CHARTER SCHOOL ADVOCATES MOBILIZE
FOR NATIONAL CHARTER SCHOOLS WEEK
The nation’s more than 7,100 charter schools, and millions of educators, parents and advocates will join millions of their peers across the country to celebrate the 18th annual National Charter Schools Week from May 6 – 12th, 2018.
The first nationally recognized charter schools week took place in 2000 with a presidential proclamation:
“Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 1 through May 5, 2000, as National Charter Schools Week. I encourage the American people to mark this observance with appropriate programs and activities that raise awareness of the many contributions that public charter schools make to the education of our children and the success of our Nation.”
Since that time, 44 states, the District of Columbia and now Puerto Rico have enacted laws providing the opportunity for the creation of new neighborhood schools, governed locally with most operations managed – in states with strong laws - at the school level and concentrated on students, not systems. The result is improved education in cities with a critical mass of charters ranging from Boston to Los Angeles, and states whose economies have soared because educational opportunity is their focus.
From President Clinton to President Trump who also issued a proclamation this week, every president and most Governors have recognized the importance of educational innovations that charter schools have made possible.
To honor these milestones and celebrate those Americans who have made it possible, thousands of events will be taking place throughout the country. They will stand in stark contrast to the negative and oppositional actions of the teachers unions who are pulling teachers out of classrooms and attacking this vital school option every day.
WHO: Millions of families in thousands of charter schools across the country. WHAT: Data, research, celebrations, festivals, rallies, and more.
WHEN: May 6 -12, 2018
WHERE: Everywhere. Follow #CharterSchoolsWeek or contact us for more information.
Each day during National Charter Schools Week 2018, we will release an array of resources, content and research which will inform the media and the general public. Articles, OpEds, reports, publications, podcasts and videos will be available on edreform.com/ncsw2018 and through social media @edreform.
Log onto edreform.com/ncsw2018 for continued news
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Utah Connections Academy to Host
Information Session in Layton
Event features information on curriculum, teacher-student interaction, college preparation and social events at local online school
WHO: Teachers and/or staff and local families from Utah Connections Academy, an online public school serving students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Anyone interested in learning about Utah Connections Academy is welcome.
WHAT: Utah Connections Academy (UCA), a tuition-free online public school serving students in kindergarten through 12th grade, is hosting a free information session at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 9, at the Courtyard Salt Lake City Layton, to help families learn more about UCA’s world-class curriculum, and thoroughly explore the high-quality online program.
WHEN: Wednesday, May 9, at 7 p.m.
WHERE: Courtyard Salt Lake City Layton
VISUALS/INTERVIEWS:
ABOUT UTAH CONNECTIONS ACADEMY:
For information, call (800) 382–6010 or visit www.UtahConnectionsAcademy.com
National Charter Schools Week 2018: An Open Letter from Jeanne Allen
Opportunities Under Siege
In the 27+ years since the founding of the charter school movement, tremendous progress has been made in the number of schools established, and in the wealth of innovative opportunities they offer to children, families, teachers and communities. In the 25 years CER has been leading the fight for innovation and opportunity in education, we’ve been privy to the best hearts and minds that one could ever hope to bring together under one tent to serve children and expand educational excellence.
They make up the world’s most dedicated advocates – parents, policy advocates, legislators – and some of brightest minds in the areas of education technology, pedagogy, curriculum, teaching and learning has helped create a vibrant community of charters. When we first started celebrating National Charter Schools Week with events on Capitol Hill and in every city, it was still a novel idea. The power of that idea now has seen a payoff for children and families that has catalyzed cities, improved communities and created life changing futures for students once relegated only to failing schools.
