the educators and students who go to school here.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief and covers higher education. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

14 ‘zombie’ charters would open in NYC under Albany budget deal

2023-04-27T18:59:58+00:00

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization covering public education in communities across America. Sign up for Chalkbeat New York’s free daily newsletter to keep up with NYC’s public schools.

After a four-year halt on new charter schools in New York City, state lawmakers have reached a deal to open 14 “zombie” charters.

The deal, struck Wednesday night between Gov. Kathy Hochul and Democratic leaders, would allow charter school operators to open 14 zombies — schools that closed or were never opened. Additionally, the state would cover rent for these schools, relieving New York City of the cost, said state Sen. John Liu, who is the chair of the state senate’s New York City education committee.

Since the city is required to pay rent for charter schools, this deal would leave little incentive for the city to co-locate these zombie charters with traditional public schools. Such co-locations often drum up opposition from the public and the schools involved.

The deal is not yet law; it is expected to be part of the state’s final budget approval, which is now 27 days late. The governor’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

The state education department and the SUNY Charter Schools Institute have the authority to award charters to prospective operators in New York. Spokespeople for both said they needed to review the final proposal.

SUNY approved charters for six schools in 2019 that couldn’t open because the city had reached a state-imposed cap on charter schools in the five boroughs, said spokesperson Michael Lesczinski. If the deal goes through, SUNY would open a new request for proposals for newly available charters. While those six already-approved schools would have to submit updated materials including “budgets and evidence of ongoing community outreach, support and demand,” they would be first in line for consideration, Lesczinski said.

“I’m glad that the governor and the legislature were able to find some common ground on this,” said Arthur Samuels, who co-founded MESA Charter High School in Bushwick. The organization won pre-approval in 2019 to open a second high school in Brooklyn, but were blocked by the charter cap.

While overall enrollment in the charter sector has increased, many individual schools, including some of the biggest networks, are logging fewer students — meaning that opening more charter schools could lead to smaller budgets or even closures among traditional district schools and existing charters alike.

But Samuels said he will move to open a second school if possible and is waiting for guidance about how the approval process will work.

“There is a demand for the type of education we’re offering, which is responsive and community-centric,” he said. “We see that as something that people want even as the number of school-age children in the city declines.”

Hochul’s push for more charter schools in New York City emerged as one of the last items holding up the overdue state budget — and her keen interest puzzled many following the issue, given the significant opposition she has faced from the start. Her pitch, which was part of her budget proposal in January, came four years after the city hit the charter cap. At the time, a handful of charter operators were approved to open schools if the cap was ever increased, including the six by SUNY.

At first Hochul’s original proposal, which could have allowed more than 100 charter schools to open in New York City, seemed dead on arrival. It drew immediate backlash from Democratic lawmakers, unions, and advocates, who argued that city resources should be spent on traditional public schools, which are seeing enrollment declines and are still facing pandemic-related challenges.

Hochul has argued that she wants more school choice for parents, particularly those who are on waitlists for charters. She has also received campaign contributions from supporters of charter schools, and indirect support from former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the New York Times reported last month.

Hochul has also received donations from teachers and principals unions, which have strongly opposed the expansion of charter schools. In a statement, Michael Mulgrew, president of the city teachers union, accused Hochul of listening “to the demands of a handful of billionaires,” despite the charter sector’s enrollment challenges.

Last month, the state Senate and Assembly formally rejected the proposal in their response to Hochul’s budget plan, and even three weeks ago, the topic wasn’t a part of budget negotiations, according to multiple state lawmakers, who said the focus was on other hot issues, such as bail reform.

But this week, Hochul presented Democrats with a compromise: allow just the 22 existing zombie charters to open. Liu opposed that plan, too, largely because several of those charters were issued outside of New York City but would have been allowed to open within the five boroughs.

But on Thursday, Liu said he agreed to this latest deal because the 14 zombie charters in question all exist in New York City, and it would not involve lifting the charter cap.

“The firm agreement is no increase or no elimination of the New York City cap, which is clearly the right policy going forward because you have to strike the balance between the desire for some charter choice and the need for the city to keep public schools open,” Liu said.

In a statement, City Hall spokesperson Amaris Cockfield said, “As all New Yorkers, we are still awaiting final budget details, but we always appreciate and welcome Albany’s support to meet the needs of New York City’s children and families.”

Charter school advocates applauded the deal, which is significantly pared down from what Hochul originally proposed.

“[Hochul] understands that having both a strong and growing charter sector makes all of our public schools stronger and better able to meet the complex needs of our students and families,” said James Merriman, CEO of the New York City Charter School Center, in a statement. “For years, leaders, including many of color, have been on hold to open innovative new schools in NYC communities – this deal will finally allow 14 of them to open their doors.”

Crystal McQueen-Taylor, president of StudentsFirstNY, said in a statement that “the Governor’s tenacity and persistence made all the difference.”

But not everyone was pleased. Eva Moskowitz, the founder and CEO of Success Academy, the city’s largest charter network, called the deal a “travesty,” in a statement. Albany has “bargained away … access to high-quality schools,” for low-income students of color since the deal would open just 14 schools, she said.

Alex Zimmerman contributed.

MSCS board turns away 10 charter school applications

2023-04-26T05:09:42+00:00

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization covering public education in communities across America. Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the Shelby County public school system and statewide education policy.

The Memphis-Shelby County Schools board on Tuesday denied initial applications from 10 charter schools, including several low-performing schools that are seeking to return to the district as charters after a failed turnaround effort by the state.

It is typical for the district to recommend denials in the initial round of applications, and ask applicants to revise their proposals. The board will make final determinations on the charter school applications later this summer, after applicants have a chance to make requested revisions.

The board took up the 10 applications in two batches. One was a group of existing schools leaving the Achievement School District, the state turnaround program for low-performing schools. The other is a group of new proposed charters, primarily from operators that want to offer career and technical education programming, a new state priority.

The set of charter applications before the board show the impact in Memphis of two things happening at the state level: the chaotic unraveling of Tennessee’s charter-focused school turnaround effort, and this summer’s arrival of a new state education funding formula that provides extra money for career education programs.

The five schools from the ASD were once operated by the district. When the state designated them as low performers, it assigned them to charter operators to reform under 10-year contracts. State leaders have acknowledged for years that the turnaround effort failed.

Now, as the 10-year contracts near expiration, the school operators are applying to continue managing the schools as charters under the MSCS umbrella. That’s one of the possible exit routes outlined by the state for ASD schools, most of which are in Memphis.

Board member Stephanie Love appeared to suggest the ASD schools, which have high academic needs, should undergo a different process.

“I don’t think the ASD should be treated as a regular charter school,” said Love, whose district includes several of the schools.

MSCS, board forced to reckon with fallout of ASD

The five Achievement School District charters that sought approval from the MSCS board are Humes Middle School, Martin Luther King Jr. College Prep High School, Cornerstone Lester Prep Elementary, Journey Coleman School, and Fairley High School.

The ASD applicants lost points for lacking details in their proposed transition plans to the district. They were also dinged for remaining low-performing. Low academic performance regularly puts Memphis charter schools in jeopardy of closure.

“It appears to me that they’re still just floating money in a sinkhole,” board member Keith Williams said of the schools in a recent committee meeting.

The board has approved one ASD school to operate as a charter, but that school has not yet opened. Other former ASD schools have reentered the district’s own turnaround program called the iZone, which brings students at traditional public schools additional academic support. The program isn’t available for charter schools.

MSCS board members have started discussions about reabsorbing the other ASD schools as traditional public schools under the iZone. This could happen if the charter applications are rejected again by the MSCS board and by the state charter commission.

Dozens of Fairley High School students, families, and staff members urged the board on Tuesday to approve the bid by their charter operator, Green Dot Public Schools Tennessee, to continue running the school.

“Growth matters … . We are proud of the work we have done to support Fairley High School, and we look forward to continuing to support Fairley and the Lakeview community,” Jocquell Rodgers, the executive director of Green Dot, told board members.

Research has shown turnaround models like the iZone and the ASD are hard to sustain. Board member Amber Huett-Garcia requested data to compare the performance of ASD charters against MSCS’ lowest-performing schools in the iZone.

During a committee meeting, Huett-Garcia said she was unsure how the ASD charters offered something “different than what we do” at MSCS.

The board’s ultimate decisions about the ASD schools are likely to intersect with its upcoming facilities plan. State law says that MSCS regains control of the physical school building once a school exits the ASD, and MSCS has indicated its facilities plan could include decisions about the ASD school buildings. A new Frayser high school, for instance, would mean MLK College Prep closes.

New career and tech applicants part of ‘next wave’ of charters

The five new charter schools seeking approval from MSCS are Memphis Grizzlies Prep STEAM School for Girls, Empower Memphis Career and College Prep, Change Academy, Pathways in Education-Memphis, and Tennessee Career Academy.

Three of the five have a career and technical education focus.

Career and technical education “is kind of this next wave” of charters across the state, Brittany Monda, the district’s assistant superintendent of charter schools, told board members recently. Previous waves have been college prep-focused or STEM-focused, she said.

Tennessee’s new school funding formula uses a per-pupil funding model, with direct funding allocations for career and technical education.

MSCS officials said approving the new charter schools would cost the district’s traditional operations $60 million in revenue.

Monda praised the applicants’ ideas, but said they needed to return with more detail. Board member Sheleah Harris requested more information from the district about what academic needs charter schools could fill districtwide to help the board decide.

Of the remaining two schools, one is a returning applicant that was denied last year. The second is a former alternative high school that closed after its charter contract expired with the ASD.

Laura Testino covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Laura at LTestino@chalkbeat.org.

Newly approved adult charter high school hopes to open in closing IPS building

2023-04-25T23:40:27+00:00

This story has been updated.

A seventh Excel Center adult charter high school has the green light to open in Indianapolis, and it’s hoping to open in a school that Indianapolis Public Schools will close at the end of this school year.

The Indianapolis Charter School Board on Tuesday approved the Excel Center - Twin Aire. The center, operated by the not-for-profit Goodwill Education Initiatives — which was created by Goodwill of Central and Southern Indiana — hopes to open in the building currently occupied by Paul Miller School 114.

IPS will vote on whether to lease the site to the group around May, said Lakia Osborne, a regional director for Goodwill Education Initiatives, at the board meeting. The school plans to open with an initial 100 students in the fall of 2023, growing to 300 by its second year.

IPS said in a statement that it has discussed the possibility of the Excel Center and other organizations using School 114, but said no final decisions have been made and that it would be inappropriate and premature to discuss specifics.

“We are also considering the needs of the district and possible internal uses for any building at which instruction has ceased or will cease at the end of this school year,” the district said.

Last year, another charter school, Victory College Prep, announced its intent to acquire the School 114 building. State law allows charter schools to acquire or lease empty school buildings for $1, but lawmakers are considering sunsetting the statute.

The centers primarily help students ages 18 or older to graduate from high school. The centers are geared toward those who have dropped out of school or are significantly behind their graduating peers.

The group’s goal in opening near Twin Aire is to provide educational opportunities for those who are exiting the criminal justice system, said Anne Davis, vice president of education initiatives at the Goodwill of Central and Southern Indiana. The Twin Aire neighborhood is home to the city’s new Community Justice Campus that houses the court system and the jail.

“We know that there is a need in communities for individuals who are reentering society to make sure that they understand that they have opportunities for a diploma if they need it,” Davis said.

The city’s charter school board authorizes the six existing centers in Indianapolis. Statewide, Goodwill Education Initiatives runs 15 Excel Centers. It also operates the charter Indianapolis Metropolitan High School.

Goodwill Education Initiatives is seeking an increase in the current legislative session for the number of seats that Indiana will fund statewide for its adult Excel Centers, which state statute currently limits to 4,900. The group is asking for an additional 1,650 seats, Davis said. The session ends this week.

If the centers are not given an increase in seats, Davis said, the group would need to reevaluate to make sure it can still open Excel Center - Twin Aire.

The Twin Aire campus will have an educational model similar to current centers, focusing on three main pillars: a structure that meets the needs and goals of the students, a focus on college and career readiness, and coaching, the school said in its application.

The model focuses on instruction with licensed instructors mixed with online credit recovery, emphasizing dual-credit courses and relationships with local employers. One-on-one coaching, flexible scheduling, and child care for students also seek to keep adult learners enrolled in school, according to the application.

