As the legislature gets ready to reconvene next week for the last week of the legislative session, the State Assembly will be taking up SB 1263.
SB 1263 originated from a local dispute between superintendents in Santa Clarita and the surrounding area. Concerns were raised about why one school district, Acton-Aqua Dulce, authorizes charter schools even though they are vehemently anti-charter school. Since the local districts couldn’t stop Acton from authorizing charter schools they went to a legislator who was favorable to their position, Senator Fran Pavley.
Senator Pavley’s responded by authoring legislation that forces communication between the rival factions but, in typical legislative fashion, the measure has morphed into legislation cutting off an option of authorization for charter schools.
Last month in the Assembly Education Committee, Chairwoman Joan Buchanan added amendments to the legislation to limit the bill to only impact one school, the Albert Einstein Academy (which Acton authorizes).
Amazing as it may be for the state assembly to champion legislation affecting only one school but with a state-wide impact; the amendments were drafted so broadly that other charter school groups are still opposed.
Even the Southern California Tribal Chairman’s Association has come out in opposition to SB 1263 because of the possible negative impact it could have on the charter schools that they work with.
This reinforces the notion that charter school advocates better keep their eyes open because the legislature is capable of enacting all sorts of negative legislation on their behalf.
Click here to view SB 1263.
Month: July 2014
We know that summer is a busy time for educators, and when you’re trying to manage staffing, budget for your school’s needs, develop organizational strategies, and have some summer vacation time, there isn’t a lot left over to keep-up with updates in charter school news. So, we’ve decided to compile our top picks for this week. Happy reading!
The Productivity of Public Charter Schools
The University of Arkansas just released a report on the productivity of public charter schools and district schools, looking specifically at cost effectiveness and ROI. Key finding indicates that charter schools nationwide are 40% more cost effective than district schools.
To read the whole report, click here.
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Sixty Year Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education – Are Charter Schools Achieving Brown’s Vision?
In a Huffington Post article this week, Deborah McGriff, Chair of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, writes: “Sixty years ago this week, my family and other Black families across the country were wondering how the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision would impact their children’s education. How long would it take for the promise of a great education to become a reality?”
McGriff goes on to point out how charter schools are offering hope to low income and working class students that they will finally receive a high-quality education. She points out that in some cases “public charter schools are actually flipping the achievement gap – helping Black and Latino students outperform affluent, white students across their states.”
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NPR: High Performing Charter Schools May Improve Students’ Health
Research from UCLA and the Rand Corp. indicates that students at academically better schools were less likely to indulge in high-risk behavior, like smoking cigarettes, using marijuana, drinking, participating in gang activity, or having unprotected sex. The survey was made up of 521 Los Angeles charter school students and 409 local neighborhood schools.
To read the full NPR blog post, click here. The actual report can be found here.
When Jason Wall decided to open Young Scholars Academy, he wanted to focus on kids that everybody else had given-up on. Experienced in charter school administration, Wall and his wife decided that they needed to “put our money where our mouth was” and open a school specifically geared towards high-risk students that were struggling in public school.
“We opened Young Scholars in South Linden, Ohio which is probably the roughest area in all of Columbus,” explains Wall. “In the past six months, there have been 19 homicides within a two-mile radius of our school.”
Young Scholars started out as a very small school with only 30 students the first year. They received a Federal Startup Grant that helped them get started. As word spread about Young Scholars, the school found their enrollment nearly tripling the following year.
Despite having to staff for 80 students, Young Scholars was allotted funding based on their previous years enrollment numbers. That’s when Wall reached out to Charter School Capital.
“I truly don’t know how we would have been able to staff for that many students if it weren’t for Charter School Capital,” Wall says. “I probably would have had to come up with the money myself, or try to take some sort of outside funding that would have been far more complex and convoluted.”
Access to reliable funding has empowered Young Scholars to offer a very low teacher-to-student ratio and purchase 40 new computers for their students.
They also have adopted a unique staffing model to best serve their challenging student population; teachers are trained for months before the school term begins in order to receive in-depth training, at a considerable expense.
“A school is only as good as its teachers,” says Wall. “We’re able to have that model because we were able to get that extra cash flow from Charter School Capital.”
The school’s rigorous model, which focuses on creating individual educational “playbooks” for each student and imparting socially acceptable skills, also demands constant parental involvement and asks for rigid behavioral standards.
It’s not just educational growth that Young Scholars is tackling. Their goal is to actively engage with, and improve, their community in South Linden, including partnering with a local civic center, nearby churches, and sponsoring anti-violence events.
Wall describes the positive impact they’re having on their community. “When I pulled up the first day to hang the school sign, there were 15 gang members peddling drugs in front of the building. Since we’ve been open and having a presence in the community, they’ve taken their business elsewhere.”
Three years after opening their doors, Young Scholars has increased enrollment to 100 students. Once again they’ll be working with Charter School Capital to help finance their growth.
