Vol. 5, No. 10
March 11, 2003 

* CHARTERS:

Arizona: A survey of Arizona parents with children in charter schools, released Monday by the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools, found that 66.9% of respondents assign their charter schools an A or A+ rating. This is up from 64% who did so a year earlier. More importantly, it far eclipses the 38% of Arizona's traditional public school parents who gave their schools such grades in May 2000 (the last time the state conducted such a survey). Also important was that researchers found a strong correlation between high grades and parental interest in a school's academics; academics were much more important to grades given to schools than were inputs such as after school programs, technology, or building quality. And arguably the most important finding: that "parents are clearly capable of soundly assessing the quality of a given school." This helps dispel the oft-heard anti-choice argument that parents aren't able to make informed decisions about where to have their children educated because they aren't education "experts." To view the report, go to: http://www.asbcs.state.az.us.

        Despite high satisfaction rates in Arizona charters, one columnist at the New York Times apparently concluded just the opposite. Curiously, he didn't do any scientific surveys but rather based his own findings, published last week, on the experience of one parent who felt forced to transfer her children twice to different charter schools. Worse, he failed to mention a rather significant fact: the parent enrolled her children in a third charter school where they are still enrolled and are doing well. For more check out CHARTER SCHOOLS' SUCCESS By Jeanne Allen, March 6 2003, Letter to the Editor of the New York Times.

North Carolina: Asheville City's foot dragging and legal dodges to avoid payment of the supplemental tax and fines and forfeiture monies owed to the Francine Delany Charter School has been finally stopped by the state Supreme Court. That means that the Asheville City school system has no more excuse not to pay the charter school monies owed. While this is great news for the school, it seems that Asheville may yet resort to some sort of legislative fix that may excuse their retroactive payment - sounds like more court time ahead. For more information, go to The League of Charter Schools, http://www.charterleague.org.

Utah: While we've barely finished a quarter of 2003, this state has already wrapped up its legislative action, with good news for charter fans. On the last day of the session, lawmakers approved a bill that will modestly raise the charter school cap and will also provide $1.5 million for a revolving facilities loan fund. The bill raises the number of charters that the state board can approve from 16 to 24 in 2003-04 with an additional eight in each subsequent year. While charters seem to be making some progress, it was reported by Children First America that a tax credit plan to enable school choices beyond public schools did not make it through the session. For more info go to the CFA website at: http://www.childrenfirstamerica.org/. 

* CHOICE: Buffalo and New York State civic and foundation leaders hosted a "School Choice Summit" this past weekend where nearly 300 parents, educators, church leaders and school board members gathered to talk about the importance that an array of school options can play in improving public education. The keynote speaker was former Milwaukee schools chief Howard Fuller, who provided insight and inspiration on the challenges and rewards of the school choice fight. The summit highlighted the necessity of including all aspects of a city in making everyone a stakeholder in the outcome. Notably, Buffalo's Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, Bishop Henry J. Mansell and School Board Member Paul G. Buchanan were present. The fight for more opportunities for parents in New York continues strong with leadership by the Bison Fund and the Foundation for Education Reform and Accountability. To get involved go to: http://www.bisonfund.com/ or http://www.nyfera.org/

* CURRICULUM: A new article that outlines the failure of Everyday Math in the classroom sheds more light on recent curriculum decisions and their impact. Writing for the Winter 2003 issue of the City Journal, Matthew Clavel - a Teach for America veteran - documents his attempts at sticking to the required curriculum that emphasized "critical thinking" and mastery of concept over the student's ability to "perform a calculation and come up with a right answer." Clavel describes a classroom where "cooperative learning" is a mainstay of the program, in an "inner-city classroom filled with kids whose often unstructured home lives make self-restraint a big problem." Clavel apparently was not alone in his quest to abandon the program but most teachers felt compelled to "keep going" despite its serious shortcomings. Read the full story at: http://city-journal.org/index.html. To learn more about the continuing saga of the Math Wars here.

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