Employer-Linked Charter School Initiative - OverView Graduates of the charter academies possess certification and What are the Benefitsto the school? simultaneously work to obtain michigan teacher certification. http://www.cew.wisc.edu/charterSchools/TEC2practice.asp
Extractions: SUMMARY Clair County Intermediate School District (ISD) has sponsored the establishment of six charter schools in order to gain employer involvement in school governance. Four of the six academies, in turn, purchase administrative and professional services from the ISD in order to take advantage of its expertise in these areas. Reasons for Practice The primary reasons for the St. Clair ISD's sponsorship of charter academies were to: (1) involve major local employers in an unprecedented and meaningful way as board members of the academies, and (2) utilize instructional staff who had worked in industry and who were knowledgeable about the skills needed for employment in major local businesses. The purchased service agreement has been in place since the ISD first sponsored the Plastics Manufacturing Technology Academy in 1996. Since that time, the same compact has been used by the three other academies chartered by the ISD (the Health Careers, Hospitality, and Information Technology academies).
A Reform Idea For Detroit Schools: Charter Them The reason for charter schools popularity with michigan parents is that they Thecharter school model is not perfect, and some schools will likely fail http://www.adti.net/michiganchronicle_mbrouillette080900.html
Extractions: August 9, 2000 Can Detroit's troubled public schools be genuinely reformed? After years of failed attempts to improve education for the district's students, it has become clear that the biggest obstacles to effective reform are the sheer size of the district and the massive bureaucracy that goes along with it. Decentralization in the form of charter schools may be the answer. Detroit Public Schools is a classic example. As one of only eight school districts in the United States with enrollments exceeding 150,000 students, Detroit employs 8,808 teachers. However, it also employs 13,269 non-teachers who, never set foot in a classroom. Some observers have noted that, with more than 60 percent of its employees being non-teachers, the Detroit Public Schools may be as much of a work program for adults as it is an education system for children. In large districts like Detroit school board members with superintendents are too preoccupied with the overwhelming administrative demands of employing and overseeing thousands of people and hundreds of school buildings. It is no wonder that key issues, like teaching children, often get lost in the shuffle.
LWV BALTIMORE COUNTY CHARTER SCHOOLS FACT SHEET operate only if they meet performance standards, and if states lead in the numbersof charter schools California, Arizona, Texas, Florida, michigan. http://www.lwvbaltimore.org/consensus_charter.html
Extractions: CHOICE IN EDUCATION STUDY: CHARTER SCHOOLS Fact Sheet LWVUS Education Position: The League of Women Voters of the United States (LWVUS) believes that the federal government shares with other levels of government the responsibility to provide equality of opportunity for education . . . for all persons in the United States regardless of their race, color, gender, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation or disability . . . The League supports federal efforts to prevent and/or remove discrimination in education . . . and to help communities bring about racial integration of their school systems. equal access to... quality education From Impact on Issues 1998-2000 p. 50 Introduction: Why a charter school movement? Charter schools are established for a variety of reasons. The founders generally fall into three groups: grassroots organizations of parents, teachers, and community members; entrepreneurs; or existing schools converting to charter status. The three reasons most given for creating a charter school are to: realize an educational vision; gain autonomy; serve a special population. Parents and teachers choose charter schools primarily for educational reasons - high academic standards, small class size, innovative approaches, or educational philosophies in line with their own. Some have chosen charter schools for their small size and associated safety. charters (Overview of Charter Schools, US Charter Schools, www.uscharterschools.org)
Creationism: New York Utica. ROCHESTER LEADERSHIP ACADEMY charter school application info 60 8th GradeMath 90 school would partner Heritage Academies, a michiganbased education http://www.world-of-dawkins.com/Catalano/education/newyork.shtml
Extractions: Dear Friends in New York - a letter from Jeff Seaver of Grand Rapids, MI Charter School to Raise Topic Of Creationism By EDWARD WYATT, NY Times - " A publicly financed charter school scheduled to open in Rochester, NY next fall intends to teach students about creationism as a scientifically based theory competing with the theory of evolution.." Boomlet in Charter Schools to Begin in September as New York Approves 13 Organizations / Activism ACLU American Civil Liberties Union New York Civil Liberties Union ACLU of Michigan - "National Heritage has been sued by the ACLU in Michigan over what the group says is the company's promotion of religious activities, including prayer sessions for parents, in a charter school there."
Creationism: Michigan State Science Education standards. WYATT, NY Times A publicly financed charterschool scheduled to 02/11/99 michigan district to stock school libraries http://www.world-of-dawkins.com/Catalano/education/michigan.shtml
Extractions: As a result, roughly two-thirds of the school districts nationwide now are subject to an educational reform that has yet to prove its worth but has raised the most serious practical and philosophical challenges to the viability of public education in our country's history. In New York, a charter school can be established through an application submitted by teachers, parents, school administrators, community residents or any combination thereof. Though charter schools are subject to the same health and safety, civil rights and student assessment requirements of other public schools, they are exempt from all other state regulations. The Case for Charters The case for charter schools is quite simplethe arguments typically revolve around the alleged failure of the public schools. Though many have contested the validity of these charges (educational researchers Gerald Bracey and David Berliner prime among them), the news media, the political establishment and a large segment of the public have become convinced that our schools are failing to serve the children with whom they've been entrusted.
