Collaborative Efforts between School Districts and Charter Schools Can & Do Happen

I was excited to see this article come across my News Feed on Facebook because it highlights what can be done when districts and charters collaborate for the betterment of kids. I'll begin my thesis work in a couple of months and will be focusing on how to make more of these collaborative efforts happen between traditional and charter public schools.  I'm not sure where my research will take me, but I do hope in the end I'll have created a "best practices" guide that will be useful to the education field.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

San Diego Cooperative Charter School Excels in New San Diego Unified Special Education Structure

California Charter Schools Association
Press Contact: Emily Galbreth(412) 559-8571 or egalbreth@calcharters.org

October 28, 2013The San Diego Cooperative Charter School (SDCCS) was founded by a group of parents and teachers in 2002. Since then, the school has grown to over 450 students in grades K-8. SDCCS is known for its collaborative culture, diversity, and a focus on all families participating in the education of their children. In addition, SDCCS places a high value on the full inclusion of all students, including those eligible for special education services. To do this, SDCCS relies on a talented and passionate instructional staff who believe in the school's philosophy.

Challenges with the Prior Structure

Prior to 2013-2014, as a "school of the district" for special education, SDCCS had no control over the specialized staff provided to them by their authorizer, San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD). In addition to challenges with getting consistent support staff, SDCCS had no control over the length of time that any particular specialist would remain with their school. The inconsistency meant that specialized staff would often miss the weekly staff meetings that are fundamental to the instructional team's ability to manage the needs of all students in their inclusive setting. When a district staff member engaged with the philosophy of the school's program, according to Principal Wendy Ranck-Buhr, "they would love it and want to stay, but they would get moved on because of the way the district moves its employees." The inconsistency was frustrating for Ranck-Buhr's staff, and potentially educationally harmful for her students. Paying for district special education services and spending time to manage the district staffing process was estimated to cost SDCCS hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Working Towards a New Option

Through the 2012-2013 school year, Ranck-Buhr says that she "refused to give up on the relationship with the district" as she pursued a solution. SDCCS teamed up SDUSD staff, other charter leaders, and staff from the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) to develop and pilot a new arrangement that has come to be known as "Option 2" for special education in San Diego charter schools. "Option 2" was designed to provide charter schools with increased flexibility and autonomy for providing special education services for their students without forcing them to seek LEA status for special education in another area of the state. The restructure in SDUSD allows the district to retain a portion of the special education funds they receive on behalf of SDCCS for administrative costs and the creation of a risk pool, while passing on the majority of funds directly to the school site. SDCCS is now responsible for using those funds to provide appropriate services for all students that enroll in the charter. SDCCS is no longer dependent on the district for staffing.

Schools who join "Option 2" receive a portion of state and federal special education funding to provide services that are necessary for students with disabilities enrolled in the school.  

"It took a lot of people being brave about doing the right thing for students," says Ranck-Buhr. She credits district staff, CCSA, local charter leaders and her own team for taking a risk and finding an arrangement that works for everyone.

As a result of this new option, SDCCS can now hire specialized staff who are committed to the school's program, and ensure that school policies and practices are implemented faithfully. Ranck-Buhr is able to empower her specialists to manage their own classroom aides, and all of her staff now attend the school's weekly planning meetings together. Further, all staff now use uniform outlines for IEPs and meeting agendas, which vastly improves the cohesion and consistency of the school's inclusive program. Critically, SDCCS estimates hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings, not including the administrative time that Principal Ranck-Buhr can now spend with her team.

School staff and parents are excited to monitor the results of this new arrangement. Family surveys and student academic outcomes will be used to measure and continually improve the program.

CCSA is proud of the partnership between SDCCS and San Diego Unified School District, and is optimistic that this arrangement will empower other schools and districts to continue working together to serve all students.

Learn more about San Diego Cooperative Charter School.

San Diego Cooperative Charter School Excels in New San Diego Unified Special Education Structure

A Glimpse into Waldorf Education

I am a big fan of Waldorf education and this video gives you a glimpse into the Waldorf class environment. Both of my school age children have benefited greatly from this approach provided at their public Waldorf charter school.  The Waldorf philosophy of educating the head, heart and hands is worth looking into as an alternative approach to the traditional classroom.

Must Read About the Importance & Impact of Charter Schools

I completely agree with Jacob Grossman's stand on charter schools.  This a great article written by him for Voices of the Dropout Nation. 