With less than four months remaining before the November general election, interests groups in the state are gearing up for legislative and statewide races.
Republicans, who have been shut-out of statewide office, are eyeing two opportunities to capture a statewide office: Secretary of State and Controller. Both races are wide open, though Democrats hold a large lead in voter registration in the state. The Secretary of State’s office has no clear front runner and the Controller’s race is stuck in a messy recount on the Democratic side between Board of Equalization member Betty Yee and former Assembly Speaker John Perez. The winner will face the Mayor of Fresno, Republican Ashley Swearengin, but the recount could go on for months.
The race that has really captured the attention of the education community and Sacramento interests groups is the race for Superintendent for Public Instruction. In that race the incumbent, former longtime Democratic legislator Tom Torlakson, received 1,767,257 votes or 46.5% of the vote. He will face off in November against Democrat Marshall Tuck who previously ran the Green Dot Public Schools and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s Partnership for LA Schools. He received 1,098,441 votes or 28.9%.
What makes the race interesting is that Lydia Gutierrez, the Republican, received 931,719 votes or 24.5%. Torlakson was heavily supported by the California Teacher’s union and the usual Democratic Sacramento interests. The teacher’s union spent several million dollars on his behalf in the race. Tuck was supported by individual educational philanthropists and a host of moderate Democrats. So the question for November is where will the Republican votes that Ms. Gutierrez received go? It is unlikely that Torlakson will pick them up which could deprive him of receiving over 50% of the vote; if Tuck can secure those votes and increase his own Democratic totals he could be primed for an upset victory using a very unique coalition.
This could mean a sea change at the Department of Education for folks engaging the department on numerous issues. Charter schools have had a tough time working with the department and a change in leadership may mean a change in direction as well. This has tempted a number of educational reform groups to get involved in the race and clearly the Teacher’s union will make this election a top priority.
It remains to be seen who will be able to claim a November victory.
Last week, at the National Charter School Conference in Las Vegas, we announced an innovative $500 million charter school facilities program to help charter schools nationwide address one of the charter school movement’s biggest challenges – securing facilities that meet the growing needs of charter schools. The formation of American Education Properties, LLC (AEP) brings together Charter School Capital and investment firm, American Infrastructure MLP Funds (AIM) to help solve the growing facilities needs of America’s charter schools.
The offering is unlike any other facilities financing options available on the market today. Charter schools will now be able to determine their own long-term facility needs and maintain full control of their buildings. This represents a major improvement from the year-to-year lease renewals that many charter schools currently experience. By providing long-term facilities security and an investment partner interested in charter school expansion, charter schools now have the ability to expand their enrollment and educational offerings with confidence.
What does this mean to charter schools?
- Charter schools now have the opportunity to provide the best facilities to match the needs of their educational programs as well as determine long-term facility needs while maintaining full control of their buildings.
- Schools will be empowered with the flexibility to make choices about what to do with their space so it best suits their faculty, staff and student community.
- Charter School Capital will work with all charter schools to facilitate the origination and sourcing, underwriting, asset administration, and property management.
Charter School Capital President and CEO, Stuart Ellis, noted, “The dramatic growth of charter schools – 13 percent in 2013 alone – makes it clear that facilities financing, which is already one of the industry’s largest challenges, will become an even more pressing issue during the coming years. In 2012, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS) found that more than half of charter schools would outgrow their current facilities within five years. Collaborating with AIM in the formation of American Education Properties allows us to serve a broad array of charter schools nationwide by freeing-up resources that schools are then able to allocate to classroom instruction or other operational needs.”
The news has charter school advocates celebrating. “Nearly one million students nationwide are on charter school waiting lists. Charter school educators are eager to meet that demand. Fortunately, Charter School Capital has stepped up and created a solution to help parents,” states Caprice Young, President, Education Growth Group and founder and former CEO of the California Charter Schools Association. “These resources will open doors like never before! Public charter schools are now able to expand, offer new programs and customize their space to create the learning environment that best matches student needs.”
Nina Rees, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools added, ” By providing charter schools security in their facilities, this effort helps lift a burden many schools face and will enable schools to focus, as they should, on their students and their academic results. School administrators will be better able to direct their scarce resources and time toward educating students rather than worrying about real estate needs.”
“We are pleased to be partnering with Charter School Capital on this important initiative,” said Bob Hellman, CEO of the American Infrastructure MLP Funds. “Our goal is to help solve America’s infrastructure needs with innovative capital solutions, and we believe that charter schools represent a critical and growing piece of this infrastructure puzzle. We look forward to working with schools and communities in need of secure, long-term facilities to provide the resources to help them continue to grow and thrive.”
Since we made this charter school facilities announcement, the availability of funds has been mentioned in several news media including the Portland Business Journal and Reuters.
What are your facility challenges? Has the inability to secure the right type of facilities impacted your charter school’s ability to enroll and educate more students in your community? Share your experiences with us below or email our team at GrowCharters@charterschoolcapital.com.