Category Archives: Public Charter Schools

Update, 4/8: Denise at Colorado Charters offers more specific reasons why so many Denver families are exercising public school choice. Interesting news today from the Denver Post today under the headline “53 percent of DPS students opt out of assigned campuses.” Colorado has one of the nation’s very best, parent-friendly open enrollment laws — in effect for nearly two decades — which allows students to transfer to a public school outside their zone of residence under certain basic conditions. Individual districts approve the specific parameters of their own open enrollment policies. What the Post article highlights is the continuation of a steady upward trend in the share of families exercising public school choice. Ten years ago about 3 percent of Colorado public school students were enrolled in a district outside their residence; today it’s closer to 8 percent. You can check out the state department of education data for yourself.

Maybe it’s a little hometown Colorado bias at work here, but in my mind Douglas County vouchers is the education story of the year. I hope you didn’t think the story was essentially over once the Board adopted the program a few weeks ago. Because it’s not. Now that the official policy for the pilot scholarship program has been posted online for your careful review, there are at least four angles to keep an eye on moving forward:

A few weeks ago I pointed you to a study that showed Indiana charter schools outpacing their public school peers in making student academic improvements. Another place where charter schools are being done right — and on an unsurpassed scale — is New Orleans. Six of 10 public school students there is served by one of the city’s 51 charter schools. A recently-released study by Stanford’s Center for Research on Educational Outcomes (CREDO) finds significant academic advantages achieved by New Orleans charter schools, as reported in the Times-Picayune: A new analysis of standardized test scores in New Orleans shows a majority of the city’s independent charter schools are improving student performance in reading, math or both, at a notably faster rate than traditional schools.

Indiana is one of those states where an ambitious education reform push is underway. Interestingly, the Indianapolis Star reports today on some new evidence (H/T American Federation for Children) bolstering part of the legislative package supported by Governor Mitch Daniels and State Superintendent Tony Bennett: The Star looked at charter schools’ scores on ISTEP [Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress] and new end-of-course exams in math and English for high school students last year and compared them with scores in Indianapolis Public Schools. The comparison showed: Charter schools’ overall performance on ISTEP very closely matched that of IPS, but charters ranked somewhat higher on year-over-year improvement for their students compared with those who had similar scores in English.

When Mondays come, especially when the Monday is cold and wet and foggy, I’m on the lookout for good news. For parents seeking a better educational option for their kids, I just might have the sort of news you’re looking for. First and foremost, my Education Policy Center friends have added a new feature to one of my personally favorite sites on the Internet: School Choice for Kids. As if the site weren’t parent-friendly enough (but can it ever truly be?), a series of new brief, informative podcasts have been added to select pages. The four English and three Spanish podcasts provide a quick overview of the subject matter and point users to relevant other pages and features on the site — like this one on public online education. Coincidentally, another school information website was unveiled today. The Center for Education Reform has launched YourCharterSchool.com. The site offers an interactive map of the United States with links to all 5,301 charter schools nationwide. Nothing against this new site: In fact, I’ve got it bookmarked as a resource in case I’m looking for a charter school somewhere outside Colorado. But I’m still partial to School Choice for Kids. Not only does […]

A couple weeks ago I told you that the “parent trigger” idea was coming up soon for consideration in the Colorado legislature, and dispelled any idea that it might have something to do with guns or horses. Remember? We’re talking about empowering parents to change low-performing schools so they can improve them. Ok, so now it’s finally here, and it has a number: House Bill 1270 (PDF). If you live around Denver like I do and have the alternative of being bored this evening (and 8:30 isn’t past your bedtime!), then I truly hope you’ll tune in to tonight’s Devil’s Advocate show on Channel 12, as HB 1270 sponsor Rep. Don Beezley and my Education Policy Center friend Ben DeGrow talk about the “parent trigger” with host Jon Caldara. An Ed News Colorado story earlier this week gave a nutshell explanation of what HB 1270 would do:

I’ve been to Glenwood Springs before with my parents. It’s a neat place, with the caves and the rides and, of course, the hot springs. But this has got to be the first time I’ve blogged about it here. The local Post Independent reports that the Roaring Fork School District looks like they are about to forge ahead with something quite innovative: At tonight’s meeting, principals and teachers from Glenwood Springs and Sopris elementary schools, Glenwood Springs Middle School and Glenwood Springs High School, as well as district officials, will all be on hand to explain the concept and answer questions. Called “Moving On,” the new levels approach to student placement is the next step in district’s ongoing effort to adopt a standards-based learning model. The standards approach is intended to ensure that students achieve a certain degree of proficiency in a subject area, primarily reading, writing and math, before they move on to the next level.

In a high-tech media world, it’s still lots of fun to get an actual print copy of the Sunday newspaper. That’s what my parents do. Sunday afternoon as I was digging through the newest edition of the Denver Post to find the color comics, I ran across something called the “Perspective” section. What did I find, but two (not just one) very interesting pieces on K-12 education in our state — things I have told you about before right here on the blog. How exciting is that!

Here we are waist-deep into Colorado’s legislative session (at least I’m waist-deep, most big people are probably more like knee-deep). Pretty soon I may not be able to see the forest for the legislative bills. But there’s one policy idea from more than 1,000 miles away that has my attention right now. A few days ago Education Week reported that Georgia lawmakers have introduced a “parent trigger” bill (SB 68). “Trigger?” I hear you say. “Whoaaaa, horsey!” (Some of you old-timers might get that one.) Calm down. Don’t get your saddle in a bunch. The bill doesn’t have anything to do with guns or Second Amendment issues, or you might see the Independence Institute’s Dave Kopel writing about this rather than yours truly. The good folks at the Heartland Institute, who have widely promoted the parent trigger concept, explain it well:

You think school choice just means a state voucher program or public charter schools? Think again. We are living in an age of all kinds of creative school choice ideas. First you have our own Douglas County School District, which is moving forward to create a local voucher program — among several other school choice enhancements. Today in the Colorado legislature we have a big hearing on House Bill 1048, which would provide tax credit relief for parents who switch students to private or home schooling. As a state school choice policy with a twist, Matt Ladner and the Goldwater Institute are touting the idea of Education Savings Accounts, something reportedly being considered as a reform idea by Florida’s new governor Rick Scott. Then there’s the Foundation for Educational Choice, which has researched and promoted the idea of school passports as a way to radically re-think federal education stimulus spending. Writing today on the National Journal’s Education Experts blog, Colorado’s own State Board of Education chairman Bob Schaffer offers up another idea for a school choice initiative using federal dollars but crafted at the state level: