Illinois Network of Charter Schools Blog

Digital Media and Learning

2010-04-27T11:00:00.001-05:00

Digital Media and Learning, founded by the MacArthur Foundation, brings the idea of learning through media into perspective. The article points out how more and more people are leaning though media and technology and how this can be incorporated into schools as well. The article mentions the increased amount of learning done through the internet due to having access to as much information as you want, being able to look up your own interests and more. Incorporating digital media into academics and school life is one of Digital Media and Learning’s goals for the future.

Media is something the majority of teens are familiar with and have access to. As a junior at Priztker College Prep, I believe this would be a successful way of getting more students involved and learning more. Charter schools, having the ability to manage their curriculum, can shape their courses around game-like learning, which will cause a student’s mind to learn while solving “missions or quests.” It’s like taking something teens are already accustomed to and enjoy, and centering it on academics, also making learning a more enjoyable experience.

Getting to experiment with all types of media equipment, with the right focus, in my opinion, would cause students to learn more even when they don’t think they are.

-Elizabeth Martinez, INCS intern

INCS Teacher Job Fair pictures

2010-04-27T10:31:00.004-05:00

Here are some pics from INCS' fifth annual Teacher Job Fair.

Check back later for more!

Lobby Day 2010 Pics

2010-03-31T10:58:00.015-05:00

Bright and early at the Soldier Field Rally.

David Weinberg, INCS Board Chair, addressing the crowd.

Ron Huberman, CPS CEO, showing his support.

Students standing up for their charter schools.

Ron Huberman's address.

On the road to Springfield.

Happy to be counted.

Showing off the signs just before the rally in the rotunda.

Waiting for the rally to start.

Erie Elementary manning an information table.

One Student Group’s Springfield Lobbying Experience

2010-03-31T10:55:00.001-05:00

As an INCS consultant on INCS’ Mar. 25th Lobby Day, I had the pleasure of guiding seven high school girls from Young Women’s Leadership Charter School as they and their two teachers hunted down legislators to promote school funding. For an educator like me, this was as much about kids’ learning as about influencing government. And what a day it was.

We first sought out Senator Kwame Raoul, whose district includes the school. Though he was out of town, others hovered about their offices nearby, leading to an extensive discussion with Senator Emil Jones III and new Senator Toi Hutchinson. Hutchinson, particularly, praised the girls for their lobbying effort, and was clearly jazzed to see young minority women taking action.

Representative Barbara Flynn Currie was on our list, and the girls, nervous that she disliked charters, strategized at length about how to pitch their arguments. Unfortunately, Currie was away so the kids didn’t get to test their plans.

Our next hit was Representative William Burns – an easy win because his wife is on the YWLCS Board. Burns, wanting to do more than just brag about his support for the school and charters, provided a mini-lecture on the politics of passing a tax increase in the legislature. Then he suggested we talk with Rep. Karen Yarbrough, and even fished her off the House floor for us. She made each girl state a reason for protecting the education budget, which was great for drawing out the shy kids. Unfortunately she missed one girl in the process. The teachers reminded the girls afterward about the importance of a firm handshake, rather than limp-fish-style.

At the end of the afternoon, as I sat next to Janae in the House visitors gallery, she fumed at the scene. “They’ve all got laptops!” she snapped. “They’ve had opportunities, education, but they don’t care about it for us.” Nevertheless, she told me how her youthful slack attitude had been turned around by a caring bible study teacher at church, who used to call every night to make sure she was doing her homework. “I’ve gone to four different schools,” she said. “And no one at school helped me until I came to Young Women’s.”

She’s going to go far.

--Steve Zemelman

Charter school vote in Peoria

2010-01-07T16:34:00.000-06:00

On Monday, the Peoria school board will cast their vote on the proposed Math, Science and Technology Charter School (MST Charter School). We sincerely hope they will vote yes to approve the school.

The Peoria Charter School Initiative (PCSI), which has proposed the new school, brings together prominent leaders from business, higher education and the grassroots community. They have teamed with experienced charter school leaders from Concept Schools, which operates Chicago Math and Science Academy (CMSA), to design the school. They have also received support from INCS through our Charter Starter Consulting Program. We believe MST Charter School will be a school of excellence.

Technology leaders in Peoria think so, too. The Caterpillar Foundation has shown its support with a $500,000 challenge grant to the school and other local supporters are stepping up to the plate with funding in response. In addition, hundreds of grassroots community members support the school and want the high-quality, innovative curriculum it will provide for their children.

The proposed school would ultimately serve students in grades 5-12. The MST Charter School offers the promise not only of success in middle and high school, but of college success, as well. Concept Schools has a strong track record of sending students to college. CMSA graduated 100% of the senior class in 2009 and all of those students were accepted to college.

This promise of college success is exemplified in another Peoria connection: Jeovanna Tovar, a student a current senior at CMSA, was just accepted to Bradley University in Peoria with a $50,000 scholarship. How wonderful it will be when the first graduates of Peoria’s MST Charter School can enter Bradley and other colleges and universities across the country, well-prepared for higher education and the 21st century careers beyond.

For more information on the MST Charter School and how to support it, visit
http://www.peoriacharterschools.org/

~Anne Levy Brown

Beyond the Mechanics: Building College-Going Cultures at Charter Schools

2010-01-06T11:20:00.002-06:00

College for All (CFA) is an INCS School Services program that helps charter schools strengthen their college going cultures and college counseling support systems. As INCS’ CFA Consultant one of the most exciting things about CFA for me is the chance to develop and implement projects with the schools. I meet with college counseling staff at each school and together we decide what is most needed. Then I create individualized plans that help the schools grow their college counseling capacity.