This story has been updated to include a statement from Indianapolis Public Schools.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Marion County schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Charter schools emerge as key issue holding up New York’s state budget

2023-04-25T22:14:53+00:00

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s controversial proposal to open more charter schools in New York City is one of the final issues holding up the passage of a state budget, officials said Tuesday.

The budget is nearly a month overdue.

Originally, Hochul wanted to allow more than 100 new charters to open in the five boroughs, by lifting a cap on such schools and releasing “zombie” charters for defunct or never-opened campuses.

After pushback from state lawmakers, Hochul floated a scaled back version, reviving just 22 zombie charter schools for the city, said Sen. John Liu, a Queens Democrat who is the chair of the state senate’s New York City education committee. Half of those zombie charters are located outside of the city, he said.

(Politico reported that the proposal also calls for the state to cover rent for newly released zombie charters.)

Even that proposal has been met with opposition. Hochul told reporters Tuesday that charter schools remain a difficult topic.

“I’m trying hard to overcome the objections, but this is a very challenging issue because of the emotions on both sides of the debate,” she said.

Lawmakers, union officials, and many advocates and families have argued that opening more charters will add to expenses for the city when it should be investing more in traditional public schools, which have lost enrollment. In March, both the Senate and the Assembly officially rejected the proposal.

Charter supporters, who have long pushed for the state to lift the cap in order to expand their footprint, cheered her idea. Hochul has emphasized that she’s attempting to offer more school options to families, including Black and Latino families who are on waitlists for charters.

Overall enrollment in the charter sector has ticked upwards, but it has dropped at many individual schools, including some of the biggest networks. That means opening more such schools could lead to smaller budgets or even closures within the charter sector.

The budget, which was due April 1, has been unresolved for weeks due to disagreements over various hot issues, including bail reform and affordable housing. Charter schools were not a focus of negotiations even three weeks ago, according to both State Senator Shelley Mayer, who chairs the Senate’s general education committee, and Assemblywoman Jo Ann Simon.

In an interview Tuesday, Liu said his committee reviewed Hochul’s new proposal, but it remains “a non-starter.” It would be reasonable “if there were absolutely no charter seats available in New York City,” he said, adding there is “no rationale” for it now.

Reema Amin is a reporter covering New York City public schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.

Hillsdale-linked Valor Classical Academy drops Pike Township plans, eyes new Hamilton County site

2023-04-25T19:59:00+00:00

This story has been updated.

A charter school affiliated with the private Christian Hillsdale College has abandoned plans to open in Pike Township after significant backlash, although it still hopes to open a campus in Hamilton County this fall.

Valor Classical Academy had been exploring a location at 3600 Woodview Trace, after failing to acquire a Carmel Clay Schools building 10 miles away in Hamilton County.

But dozens of residents from Pike and Washington townships opposed the school’s opening at a public hearing earlier this month.

Valor supporters said the school would put academics front and center and attract those who lack faith in traditional public schools. But opponents objected to its ties to conservative education ideology, and argued that the school would focus exclusively on Western culture and cater to white students in an area where most students are students of color.

The school’s curriculum includes Hillsdale’s 1776 history and civics curriculum.

The school’s authorizer, the Grace Schools Charter Authority — which is affiliated with Grace College, a private Christian institution — posted a notice on its website within the past week that Valor is no longer pursuing the Pike Township location.

Valor school board President Holly Wilson said that instead, the school has found a new site it hopes to use in Hamilton County, and added that the school’s plan has always been to stay as close to Hamilton County as possible.

Wilson said that the Hamilton County site is very close to the Orchard Park Elementary building, which Valor previously tried but failed to acquire from Carmel Clay Schools under the state’s $1 law that allows charter schools to buy or lease unused public school buildings for $1.

“We’ve still got some negotiations to do but we’re closing in on it,” she said. “And working day in and day out.”

In its charter application, Valor said it plans to open with 378 students in grades K-6 and grow to full capacity in 2029 with 702 students in grades K-12.

Valor had previously sued Carmel Clay Schools over the use of Orchard Park Elementary. But the district fought against the attempted acquisition, arguing that the building would still be in use. A Hamilton County judge sided with the district in January. The school, however, filed a notice of appeal earlier this month, according to court records.

The demographics and targeted enrollment zone of the Valor school would not change based on the new proposed site, she said. She did not share the exact site location in Hamilton County.

The school will submit another addendum to its character application to account for the new site, Wilson said.

This story has been updated to include Valor Classical Academy’s appeal of a Hamilton County judge’s ruling.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Marion County schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Urban Prep Academies could be turned over to Chicago Public Schools after state denies appeal

2023-04-19T21:44:09+00:00

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization covering public education in communities across America. Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system and statewide education policy.

Urban Prep Academies may soon no longer operate public charter high schools in Chicago after state education officials denied the nonprofit’s appeal of a decision by the Chicago Board of Education.

The Illinois State Board of Education’s ruling could mean the end of Urban Prep’s 17-year run as a nationally-recognized charter school network known for serving Black boys.

But Urban Prep officials said late Wednesday that they filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Cook County “asserting that the Chicago Public Schools has violated state law that there be a moratorium on school closings until 2025.”

However, the district is not planning to close the schools. In October, when the Chicago Board of Education voted to revoke Urban Prep’s charter agreement to operate campuses in Englewood and Bronzeville, district officials – in a nod to the network’s unique mission and model – promised to continue operating the schools under district management.

At the time, the Chicago school board cited the charter network’s mismanaged finances and its response to a sexual misconduct investigation involving Urban Prep’s founder, which were uncovered by a report by Chicago Public Schools’ Inspector General.

That report alleged that the charter network’s founder, Tim King, groomed an underage student who later worked at the nonprofit and continued to receive paychecks and benefits after he stopped working there. King denies the allegations.

Board chair Steven Isoye said after Wednesday’s vote that “critical steps are already in motion” to communicate with current students and families about the transition. He said Chicago Public Schools will operate a new school with two campuses and an advisory group is already working on transition plans. A district spokesperson confirmed that plan and said the campuses would remain at their current locations.

Two state board members — Donna Leak and James Anderson — abstained from voting on Urban Prep’s appeal.

“As an African American woman and the mother of an African American son myself, I know there’s a need for a safe space that provides them with the chance to know your value and not how you are portrayed in the media on so many occasions,” Leak said. “We have to do better for African American young men.”

Over the last several months, parents and school leadership have fought to keep all three campuses open and under the operation of Urban Prep Academies. The school’s website also appears to still be accepting applications for new students.

“We trust that the courts will rule in favor of justice and Urban Prep students and families,” the statement from Urban Prep read.

The state board had also voted in November to revoke a charter it held with Urban Prep for a third campus — which the state took over in 2019 after the charter network appealed a decision by Chicago’s school board to close that campus. That campus is slated to close at the end of this school year.

Dennis Lacewell, Urban Prep’s chief academic officer, told state board members their decision will impact 400 current students and “hundreds of elementary and middle school black boys” who will “lose the Urban Prep option.” He called the Chicago school board’s October decision “erroneous” and accused the district of “moving the goalposts” as the network tried to address concerns about financial mismanagement.

“A decision to close our schools would eliminate this black institution which almost 20 years ago took on a challenge to successfully educate the most neglected demographic of students: Black boys,” Lacewell said prior to the vote. He also said the decision could result in roughly 100 people losing their jobs, 85% of whom are Black.

Isoye said Chicago Public Schools is committed to retaining as many current Urban Prep staff as possible.

As part of the appeals process with the state, a hearing officer issued a full report for each school in February and recommended the appeals be denied. The reports outlined concerns about Urban Prep’s financial management, noting “extensive borrowing practices via credit cards and predatory lenders.”

It also highlighted a finding by Chicago Public Schools Inspector General that the charter network obtained a Paycheck Protection Program loan from the federal government that “made significant misrepresentations regarding the cost of its operations leading to the receipt of a loan larger than what it would have otherwise been qualified to receive.”

Last fall, Chicago school board members acknowledged that Urban Prep’s academic model has been successful for the Black teenage boys it serves. In the past, Urban Prep has received national recognition for graduating Black students at high rates and steering them into college.

The school’s leadership decided to appeal to the Illinois State Board of Education in November to prevent Chicago from taking over the schools.

After the vote, Isoye said the decision to deny Urban Prep’s appeal — effectively ending the once-lauded charter network — was “not an easy one to make.”

“Supporting the success of Urban Prep students through the transition and beyond is a top priority of all of us here,” Isoye said.

Mauricio Peña contributed to this report.

Samantha Smylie is the state education reporter for Chalkbeat Chicago, covering school districts across the state, legislation, special education, and the state board of education. Contact Samantha at ssmylie@chalkbeat.org.

Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.

MSCS seeks $10 million from county to revive stalled Frayser high school project

2023-04-13T21:50:21+00:00

Memphis-Shelby County Schools wants the county to approve $10 million in funding for a new high school in Frayser that would combine Trezevant High School with MLK College Preparatory High School, a charter school in the state turnaround district.

The proposal, presented by the district on Wednesday, is part of a much bigger funding request that’s likely to run into resistance from the Shelby County Commission, given its borrowing constraints and its commitments to other capital spending projects, including hospital renovations and a new MSCS school in Cordova. In recent years, the district received only a fraction of funding it requested, and its planned projects have been scuttled or delayed.

The proposed school combination in Frayser is one of those projects, stuck on the drawing board for years without the necessary funding, even though it has long had support from the Shelby County mayor.

The latest proposal hints at how the Memphis district hopes to revive the project while also dealing with the unraveling of the state-run Achievement School District, which has largely failed in its mission to reform the state’s poorest-performing schools, mostly in Memphis, under the leadership of charter operators.

The future of many of those schools and their buildings — owned by MSCS — remains in limbo as their charter contracts near expiration and they transition out of the Achievement School District. MSCS data shows most of the schools are underenrolled, representing opportunities to improve the way district property is used.

Shelby County commissioners will vote later this spring on the district’s budget and its capital funding request. By then, the MSCS school board will have chosen the district’s next superintendent and finalized a 10-year infrastructure plan that’s expected to include a mix of school closures, consolidations, and new school buildings.

School officials, including interim Superintendent Toni Williams, have told board members that the infrastructure plan will aim to optimize the use of school buildings and address a deferred maintenance bill that has grown to hundreds of millions of dollars.

In addition to the $10 million for the Frayser project, the district is asking the Shelby County Commission to fund $56 million in deferred maintenance projects for next year. The combined $66 million request is about $11 million more than last year’s proposal, and three times what the district actually received when commissioners approved the budget.

County commissioners on Wednesday didn’t indicate whether they would support fully funding the capital request, which would be a sharp break from recent precedent.

Already this year, additional capital funds are headed to MSCS for the new school in Cordova to replace Germantown High School, one of the district’s academic success stories. The school is closing under an agreement to resolve a long-running dispute with Germantown and comply with a new state law.

Funding a new Frayser high school to replace two others would focus investments on students who have languished academically in the Achievement School District, and eliminate millions of dollars in maintenance needs at Trezevant High, which has been slated for closure before.

The price tag on the project has increased to a projected $103 million, which the district hopes to fund in installments from the county over the next four years.

Bobby White, founder and chief executive officer of Frayser Community Schools, which operates MLK College Prep, reiterated his support for the new Frayser school to Chalkbeat. While White has applied for MLK to be an MSCS charter school, he said he would relinquish the charter when the time comes to integrate the two schools in a new building.

“The funding hasn’t been approved yet. They haven’t broken ground yet. But we all want it to happen,” White said Wednesday.

The district still plans to convene a group of county, city, and district leaders to work on a long-term facility plan. Williams, the interim superintendent who is seeking the job on a permanent basis, has said she wants a plan that “lives past me or anybody else.”

Meanwhile, a proposal from the county would create a countywide authority to oversee school construction.

It’s unclear how those two moves would affect the district’s latest funding requests.

Laura Testino covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Laura at LTestino@chalkbeat.org.

Religious charter school rejected in Oklahoma, but a national fight looms

2023-04-12T00:36:59+00:00

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization covering public education in communities across America. Sign up for our free weekly newsletter to keep up with how public education is changing.

A state board in Oklahoma voted down Tuesday an application for the country’s first religious charter school, highlighting the legal uncertainty around using tax dollars to directly pay for religious education.

In rejecting the school’s initial application, board members acknowledged that the larger issue of whether religious charter schools pass legal muster would likely be settled by the U.S. Supreme Court. The court has already ruled that states cannot exclude religious schools from private school choice programs.

