Issues
and Legislation
03/16/05
House
Finance Committee to hear charter schools budget on
March 22nd
On
Tuesday, March 22nd at 1:00 in State House room 35,
the House Finance Committee will hear the state aid
to education budget which calls for $3.9 million in
new funding for Rhode Island's public charter schools.
The Finance Committee will also be addressing budget
Article 13 which would lift the one year moratorium
on the opening of new charter schools imposed at the
end of last year's legislative session.
Please show your support by attending the hearing. If
you are able to attend or are interested in testifying,
please contact Steve Nardelli (453-3100, stevenardelli@richarterschools.com).
03/08/05
Rhode
Island League of Charter Schools announces its 2005
legislative agenda
Today
the Rhode Island League of Charter Schools released
its 2005 legislative agenda. Key issues during
this year's General Assembly include:
- Lifting of the moratorium
imposed last session under Budget Article 23;
- Addressing the charter
school district "cap” restrictions (urban
districts only, retain state-wide cap of 20);
- Ensuring the fair and
equitable funding of charter schools;
- Avoid the charter public
schools vs traditional public schools funding scenario.
It is critical that funding for one not be at the
expense of the other.
To
learn more:
12/01/04
Recently
released standardized tests scores show
Rhode Island's Charter Schools producing strong results
While
nearly ninety percent of RI's charter school students
are from urban districts, their test scores are equaling,
and often beating, those of suburban students. In an
examination of the newest data released by the Department
of Education, charter schools met all their targets,
were never found in the "need of improvement"
category and produced scores that bettered state averages
in both math and English Language Arts.
Of the 2,201 students who are currently in charter schools,
1,890 are from urban districts. This figure means that
86% of all RI's charter school students are from districts
where performance ratings are typically well below the
state average. Of the remaining 311 non-urban charter
school students, 237 are in elementary schools in South
Kingston. CVS Highlander is a school located in Providence,
however, it has a statewide draw that lowers the number
of urban students at this "Providence" school.
Most of the urban students who are in charter schools
are enrolled in schools designed for at-risk youth or
for students in English as a Second Language programs.
The clear trend found in the release of the 2004 test
scores was that charter school students produce test
scores that routinely outperformed their district peers
and often outpaced the state averages. Looking at the
charter school scores as a whole the word "remarkable"
can be accurately used to describe their performance.
All of the state's charter schools have been designated
to be performing (moderately or high performing) with
varying levels of improvement and sustainability.
League president and policy analyst Robert Pilkington
equates the charter school performance with that of
suburban schools. "If the League of Charter Schools
were considered a "district" of eleven schools,
then this predominantly urban "system" would
be producing "suburban" performance ratings."
All the districts with 100% performing schools, and
without any "schools in need of improvement,"
are suburban. No urban district has 100% of its schools
in performance categories.
Rhode
Island League of Charter Schools E-News: Response to
NY Times Article Critical of Charter Schools
Read
the latest version of the Rhode Island League of Charter
School's "E-News" which responds to a 8/18/04
article
in the New York Times about charter school performance.
Defaming
Charters: Chester Finn Editorial in the New York Post
Read
Chester Finn's response to the recently released American
Federation of Teachers report claiming that the nation's
charter schools are not performing as well as public
schools.
Editorial:
Moratorium Takes Choice Away From All RI Schools
Read
Rob Pilkington's editorial pointing out the many problems
with the General Assembly's charter school moratorium.
Editorial:
R.I. needs these experiments -- Unwise moratorium on
charter schools
Read
Ron Wolk's editorial in the 07/14/04 issue of the Providence
Journal.
Editorial:
Moratorium on charters must go
Read
Julia Steiny's editorial in the 07/11/04 issue of the
Providence Journal.
News
Article: Regents OK new charter school in Central Falls
Read
Linda Borg's article in the 07/09/04 issue of the Providence
Journal.
League
Opposes One Year Charter School Moratorium
Read
Rob Pilkington's letter to the House Finance committee
stating the League's opposition to the one year moratorium
on the granting of final approval for new charter schools.