At UNO-Dr. Hector Perez Garcia Charter High School and Pritzker College Prep, we developed school profiles that would clearly explain what each school’s characteristics are and how they work. These will be sent with students’ applications so colleges will understand their academic environment and see characteristics that make the schools unique. Both schools have also received instruction on using Naviance, a “full service” application that enables counselors, students, parents, and colleges to communicate with each other and organize the college process entirely on line.

At UNO and DuSable Leadership Academy, we developed a comprehensive calendar of college process and testing dates that paralleled school calendars so counselors would know when they and their students need to get things done. For UNO we’re also working on a series of workshops for parents called “Esquela para padres,” that will provide college and financial aid information for parents in Spanish over the course of a year.

Gary Comer College Prep is creating a series of sessions on college for students. We met and developed a sequenced series of questions and exercises that help students think about their interests and goals as they think ahead to college. I’m also creating a list of summer possibilities for students and linking them with Pritzker, which already has a strong emphasis on having students participate in summer programs all over the country.

In some cases, we have created a college office from the ground up. UNO has a large counseling space in its new building. We worked together to make it inviting and useful. Additionally, we located it in a central and highly visible area of the school rather than in a more isolated wing of the building. This will be a constant reminder to students that college is open to everyone. It’s still a work in progress but the counselors have plans and ideas to work with.

For middle school members such as Galapagos and Catalyst Charter Schools, I developed exercises and classroom activities for younger students that can help them get the idea of college in their minds, such as writing stories about their teacher’s college mascot and having a scavenger hunt for when they visit college campuses—finding the mascot or other prominent site son campus. For Galapagos I also made a presentation to the faculty before school opened about college and the process so we could start to have everyone on the same page when they talk to students about the future.

Each of these projects is just a touchstone for the steps to come. As counselors adapt them to their schools, they’ll be building traditions that will guide them and their students through the college process and on to college itself. The enthusiasm and energy CFA counselors bring to their tasks are creating the necessary conditions for each charter school to be a powerful influence on the road to college.

~Willard M. Dix, INCS College for All Consultant

Transforming public education in Rockford

2009-12-08T15:41:00.001-06:00

I had the pleasure of visiting the two new charter public schools in Rockford recently, along with several of my colleagues from INCS and the Rockford Charter School Initiative (RCSI).

Three themes stood out to me at both schools, as we visited classrooms, saw students in action and talked with teachers: high expectations, engagement and support.

At Legacy Academy of Excellence, these themes came across in the consistent, active involvement of students in classrooms throughout the school. Students enthusiastically participated in the call and response of the Direct Instruction approach. The hallways resonated with the sound of student voices. In one of classroom, several students proudly showed me the fiction writing they were working on. Two boys were writing stories about each other and sports – topics that clearly appealed to them both.

A parent and board member shared with us that the school has truly transformed his son’s educational experience. In a sharp departure from the past, he said, his son is now coming home excited about school, eager to talk about what he’s learning and to do his homework.

At Galapagos Rockford, a new charter school replicating the original Galapagos Charter School in Chicago, we were greeted by bright, large classrooms set up for stations and small group instruction using the “CAFÉ” model to teach reading (Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, Expanding Vocabulary). College pendants and other reminders that the elementary school “scholars” (as they refer to their students) are on the path to higher education were displayed throughout the school. We learned about the monthly parades to celebrate students who have consistently completed homework and behaved in a scholarly fashion.

A third grade teacher (a Rockford native who returned to her community with the opening of the charter school) showed us two samples of a student’s writing – one from the first week of school and one from several months later. The difference was remarkable: the first was a sloppy, poorly-written half-page; the second, a neatly written, multi-page story incorporating quotations. The teacher attributed this change to the high expectations of the students in her classroom and across the school.

In both schools, students and teachers are learning for more hours than in the traditional school system – with longer school days for students and significant time devoted to professional development for teachers. A gallery walk in the professional development room at Legacy showed that students weren’t the only ones engaged and supported in their learning. Flip chart posters circled the large room, displaying the work on strategies such as Activating Prior Knowledge that teachers had completed in playfully named teams.

-Anne Levy-Brown

Bronzeville Lighthouse Charter School visit

2009-12-08T15:38:00.002-06:00

The faculty and staff at Bronzeville Lighthouse Charter School were very pleasant and accommodating. I was escorted by the family coordinator for BLCS, Mrs. Michelle Clayborn. Upon my arrival, the students were on their last lunch session as other students were already back in class. As I toured the school, we had some dialogue about the school’s structure. BLCS has over 450 students enrolled. The school accommodates grades kindergarten through eighth grade. There are two classrooms for each grade with a maximum of 25 students. The school hours are from 8AM-4PM. The “K-4th” grade students are located on the first floor and the 5th-8th grade students are located on the second floor. There is a Director of Instruction on each floor whose primary responsibility is teacher support.

The school serves both breakfast and lunch for 30 minutes and 20 minutes respectively. The lunchroom is also used for their after-school program and parent sessions. The parents are required to attend at least two sessions. In addition to their major subjects taught, BLCS also offer Music, Spanish, Technology, Art, and Library classes. During my visit, there were students practicing on the drums in preparation for their Christmas program through a community partnership. BLCS integrates art programs to support their mission. This allows their students to be creative through learning. The school has an art studio which displays many works by the students.

I had the opportunity to sit in on a third grade class. The teacher was covering an English exercise where students identified topic sentences and details within a paragraph. The students were very attentive. The asked relevant questions and seem to understand the lesson. The teacher did a good job with her delivery of the lesson. I also observed an eighth grade class where the teacher was covering a book reading assignment. The students are to read 10 books of their choice. Upon reading the books, the students are required to complete a book review, engage in book talk and online discussion. She also covered a lesson on writing an autobiography. She passed out index cards that had questions on them. The students asked the teacher questions from the cards. She provided answers as a way to stimulate their thoughts for writing an autobiography. Once the students complete the autobiography, they have to create a PowerPoint presentation or poster display. I also visited the computer lab. The computer teacher is relatively new to BLCS and will be taking on a technical support role for the school. She also mentioned that their administration currently serves as their technical support.