So why then, tell me, do so many members of the education establishment not want to break out of their comfort and ideological rigidity and embrace a cause that has paved the way for innovations in teaching and learning? Why did they ignore the data that saw charter school achievement for the most needing of students soaring in many states on this year’s Nation’s Report Card and instead, dedicated their money, time and public relations army to convincing teachers to abandon their work and walk out of union and non-union schools alike? Why are those same teachers unions trying to create unrest in the largest and most successful network of public charter schools, the Alliance College Ready Public Schools, even after 3 years of trying, 10 lawsuits and thousands of home visits have still turned up short of those committed teachers wanting to unionizes their successful independent public schools?
I’ll tell you why. Because even despite chronic underfunding and a constant misinformation campaign and attack by opponents of charters and education transformation, more than 7,000 charters serve more than threemillion children in urban, suburban and even a few rural communities across the country. Together with waiting lists over one million nationwide, and engaged adults and staffs around those kids that are close to 20 million all in, this is a movement that was once considered unthinkable but that is now unstoppable.
We are tri-partisan, we are mixed in race, creed and color, we are diverse in socio-economics and occupation and we count among us visionaries, parents, public servants, politicians, activists, lawyers, doctors, working class, poor and just plain old fashioned committed folks.
Together we believe that all children deserve a great education and we aim to make sure they get it.
Together we know that learning is a natural phenomenon and schools built around it will ensure the achievement of learners.
Together we believe that uniformity of educational pedagogy, pay scales or expected performance only produced mediocrity, at best.
Together, we believe that no child should be forced to attend a school against their wishes and because of where they were born.
Together we believe that those closest to our kids know best and that with parents engaged, educators, school leaders and community leaders know best how to serve our students.
Together, we know that the traditional factory model of education is to schooling today what landlines are to mobile phones. And together we have and will continue to fight to ensure that better education is accessible to every child, every learner, at every level.
We know that charter school students surpass their traditional public school counterparts in key areas of learning and proficiency. We know that the safe, supportive learning environments that charter schools provide makes them a far-and-away better choice for parents than many troubled traditional public schools. We know that traditional education changes when they are pressured with the availability of other options. And we know that when charter schools do not meet expectations or the provisions of their charter, they can be and are closed, something that seldomly occurs in the 180 year old system that is designed so that no matter what their performance, they remain open.
To our dear friends and allies and the many thousands who toil daily to work in, create, support and advance charter schools, we must band together even more to recommit ourselves to the strong policies and programs that put charter schools on the map and have given millions of students over the years a path to the future. For despite our success we are under siege.
This past year we have witnessed the unthinkable. A union boss race baiting over charter schools, the NAACP calling for their moratorium, school districts denying funding and fighting to recapture control.
There are legislators who refuse to fund laws they pass, or set bureaucratic limitations on the power of charter schools to set their own course for success. They fear political risks, and fewer and fewer legislators are willing to stand four-square behind the boldest of charter school policies - those that create the kinds of educational success we see in Arizona, Florida, and Indiana, to name just three. Best to keep your head down and placate the powerful special interests than to take the bold steps needed to deliver real reform via strong charter laws. Then there are those, including some mayors, who fear nothing and simply believe that their old tired and worn allegiances with big union money power are the only cause worth fighting for.
On the other side of the ledger, we have witnessed in recent years the well-intentioned but damaging work of those allies who help those legislators, or create those rules and believe that state-required and imperfect standards and assessments are superior judges of educational success. Their “we know more than you and your parents” mindset has been on a downward spiralthat is discouraging the creation of innovative schools, new entrants to leadership and teaching, and the creativity that charters once protected better than any other educational entity.
If we shed the obstacles that bind limit our reach, our power and our work we can transform education for learners at all levels. The opportunities for education in this 21st global century are boundless. And necessary. As Jefferson argued “no other sure foundation can be devised for the preservation of freedom and happiness."
There is much to celebrate. This week we will bring you stories of success, captivating interviews with charter leaders, and data to bolster your arguments. Cheer them on, but remember they are under siege. We must fight for them, and remove the obstacles to the charter idea reaching more people. Only that way will the children be well and prosper.