Dropout Nation Editorial Board
Jacob Grossman: Grow More Charters
October 4, 2013

10 percent of all kids in Beantown are serve by charters. And it will be up to the one of the two men vying to succeed Menino –  Marty Walsh and John Connolly — to make charter school expansion a reality once one of them takes office. 

In this Voices of the Dropout Nation, real estate executive Jacob Grossman, who co-chairs the advisory board of the Edward Brooke Charter Schools in Boston (and grandson of Kivie Kaplan, who was president of the NAACP from 1966 to 1975), explains why expanding charters is critical to addressing the civil rights issue of our time, both in Boston and throughout America. Read, consider, share, and take action.

Recently I listened to an interview with Bernice King, the daughter of the famed civil rights leader, as she spoke about her father and the progress the United States has made fifty years after his March on Washington.  Without question, our country has made great strides in working towards equality. But we are not attentive enough to the largest problem at hand.  With Boston’s mayoral race at the forefront of people’s minds — which coincides with the imminent vacancy of the Boston Public Schools Superintendent post, it is an important time to focus on our schools.

To begin, I must admit that I am a reluctant supporter of charter schools.  As a Republican in tradition of socially liberal and fiscally conservative icons such as former U.S. Senator Edward Brooke, I wish that all of our traditional public schools offered challenging and engrossing opportunities for our kids. But urban public schools continually fall short.  I do not desire to assign blame, but rather highlight a broken system which has lost track of its priority – our children – and focuses instead on the benefits to the adults.  My wife and I grudgingly left our beloved South End neighborhood with our young son because we did not feel confident that he would get a rigorous public education in Boston Public Schools.

Just 10 percent of ninth graders in Boston Public Schools go on to graduate from a four- year college.  Forty-two of families with children in Boston say that they have thought about leaving the city solely because of our schools.  To be abundantly clear, this is not because the administrators or teachers in Boston Public Schools are bad.  The local system and school systems across the country are not arming the players with the tools to win.

I am afraid that we are “educating” a generation of urban kids who will not be equipped with the skills to succeed in life. This isn’t as visible and outwardly hurtful as a “No Blacks” sign over a water fountain, but its consequences are deleterious to society and the people in the system. Statistics show that high school dropouts are eight times more likely to end up in jail or prison than those who graduate.

We are failing our kids by capping charter school growth.  Charter schools are public schools with two major distinctions.  First, they are not subject to union contracts.  Practically speaking, this means they can create their own curriculum, set their own hours, reward effective teachers and terminate ineffective ones – much like any private business. Secondly, to gain placement in a charter school, a parent simply needs to complete an information card to enter their child into a lottery.  A charter school is a free market system whereas a tradition public school is not. Charter school administrators have the opportunity to lead with a focus on meritocracy and efficacy while a union-governed system is ruled by seniority and a politically negotiated contract.

To be more clear: the framework which governs how Boston Public Schools operate (from length of school day, to teacher reward and tenure) is the Boston Teachers Union contract which is negotiated by politicians who also ensure that the streets are clear of trash, potholes are filled, and that crime in the city is on a downward trend.

Charter schools are not the answer to all problems. In fact, there are ineffective charter schools just like there are ineffective traditional public and private schools. However, the competition and innovation that the mere existence and expansion of charter schools creates is a benefit to the students in all our schools. Without a union contract, a charter school can terminate an ineffective teacher, whereas a public school teacher may have tenure. With the ability to create its own curriculum and schedule, a charter school can maximize learning time and provide innovative programming that fosters real and quantifiable learning growth.

As a consumer and business person, I love competition. It generally results in a better outcome for me and my fellow consumers. Companies fighting for my business can result in more pioneering products and better pricing. Why wouldn’t we encourage more competition in our education system? Parents select a charter school because they think their kids will be better off for attending them. If a specific charter school is weak or a specific traditional public school is strong, the market forces will lead to the closure of the bad schools and strengthen demand in the good schools. As a taxpayer, I would like to see our education dollars result in more positive outcomes that will empower our kids to develop skills that will enable them to succeed in life after school.

In Massachusetts, we pride ourselves on our strong institutions of higher learning, our entrepreneurship in the life sciences, healthcare and biotech fields, as well as our robust financial services industry. We should expand our national leadership position in education reform and embrace competition supplied by charter school growth.

http://dropoutnation.net/2013/10/04/jacob-grossman-dont-restrict-charter-schools/#