-Jerald Blackwell

An educator and consultant

2009-11-24T17:14:00.002-06:00

As an educator and consultant, I’ve helped to start a number of new schools and reviewed many charter proposals. So one of my main jobs at INCS is to work with design teams seeking to start new charter schools, and to field questions from people who want to get started on the process. One of the most uplifting aspects of this work is that there are so many people throughout Illinois who care deeply about improving life opportunities for kids, particularly for underserved populations. And they have a great many innovative and well-thought-out ideas about how to do this. They are usually not interested in putting down or replacing existing school districts, but simply seeking exciting alternatives – individualized learning plans for kids, engaging real-world inquiry projects, collaboration among teachers, strong school cultures that respect children, focus on preparing all students for college and getting them there. These are things that good educators seek everywhere, though charters often make it easier to get them started. In some of the political back-and-forth and concerns about testing and control, it can be easy to lose sight of this great fund of energy and inspiration. But if you are someone who would like to launch a start-up effort yourself, or to get involved in one of the teams that is already making progress, call us here at INCS and we’re ready to help and to give you our best guidance.

--Steve Zemelman, Director of School Innovation and Planning

Carlos Perez testimony

2009-11-24T17:09:00.003-06:00

INCS testimony at CPS Board Meeting 11-23-09, given by Carlos Perez, Director of Public Policy

On behalf of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, we’d like to extend our deepest sympathy for the loss of Michael Scott. Our thoughts remain with his family and colleagues.

Today you will vote to convert a number of contract schools to charters and to create 5 new charter school campuses which will provide new educational opportunities for hundreds of Chicago’s families.

These schools started as one new school with the intention to provide innovative educational practices. Nearly ten years ago, the CPS board supported two teachers when they took a chance to create Noble St. charter school. Today you will be voting to continue that schools expansion as they work to put thousands of Chicago’s children in college.

Over ten years ago, this body voted to create LEARN charter school, a small school that grew from a 3 flat apartment building in North Lawndale to one of the top performing elementary schools in the city. Today you will vote to expand that educational opportunity from the Westside to the city’s South Shore community.

Years ago the CPS board showed leadership when this body authorized the United Neighborhood Organization to open an elementary school on the city’s Westside. This relationship serves as one example of the many ways community organizations can work together with the school district. Today, UNO continues to serve to help alleviate overcrowding in the city’s Latino communities while providing a rigorous education.

Unfortunately, today you will not be voting to create any new charter schools that have come through this year’s request for proposal process.

At the heart of the charter law, and indeed the lifeblood of a robust charter sector, is the infusion of new innovative techniques and new educational entrepreneurs. You are witnessing first-hand those successes being brought to scale. The visionaries of the future may be dreaming of their ideal school for Englewood, or Logan Square, or Beverly as I speak. Don’t close the door on their chance to strengthen public education in their community.

We encourage CPS to continue to exert leadership and it is our hope that new charter public school operators will be given the chance to create the next great school for Chicago’s children.

An unlikely trio on Meet the Press

2009-11-19T16:32:00.003-06:00

This past Sunday on Meet the Press with David Gregory, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Reverend Al Sharpton sat down to talk about the state of public education in our country and how President Obama’s Race to the Top Fund is seeking to improve states’ school systems. The trio -- which brings both liberal and conservative ideals to the table -- is not the most likely group to band together in addressing one of the nation’s most important 21st century challenges. However, it is nice to see bipartisan support for education since the futures of our children should not be held victim to partisan politics.

Charter schools, ever since they burst on the scene less than twenty years ago have been thought of as engines of innovation, schools that could be used to discover new best practices that could in turn be shared across school districts. The Race to the Top fund recognizes successful approaches states have taken to increase student achievement and encourages competition between states to keep raising the bar.

This kind of competition sounds pretty healthy if the payoff is more students achieving above state standards. With 1.2 million students dropping out of school each year, unique approaches must be taken.

States begin applying for the competitive grant in the beginning of the year; new ideas will be implemented -- ideas like data systems that track a student’s entire record from kindergarten through high school, and using data to track principal performance. Imagine what could happen if we keep pushing for more of these “unlikely alliances” to solve our nation’s biggest challenges.

-Marvin Smith

The charter choice

2009-11-17T12:09:00.002-06:00

As I was dropping my children off at their Chicago Public School this morning, another mother stopped to ask me about charter schools. Her child is a 7th grader and she has begun the arduous task of investigating the multitude of high school options. She had just attended an open house at CICS Northtown, and came away very impressed.

This mother wanted to know how admissions worked for charter schools. When I explained that it was a citywide lottery, done in public with full transparency, she was impressed -- but discouraged. As she told me, “I don’t want to get too enthusiastic about a charter school when I know my child literally has to win the lottery to gain admission.” I don’t know that the odds of gaining admission to one of the college prep magnets are any better or worse than winning a charter school lottery, but it doesn’t really matter -- the odds are stacked against your child in both instances.

Just a few weeks ago, I attended an open house at the Disney II performance school and was wowed by the fabulous work being done there. But, like my friend, I walked away discouraged, knowing it was all but impossible to get my 7 year old twins into the school.

This dilemma is occurring across the city. And what it really comes down to is the fact that there are not enough high quality options for ALL children -- charter, magnet, or neighborhood schools. I work daily to serve and promote charter schools because I believe they dramatically raise the academic achievement -- and brighten the future -- for so many children that would otherwise be stuck in failing schools.

Charters are not the only answer, but right now they are the best lever we have to push the public school system to close the achievement gap. I just wish there were more of them!