If the court eventually rules in favor of religious charter schools, as some legal experts expect, it could have broad implications for the separation of church and state, as well as lead to more charter schools and less money for traditional public schools.

“This is a huge deal,” said Preston Green, an education law professor at the University of Connecticut, “and not just for red states, but for the entire country.”

The unanimous vote, which came after about two hours of discussion by Oklahoma’s five-member Statewide Virtual Charter School Board, delayed a final decision on the application for St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. The school can submit a revised application, which could come before the board again as soon as next month.

Board members raised a number of issues with the application, from how the proposed charter school would serve students with disabilities to its management structure to how it would ensure internet connectivity for students. But the thorniest question was whether it was even legal to approve a charter school with an explicitly religious mission.

“The constitutional issue is a big high hurdle,” said Board Chairperson Robert Franklin.

Another board member, Scott Strawn, said, “Is it settled law? That’s the gray area we’re all living in.”

The Catholic Church in Oklahoma City and Tulsa proposed the online charter school as a way to reach students in rural areas with few local schools. Named for the patron saint of the internet, the St. Isidore school would eventually enroll up to 1,500 students statewide in kindergarten through 12th grade.

Charter schools are publicly funded but operated by private groups rather than local school boards. Some religious groups run charter schools, but the schools are fully secular.

By contrast, the Oklahoma charter school would be explicitly religious. The school application says Catholic schools are “places of evangelization” that serve the mission of the church. The online charter school would display religious symbols such as crucifixes, and students would study religion and attend church services, the application says.

Before the vote Tuesday, the board heard from several commenters opposed to religious charter schools.

Bruce Prescott, a retired Baptist minister, said religious charter schools would “upend the entire educational landscape in Oklahoma.”

“One of the hallmarks of public schools in America is that they are non-discriminatory and secular in their acceptance of all students regardless of their faith or beliefs,” he said.

A proposed religious charter school sparks debate

Critics say the proposed school would violate state laws and the “establishment clause” in the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, which prohibits the government from endorsing any religion. They have also raised concerns that the school could discriminate against students or employees based on their religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

In its application, the church said the school would adopt an anti-discrimination policy, but would also defer to Catholic teachings on issues such as marriage and homosexuality, which the church considers immoral when acted upon. In interviews, Oklahoma church officials have declined to say whether the school would admit openly gay or transgender students.

“St. Isidore plans to, or at the very least reserves the right to, unlawfully discriminate in admissions and employment,” said a letter to the state virtual charter school board from Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a legal advocacy group that opposes the proposed school.

Proponents of the school argue that it is the state’s charter school law, not the proposed school, that violates the First Amendment. They say that stopping religious groups from operating charter schools according to their faith amounts to religious discrimination.

In December, Oklahoma’s former Republican attorney general issued an opinion saying the state’s ban on religious charter schools likely violated the First Amendment. But shortly after, the state’s newly elected Republican attorney general withdrew the opinion, saying it tried to “justify state-funded religion.”

The state’s Republican governor attacked the move by Attorney General Gentner Drummond.

“You contend that the United States and the Oklahoma Constitutions permit, and indeed require, the state to discriminate against religious organizations seeking authorization to operate charter schools,” Gov. Kevin Stitt wrote in a letter to Drummond. “In fact, the opposite is true.”

Several members of the statewide virtual charter school board noted the differing legal opinions in the discussion Tuesday. Franklin, the board chair, said he asked prior to the meeting if board members would have legal protection and “support from the attorney general’s office” if they were sued after the final decision.

“We’re not going to be able to answer that legal question,” he said.

The big legal question: Are charter schools public or private?

Both sides of the debate about whether charter schools can be religious tend to agree that, under the U.S. Constitution, public schools cannot promote religion. Where they disagree is whether charter schools are truly public schools.

In legal terms, the question is whether charter schools are “state actors.” If so, they cannot impose religious beliefs on students.

Derek Black, a law professor at the University of South Carolina, said charter schools are clearly state actors.

“I would say there’s 101 reasons why they are state actors,” he said, “and none why they are not.”

He noted that charter schools and traditional public schools both receive public money, cannot charge tuition or turn students away, and must adhere to state academic standards. Unlike traditional public schools, charter schools don’t answer to elected school boards and they enjoy flexibility from some state regulations. But those qualities don’t make charter schools “private actors,” Black argued.

If Oklahoma were to approve the plan for a religious charter school, the state would essentially be endorsing the school’s religious beliefs, Black said.

“That is the state adopting private religious beliefs as the state’s curriculum,” he said. “That stamp all by itself is state action.”

But proponents of religious charter schools argue they are more private than public.

Nicole Stelle Garnett, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame, said charter schools do not qualify as state actors because their actions cannot be attributed to the government. In fact, she argues, the premise behind charter schools is that they operate independently of the state in a way that traditional public schools cannot.

“That’s kind of the whole point of charter schools,” she said, “to foster pluralism and foster innovation by giving them freedom from government control.”

Whether or not charter schools are state actors is at the heart of a legal case in North Carolina, where a student sued a charter school that requires girls to wear skirts. The school has argued that it is not subject to federal anti-discrimination laws because it is not a state actor.

A lower court ruled against the school, which appealed to the Supreme Court. In January, the court asked the Biden administration to weigh in on the matter, which could signal the court’s interest in the legal question.

Based on recent Supreme Court rulings that said states cannot stop religious schools from receiving public benefits, some legal experts think the court’s conservative majority will declare that charter schools are not state actors — and therefore free to promote religious beliefs. Such a ruling would raise a new set of issues, including whether religious charter schools may discriminate against students or staffers on religious grounds.

“Those are questions that remain unanswered,” Garnett said.

Some of the original proponents of charter schools, however, say any attempt to mix charter schools and religious instruction runs counter to the intent of those schools.

“If a religious school receives public funding, that is not a charter school and should not be called that,” said Ember Reichgott Junge, a former Democratic state senator in Minnesota who wrote the senate version of the country’s first charter school law, which passed in 1991. “It’s something else.”

Patrick Wall is a senior reporter covering national education issues. Contact him at pwall@chalkbeat.org. Cara Fitzpatrick is a story editor at Chalkbeat.

Valor Classical Academy eyes Pike Township after failing to win building in Carmel

2023-04-11T03:35:20+00:00

A charter school affiliated with the private Christian Hillsdale College seeks to open in northwest Indianapolis amid significant backlash after failing to acquire a school building in Carmel.

Valor Classical Academy is now interested in opening in the fall in an office building near I-465 and Michigan Road near the intersection of Pike Township, Washington Township, and Carmel Clay school districts.

Valor is authorized to open in Hamilton County, as originally proposed. State law requires the school’s authorizer, the Grace Schools Charter Authority affiliated with the private Christian Grace College, to hold a public hearing about the new proposed location in Marion County. Valor’s school board president said the site, at 3600 Woodview Trace, is one possibility and that school officials recently toured another location in Hamilton County that may prove a better fit.

Dozens of parents and community members protested at the public hearing on Monday, arguing that the school’s ties to Hillsdale are problematic.

Opponents argued that the school’s curriculum, which includes the Hillsdale 1776 history and civics curriculum, will create an ethnocentric school focused solely on Western culture that will isolate students of color and serve primarily white students.

“It’s clear that Valor’s Hillsdale curriculum will be pushing its own political agenda,” said Metropolitan School District of Pike Township Superintendent Larry Young.

The school’s new proposed location pits a community with strong anti-charter tendencies against a charter school backed by a Christian college that has become central in conservative education ideology.

Supporters of the school said Monday that it would provide quality education for those who do not have faith in traditional schools.

Jackie O’Keefe, a parent who spoke in support of the Valor, objected to opponents who painted the school as a politically conservative force.

“When it comes to education, the word conservative to me lends itself to a focus of academics, math, science, reading, spelling, pencil, and paper,” she said. “Not sitting in front of a screen. Not social justice, not pronouns or sexuality. For our family, a classical education checks all of those boxes.”

Valor seeks to open in Marion County instead of Hamilton County

The Grace Schools Charter Authority authorized the charter of Valor Classical Academy in October. The small private college in Winona Lake, Indiana, authorizes four other charter schools in the state including Seven Oaks Classical School, another Hillsdale-affiliated school.

Valor initially applied to open in the Carmel Clay school district with a plan to buy the district’s now-closed Orchard Park Elementary. State law allows charter schools to purchase unused school buildings for $1.

But Carmel Clay Schools fought against the acquisition, arguing that the building would still be in use. After the state attorney general sided with the school district, Valor sued the district. A Hamilton Superior Court judge in January sided with the school district.

Legislators are considering letting the $1 law lapse in 2025.

Facing a potential dead end in Carmel, Valor filed an addendum to its application to instead pursue a 15-year lease with an option to buy a 70,000-square-foot office building along I-465 and Michigan Road, moving the planned school from Hamilton to Marion County.

In its addendum to the charter application, Valor noted that the planning department has recommended approval of the school’s use.

But the Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development said through a spokesperson that the site’s zoning does not permit a school use and Valor would need approval to operate one there.

The school plans to open with 378 students in grades K-6, growing to full capacity in 2029 to 702 students in grades K-12, according to the charter application.

Valor says the new location would enable it to draw students from 10 school districts across multiple counties, serving roughly the same area that the school would have served in its previously proposed location at Orchard Park. The school anticipates attracting “privately-educated students who align with Valor’s mission,” according to the March addendum.

“Hamilton, Marion, Hendricks, and Boone counties are ripe with students who have fled from district public schools to alternate sources of education and many more seeking alternatives,” the school wrote in its March addendum. It notes that families are transporting their children outside their district and paying up to an average $6,000 to $8,000 tuition for a “non-secular, classical” education.

The school would offer what it calls a classical, liberal arts curriculum including Latin, a math curriculum known as Singapore Math, and an emphasis on civics and classical virtues, according to the school’s charter.

The school touts civics-centered education with a classical education philosophy dating back to ancient Greece that is also “grounded in the foundational tenets of our Western heritage.”

Parents oppose Valor, citing Hillsdale College’s role in school

But parents from Pike and Washington Townships expressed strong opposition at the hearing Monday, arguing that Valor’s book list, referred to as the “great books,” did not reflect the culture of Pike Township — which has an overwhelming majority of students of color.

Valor’s website lists books for every grade level, including those by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Oscar Wilde, and Emily Bronte. Opponents of the school argued that they did not see themselves or their children of color reflected in the collection of literature.

“My children attend schools led by Black leaders who are intentional in ensuring that they see themselves in the literature and material that they study on a daily basis,” said Pike Township parent Alexandra Hall. “The great books promoted by Valor Classical Academy will alienate, isolate, and demean the rich cultures and traditions that are prominent and celebrated in Pike schools.”

Community members also took exception to Valor’s adoption of the Hillsdale 1776 curriculum for American history and civics, arguing that the project was a conservative reactionary curriculum.

“I know we don’t have to send our kids to Valor,” said Gabriel Bosslet, a Pike Township parent. “But we don’t want this anywhere near us, frankly.”

If it manages to open, Valor would eventually join 23 schools nationwide as a Hillsdale College member school that receives guidance and support from Hillsdale.

Backlash against Hillsdale-affiliated schools has spread after a video surfaced last summer of Hillsdale President Larry Arnn commenting that teachers “are trained in the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges in the country.”

Arnn chaired President Donald Trump’s 1776 Commission, which recommended that states and school districts reject curriculum that “promotes one-sided partisan opinions” and “activist propaganda.” The commission was created after The New York Times published The 1619 Project that reframed America’s historical narrative around slavery, a perspective that Trump criticized as “warped” and “distorted.”

A network of Hillsdale-affiliated charter schools known as American Classical Education encountered strong opposition to its proposal to open schools in Tennessee, where Gov. Bill Lee had urged Hillsdale to open more charter schools using its classical school model.

Proponents of Valor in Indianapolis argued that the school will fill a need in Marion County for a public classical education.

“Wherever this building is going to be, our goal is to invite in a radius from five miles in a circle out to 10 miles anyone who would like an excellent classical education,” said David Wright, Valor’s head of school. “This is different. It’s built on the great books. It’s built on discussion and reflection.”

Others argued that the school would be a higher-quality option than the traditional public schools that serve the area.