Charters Need Tweaking, Report Finds example, most students in michigan charter schools are in researchers said toughaccountability standards would be Laws governing charter schools need to be http://www.freep.com/news/education/qchart26.htm
Extractions: FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER A new charter school study released Monday by Michigan State University says charter schools are helping Michigan students by providing more choices in education and forcing schools to be more responsive to parents. Charter school recommendations The Michigan State University charter school study recommends: Creating incentives for charter schools to educate students who cost more such as special education students by providing more money. Making innovation a key in awarding new charters. Ensuring that parents can get more information about schools by establishing a mechanism for communicating the successes and failures among all schools. Tightening accountability and clarifying who is responsible for overseeing charter schools. Establishing a plan for schools that are in danger of closing because of a loss of students.
NYSUT - Charter School Update The legislation determines how a charter school operates. parents are authorized toapply for a charter. as Arizona, Massachusetts, and michigan, allow private http://www.nysut.org/research/bulletins/979809charter.html
Extractions: December 1997 The District of Columbia and 27 states have enacted charter school legislation. Approximately 500 charter schools are in operation. Several charters have been revoked due to financial mismanagement. Recent reports reflect: Three charter school bills have been introduced in the New York State legislature. Current reform vehicles in New York State include CR100.11, Variances, and 21st Century School Legislation.
Policy Brief: Charter Schools michigan s 1997 statewide testing showed that, as a Virginia charter schools mustcomply with all federal and state regulations and local school board policies http://www.ael.org/rel/policy/charter.htm
Extractions: AEL's Region Minnesota passed the first charter school legislation in 1991. Seven years later, about three-fifths of the states had followed suit. In 1999, President Clinton announced federal aid to 32 states that had applied for charter school funds. Existing programs were granted a total of $54 million dollars, and $41 million dollars was earmarked for start up grants for the express purpose of increasing the number of charter schools from the more than 1,700 that currently exist to 3,000 by the year 2001. Policymakers in AEL's region (Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia) have approached legislation more cautiously. This issue of Policy Briefs provides an overview of charter school legislation, looks at concerns specific to AEL's region, and reports on the status of charter school legislation in four states. What are charter schools?
Extractions: Special to The Times E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Ignoring strong voter opposition, sound research and cold financial realities, lawmakers in Olympia are again mired in distracting debates over charter schools. Students in Washington would be far better served by real support for existing public schools. After more than 10 years of widespread experimentation across the United States, charter schools have established a monumentally lackluster performance record. In stark contrast to the promises of charter proponents, the most charitable interpretation of the actual results is that overall student achievement in charter schools is slightly lower or about the same as in regular public schools. Education researcher Gerald Bracey puts it this way: "Evaluations of charters by the RAND Corporation, UCLA, Stanford University, the Ohio Legislative Office of Educational Oversight, and various universities in Michigan, find that charter schools, at best, do about as well as public schools. They often do worse, even when the charter schools are compared to demographically similar public schools. " 'Charter school students are keeping pace with comparable students in conventional schools,' said RAND. Certainly a pusillanimous conclusion, but charter schools promised to outperform public schools, not 'keep pace' (the larger Stanford study favored public schools)."
Lansing State Journal also a national leader in offering charter schools, public schools be done to publicizewhy michigan schools fared poorly t want to say our standards are too http://www.lsj.com/news/schools/020707_transfer_1a-5a.html
Study Of Charter Schools Serving LEP Students: Literature Review school, located in Southfield, michigan, provides instruction in addresses how andif charter schools also employ that sought to identify school and classroom http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/pubs/reports/charter/literature.html
Extractions: A Descriptive Study of Charter Schools Serving Limited English Proficient Students LITERATURE REVIEW This literature review sets the foundation for the study findings that follow. In specific, the following are described in light of recent research findings: the legal obligations of charter schools to ELLs; what is currently known about ELLs in charter schools; and the theoretical basis for this exploration of services being provided to ELLs. A charter school may be defined as a public school to which local and state regulations do not apply. Even though charter schools maintain this freedom, they are still held accountable for their students performance. If the goals of their charters are not met, then their charters are not renewed (NCSL, 2000). Only 31 of the 36 states that have passed charter school laws have actually established schools.