--Pamela Clarke

Chicago mourns Michael Scott

2009-11-16T15:55:00.003-06:00

The city of Chicago suffered a tremendous loss with the death of Michael Scott. Mr. Scott, the President of the Chicago Board of Education, was a well respected figure in the community. He could interact positively with people from all walks of life, whether they came from CPS, City Hall or the street.

During his tenure with Chicago’s Board of Education, Chicago saw the number of charter schools rise, providing more opportunities for the city’s kids, including in his own Lawndale community.

We who fight for educational reform should redouble our efforts to fix what is wrong with the system, and we should remember that we are the stewards of our children’s future.

Senator James Meeks and the CTU

2009-11-09T13:57:00.004-06:00

State Senator James Meeks is coming under fire for his editorial in the Chicago Tribune on October 29th entitled “Their Blood is on Our Hands.” In it, he bemoans the issues of school violence that have put Chicago in the national spotlight. Another story appeared on Friday describing the fallout between CTU and Sen. Meeks, and things are heating up quickly.

I applaud Sen. Meeks for his support of charter schools and his dedication to educational reform, even if our political views and goals do not agree on every point. He was able to put politics aside and speak to the shortcomings of Illinois schools, risking campaign contributions from CTU (which he has now roundly rejected) in the process. But the system will never change if we, as a state, do not stand together to improve Illinois schools.

Charter schools in Illinois serve more than 30,000 students and work for thousands of families. They are changing the face of education. And, since CPS just announced the new charters opening next year, the movement is gaining more support each month. It’s good to receive recognition in the Senator’s sweeping reform plan.

Sen. Meeks concludes his editorial by saying “We must begin making decisions that are in the best interest of children.” We here at INCS could not agree more.

Leigh McGuigan joins CPS

2009-10-28T16:07:00.001-05:00

It was announced last week that Leigh McGuigan left her position in Cleveland's Office of New and Innovative Schools to take a position as special assistant under CPS CEO Ron Huberman. What does this mean for Chicago?

We know that McGuigan has done extensive work in Cleveland based around evaluation and metrics. She designed a "value-added" score that was adopted as part of Ohio's school report cards. By taking the students' academic starting point into consideration, her new metric could take some of the pressure off CPS’ reliance on standardized state tests to show that students are learning. Chicago has been considering such a metric, but educators, and the charter sector in particular, still need to weigh in on the outcomes they’re expected to live up to.

As part of Cleveland's academic infrastructure, McGuigan did a lot of work with assessment and evaluation as well as helping schools first develop, then reach, explicit goals. Knowing all this, it won't surprise anyone to hear that McGuigan’s publishing history focuses on teacher efficacy and standardized testing.

What does it mean for the charter sector’s hard and costly choices around facilities planning, the ugly battles over school closings, miscommunication about charters, or the uneven tug of war for resources between pensions and pencils? We’ll have to wait and see

One of the advantages of a school system that includes charter schools is the ability for charters to employ different, innovative techniques in the classroom and feed those practices into the larger system. There’s a lot happening in CPS these days, to put it bluntly, and there’s still a lot left to do. Welcome to the big game, Ms. McGuigan.

The Burnham 2.0 Plan

2009-10-22T12:18:00.002-05:00

The Burnham Group recently released a report entitled Burnham 2.0, which focuses on specific categories of educational reform in Illinois. This report has the near-term goal of strengthening the Illinois Race to the Top application.

Burnham 2.0 calls for student outcomes to be the basis upon which all Illinois schools are judged. Notable is the urging for school growth to become a metric for determining school success. The Burnham Group fully recognizes the need to boost the performance of weak schools and states that school success needs to be defined more fully, that the State Board of Education should improve a teacher assessment program as well as evaluation of instruction, and that operational and instructional be the basis of decisions regarding our state’s educational system.

The 22 page report was signed by several names in the educational arena, including Ron Huberman, State Representative Roger Eddy, Miguel Delvalle and myself.

The release of this report is cause for celebration. While we all come from greatly varied political backgrounds and leanings, our belief in educational reform and our passion for giving Illinois students the best possible future brought us together for this cause. We all believe education needs to have the student at its center.

-Sylvia Ewing

Race to the Top

2009-10-14T16:22:00.001-05:00

Race to the Top is, in short, a $4.35 billion dollar fund that’s part of the Federal Stimulus package, which is itself designed to bring unprecedented levels of federal funding to certain states to improve student achievement and close achievement gaps. Through Race to the Top, Illinois has a historic and potentially groundbreaking opportunity to use this one-time federal money to implement high impact reforms.

INCS stands ready to work with the state to help get a winning application for Illinois and bring much needed funds to our state. To that end, we’ve identified four key areas that the Department of Education should look at when it comes to charter public schools. Illinois has done well in some of these areas, and in others, there is room for Illinois to improve upon for a winning application.

1. Authorizing

Illinois has, in statute, the basics for authorizing and outlines the role of school districts as authorizers. We currently have a task force, commissioned by the general assembly, which will review the need for and capacity of creating a new and independent charter school authorizer for the state. Illinois has only one active authorizer at the moment – the Chicago Public Schools. We do not have consistent authorizing practices across the state as the majority of the districts are not serving as authorizers of charters and therefore not creating the in-house expertise on charter school authorizing essential to the creation and oversight of charter schools.

To improve Illinois’ Race to the Top application as it relates to charter public schools, a state-wide approach to authorizing that will share the best practice in the creation, oversight and re-authorizing or closing of charter schools would put Illinois at the top of the class when it comes to charter school authorizing. We hope the recommendations put forth by the task force at the end of this year and any subsequent action taken by the General Assembly will accomplish that end.