“I want to know, since when does respect — all these things, the core values that Valor stands for, since when are those exclusively some sort of right-wing Christian foundation?” said parent Joel Harsin. “Those are such things we should all strive for. Manners, respect — all those things.”

Valor school board President Holly Wilson said after the meeting that the list of books on the school’s website is just a sampling of the literature incorporated at the school. Teachers would also have the freedom to bring in whatever texts align with the curriculum, she said.

She said Hillsdale College’s political activities would not affect the school.

The Grace Schools Charter Authority board may vote on whether to approve the amendment to the school’s charter later this month.

Correction: April 11, 2023: A previous version of this story described Grace College as Valor Classical Academy’s authorizer. The authorizer is the Grace Schools Charter Authority affiliated with Grace College.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Marion County schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

New poverty research could bring more clarity to charter school comparisons

2023-04-10T16:00:00+00:00

Thanks to Michigan’s robust school-choice policies, Detroit’s roughly 100,000 public-school students are widely dispersed across a mix of charters, traditional neighborhood schools, and application schools that select their students.

But efforts to understand how school and student performance compares across these categories have been snarled by a surprisingly hard-to-answer question: Which schools have the highest concentration of the poorest students — the ones who are at the greatest disadvantage before they enter the classroom?

A growing line of research aims to tackle that question, taking a closer look at family income data to uncover significant differences among students whose families fit the broad criteria for economic disadvantage. One such study found that the Detroit Public Schools Community District’s neighborhood schools have higher proportions of students in deep poverty, compared with the city’s charter schools and application schools.

The study captured only a subset of Detroit’s schools, over a brief period of time. Still, researchers say the quest for more detailed data on family income has the potential to shape how schools are evaluated, staffed, and even funded, since students who face more disadvantages at home need more resources to get an adequate education.

“The deeper someone is in poverty, the more challenges they face, and that has a huge impact on a child’s ability to participate in their education,” said Jennifer Erb-Downward, a senior research associate at Poverty Solutions, an initiative at the University of Michigan.

Study uses parent surveys to get detailed income data

To identify economically disadvantaged students for its data collection, Michigan infers family incomes based on eligibility for public benefit programs, such as free school lunch or food stamps. Those measures can be imprecise: Students labeled as economically disadvantaged in state data may have family incomes anywhere from zero up to $51,300 per year for four people.

Finer-grained measures of student poverty aren’t usually available in Michigan — or in most other states — because education data systems typically aren’t linked with family tax returns.

Jeremy Singer, a postdoctoral researcher at Michigan State University, sought to fill that gap with a more detailed picture of the challenges Detroit students face at home and the types of schools they attend. His work received an honorable mention for the outstanding education policy dissertation award given by the American Education Research Association, a prominent association of education scholars.

Singer drew on a survey of more than 1,700 families whose students attended a school in the city in January 2022. Parents were asked about their income, education, and employment, and Singer linked their answers to data on their students’ schools.

The paper claims that DPSCD neighborhood schools enrolled the most students in deep poverty — meaning they had less than $15,000 in family income. Overall, the survey found that 49% of students attending DPSCD neighborhood schools were experiencing deep poverty, compared with 31% of charter school students and 23% of students at DPSCD exam schools.

The study does not identify poverty rates at specific schools, or examine how those schools perform academically. It was complicated by the pandemic, whose economic effects may have influenced the family incomes reported in the survey.

The study was also limited by low participation by charter schools — just 40% agreed to join the survey.

Even so, by looking at school enrollment data with added dimensions to measure poverty, “the study makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of who is choosing schools,” Joanne Golann, a professor of Public Policy and Education at Vanderbilt University, said in an email.

“If charters are attracting low-income families that are more stable, more educated, and more involved, this has implications for how we understand their success and their impact on neighborhood schools,” Golann said.

Why do some schools enroll more high-poverty students?

There are nearly 190 schools in Detroit, almost half of them charters. Of the district’s more than 100 schools, roughly two dozen require an application or an admissions exam.

How students come to be distributed among these types of schools is a point of focus in the debate over the merits of charter schools, and school choice policies broadly.

Charter school critics in Detroit have sometimes accused the sector of “cream skimming,” or boosting their average test scores by recruiting higher-income students, who face fewer barriers to success at school.

But Singer said that’s likely not the main reason that deep poverty is concentrated in neighborhood schools.

In follow-up interviews with survey respondents, he found that limited transportation and economically segregated social networks helped explain the differences.

Parents with the lowest incomes were less likely to own a car and more likely to prioritize the nearest school in order to minimize their children’s commute. DPSCD application schools don’t offer school buses, and many charter schools don’t either.

“If families were interested in choosing a school farther away, they needed to have the resources to do so,” Singer said. “Otherwise they may not even have considered it.”

Those patterns were reinforced by families’ social networks. Parents with higher incomes were more likely to say that their family and friends recommended charter schools or application schools.

Poverty differences complicate school comparisons

Singer said his findings about where deep poverty is concentrated argue for reexamining the claim that charter schools in the city produce better test scores.

Factoring test scores alone, Detroit charters slightly outperform district schools on Michigan’s standardized exam. Still, students in Detroit generally score much lower than their peers statewide. Statewide proficiency rates in English and math were 41% for third graders in Michigan last year.

In Detroit charters, about 12% of third graders were proficient in English last year, while 10% were proficient in math.

In DPSCD, the third grade math proficiency rate was 10%, and English proficiency was 9%.

But such comparisons may need to be reconsidered if that broad measure conceals the district’s larger very-high-need population.

“There are news stories going back decades (arguing that) charter schools are better” using test score comparisons, Singer said. “But we don’t have the data to make that claim. We have not adequately accounted for meaningful differences in student populations.”

To account for those economic differences, researchers and policymakers have looked at charter school enrollment lotteries, where applicants are selected at random. That way, researchers could be confident that factors like family education levels or income aren’t at the root of any differences in test scores.

But enrollment lotteries are rare in Detroit, where schools of all types generally struggle to enroll enough students. One lottery study of National Heritage Academies, a for-profit charter network, looked at schools in Detroit and across Michigan and found that students who benefited most from attending NHA schools had higher family incomes and lived outside cities.

Attention to deep poverty could benefit Detroit schools

Educators in Michigan agree that it takes extra dollars to provide an adequate education to students facing economic disadvantages.

The state already provides some additional funding for these students, but in 2018, a team of nonpartisan experts recommended that the state sharply increase its funding for students considered economically disadvantaged — and provide even more money for students facing “high need poverty.”

Detroit schools, including charters, would likely be among the largest beneficiaries in the state of such a policy. Singer’s research suggests that DPSCD would receive the biggest boost of all.

Charter leaders, presented with study findings, argued that Detroit students are generally more similar than different.

“Every school in Detroit has a vast majority of students who live in economically disadvantaged conditions,” said Dan Quisenberry, president of the Michigan Association of Public School Academies.

Research could have other applications

Education researchers say more study of differences between economically disadvantaged students is needed — and not just to clarify debates about school choice.

For instance, efforts to measure teacher effectiveness often factor in broad measures of students’ economic advantage, such as their eligibility for free lunch. “This may ignore important differences among students who are all eligible” for free lunch, said Philip Gleason, an education researcher and senior fellow at the research firm Mathematica.

Within districts, the data could be used to distribute resources to schools with more severe poverty. Nikolai Vitti, DPSCD superintendent, said Singer’s research “reaffirms why we are shifting more of our limited resources to neighborhood high schools and larger neighborhood K-8” schools.

But getting the kind of detailed data on incomes that Singer cites will likely be difficult, as long as it requires using painstaking surveys.

Singer says Michigan policymakers could accelerate the process by linking tax data with education records. Doing so would require political support and could raise privacy concerns.

But it has been done: In 2021, New Mexico passed a law allowing officials to link education and tax data.

The new information will be used to increase funding to schools with higher rates of extreme poverty.

Koby Levin is a reporter for Chalkbeat Detroit covering K-12 schools and early childhood education. Contact Koby at klevin@chalkbeat.org.

Push to change Indiana property taxes to benefit charter schools triggers alarm in IPS

2023-04-06T11:00:00+00:00

Indiana’s 2023 legislative session is under way, and state legislators have introduced more than 100 new education bills and bills impacting schools and students. For the latest Indiana education news, sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free newsletter here.

Republican lawmakers are advancing major changes to the state’s school funding system to benefit charter schools and districts with relatively low property tax values.

The proposed Republican House budget, along with a newly amended GOP Senate bill, would rework Indiana’s property tax system to pump more funding into charters and level what lawmakers say is an unfair playing field for charters and traditional public schools. Lawmakers also might create a dedicated funding stream for charters’ capital expenses that would replace the so-called “$1 law.”

But the proposals have been sharply criticized by Democrats and traditional public school leaders, who argued that the changes would come at the expense of thousands of students in traditional public schools.

The bills channel issues at the heart of a recent dispute over tax revenue in Indianapolis Public Schools. The district withdrew its plan to ask voters for new property taxes on the May ballot, amid criticism from charter school supporters that the draft ballot measure did not provide charters enough money. If the proposals become law, they could change the long-term balance of fiscal power within the state’s public education system.

Together, House Bill 1001 and Senate Bill 391 would do the following to boost funding for charters and school districts with low property values:

Provide $1,400 per charter school student from the state in fiscal year 2024 and $1,500 in fiscal year 2025, replacing a state program that provides $1,250 per student to compensate for a lack of property tax revenue.
Provide $20 million in next year’s budget for charter schools’ capital needs.
Require school districts in Marion, Lake, St. Joseph, and Vanderburgh counties to share with charter schools any revenues from ballot measures passed to support operating or school safety expenses after June 30, 2023. Virtual charters and adult high school charter schools would not receive such funding. A fiscal analysis says the revenue would be shared “proportionally.”
Provide state funding for school districts that are unable to raise at least $1,400 per pupil from its operating fund in 2024 and $1,500 in 2025. The funding would supplement existing property taxes to get to those baselines each year.

In addition, the budget bill would require traditional school districts to reduce their maximum tax rate for operation expenses to 40 cents per $100 of net assessed value by 2031.

Unlike Indiana’s traditional public schools, charters generally do not receive property tax revenues. The one exception is for those considered part of Indianapolis Public Schools, which has opted to share some property tax revenue with its affiliated charters.

Nevertheless, Indianapolis charter school leaders have repeatedly said that the gap between funding for traditional school students and charter students is over $7,000 per student.

“What the House is trying to do is trying to look at charters in parity with the other public schools,” Rep. Bob Behning, the Republican leader of the House education committee, told Chalkbeat. “How do we get them closer to parity with the traditional public schools in terms of funding?”

The proposals would mean significant changes for IPS, where there are over 25 charter schools in the district’s Innovation network and just over 30 other independent charters within district boundaries.

Indianapolis Public Schools would lose $30 million over the next three years under the proposals, IPS Superintendent Aleesia Johnson told lawmakers last week at a hearing on Senate Bill 391. That loss would increase to $220 million by 2031, equivalent to about 500 teaching positions, she said.

Johnson testified that it would harm taxpayers “whose schools will see less dollars as a result of the passed House budget, and who ultimately will be asked to take on an even greater tax obligation on behalf of even more schools because of the system that this state has created.”

Most Marion County districts, including IPS, have an operating tax rate of more than 40 cents that officials would need to cut by 2031.

Charter proponents support sharing

Janet McNeal, president of the Herron Classical Schools charter network, said Senate Bill 391 would alleviate costs that its schools currently face.

When Herron High School moved into the Herron School of Art building, the network had to cut expenses “in every way we could” to prepare the building’s interior, McNeal told the House education committee last week. Nearly two decades later, the school is facing millions of dollars worth of badly needed upgrades to its roof and HVAC system.

“We can’t afford it — we just can’t,” she said. “Thus, we are forced to continue patching the roof, which leaks into our classrooms during heavy rains, and continue to make repairs on our HVAC system — and the repairs are, individually, costly.”

But Democrats in the statehouse say charter backers want more money without the responsibility that should come with it.

“We have groups that don’t want the authority of the school board,” Rep. Ed DeLaney told Chalkbeat. “They don’t want to be tied to the district where the property is located, but they want the money.”

Operating tax rate capped

The Republican budget also caps the rate at which school districts may tax property for operating expenses.

That means four Marion County school districts would collect less than they are currently projected for 2024, according to projections from the Indiana Legislative Services Agency.

Indianapolis Public Schools, for example, would receive $2.5 million less in property tax revenues in 2024, and by 2026, it would receive $16.5 million less.