Charter Schools. ERIC Digest such as the Ameritech Corporation in michigan and the The American Federation ofTeachers urges that charter schools adopt high standards, hire only http://www.ericdigests.org/1999-2/charter.htm
Extractions: Source: ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management Eugene OR. Charter Schools. ERIC Digest, Number 118. In seven short years, the U.S. charter-school movement has produced about 800 schools in 29 states and the District of Columbia, enrolling over 100,000 students. Charter schools reflect their founders' varied philosophies, programs, and organizational structures, serve diverse student populations, and are committed to improving public education. Charter schools are freed of many restrictive rules and regulations. In return, these schools are expected to achieve educational outcomes within a certain period (usually three to five years) or have their charters revoked by sponsors (a local school board, state education agency, or university). WHAT EXPLAINS CHARTER SCHOOLS' GROWING POPULARITY? Some members of the public are dissatisfied with educational quality and school district bureaucracies (Jenkins and Dow 1996). Today's charter-school initiatives are rooted in the educational reforms of the 1980s and 1990s, from state mandates to improve instruction, to school-based management, school restructuring, and private/public-choice initiatives. Many people, President Clinton among them, see charter schools, with their emphasis on autonomy and accountability, as a workable political compromise and an alternative to vouchers. The charter approach uses market principles while insisting that schools be nonsectarian and democratic. For founders, starting a brand-new school is an exhausting, yet exhilarating experience that "stirs the creative and adaptive juices of everyone involved" (Ray Budde 1996).
Extractions: Auditor General INTRODUCTION This report, issued in October 1997, contains the results of our performance audit* of Central Michigan University's Charter Schools Office (CSO) and Michigan Resource Center for Charter Schools (MRCCS).(* See glossary on page 56 for definition.) AUDIT PURPOSE This performance audit was conducted as part of the constitutional responsibility of the Office of the Auditor General. Performance audits are conducted on a priority basis related to the potential for improving effectiveness* and efficiency*. This performance audit also included the University's MRCCS because of its relevance to CSO activities.(* See glossary on page 56 for definition.) BACKGROUND PSA's, commonly referred to as charter schools, are public schools that are authorized and operated under terms of a contract. In December 1993, Michigan first passed PSA legislation. Michigan's PSA law (Part 6A of the Revised School Code) was appealed. A subsequent PSA law (Part 6B of the Revised School Code) was enacted and later amended. At the time of our audit, all PSA's chartered* by the University Board of Trustees operated under Parts 6A and 6B. In July 1997, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that Part 6A was constitutional. This ruling resulted in repealing Part 6B.
Charter School Planning Workshops Sourcebook A Sourcebook for Organizers of. charter school Planning Workshops. JANUARY 1998. An Introduction to This Source Book up phases of a charter school, like those of any lesson learned from early http://www.charterfriends.org/sourcebook.html
Extractions: A Sourcebook for Organizers of Charter School Planning Workshops JANUARY 1998 An Introduction to This Source Book The planning and start-up phases of a charter school, like those of any successful small enterprise, require tremendous energy, thoughtful planning and determination to overcome obstacles. A key lesson learned from early charter school experiences is that effective planning during the application and chartering period can help reduce the number and size of obstacles that start-up schools face in the first year of operation. The less time new charter school leaders spend fighting avoidable fires, the more they may focus on achieving the mission of their school. Responding to this and similar needs, a variety of support organizations have sprung up in many states to assist charter schools. Support organizations may include independent charter school resource centers, associations of charter schools, and others. These organizations can help charter school applicants significantly by making the planning process more structured, clear, and focused on real school management concerns
Charter Schools Unlike other public schools, theyre not taking In michigan, researchers found thatbecause of monitoring efforts, poorly performing charter schools are not http://www.psparents.net/CharterSchools.htm
Eastern Michigan University Eastern michigan University Ypsilanti, MI, USA 48197 Doctoral Catalogs CharterSchools Computing Continuing Style Guide Web standards Guide Additional Links http://www.emich.edu/
Charter Schools A Ruse For Destroying Public Education? including the Virginia SOL, as the public schools. defeated in November in Californiaand michigan. County, Virginia has approved charter schools, but has had http://www.sullivan-county.com/nf0/nov_2000/char_sch.htm
Extractions: Lynn View Middle School, Kingsport, Tennessee "Charter Schools" A Ruse For Destroying Public Education? Virginia political/religious leaders Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson have vowed to destroy public education in in America. Their tools for doing this are school vouchers and charter schools. While Virginia has approved charter schools, it's proponents are dismayed they have to follow the same standards, including the Virginia SOL, as the public schools. Their intention was never education, but the removal of science and history and substitution of religious myth. They also demand to use uncertified teachers and to be exempted from all civil rights rights laws including ADA regulations for the handi-capped. (religious institutions are already exempt.) Fortunately, vouchers were overwhelmingly defeated in November in California and Michigan. In fact, Washington County, Virginia has approved charter schools, but has had no takers because the fundamentalists didn't want to operate as schools. Now Tennesse has gotten into the act. But the almost 50% drop-out rate in the state has nothing to do with schools. It's family priorities. Here is the fundamentalist' agenda is in their words in 1995: Charter Schools Rejected in Sullivan County Tennessee Fights for Bible Classes Wise, Hawkins Counties Back School Prayer, Ignore Problems