2. Caps

Both President Obama and Secretary Duncan have commented publicly about the need to lift charter school caps. INCS is proud that Illinois was the first state, under the leadership Sen. Lightford, Senator Steans and Representative Mitchell to heed that call and double the number of charters available in Illinois. We certainly think Illinois should tout that achievement in its Race to the Top application.

3. Funding Equity

According to the Race to the Top application draft, the D.O.E will be looking at the extent to which the State's charter schools receive equitable funding compared to traditional public schools, and a commensurate share of local, State, and Federal program and revenue sources.

The reality is that we just do not have this information. There is a general perception by our charter operators that charters receive less funding than traditional schools. We need access to the data from all districts that authorize charter schools to truly know. More importantly, the onus is on Illinois to prove in its application that charters are funded fairly.

This leads to my final point. Often, the funding equation does not factor in one of the biggest expenses charter schools face – facilities funding.

4. Facilities Access

The D.O.E. will examine the extent to which the state provides charter schools with equitable access to facilities by providing them with facilities funding, assistance with facilities acquisition, access to public facilities, the ability to share in bonds and mill levies, and/or other supports

This past legislative session, $173 million was allocated to school districts and charter schools for facilities. Part of that funding went to the United Neighborhood Organization (UNO) to build new charter school facilities that would help alleviate overcrowding. There were also other dollars set for charter school facilities in Rockford and other charter schools, including ASPIRA, this past year. This facilities funding allocation will help some with the Illinois application, but it does not go far enough.

Even though we’ve had this one-time allotment of funds for charter facilities, they are just that — a one-time allotment. Prior to this session there have not been state funds allocated for charter public school buildings. Currently, a vacuum exists in the charter law to address the facilities needs of charter public schools. That issue left unresolved would dock points from the Illinois Race to the Top application.

With respect to charter schools, Illinois does not have all of the winning pieces in place to secure top marks on the charter section of Race to the Top. It is the hope that with improvement of these four key issues , Illinois will not only have a stronger application, but stronger supports for charter schools that have already shown to be quality public schools.

-Carlos Perez

Enrolling Your Child in a Charter Public School

2009-10-06T17:47:00.009-05:00

Over the summer, INCS receives many phone calls from parents searching for charter school information and who are interested in enrolling their children in a charter school for the fall. Fall is the best time to start looking into charter schools for the next school year, particularly for families that have children that will be entering high school in a year. Many charter schools hold open houses and info sessions during the fall for students to come and explore what their school has to offer. You can take a look at INCS’ 2008 Charter School Profiles for contact information to each charter school to arrange a visit yourself, or to simply contact the school for more information. Be on the lookout for our new 2009 Charter School Profiles which are currently being updated!

More and more parents are taking a second look at what charter public schools have to offer and are excited by what they see. Thanks to these and many other charter advocates that are spreading the word on charter public schools, the charter public school community in Illinois has grown tremendously in the past few years! The strength in the charter school community can be measured by our success this year in increasing the charter school cap in Illinois from 60 to 120. Our voice can only get stronger with your continued support and involvement in the charter public school movement. Keep spreading your charter school stories to other families so they, too, can learn about the difference charter schools have been making in Illinois and how they can also be a part of the Illinois charter school movement through INCS!

More time in the classroom?

2009-09-29T16:51:00.004-05:00

This week’s announcement by former Chicago politicos Barak Obama and Arnie Duncan that American schools should add more class time to the schedule has brought a lot of attention to charter schools. KIPP, the Knowledge is Power Program system of schools, has been especially singled out by the press for their long class hours and extended schedule.

KIPP has 87 campuses in 19 states across America. Chicago is home to KIPP Ascend Charter School, and it serves grades 5-8 in the Lawndale neighborhood. Students there spend around 70% more time in the classroom than their CPS counterparts and have an 80% rate of college enrollment. Don’t let that number be misleading: though there are nearly 16,000 KIPP students nationally in 2009, the 80% applies to all alumni who graduate the program, which has existed since 1994. That percentage is far and above the schools’ surrounding communities. Clearly, the system is doing something right.

Additionally, Stanford economist Caroline Hoxby’s recent study of New York charter schools brought light to a previous study in Chicago that came to the same conclusion: charter schools outperform public schools. She notes a direct correlation to a student’s time in a charter school to their academic performance, such that a student when stays in the charter system from K-12 will perform better than a student who attends, say, from 5-12.

Charter schools are truly unique entities that deserve a chance to show the American educational system what, exactly, they’re capable of doing. Though it isn’t easy to pick just one reason they succeed, the Obama/Duncan call to action is a step in the right direction. Just ask someone from KIPP.

-Jim Publicover

Ron Huberman talks to District 299

2009-09-24T17:49:00.001-05:00

INCS today held its first District 299 meeting of the 2009-2010 school year, hosted by LEARN Charter School. And it was the hottest ticket in town. CEO of Chicago Public Schools Ron Huberman came to discuss with the charter sector CPS’ plans for improving facilities access, increasing per pupil funding, changing the ways in which the district holds charter schools accountable, and making all schools safer.

Huberman delivered a 30 minute presentation to a large crowd of nearly 100 charter school leaders, board members, and teachers, representing 24 charter school organizations across Chicago. It was a lively and interactive discussion which showed how well informed Huberman is and how thoughtful and passionate charter leaders are as well.

Mr. Huberman spent much of his time reviewing the “report card” that CPS will release in the next 4 -6 months which will provide parents reliable information about how every public school is performing. And school leaders agreed to the need for clarity and accountability while offering several refinements to the process.

Huberman reiterated his goal of collecting accurate student data, and assured schools that he did not want to catch any schools off guard with his new accountability plan.

Huberman quickly touched upon his plan to strategically address facilities access for charter schools, sharing that schools performing well may be put ahead those not doing as well. Also announced to pleasant surprise were plans to increase the general education per pupil funding for charters.

This was the most important meeting of the year to date. Continuing this important collaboration will be vital to improving our city’s schools.