At the same time, the proposed budget gradually reduces the amount of property tax revenue that is restricted under the state’s property tax cap. This would allow districts to collect more in property taxes each year.

Lawmakers ‘give up’ on $1 law

The Senate bill would also eliminate the state’s $1 law by July 2025.

The law requires school districts to offer “vacant or unused” school buildings to charter schools or state educational institutions for the sale or annual lease price of $1. Enacted in 2005, it was meant to provide charter schools easier access to buildings without the support of property tax revenue.

But the law’s vague wording has led to legal battles between charter schools that want those buildings and traditional school districts that argue they are still in use.

The state attorney general’s office, which is responsible for investigating claims that school districts are not following the $1 law, has ruled against traditional school districts in just one of the nine individual complaints publicly documented so far.

Behning said he does not think the law has worked as anticipated.

“I’m saying I give up,” he said at the House education committee meeting last week. “You are seeing a white flag.”

Instead, the budget bill includes a $20 million fund that would support capital needs for charter schools.

The proposed House budget is making its way through the Senate. Senate Bill 391 is now in the House Ways and Means Committee.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Marion County schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Using charters to fix ailing IPS schools yields instability and inconsistent academic results

2023-04-03T14:51:14+00:00

Early in the 2022-23 school year, Morrise Harbour walked the hallways of a school that he had completely rebranded.

The “Liberty Grove” sign outside the Elder Diggs School 42 building and the new interior paint job marked the latest effort to turn around the K-6 school with roughly 230 students.

But Harbour isn’t the first charter leader who has tried to change School 42’s trajectory. The other one’s tenure didn’t go so well.

In 2017, Ignite Achievement Academy took over School 42 as part of the Indianapolis Public Schools so-called “restart” initiative to improve its academic performance. But five years later, just 4% of students were proficient in English and 4% were proficient in math on Indiana’s ILEARN tests.

Indianapolis Public Schools ended its agreement with Ignite at the end of 2021-22, following a decline in student performance and enrollment. Harbour’s group took over the school last August.

“It’s surprising, to a certain extent, that there are so many students that are just not meeting the expectation,” Harbour said. “And then I also think about, ‘Well, where as the adults did we let the families and students down?’”

Liberty Grove Schools became the new charter operator to take over Elder Diggs School 42 in August 2022 after another charter operator, Ignite Achievement Academy, failed to turn the school around.

Since 2015, IPS has brought on 10 charter operators to turn around nine of its chronically low-performing schools, categorizing them as restart schools within its Innovation Network of schools that are part of the district but have greater autonomy than traditional schools. But their test scores, even when COVID’s disruptions are accounted for, have for the most part improved only slightly or not at all. Two restart operators have been replaced. One restart school has closed. And no school has actually exited restart status.

As local charter schools increase in number and size, the district’s restart model is one way to examine whether the autonomy provided charter schools truly does turn around poorly performing schools. And the 2023 state assessments — which are ramping up in March and April — will provide another stress test for these restart schools.

Before the pandemic hit, passage rates on the state’s third grade IREAD test for the four restart schools that had operated for more than one year increased in some years and decreased in others. The share of students reaching proficiency in both English and math on state exams increased at most restart schools from 2021 to 2022, although the same is true in general for schools statewide as test scores rebounded from pandemic-driven declines.

The state’s switch to a new ILEARN test in 2019, along with the pandemic, affected schools too much to allow for straightforward answers about whether restart schools are working, said Joshua Glazer, associate professor of education policy at George Washington University. Yet he said some things about the effort, like the “vast majority” of students who aren’t proficient on state tests, are clear.

“I don’t think it would be responsible to say, ‘Oh look, these guys have failed,’” said Glazer, who has studied Tennessee’s initiative to pair low-performing schools with charter operators. “But I think what is right to do and what is fair is to ask them [is]: What are you doing to respond to these numbers?”

IPS has no uniform set of goals to decide whether to renew Innovation Network agreements for its restart schools. Instead, the district relies on factors like enrollment and staff turnover when making recommendations about their status to the school board. Innovation agreements for these schools generally include a section on accountability metrics — yet those also vary from school to school.

Reaching a sweeping conclusion about the success of restart schools is complicated, IPS officials say. They argue that each turnaround effort brings its own challenges that might not neatly fit one narrative or set of objectives.

And the Mind Trust, a nonprofit which has helped incubate restart charter operators, argued that restart schools are collectively still outperforming the district’s internal turnaround effort for its lowest-performing schools known as Emerging Schools.

At Liberty Grove, Harbour is trying to change the experience dramatically for students.

“What we want is for the students to know what good teaching and learning feels like, looks like,” he said. “And when they’re going on to high school — or middle school in this case — they’re informed about those things.”

Measuring success varies between schools

IPS has been using the Innovation model as a turnaround strategy since 2015, when it reached a restart agreement with Phalen Leadership Academy to run Francis Scott Key School 103.

‘Restart’ charter schools in IPS

Below is a list of the district’s restart charter schools and the year each operator took over.

Phalen Leadership at Francis Scott Key School 103 (2015-16)
Global Prep Academy at Riverside School 44 (2016-17)
Kindezi Academy at Joyce Kilmer 69 (2016-17 to 2021-22): Not renewed.
Ignite Achievement Academy at Elder Diggs School 42 (2017-18 to 2021-22): Not renewed.
Matchbook Learning at Wendell Phillips School 63 (2018-19)
Urban ACT Academy at Washington Irving School 14 (2018-19 to 2022-23): Not renewed. A non-charter operator will take over School 14 in 2023-24. It’s unclear if the school will be classified as a restart school.
Adelante Schools at Emma Donnan Elementary and Middle School (2020-21): Replaced Charter Schools USA (CSUSA) as operator. From 2015-16 to 2019-20, CSUSA ran Emma Donnan Elementary, which was created to complement the Emma Donnan Middle School that had been taken over by the state and was also run by CSUSA. Emma Donnan was not technically classified as a restart school but constituted a unique turnaround effort. The Innovation agreement for the elementary school was not renewed due to poor staff retention, declining enrollment, and a lack of instructional rigor.
Phalen Leadership Academy at Louis B. Russell School 48 (2020-21)
Path School at Stephen Foster School 67 (2020-21)
Liberty Grove at Elder Diggs School 42 (2022-23): Replaced Ignite as the operator.

Each decision to start or renew an agreement with a restart charter school looks different.

When the school board approved the Innovation agreement with Phalen Leadership Academy to run Louis B. Russell School 48, IPS did not yet have performance goals for the school finalized. Its agreement with Global Prep, however, referenced performance goals set forth in the school’s charter.

When staff recommended the renewal of Kindezi Academy, which became a restart school in 2016-17, they highlighted below-average attendance and staff retention, but also a “strong building culture.” After Kindezi backed out of the district’s one-year renewal option, the district closed the school.

When the district chose not to renew its agreement with Urban Act Academy in 2022, which ran Washington Irving School 14, the percentage of students proficient in both math and English on the ILEARN had risen to above pre-pandemic levels. Even so, just 1.6% of students were proficient in 2022.

Each school has unique factors that officials must consider, said Brian Dickey, the district’s director of Innovation schools.

“All these pieces come together to inform a recommendation that is not just one resolute data point,” he said.

To some, the disparate fates of these schools demonstrate that the restart charter process hasn’t worked as well as it could.

The renewal process has been inconsistently applied from school to school, said Brandon Brown, the CEO of the Mind Trust.

“There needs to be a comprehensive process that is well articulated and consistently used,” he said. “Because if not, there is less trust in the consistency of the renewal decisions if they’re not using a common process each time.”

A bill in the legislature may make the renewal process more uniform. House Bill 1591 would require Innovation agreements to include the process by which the board would follow when determining whether to renew an agreement.

For some restart schools, though, success amounts to more than just numbers.

At Phalen 103, the district’s oldest restart school, Principal Matt Rimer oversaw a culture shift, a change that district staff highlighted when they recommended renewing the agreement with Phalen in 2019.

Yet the percentage of students reaching proficiency in both English and math stood at just 2.1% in 2019, four years after Phalen became a restart school. And Phalen’s IREAD test scores over the years have been up and down.

Still, among the restart schools, Phalen 103 had among the highest growth rates in IREAD pass rates and combined reading and math ILEARN scores from 2021 to 2022.

This year, the school has a new motto: “Never be satisfied.”

“Obviously our goal is to be the same academically as our counterparts in every part of the state,” Rimer said.

Parents attend an open house at Phalen Leadership Academy at Francis Scott Key School 103 before school starts in August 2022.

Navigating the changes new school operators can bring

When Mariama Shaheed talks to Global Prep Academy students, she switches easily between English and Spanish.

The dual-language school joined the Innovation Network in 2016-17, and its test scores have improved recently.

IREAD pass rates are the highest they’ve been in four years at 63%. And the percentage of students scoring proficient in both English and math has inched above pre-pandemic levels, rising from roughly 5.6% to 7.3%.

But that progress hasn’t been easy.

Global Prep took over Riverside School 44, a pillar in the primarily Black community of Riverside that generations of residents had attended.

“When you talk about Spanish immersion, there’s all these fears associated with: What does that mean for the history and culture of Riverside 44?” Shaheed said. “And so a lot of listening was a part of that process.”

Amid the mistrust, Shaheed had to turn around a school that frequently had been rated F on the state’s A-F accountability system.

“It was the hardest work I’ve ever done as an educator,” she said. “You’re changing culture, you’re changing mindsets. The only thing that was stable was the student body — We were all new. They were not.”

Elementary school students walk in the halls of Global Prep Academy in December 2022. Global Prep was tasked by Indianapolis Public Schools with turning around Riverside School 44.

Shaheed attributes the school’s success to a mission-driven approach and a focus on recruiting the right people.

“It was the first time I felt like I had the real freedom to recruit for mission,” she said.

Since Global Prep’s launch, the demographics at School 44 have shifted from a majority of Black students to about 62% Latino and 35% Black, she said. Shaheed hopes to still attract more Black families to the dual-language school through community outreach, letting families in the area know that this school is still open to them despite a change in programming.

Seven miles away, on the district’s south side, Adelante Schools took over Emma Donnan as a K-8 restart school in 2020-21, during the middle of the pandemic.

But Eddie Rangel, Adelante’s executive director, also had to rebuild community trust in the school following problems with the previous operator. Eighth graders, for instance, did not have any foundation in basic math operations, such as multiplication or division, he said.

Two and a half years later, Rangel feels Adelante has established the trust it was seeking.

Ja’Quan Keys, center, reviews science work with eighth grade English language learner students at the Emma Donnan K-8 school on Feb. 15, 2023.

Academic results on IREAD and ILEARN have also improved. Rangel attributes the growth to teacher and professional development, not just a good curriculum.

“It started with the foundations of selecting high-quality instructional materials, but then it also went to developing teachers and then progress monitoring,” he said.

Getting parents and teachers to believe

The data on restart charter schools, though somewhat limited, can provide different conclusions for charter allies and critics.

Restart schools are still outperforming Emerging Schools on state tests, the Mind Trust said: Roughly 3% of students in all Emerging Schools reached proficiency in both English and math last year, compared to about 5% of students in restart schools, according to the group’s analysis.

Dickey of IPS said he hopes that there will be more clarity going forward as the pandemic’s effects recede.

”We are now hopefully in a state where we are now moving out of that and need to be able to ascertain where our schools are trending in that regard,” he said.

At Liberty Grove, Harbour wants longer class times and uses what he calls a “highly vetted curriculum” that he has adopted in the past. He’s also focused on hiring well and monitoring progress throughout the year.

Like other restart schools, Liberty Grove is starting from a place of struggle. But some parents and staff are sticking with Harbour because they’re impressed with his experience.

Makeba Averitte, an art teacher, worked at Ignite for five years but chose to stay on through the transition to Liberty Grove.

“Definitely the relationships with the kids and family is very important,” said Averitte, whose fifth grade daughter attends the school. “They see someone who is there for them.”

Harbour has a clear plan to create a successful school at Liberty Grove. Whether the restart charter model is the surefire panacea for underperforming schools, though, is not so clear to him.

“Is the solution to bring in a whole bunch of new charters to change?” Harbour said. “I think that’s still to be determined.”

