Saturday, May 8, 2010

The State of Charter School Authorizing :: Frederick M. Hess

Frederick M. Hess's Blog

The State of Charter School Authorizing

by Frederick M. Hess • May 6, 2010 at 12:47 pm
Cross-posted from Education Week

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Today, the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) released its second annual survey of charter school authorizers (full disclosure: I'm a member of the NACSA board of directors). The survey included all authorizers with ten or more schools--accounting for nearly two-thirds of the nation's charter schools--and a sample of smaller authorizers.

The report offers some terrifically informative data even before one gets to the survey results (even more disclosure: I'm a member of the research advisory board that assisted with the survey). Discussions of chartering and charter authorizing are frequently clouded by confusion as to just what they entail. The report addresses this with a snapshot of the nation's authorizers, and the picture may surprise some casual observers; of the nation's 872 authorizers, 89 percent are local education agencies (e.g. school districts). Five percent are institutions of higher education. And all the rest of the authorizers combined, including state boards, mayors, non-profits, and so on, barely amount to 5 percent of the authorizer population.

That said, districts account for well under half of the big authorizers (again, those with 10 or more schools),

How do we help students in Oregon's lowest performing schools? | OregonLive.com

How do we help students in Oregon's lowest performing schools?

By The Oregonian

May 08, 2010, 10:10AM

“If Oregon could do one thing differently to help students in the state’s lowest performing schools, what would it be?”

Two weeks ago, we posed the above question to readers.

Today we share the dozens of responses that we received from educators, students, politicians, advocates and members of the public, with the hope that these suggestions provide a springboard for further conversation — and action — around the state.

Go to The Stump, our Opinion blog, to read what people had to say and take a reader poll. "Helping students at Oregon's lowest performing schools"

Pure Aveda Salonspa is Doing Their Part � Tangerine, Florida

Pure Aveda Salonspa is Doing Their Part

Pure Aveda Salonspa's Hair Collection

Pictured above, Pure Aveda Salonspa is doing their part to help clean up the BP Oil Spill. Some of the tribe at Pure Aveda Salonspa shows what 70 pounds of hair really looks like. They shipped all this to the Gulf Coast to be made into oil absorbing hair mats and booms by “Matter of Trust,” a non-profit organization. Hair and pet salons wishing to join in the effort may contact Matter of Trust by clicking on the link.

Schools Matter: Just How Full of S**t are the Bakkes?

Just How Full of S**t are the Bakkes?

by Kenneth Libby

Here's a little snippet from Stephanie Strom's recent NY Times article on Imagine:

Mrs. Bakke said her company “is operated as a not-for-profit.” But Imagine is not a nonprofit group, and it has so far failed to gain status as a charity from the I.R.S.

Imagine applied for federal tax exemption in 2005 and has repeatedly said approval is imminent. It typically takes four to six months for such approvals. “We’re not sure why it’s taking so long,” said Mrs. Bakke, who is 56. “We suspect it’s because we’re trailblazers in a sense, and they haven’t had an application quite like this.”

Imagine has registered both a non-profit and a for-profit company in Virginia. That's likely what makes their

The Profiteers Pedagogy Deputy Undersecretary Robert Shireman caused quite a stir a few weeks back when he compared for-profit diploma mills to "the Wall Street firms whose behavior led to the financial meltdown and called them out individually, one by one, for the vast and ...

Besieged county school chief quits :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Metro & Tri-State

Besieged county school chief quits

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May 8, 2010

BY KATE MCCANN SouthtownStar

Regional Schools Supt. Charles Flowers -- accused of stealing hundreds of thousands in public money -- resigned his post Friday, four months after he was charged with criminal wrongdoing and 10 months after he was sued for fraud by Cook County prosecutors.
The Suburban Cook County Regional Office of Education, which he headed for nearly three years, was permanently closed by state lawmakers earlier in the week.
Flowers' resignation follows a long investigation by the SouthtownStar into the office's finances. The paper uncovered a bloated payroll and alleged gross misuse of public money, including taking out hefty cash advances on the office's credit card, using taxpayer money to dine at swanky restaurants and buying plane tickets to Mississippi for his children.
In January, Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez charged Flowers with felony theft and official misconduct, alleging that in a span of about two years, Flowers skimmed close to $400,000 from the regional schools office.

Education - Everything you need to know about the world of education.

Education- Everything you need to know about the world of education.

Suzanne Maxey named principal of T.C. Williams

Former Maryland principal with record of school improvement will lead Alexandria reform effort.

MORE ON EDUCATION

T. C. Williams was targeted by the federal government this spring as among the weakest in the nation, given a "persistently lowest achieving school" label. (Lois Raimondo/TWP)

VALERIE STRAUSS

The Answer Sheet

A School Survival Guide for Parents (And Everyone Else)

Posted at 3:00 PM ET, 05/ 7/2010

Learning Stories: Tell your own

school systems: What do these actually look like. To find out, Rethink Learning Now asked people from various walks of life to talk about their most powerful learning experiences. You can share your own.

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