-Marvin Smith

How to measure success

2009-09-22T17:21:00.006-05:00

The political arena surrounding education is often charged, and recent headlines, like the exit of Josh Edelman from CPS or the talk that there will be A-F report cards for all public schools in Chicago, only reinforce this notion. With all the changes and questions about how to measure charter schools’ impact, what’s going to come next? I find it helpful to look at the big picture in times like these, in order to maintain perspective.

News from New York State is certainly encouraging — a recent report by Stanford economist Carline Hoxby shows just how much can be achieved when you combine the charter school model with supportive policies and an engaged and thoughtful authorizer. The study How New York City’s Charters Affect Achievement followed students who got into a charter public school and compared the group to those who, like so many in Chicago, were on a waiting list. The results are certainly encouraging: students at charter public schools outperform students at traditional district schools in math and English, and they make greater annual academic gains. Also, just as in Chicago, charter students are more likely to graduate (by a rate of 7% here in Chicago and 28% in New York). In light of these results, charter schools and their proponents should be proud that we helped more students reach high academic standards.

Operational elements are largely credited for the study’s findings. New York’s charter schools are notable for their data-driven instruction, extended day and year, flexible curriculum, parental involvement, and merit pay for teachers. These findings show that charter schools can inspire achievement in urban areas. Like Chicago, New York has a waiting list of students who wish to attend a charter public school, but, with the recent doubling of the charter school cap in Illinois, more students will have a chance for success at a charter school here. You can visit the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools to find out more about charter schools’ operational differences.

A human element I feel is linked to school success is leadership. In another look at the big picture, The Principal Story by Chicago Filmmakers’ Todd Lending and David Mrazek aired on PBS stations last week. It shows just how important having the right person in this tough job is. For example, charter schools give leaders the authority and autonomy they need at the school level to make decisions that matter. The charter model lends a more strength to the crucial task of school leadership. You can visit The Wallace Foundation for clips of the documentary and educational resources that go along with the film.

While the road is rocky at times, charter public schools are headed in the right direction. We are helping students reach their full potential, and that can only be counted as a success.

Sylvia Ewing
INCS Interim Executive Director

Charter schools spend more time in the classroom

2009-09-16T12:14:00.002-05:00

Information in a recent column by CRAIN’S Chicago Business Greg Hinz should be repeated far and wide. In the 2009-2010 school year, which is already underway, Chicago Public School (CPS) students will be in school a total of 40 weeks, and out of those 40 weeks, CPS students will only receive a mere 19 full weeks (Monday through Friday) of teaching. Spending more than half of the school year outside the classroom is no way to grow the next generation of Chicagoans! In my opinion, it is an offensive contradiction to say that we care about education and then accept systems that allow so little time on task.

As Hinz highlighted, in a 2006 National Council on Teacher Quality study, CPS ranked last out of 26 big-city districts, with our school day three-quarters of an hour shorter than the national norm and the school year six days shorter. In addition, out of 868 Illinois districts Chicago is third from last in instructional days. This is not tolerable and there has to be a better way. Teachers want to educate students and those student need to depend on both the teachers and the system to cultivate their minds. The current CPS status quo does not give our children this opportunity and I know we can do better.

A solution to this problem is charter public schools. Right now, there are charter public schools in Chicago like West Side’s Alain Locke Charter Academy that offer year-round education. Year-round school may not be for everyone, but we owe it to our students to give them options and a chance for success. Charter public schools are not perfect but they offer freedom to create schools that meet the needs of students, families and communities. Charters spend an average of 45 more minutes of instruction a day than traditional CPS schools. Thanks to new legislation that raises the cap on charter schools in Illinois, we have an opportunity to have more charter schools and grow upon this unique educational freedom.

CPS CEO Ron Huberman says he is committed to a quality education for all students and I believe that he but he can’t reach this goal alone. Everyone who cares about education should take a close look at what we are offering our youth, including the amount of time committed to our children, and support making choices that put students needs first.

As self-governing entities, charter schools have the autonomy to make quick, effective changes to meet students’ specific needs, which helps improve student achievement, and offer a safe place to learn. We are good partners in education reform and the facts show that reform is sorely needed.

Sincerely,
Sylvia Ewing,
INCS Interim Executive Director

Charter Family Picnic picture teaser

2009-09-15T16:02:00.006-05:00

We had an amazing time at our 4th annual Charter Family Picnic at Garfield Park. Expect more to come later, but I couldn't wait to show you a few pictures from the event, by our fantastic photographer Anna Bonick.

Pictures and a recap of the day are coming shortly!

Charter School News

2009-09-14T12:06:00.002-05:00

Reinsdorf-funded charter school opens near United Center Sun-Times

Longtime dream of Bulls chairman Reinsdorf comes true as charter school facility opens near United Center

If you missed the clips last week, a Young Women’s Leadership Charter School student, Kassandra Davis, was profiled in 8 Teen Dreams by Chicago Magazine.

A friendly neighbor Chicago Flame Online
De la Cruz officially closed shop in June. As it would happen, in July, one month later, the United Neighborhoods Organization (UNO) announced its flagship school, Octavia Paz, a CPS Charter school, needed a new, temporarily permanent home. After receiving nearly 100 million dollars in federal stimulus money, UNO had then decided it was time to make much-needed repairs to the Octavio Paz facilities.

Emerge Peoria: An open letter to Sharon Crews
I was just looking at your comments today about the Math and Science Academy and I just cringed because I believe the charter school has promise. You clearly care about the community, the schools and the children.

More yoga classes are geared toward specific groups Daily Herald
In Chicago, there's even a yogic elementary school, the Namaste Charter School, which takes a holistic approach to education. "Yoga isn't about being on the ...