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Marion County schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Hanley School in Tennessee’s turnaround district will return to MSCS control

2023-04-01T00:07:19+00:00

For the first time, a charter school in Tennessee’s turnaround district will exit the state program and return to the Memphis district’s management, Memphis-Shelby County Schools announced this week.

Hanley School, a K-8 school in Orange Mound, was taken over by the state and placed in the Achievement School District a decade ago to be run by a charter operator. This fall, it will be part of the Memphis district’s turnaround model, known as the iZone.

The move marks a setback for the school’s charter operator, and another twist in the chaotic unwinding of the Achievement School District, which has been rocked by leadership turnover and turmoil.

The state district began operating in 2012 and was designed to elevate some of Tennessee’s lowest performing schools by turning them over to charter operators under 10-year management contracts. The schools were to exit the ASD once their performance improved and return to their home districts — either Memphis, home to all but two of the schools, or Nashville.

But state leaders have acknowledged for years that the turnaround effort had failed in its mission. And as some of the 10-year management contracts near expiration, they have scrambled in recent years to figure out how to move schools out of the faltering ASD and get them on a path to improvement.

The current state policy describes several pathways for an ASD school to leave the district, including some options to stay open as a charter. The policy stresses “school specific” plans to account for each school’s “unique” situations.

In the case of Hanley, the policy resulted in the current operator, Journey Community Schools, not being able to keep the school under its network, and the transition to MSCS began over the last few months.

As other ASD schools creep up on their final years, Memphis could see a wave of school closures if MSCS doesn’t bring those schools back into the district.

Charter operator decries the decision on Hanley

Nickalous Manning, executive director of Journey Community Schools, denounced the way Hanley’s transition is being handled.

“The children and families in Orange Mound and at Hanley deserve a voice and a say in their children’s education,” Manning told Chalkbeat Wednesday, echoing a common complaint in Memphis that state leaders make decisions and policies affecting local families — like creating the ASD — without their input.

Manning accused state officials of not communicating an impending deadline for Hanley to apply to remain open as a charter school, and faulted them for not holding more public meetings with families. The exit process was unclear, Journey wrote in a letter to the state asking for a waiver of laws that prevent Journey from continuing to operate the school.

The state’s education commissioner, Penny Schwinn, cited state law and rules in denying the waiver. MSCS shared copies of the letters between Manning and the state with Chalkbeat to explain why the district won’t consider Journey’s charter application for Hanley.

The Tennessee Department of Education, where the ASD is housed, told Chalkbeat that all ASD charter operators received information about transition plans in 2020. ASD leaders meet monthly with the charter operators to review school status, department spokesperson Victoria Robinson said.

Robinson supplied a list of meetings scheduled over the last academic year with Hanley officials about the transition. Parents received a letter about the plans in January, Robinson said, and were invited to a meeting earlier this week.

Manning, who grew up in Orange Mound, said Journey plans to keep trying to hang on to Hanley.

Hanley will be the first charter school in the ASD to return to MSCS as a traditional public school. Four other ASD schools in Memphis were never operated as charter schools, and transitioned to MSCS operations this school year, also as part of the district’s iZone program.

Others have followed different pathways as dictated by the state policy, which takes into account the school’s test scores, the local district’s test scores, and how many years are left in the charter contract.

In most of the exits, schools where students showed high growth on state tests have swapped from the ASD to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission’s oversight.

That option wasn’t available for Hanley. Available school testing data shows Hanley’s students haven’t noticeably improved during the state takeover, much like other schools in the ASD.

Hanley’s reading scores, for instance, are nearly on par with the ASD average this year, and lower than a nearby MSCS elementary school, Dunbar. Neither school had more than 12% of students meeting reading benchmarks.

Only one Memphis ASD school has applied to join MSCS as a charter. The board approved it against the recommendation of the district. In April, MSCS board members will have a slate of five ASD schools to consider reabsorbing as charter schools, including Coleman School, another Journey school in its ninth operating year.

Laura Testino covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Laura at LTestino@chalkbeat.org.

Like the candidates themselves, donors in Chicago’s mayoral race have deep education ties

2023-03-31T23:36:51+00:00

Like the candidates themselves, the people and organizations giving big money in Chicago’s mayoral election have strong ties to public education — and the debates around it for the past two decades.

Former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas’ campaign has been propelled by wealthy business executives, while county commissioner and union organizer Brandon Johnson has been fueled by labor unions.

The Chicago Teachers Union is Johnson’s biggest donor, while Vallas has received six-figure donations from wealthy individuals with ties to school choice and education reform, including some who have charter schools named after them. Vallas, a torch bearer for school choice and charter schools, has supported voucher expansion. Meanwhile, Johnson’s progressive platform aligns closely with the teachers union’s vision for the district.

While a full accounting of campaign donations and spending won’t be available until after the election, a Chalkbeat Chicago analysis of Illinois State Board of Elections records shows Vallas has received at least $15 million since October and Johnson has collected more than $10 million since October 1, 2022.

Johnson’s campaign fueled by labor unions and educators

Johnson received the backing of the Chicago Teachers Union, his largest donor, before officially launching his campaign last fall. Since then, the union’s Political Action Committee has donated almost $2.2 million to his campaign, according to state board of elections records.

The union has poured millions into aldermanic and mayoral campaigns in recent years as a way to influence broader policies that affect public schools. Some rank-and-file CTU members have filed a complaint against union leadership, alleging members’ dues were being funneled to the union’s political action committee, according to WTTW’s Paris Schutz.

A handful of other labor unions are among Johnson’s other top donors. The parent unions of the CTU — Illinois Federation of Teachers and American Federation of Teachers — each gave $940,000 and $2.1 million respectively. The country’s other largest teachers union, the National Education Association, donated $50,000, and its Illinois counterpart gave $75,000. Several political committees connected to the unions that represent special education aides, classroom assistants, school bus aides, child care workers, and nurses, have collectively donated more than $2 million, according to a Chalkbeat analysis.

United Working Families, a progressive group and CTU ally, has also donated almost $47,000 in in-kind contributions, usually in the form of staff help, to Johnson’s campaign and the national Working Families Party donated $70,000.

Aside from labor unions, Johnson’s campaign coffers have mostly been filled by smaller individual donations — many from teachers and educators. For example, he received $20,000 — one of his largest individual gifts — from Elizabeth Simons, a former bilingual education teacher, who now chairs the board of the Heising-Simons Foundation. The foundation provides grants to organizations aimed at strengthening early childhood education for low-income families.

Attorneys who have represented the Chicago Teachers Union at the bargaining table donated to Johnson. Robin Potter, mother of union Vice President Jackson Potter, gave $6,000 and Robert Bloch’s law firm donated $5,000.

Others who have advocated for more funding for public schools gave to Johnson, as well. Cassie Creswell of Illinois Families for Public Schools gave $5,000, and National Education Association President Rebecca Pringle donated $2,000. Kenneth Williams-Bennett, father of CPS graduate Chance the Rapper, also donated $8,000 to Johnson. Williams-Bennett was previously an aide to late Chicago Mayor Harold Washington, then-U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, and former Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Chance donated $2.2 million to Chicago Public Schools in 2017, as the school district was fighting for more state funding.

Vallas backed by wealthy donors with ties to education reform

Vallas’ campaign war chest is bigger than Johnson’s and has been throughout the campaign. The former district CEO has seen an infusion of cash from corporate business executives, many of whom have ties to charter schools and other education organizations.

One of his largest individual donors is Paul J. Finnegan, co-founder and co-CEO of Madison Dearborn Partners, a private investment equity firm in Chicago. Finnegan has donated $400,000 since October. He is a past chairman and current local advisory board member of Teach for America. Finnegan also sits on the board of CDW Corporation, a technology and services provider for businesses, governments, and school districts, including Chicago Public Schools, which has ramped up purchasing in recent years using COVID-19 recovery dollars.

According to tax filings from 2019, the Finnegan Family Foundation supports dozens of education nonprofits, including Teach for America and the Academy for Urban School Leadership, and charter schools networks, including Noble, LEARN, KIPP, and Intrinsic.

Golf resort owner Michael Keiser, who also sits on the local advisory board of Teach for America, and his wife, Rosalind, have donated $400,000 to Vallas’ campaign since October. He also made a $500,000 donation last summer, shortly after Vallas announced his bid. Finnegan and Keiser are also supporters of the University of Chicago’s Urban Education Institute.

Other six-figure donations include Craig Duchossois, executive chairman of the Duchossois Group, has donated $760,000. The Duchossois Family Foundation has given grants to After School Matters, according to the foundation’s website.

Citadel executive Gerald Beeson has donated $300,000 since October. Beeson and his wife have an ongoing scholarship for students at Big Shoulders Fund, which provides support to Catholic elementary and high schools in low-income communities.

Two of Vallas’ top donors helped open charter schools in Chicago that now bear their names. Donald Wilson, CEO of DRW Holdings, supported the opening of the Noble Network of Charter Schools 12th campus — DRW College Prep —on the West Side in 2012. He has donated a combined $350,000 to Vallas’ campaign since January.

Joseph Mansueto, a billionaire entrepreneur and owner of the Chicago Fire soccer team, donated $250,000 to Vallas’ campaign. In 2017, he donated $18 million that largely funded the construction of Noble’s 17th campus in Brighton Park, now named Mansueto High School.

Deborah Quazzo, a controversial ex-Chicago school board member, and her husband donated $7,500 and $10,000, respectively, to Vallas’ campaign, as first reported by WBEZ. Quazzo left her seat after the Sun-Times reported on her business dealings with the district. The district Office of Inspector General said Quazzo violated Chicago Public Schools’ ethics code, according to the Sun-Times.

Even though they have not given direct donations to Vallas’ campaign, two political action committees focused on school choice and education reform are backing his candidacy by running ads for his platform and against Johnson.

On March 23, the American Federation for Children, a group founded by former U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, donated $65,000 to the Illinois Federation for Children PAC. On the same day, the group gave $59,385 to a political strategic media firm Go Big Media, for digital media supporting Vallas, records show.

INCS Action Independent Committee, which supports candidates who are supportive of charter schools, spent $258,000 on television ads and $359,000 on digital media opposing Johnson, as first reported by WTTW.

INCS Action has received most of its funding since October from James S. Frank, who gave the committee a collective $1.5 million. Frank is on the boards of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools and Chicago Public Education Fund, in addition to Teach for America’s local advisory board. He has donated $225,000 directly to Vallas since January.

Campaigns have until April 17 to file a full accounting of their fundraising and spending activities through March 31.

Mauricio Peña is a reporter for Chalkbeat Chicago, covering K-12 schools. Contact Mauricio at mpena@chalkbeat.org.

Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.

Student protests, teacher concerns follow proposed restructure at Brooklyn charter school network

2023-03-31T20:22:46+00:00

A Brooklyn charter school network’s plans to eliminate its team handling student behavioral and mental health challenges has riled its community, prompting a walkout by high schoolers earlier this week and a flurry of emails from the administration trying to dampen concerns.

By midweek, network administrators at Brooklyn Prospect Charter School began visiting its schools and reassuring employees that a majority of the impacted staff would be offered a transfer into new roles within the network.

For some students and teachers, the uncertainty introduced by the restructure comes at a difficult time, as students grapple with heightened behavioral challenges and mental health crises tied to the effects of the pandemic. But at the core of their concern also lies a fear that the network might drift away from its founding tenets: racial, cultural, and socioeconomic diversity and equity. Teachers and students noted that most of the positions slated for elimination are held by people of color.

The network, meanwhile, contends that the changes come for just the opposite reason — to make their staffing model more equitable.

The administration charged that “an artificial divide between culture and instruction” had resulted in “predominantly Black and Brown staff members in roles without a clear pathway of growth and career progression,” according to an email to staff obtained by Chalkbeat. These staffers have borne the brunt of disciplining students rather than teachers, who are overwhelmingly white, the network said.

Tresha Ward, CEO of the charter network, said that the structural shift will improve hiring practices, creating a stronger pipeline and retention of teachers of color.

“Historically, these responsibilities have been divided in our organization, with student management falling disproportionately on Black and Brown culture staff and instruction falling to a majority white teaching staff,” Ward said in a statement. “In practice, this change opens new opportunities that were not previously available to many of our colleagues and creates transfer opportunities for the majority of staff who are impacted by these changes.”

While a “small number” of staffers will be let go due to funding issues related to enrollment drops, others are expected to transition into new roles, Brooklyn Prospect officials said. A spokesperson for the network said it expected to have roughly 27 fewer positions in the coming school year, but a majority would be phased out through natural attrition.