Update:
House Approves Full Funding For RI Charter Schools But
Includes One Year Moratorium On New Charters
06/21/04
On Friday the 18th, the House passed the state budget,
including Article 23 which funds charter schools. All
our schools were approved for the necessary funding
to grow at their pre-established growth levels as well
as funding for a new charter school in Central Falls.
This clearly is a massive vote of confidence in the
state's charter schools. As a movement we have worked
hard to get our word out, we wrote passionate and compelling
letters and emails, and showed unwavering belief in
ten great schools. The General Assembly would not have
been willing to approve this level of funding had we
not been effective in the operation of our grassroots
lobbying, and most importantly, had we not delivered
the educational excellence found in each of the ten
charter schools.
There was one unforeseen speed bump though. The final
version of Article 23 includes language that precludes,
or places a moratorium on, the final granting of any
new charters until the 2006/2007 school year. The Rhode
Island League of Charter Schools opposes the moratorium
because:
- Our charter schools are working.
They are providing real public school choice and are
outperforming their district peers on standardized
tests. Why would you want to slow what has proved
to be a tremendously successful innovation in Rhode
Island public education?
- The federal No Child Left Behind
Act (NCLB) requires districts to provide school choice.
Charter schools clearly fill this role. By denying
new charters for one year, several districts will
be unable to offer meaningful school choice as required
by NCLB.
- The moratorium jeopardizes federal
Department of Education planning and matching funds
for charter proposals that are nearing approval.
- Rhode Island’s 10 currently
operating charter schools educate only 1.1% of the
state’s public school population. There are
3 new charter proposals currently in the Department
of Education’s approval pipeline. Even if all
three were approved, charters would still educate
less than 2% of the state school population. In another
words, we are no threat to traditional district schools.
- The moratorium would take away
choice from districts that want and actively encourage
the formation of district charters. For example, the
towns of Coventry, West Warwick, and East Greenwich
have all collaborated and helped fund the planning
and development of the Accelerated Learning Community
High School sponsored by the Urban Collaborative,
and one of the 3 charter proposals now in the approval
pipeline. If a district wants a charter, it makes
little sense to take that option off the table.
In
conjunction with the Department of Education, we will
continue to educate legislators about the negative consequences
of the moratorium in hopes that it may be lifted during
next year's legislative session.
Support
Governor Carcieri's Call to Increase Charter School
Funding
Governor
Carcieri's financial year 2005 budget contains a proposal
for $5.7 million in additional funding for Rhode Island
charter schools. While this money is clearly necessary
to fund the tremendous growth our charter schools are
experiencing, unfortunately, the additional money is
being portrayed in the media and by our opponents as
"taking money away from public schools."
We
need to refute this argument and explain to Rhode Island
lawmakers why these funds are absolutely necessary for
our charter schools. In particular, members of
the House and Senate Finance Committees, who shape the
final state budget, need to hear from us. Please
read the briefing information and talking points below,
and then be sure to use our "Contact
Your Lawmakers" feature to write a letter in
support of increased funding for our schools.
Charter
School Myths and Reality
Accomplishments
of Rhode Island's Charter Schools
How
Charters Succeed and Serve a Needed Function in Rhode
Island Public Education
Rhode
Island Charter Schools Standardized Test Performance
View
Rob Pilkington's PowerPoint presentation to the House
Finance Committee
Providence
Journal coverage of the House Finance Committee's hearing
on the '05 RIDE budget
Oppose
House Bill 7252 and Additional Red Tape for Charter
Schools
House
Bill 7252, introduced by Rep. Gallison (D-Bristol,
Portsmouth), would require that funding for charter
schools be approved by the voters of each local district
at either a regularly scheduled financial town meeting
or budget meeting.
The
Rhode Island League of Charter Schools strongly opposes
this legislation because:
- Parents should not be denied
their property taxpayer rights to public school choice
- Parents should not be pitted
against the city in budget meetings over public school
choice
- Current waiting lists and lotteries
make it hard to get into a charter school. There shouldn’t
be any more impediments for families
- The spirit of the bill is not
conducive to access for all
- Fiscal participation by
one district, and not by another, creates a unfair
urban burden on charter schools with a statewide draw
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