County sets up H1N1 flu preparations The State Journal-Register
Three-year-old Piper Chase follows the instructions for washing her hands on Friday, September 11, 2009 in her pre-k classroom at Ball Charter School. ...

Ready to Serve Chicago's Future

2009-09-10T13:36:00.003-05:00

I had the opportunity to appear on a panel for WTTW’s Chicago Tonight on Wednesday, September 8, 2009. I was joined by Julie Woestehoff, executive director of Parents United for Responsible Education, and Lorraine Forte, editor-in-chief of Catalyst Chicago. We discussed back-to-school issues and the current state of Chicago education.

As a panelist, I shared some unique qualities that charter public schools encompass, how they serve as frontiers for education innovation. While addressing topics such as government education funding, dropout rates, violence and testing scores, I highlighted Youth Connection Charter Schools (YCCS). YCCS is an excellent example of how charter schools address and improve these current educational issues. This Chicago charter public school has worked hard to increase student attendance and dropout recovery. The panel experience also gave me the platform to clear the air of certain charter school assumptions such as selective student enrollment.

The most important message of the evening was to remember that the name of the school is not important, but the process and value of education we are instilling in our children. Charter public schools are a part of the public school system and there is a state of urgency to come together and find the best solution for our future Chicagoans. For that reason, I found the conversation very beneficial for all parties.

Last night’s experience was educational and productive. In order to ensure a stronger tomorrow for our children, we need to concentrate on the current problems and take action to improve. Chicago Tonight’s panel gave me the podium to demonstrate how charter public schools are a great avenue for this change and how they can harmonize with the public school system. Working together to help our future should be all of our priorities and I know Chicago is up for the challenge.

Sylvia Ewing,
INCS Interim Executive DIrector

Charter Family Picnic next week - September 12th!

2009-09-03T10:52:00.000-05:00

2009 Charter Family Picnic

Saturday, September 12

Garfield Park

12:00 - 4:00 PM

Join INCS and the rest of the charter school community for a FREE day of fun, music, good food, and great raffle prizes!

If you haven't already, please RSVP with Mireya Vaca at (312) 235-0798 x17 or at mvaca@incschools.org.

*Please note the change in location - this year's picnic will be held in Garfield Park, near the intersection of Central Park Ave and Schrader Street (just south of Lake Street)!*

Directions:

There will be limited FREE parking available at the Garfield Park parking lot and on the street. Garfield Park is easily accessible via public transportation. If traveling by train, walk south from the "Conservatory-Central Park" Green line stop to reach the picnic area. If traveling by car, take the Eisenhower Expressway (I-290) and exit at Independence Blvd. (Exit 26A). Turn right (east) onto Washington Blvd and then turn left (north) onto Central Park Ave.

For a map to Garfield Park, click here.

Charter School News

2009-09-02T11:06:00.001-05:00

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Robin Steans: Race to the Top money a carrot for state educators State Journal-Register

How would you like to play a lottery where you get to control the odds? That’s what the U.S. Department of Education is offering, by setting aside more than $4 billion in a Race to the Top fund to be given to only a handful of states — if they’re willing and able to take steps that dramatically improve their public schools.

Galapagos' lesson plans for 1st day, year ready Rockford Register Star

All that communication is more than what's typically done at Galapagos' Chicago campus because charter schools are new to Rockford and don't already have ...

One week to go: Galapagos Charter School prepares for big open WREX-TV

Galapagos has run a Chicago charter school for five years. "Inevitably on the first day of any school or even any organization, there's going to be some ...

Charter School News

2009-09-01T10:57:00.001-05:00

September 1, 2009

State task force will study proposal for new group to authorize charter schools Catalyst
'The Illinois State Board of Education is assembling a task force to study plans for a new, independent authorizer of charter schools—a controversial idea that supporters say would lead to higher-quality charters and help Illinois capture some of the nearly $5 billion in competitive federal stimulus grants....

A Blow To Transparent School Reform In Chicago Progress Illinois
After being blindsided by the changes, Soto is vowing to override Quinn's amendments. Talking to Black, the Chicago lawmaker expressed her ongoing ...

What Are The Best Methods For School Improvement? National Journal Online
The Obama administration has an ambitious goal of turning around the nation's 5,000 lowest-performing schools over the next five years. To achieve this, the strategies adopted must be ones that can be applied on a large scale. One response from Greg Richmond, President & CEO, National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA).

The Education Bubble Gapers Block
As Ramsin pointed out, charter operators, like UNO have used the new charter school "market" to gain influence and bring in huge sums of cash. ...

Old Sears power plant in Chicago turned into charter high school Tribune
Not so much on the school, but lots on the architecture and history of the building.. “Inside, Farr Associates followed the broad outlines of the Tate Modern, making the three-story turbine room a dramatic great hall and turning the boiler …”

Charter School News

2009-08-31T11:06:00.005-05:00

August 29-31st, 2009

New school blends past, future Sun-Times

The Ford Motor Co. Fund's first school in Dearborn, Mich., achieved those results, and now officials hope the same can be done at a new charter high school opened by the fund in Homan Square on Saturday.

Prairie Crossing Charter School updating its image Daily Herald

For example, Prairie Crossing represented Illinois as a national charter school of the year winner selected by the Center for Education Reform in 2007. ...

The Rubber Room New Yorker

The battle over New York City’s worst teachers…These fifteen teachers, along with about six hundred others, in six larger Rubber Rooms in the city’s five boroughs, have been accused of misconduct, such as hitting or molesting a student, or, in some cases, of incompetence, in a system that rarely calls anyone incompetent.

Charters shortchanged Rockford Register Star

(LTE) Taxpayers need to be willing to spend more on charter schools. You get what you pay for.

Let’s give charter, new school leaders chance to succeed Rockford Register Star

(LTE) Public schools are personally important to me. I am a product of the public school system in Kankakee. I graduated from a state university (University of Illinois, Champaign) and a publicly funded law school (University of California, Berkeley).