It’s not an issue that’s unique to Brooklyn Prospect — schools across the city and the country have experienced enrollment declines in recent years, and the impending expiration of some COVID relief funds poses the threat of a widespread fiscal cliff. Public schools throughout the city will continue to face difficult decisions about staffing and spending, with at least one charter school forced to shutter its doors. Still, Brooklyn Prospect’s equity mission and initial communication stumbles have spurred a particularly passionate response.

News that some staff positions will be eliminated fueled critiques over the network’s spending, with teachers and students questioning the opening of a new middle school in Sunset Park as well as building construction and renovation elsewhere.

The friction isn’t necessarily bad, but the next steps are critical, said Halley Potter, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation who has studied educational policy and school equity, particularly examining the role charter schools can play in school integration.

“The hallmark of a good diverse-by-design school, or any school that is serving a diverse community well, isn’t avoiding conflict, but how that conflict is navigated and what the conflict produces,” she said. “The real test will be if the commitment to some of the shared values can create a really positive dialogue and some opportunities for reflection.”

Student protests, concerns among staff

Teachers said discussions last week began with a rocky start. Several expressed frustration with central leadership — referred to within the network as “treehouse” — alleging officials had weaponized inclusive language to justify the elimination of positions held predominantly by staff members of color in their initial email.

When teachers responded to news of the restructuring with questions, they say the email listserv was shut down, restricting their ability to communicate with staff across the network. Carolyn Mshooshian, a ninth-grade English teacher at Brooklyn Prospect High School, said the response was “disappointing.”

The network declined to comment when asked about the listserv.

As frustrations mounted, students at the high school hastily organized a walkout on Tuesday, with plans to continue their protest throughout the week.

“We’re just trying to make a difference — this is our future,” said Zaviahn Scott, a ninth grader and one of several students who organized the walkout. “We’re a family, we’re a community, and we have to stick together.”

Campbell Dietz, a junior, called the Youth Development and School Culture, or YDSC, team “the disciplinary parent” of the family, adding “they’re never harsh with us.” Teachers and students say the staff members help navigate disciplinary issues and establish a positive school environment. If a student went to the bathroom during class and didn’t return for 15 minutes, one of the staff members might help find them, one teacher said.

One network teacher said they felt more at ease after Ward spoke to staff about the changes, noting the administration had apologized for unclear initial communications and assured them that most staff members in eliminated positions would remain employed within the network if they expressed interest in the new roles.

But some others still remain skeptical.

“There’s definitely been a loss of trust for all of us,” the teacher acknowledged. “With some people, that is going to take them longer to regain.”

Response demonstrates ‘democracy in action’

Potter noted there’s a longstanding equity debate over whether certain education issues should be handled by designated teams or positions. She drew a parallel to discussions over whether a chief integration officer should be instituted at the city’s department of education.

“One of the first things that comes up is that we don’t want this work to be siloed, we need this to be everyone’s work,” she said. “Now the frustration ends up being … well, sometimes we end up with neither. There’s not a team that is owning this and there’s not a culture that’s making this everyone’s work.”

Potter noted there’s merit to both arguments, adding it hinged on open communication and execution.

Still, students and teachers feared the pending shakeup could mean functionally losing people they’ve come to rely on. And for students who have developed close relationships to YDSC staff, even if they transition into new roles, it’s unclear whether they’ll remain at their school.

A spokesperson for the network said schools will look to limit how many staff are transferred to other schools within the network, but added the specifics depended on how the transfer process played out.

The spokesperson also noted the network’s new middle school in Sunset Park would help funnel more enrollment into the high school, where numbers had lagged recently. It would also create new positions to allow affected staff to transition into, the spokesperson said.

In some ways, Potter said, the passionate response from students might represent the success of the network’s model.

“Although a difference of vision with leadership is certainly there,” she said, “that might be proof of Prospect Schools having created the type of school environment where students are empowered and critical thinkers, and pushing on these very questions of diversity and equity.”

At some other schools, if a similar change were proposed, the conversation might play out differently, she added.

“It sounds to me like diversity and democracy in action, in what could be a really good way.”

Alex Zimmerman contributed reporting.

Julian Shen-Berro is a reporter covering New York City. Contact him at jshen-berro@chalkbeat.org.

Where Indianapolis mayoral candidates stand on education issues: an election guide

2023-04-26T17:20:46+00:00

Update May 3: Here are the election results for the Indianapolis mayoral primary elections.

Update April 26: Since this guide first published, Democrat Clif Marsiglio ended his campaign and will support Democrat Robin Shackleford. The deadline to officially withdraw had passed when Marsiglio ended his campaign, so his name will still be on the ballot.

Eight candidates are vying to be on the November ballot for Indianapolis mayor.

In the May 2 primary election, four Democrats, including current Mayor Joe Hogsett, and four Republicans are running to be the top elected official in Indianapolis.

The biggest way that the mayor impacts education in the city and its townships is through the Office of Education Innovation, which is a charter school authorizer. That means it is responsible for overseeing nearly 50 charter schools and making sure the schools meet the promises in their charters.

Plus, the mayor has a significant impact on crime, the economy, and housing in Indianapolis — all of which affect the educators and students who go to school here.

The winners of the Democratic and Republican primary elections will be on the Nov. 7 ballot. (Independent candidates and minor party candidates have until the summer to declare their candidacy for the general election.)

To better understand each candidate’s views on charter schools, test scores, staff shortages, and more, Chalkbeat Indiana asked the same ten questions — some of which were inspired by readers — to each one.

Seven candidates responded. Democrats Bob Kern and Larry Vaughn did not. Gregory Meriweather, also a Democrat, will still be on the ballot, but has ended his campaign to support fellow Democratic candidate Robin Shackleford.

Here, in their own words, is what they said:

Early voting starts April 4 at the Indianapolis City-County Building. Additional early voting sites open April 22.

On Election Day, May 2, polls are open 6 a.m to 6 p.m., and Marion County residents can vote at any of the county’s voting centers.

To find voting center locations for early voting and Election Day, apply for an absentee ballot and to see a sample ballot, visit vote.indy.gov.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief and covers higher education. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Chicago students get swimming lessons and a chance to learn life-saving skills

2023-03-27T18:32:53+00:00

About half a dozen second grade students perched on a pool ledge, feet dangling in clear water at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Boys and Girls Club on Chicago’s West Side. They giggled as they waited in swimsuits, goggles, and multi-colored swim caps for the next swimming test: flutter kicks.

With the green light from their instructor, the 7- and 8-year-olds unleashed a flurry of kicks. Squeals of joy and sloshing of water echoed inside the spacious natatorium on a mid-February morning.

Over the last year, LEARN Excel Charter in Garfield Park has partnered with the Boys and Girls Club for free, eight-week-long swim lessons for its students. The partnership helps provide enrichment opportunities and teach life-saving skills, Principal Sekou Robertson said.

“A lot of our kids can’t swim,” Robertson said. “They’re afraid of the water. It’s mostly due to access.”

For Robertson, it’s important to create opportunities that go beyond academics.

“Of course we are here for reading, math, speaking, and getting good test scores,” Robertson said. “But we also know at the end of the day life skills that our kids need and swimming is one of them.”

Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury deaths for children under 17 in the U.S., with Black children dying of drowning at higher rates than white and Latino children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most drowning deaths among children between 1 and 13 years old occur in swimming pools, and in natural bodies of water such as rivers for young people ages 14 to 17, the CDC found.

In recent years, some legislators across the country and local communities have pushed to make swimming lessons more accessible.

A LEARN Excel Charter student jumps into a pool at Martin Luther King Jr. Boys and Girls Club, 2950 W Washington Blvd., Chicago. The Boys and Girls Club partnered with the school to offer free swim lessons for its students.

Since LEARN Excel Charter started piloting the swimming program in spring 2022, the lessons have been a big hit with students. The school and the Boys and Girls Club partnership has expanded to allow three sessions in the fall, winter, and spring.

On the February morning, second grader Supriti Collins was eager to get back in the pool. It was her third round of swim lessons since the charter school partnered with the Boys and Girls club last spring.

“They teach us paddling,” said the 7-year-old, who wore a bathing suit decorated with palm tree silhouettes and a red swim cap . “I love paddling.”

A push to teach life-saving skills in school

“We’re going to go over some pool rules,” Andrea Lopez, aquatics coordinator, said during the lessons last month. “Can you raise your hand and give me one pool rule?”

All 13 students’ hands shot up, ready to share.

“No running,” one student said.

“Don’t go in the deep end,” said another.

“No diving on the shallow end,” a third added.

LEARN Excel Charter student raise their hands to share pool safety rules at Martin Luther King Jr. Boys and Girls Club in Garfield Park.

The instructors take two students at a time to test their skills after running through the full list of pool rules.

Cynthia Bedolla, aquatics director at the Boys and Girls Club, said the organization has been focused on providing free swim lessons and other water safety and awareness programs for the community, especially with warmer weather around the corner.

The Club aims to provide customizable aquatic programs that fit the needs of the kids, Bedolla said.

Students are evaluated on the first day and put into two separate groups based on their skillset and lessons, Bedolla said.

They are assessed — two by two — on a few skills including blowing bubbles, floating on their back, and paddling.

Andrea Lopez, aquatics coordinator, tests two LEARN Excel students at a West Side Boys and Girls Club on whether they can blow bubbles.

Tia Wilson, the Excel teacher who helps coordinate the swimming program, said the school is committed to giving their students experiences.

“Our kids don’t necessarily get to do this all the time,” Wilson said. “We look for opportunities where we can allow our kids to have these types of experiences.”

Wilson said these lessons are also a motivator, something students look forward to.

“They love it,” Wilson said. “It builds their confidence. Each time they get better and better.”

In the pool in February, Tyler Nelson hesitated as he leaned back attempting to float. With the help of the instructor, the 8-year-old relaxed and stretched his arm as if lying on a bed.

He smiled.

He’s been coming since the first session last spring. His favorite things about the lessons are getting to learn how to swim and chatting with his friends.

He hopes to get better at swimming with this latest round.

His ultimate goal: Master the deep end.

Mauricio Peña is a reporter for Chalkbeat Chicago, covering K-12 schools. Contact Mauricio at mpena@chalkbeat.org.

Hochul’s NYC charter school proposal rejected by Albany lawmakers

2023-03-14T23:22:27+00:00

New York’s state legislature formally rejected on Tuesday Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal to allow more charter schools to open in New York City, an indication of the uphill battle ahead for proponents of expanding the sector.

In their official responses to Hochul’s January budget proposal, both the state Senate and Assembly called to remove the governor’s charter school proposal to allow New York City to open more than 100 new charter schools.

The rejection does not mean Hochul’s proposal is dead, since lawmakers will now negotiate with the governor’s office over the final budget, which is due April 1. However, the unified disapproval from both houses shows there is little support for her idea.

Hochul’s charter school proposal was unpopular with some lawmakers and teachers union officials from the start. While charter school advocates have long pushed the legislature to lift the New York City cap — which was reached in 2019 — there has been little support for it in the Democratic-controlled legislature.

“The Assembly’s focus really is about — has always been about — trying to take care of the needs of the traditional public schools,” Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, a Bronx Democrat, told reporters in February.

Hochul’s proposal calls for lifting the cap on charters in New York City, making operators eligible for remaining charters that have yet to be issued across the state. It also involves releasing so-called “zombie” charters, which are charters that were issued to schools that later closed or never opened.

The governor argues that allowing more charters to open in New York City is “common sense,” as the schools have historically been popular with Black and Latino families who have faced waitlists to enroll. The charter sector, which now educates more than 14% of the city’s public school students across 275 schools, has grown during the pandemic — far outpacing enrollment declines among district schools.

But a large swath of charters is also seeing enrollment sag, including some of the biggest networks, complicating the argument that there is still massive demand for new schools. Opening new campuses comes with tradeoffs, as a significant expansion of the sector would likely put pressure on existing schools, potentially leading to smaller budgets or even closures.

Still, charter school advocates contend that creating more school options is worthwhile.

Lawmakers “missed another opportunity” to support charters, said James Merriman, CEO of the New York City Charter School Center, in a statement. With the session ongoing, he noted that budget negotiations will continue.

“We strongly urge them to listen to the voices of NYC families who want nothing more than an opportunity for their kids, and work with Governor Hochul to lift the regional cap and revive zombie charters,” Merriman said.

The state and city teachers unions cheered the legislature’s rejection.

“Parents, educators, and community leaders were very clear that they did not want more charter schools opening and draining resources from their local public schools,” said Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, in a statement. “Legislators heard those concerns and protected our public schools.”

In her run-up for the governor’s race last fall, Hochul received donations from the city and state teachers unions, as well as the national American Federation of Teachers — totaling just over $191,000. She also received support from charter-aligned groups, including $40,000 from New Yorkers for Putting Students First, a political action committee, or PAC. The Great Public Schools PAC, created by Success Academy founder Eva Moskowitz, gave Hochul another $30,000.

Assembly and Senate reject high-dosage tutoring

Separately, both chambers also rejected Hochul’s proposal to fund and require high-impact tutoring in schools by setting aside $250 million in Foundation Aid – the main formula used to provide state funding for New York school districts.

Research has found that students perform better in school when they’re tutored frequently in small groups. Hochul framed the proposal — meant for children in grades 3-8 — as a solution for pandemic-fueled academic recovery, after some New York students saw steep drops in math and reading scores on national tests last year.

It’s possible the proposal is unpopular among school leaders because it doesn’t add more money to budgets; rather, it would use a chunk of funding that’s already planned to go out to schools and mandates how they should use it.

Both houses also proposed adding $1 million to the budget for studying how to change and update Foundation Aid, an idea first floated by the state education department and its Board of Regents.

The governor and both houses did agree on one thing: increasing Foundation Aid overall by $2.7 billion next fiscal year, sealing the final planned increase to fully fund the formula.

Spokespeople for Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a Yonkers Democrat, and Heastie did not immediately return requests for comment.

Asked for comment on their rejection of both proposals, Hochul spokesperson Katy Zielinski said the governor “looks forward to working with the legislature on a final budget that meets the needs of all New Yorkers.”

Reema Amin is a reporter covering New York City public schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.

Alex Zimmerman is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Alex at azimmerman@chalkbeat.org.

Newark charter shut down by the state to reopen as an elementary school

2023-03-09T20:51:55+00:00

Newark Public Schools is seeking to reopen a building that used to house a charter school that was shut down by the state nearly nine months ago.

University Heights Charter School, a network of three charter schools, closed last June after struggling to improve student test scores, increase enrollment, and retain its leadership team across its schools, according to a letter from the state’s department of education. The district now plans to use the facility for an elementary school.

In February, the Newark Board of Education approved a resolution to acquire the four-story property at 66-78 Morris Avenue in the city’s Central Ward. The building is the location of the former charter network’s elementary school, which had a troubled history before the state revoked its charter, a move that created disruptions for its students and families.

Newark schools proposes to use the .73-acre property as a pre-K-8 school and a maximum enrollment of 275 students, according to the board’s resolution. The building and land are valued at roughly $6.6 million, according to property records. The new property is part of the school district’s five-year capital plan.

The district’s acting communications director, Nancy Deering, did not respond to questions about the district’s plan for the new school.

University Heights opened in 2006 with just over 900 students through the support of Newark’s Bethany Baptist Church. A pre-K-8 school located between Hartford and New Streets, the 34,000 square foot property was home to roughly 600 Newark students before shutting down last year.

The state department of education officially revoked University Heights’ charter on June 30, 2022. It sent the charter network its decision in a letter dated June 1, citing low academic performance and leadership changes from previous years.

Before the school’s closure in June, teachers and students protested the closure by walking through the neighborhoods of their Newark school. The New Jersey Public Charter Schools Association also argued the closure, saying the state’s “late notification” of its decision left families scrambling to find a new school for their children last summer and worrying about additional expenses like summer school and new uniforms.

Newark Public Schools reopened the enrollment window for families of University Heights students, but many said their preferred choices were already full. The charter network was set to start summer school on July 6. Roughly 400 families had already signed up for the free program.

University Heights administrators blamed previous school leaders for the pre-pandemic low test scores that factored into the state’s decision to shut down the charter network. During the 2018-2019 school year, the charter school’s test scores ranked among the bottom 5% of high-poverty schools in the state, leading the state to designate it as a low-performing school.

In 2019, the school was put on probation after the state found issues with improving its student academic performance, declining enrollment, and frequent leadership changes.

The charter network included its elementary school, located on 74 Hartford Street, its lower school, also on Hartford Street, and Junior High School, on Fulton and Broad Streets.

Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Stalled tax plan to revive Indianapolis Public Schools pushes charters and district further apart

2023-03-09T12:30:00+00:00

In the end, nobody got the money they wanted.

The months-long effort to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in property taxes for Indianapolis Public Schools had adversaries from the start.

The money was meant to fund the district’s Rebuilding Stronger plan, a massive reorganization to expand academic offerings, reconfigure grades, and make IPS schools more attractive to students as the district loses students to charter schools.

But perhaps unsurprisingly, charter schools, which typically don’t receive property tax revenue, wanted a greater portion of that money than what the district was willing to offer. And opposition to the Rebuilding Stronger plan from parents and other community members lingered.

As a result, school board members hoping to put the tax measure to voters in May faced a formidable challenge: vocal parents and community members mobilized by well-funded groups that support charter schools — the same groups that supported the majority of those board members with hefty campaign contributions.

Then in January came additional and influential opposition: The Indy Chamber — a powerful ally in the district’s successful 2018 referendum that also donated to several campaigns for sitting school board members — also announced it would not support the proposed ballot measure.

Board members subsequently postponed their vote on the tax proposal, and are now working to salvage some kind of tax increase to put to voters in a different election. But the fallout from the last few months could hamstring the district’s long-term strategy to improve opportunities and outcomes for students.

It also points to something many advocates and officials say is worrisome: a house divided.

The district’s unique portfolio of charters and traditional public schools, created nearly a decade ago by IPS leaders and state lawmakers, has left both populations fighting for funding. And as state lawmakers push to expand school choice in Indiana, that competition might be for a shrinking financial pie.

“If they both end up being under-resourced, they will both fail,” said Tony Mason, president and CEO of the Indianapolis Urban League. “And as we see an expansion of vouchers, ultimately what could happen is that parents will choose to take their vouchers and take their children to private and parochial schools.”

Those backing charter schools who criticized the board’s approach to the tax measure say their focus is ensuring that all students benefit equally from revenue earmarked for public education.

EmpowerED Families, a group that spent more than $5,000 on radio ads opposing the tax measure, said in a statement this month that it supports those who “advocate for fairness and equal distribution of funds amongst all public schools.”

“This referendum could have been a win for ALL Indianapolis public school students in IPS’ district … but unfortunately, it left students out, many of whom are Black and Latino,” the group said.

But such arguments have frustrated some school board members, particularly when their critics have insinuated that the district doesn’t want to treat students of color equally with white students.

“I wake up every day and my child is Black, and I’m Black, and I’m a first-generation college graduate,” said board President Venita Moore.

“People do those things when they try to divide a community,” she added. “And I feel like they were trying to divide a community.”

Two types of schools compete for funding

Throughout December and January, school board members sat silently through hours of public comment as they took the brunt of the charter sector’s ire.

Charter advocates packed school board meetings and argued that commissioners would hurt Black and brown students if the operating referendum were passed.

“My students have dreams just like any other students,” one parent and educator told the board. “Fund them all, and if you do not, it will be another betrayal of Black and brown families that I know everyone on the board cares about.”

The discord between the two types of schools stems from a taxing setup that leaves both school systems fighting over limited resources.

Property tax revenues are capped in Indiana, but can be raised beyond the cap with the passage of a public ballot question. That means many school districts must seek voter approval to raise funding for initiatives like Rebuilding Stronger. Meanwhile, charter schools do not get property tax revenue, although they receive state grants to fund capital and operating needs.

“In one relatively small geography, you have two school systems operating and targeting similar populations in a world where there just are not enough resources — either financial or human resources — to sustain two systems,” said IPS board member Will Pritchard.

Unlike other districts, IPS has shared money from its previous operating referendum with charters in its Innovation Network — schools that are considered a part of IPS but are autonomous. But in the proposed 2023 referendum, IPS was not willing to share funding with charters that are independent from the district.

Other groups have been more sympathetic to IPS, coming to its defense against the charter sector.

The African American Coalition of Indianapolis denounced efforts to cast the referendum as an effort that would harm Black children. The group instead questioned the proliferation of charter schools within IPS boundaries, arguing that equity does not mean IPS children receive less so charter schools receive more.

“The periodic haggling by some institutions in this community over what IPS and the Black and Brown children that matriculate in the district should have is not only shortsighted and counterproductive to workforce development, but also borders on paternalism,” the coalition said in its statement.

(As a whole, independent charters as well as charters in the district-affiliated Innovation Network have a higher proportion of Black students than traditional IPS schools. Students of color make up a majority in all three sectors.)

But the AACI, as well as the IPS Community Coalition, only shared sentiments of support several weeks after it became clear that the tax proposal to support Rebuilding Stronger wouldn’t make it onto the May ballot.

Charter leaders, however, moved much more quickly. At a December press conference, for example, charter school supporters said the funding gap between independent charters and traditional public schools would grow to over $10,000 per student if voters were to approve the ballot measure for operating costs.

Mariama Shaheed, founder of the Global Preparatory Academy charter school, joined other leaders in calling on Indianapolis Public Schools to share more of its potential referendum funds with charters.

Charters see potential statehouse funding wins

State education policy shifts could deepen the divide between charters and IPS.

Charters have so far had good news at the statehouse, where House Republicans have proposed more money per pupil to make up for the property tax revenue they generally do not receive.

And as the charter sector mobilized at IPS meetings, it has mobilized at the statehouse, too.

In a public statement last week, Black charter school leaders called for a long-term solution to close the funding gap between charter school students and traditional public school students, which they estimated at over $7,000 per child in Indianapolis.

“Yes, our families chose to attend our schools. But the reality is that we lead public schools,” the statement read. “Our students are public school students and they deserve to be valued and provided the funding necessary to thrive.”

Ads from a group calling itself the Indiana Student Funding Alliance have pushed a similar message.

The proposed budget from House Republicans would give charter schools a set amount per pupil for operating costs: $1,400 in 2024 and $1,500 in 2025. This would replace a current state grant for charters of $1,250 per student annually.

But the budget would also limit the tax rate that districts could set to pay for operating expenses, which could harm larger school districts.

Another bill would allow charter schools to petition for school buildings in traditional districts that are operating at less than 60% capacity.

And public education advocates worry that the proposed legislation to expand vouchers could endanger state aid to public school students, whether they’re in a charter school or a traditional public school.

“They’re giving more money to vouchers,” Moore said. “And we still don’t have anything.”

Shoring up support to improve school facilities

Despite the setbacks, IPS is making the rounds on selling its capital referendum to voters, which the school board passed in a unanimous vote in December.

The $410 million ballot question would help fund building needs for 23 school campuses. Some of those include Innovation charter schools in district buildings.

The referendum will improve buildings that are on average 61 years old, Superintendent Aleesia Johnson said in a Fox 59 interview last month.

“If there’s a building that’s in need, we want to be sure that that building is getting what it needs to be a great environment for students,” Johnson said.

The district estimates the tax increase would equate to an additional $3 per month for homeowners with a median value home.

Groups that were critical of Rebuilding Stronger and called for both independent and Innovation charters to receive referendum funding have had a mixed response to the referendum for capital costs.

RISE Indy, an education nonprofit that supports charter schools, said it supports the ballot question for capital projects. The Mind Trust, an influential organization that has incubated charter schools in Indianapolis, said it will not take a stance on the question. Stand for Children, which mobilized parents in support of charter schools at multiple board meetings, said it would not oppose the question.

The Indy Chamber stands by its decision not to support the referendum for capital projects. The group referred to its statement in January that the district should explore other revenue sources. Whether IPS can surmount that political obstacle and pass the capital referendum, given the chamber’s key role in the successful 2018 referendum, will be watched closely.

“It’s a question of how actively is the Chamber going to campaign against it,” said Andy Downs, professor emeritus of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics at Purdue University Fort Wayne.

Moore, meanwhile, maintains her hope that the district will work out funding to expand academic opportunities under Rebuilding Stronger. The district plans to enact parts of the plan that will take effect in 2023-24, including the closure of several schools.

“I just want IPS to continue to give the children who look like me an opportunity to be successful,” Moore said. “To be able to do things.”

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Marion County schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.