Tribune highlights YCCS student's triumphs

2009-08-28T11:28:00.006-05:00

Youth Connection Charter School, who was featured as our first case study recently, has an inspiring article on their website right now about Nasia Smith, a student who just graduated:

Youth Connection Charter School 2009 graduate Nasia Smith was featured in a Chicago Tribune article on August 7, 2009. The article entitled, “In The Fight of Their Lives”, recent graduates of CPS schools discuss overcoming a growing problem in Chicago, homelessness. Nasia was one of the 236 homeless youth population enrolled in YCCS campuses this past school year. Her situation is classified as an “unaccompanied youth” - those who are homeless and not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian. The article written by Lauren B. Harrison, focused on the many struggles Nasia went through to graduate from high school. Despite having a baby and meeting his needs, being homeless and working several jobs to make ends meet, Nasia still persevered to graduation as salutatorian of her class this past June...

Read the rest on YCCS's website!

Charter School News

2009-08-28T11:10:00.005-05:00

Friday, August 28, 2009

Charter school leader, others take pay cuts to help budget Daily Herald

Prairie Crossing Charter School's director and other administration office employees have agreed to pay cuts to help negate a projected $100,000 in extra annual interest expenses associated with a loan.

Legal eagles nurture young fledglings at Law Camp Chicago Tribune

..and almost became a TV movie, the Perspectives Charter School student started thinking law might be a good Plan...problem is to start young with students in middle school and high school and get them interested in the legal profession...

Paul Adam's Interview with Montel Williams

School Leader of Providence Englewood Charter, Paul Adams, was on Air America at 820 AM this morning (August 28) at 9:20 a.m. (Central Time). This was a live national interview for Montel Williams’ "Feel Good Fridays" nationally syndicated series.

Comings & Goings New Broad fellows, principals Catalyst

Seven new Broad Fellows will be working in Chicago schools through the Broad Residency program, which places executives from the private and civic sectors into two-year, top-level management positions in urban school districts around the country.

Single-sex classes at Ryerson help raise achievement for black boys--and girls Catalyst

In the May/June issue of Catalyst In Depth, I wrote about Ryerson Elementary School Principal Lorenzo Russell’s experiment with single-sex classrooms as a strategy to curb discipline problems and raise academic achievement. The focus was on helping black boys in particular at the West Garfield Park school.

Orr shaping up with Espinosa's help Chicago Sun-Times
After attending a Chicago Public School job fair, she was offered a job at Orr. She teaches health and physical education. But she also wanted to coach. ...

Teesee's Town: Marilyn Stewart, CTU president, to address City Club of Chicago lunch Chicago Defender

Newsy Names – Insiders and those in the know are predicting “a sell out” when Marilyn Stewart, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, addresses the City Club of Chicago’s Public Policy Luncheon on Oct. 1

State involvement in Chicago youth murder crisis - Part I Examiner.com
... topic that is apparently “persona non grata” for State of Illinois officials is the crisis-level murder rate of Chicago Public School (CPS) students. ...

CJA reinstitutes scholarship program National Jeweler Network

According to a 2006 study by the Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago, only 54 percent of Chicago public school freshmen ...

Smart Child Left Behind NY Times

...study, by the independent Center on Education Policy, showed that more students are...But is that our only national goal in education? What might happen if federal law encouraged...a member of the task force on K-12 education at Stanford’s Hoover Institution...

Creating More Routes To High-Quality Education

2009-08-25T14:43:00.004-05:00

INCS created Charter Up! to encourage forward thinking and academic excellence. Charter Up! provides charter schools with the opportunity to showcase programs that impact their students and communities and have the potential to be applied in traditional public schools. Each charter school had the opportunity to submit an overview of programs that have helped produce outstanding academic achievements. Participants were encouraged to submit programs/ initiatives that demonstrated creativity or innovation in leadership development, governance, parental involvement, curriculum, enrichment programming and funding. An independent judging panel reviewed the entries and chose five honorees based on their creativity, innovation, impact on student achievement and representation of the overall charter school experience.

We are pleased to highlight the 2009 “Roadmap to Innovation” profiles, a portfolio of program models that are shared with teachers and school leaders at in-district schools as well as within the charter school network.

To learn more about Roadmaps, and how to implement these programs in YOUR schools, visit INCS' website.

Charter School News

2009-08-20T15:43:00.002-05:00

State denies Joliet charter school petition Joliet Herald News
... according to the Illinois Administrative Review Law. In the letter to Joliet Academy Charter School and Superintendent Paul Swanstrom, Koch said state ...

New charter school opens on far South Side ABC7Chicago.com
(Plus video) Chicago International Charter School (CICS) is the largest charter school in Illinois, serving over 8000 students across 13 Chicago neighborhoods. ...

First charter school off to rocky start; communication key Rockford Register Star
Legacy Academy of Excellence opened Tuesday with frustrated parents, a superintendent seeking legal options, and the public wondering what’s going on. That’s not a good start.

Legacy school changes phone number Rockford Register Star
Parents, Rockford School District officials and others trying to reach Legacy Academy of Excellence officials by phone Monday and Tuesday heard only the sound of rings. That’s because the school changed the phone and fax numbers. Tuesday parents found notes attached to their children’s backpacks with the new school numbers.

Whose Fault is the CPS Budget Crisis? HuffPo
Is Chicago's high-wage / short day and year setup to blame for current pension woes? One charter school teacher says yes

If Illinois blows this ... Chicago Tribune
What's the best way to make the U.S. public education system serve students better? President Barack Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan are betting that cold, hard cash -- and plenty of it -- will do the trick. By September 2010, the administration will have distributed $4.35 billion in supplemental education funding to the states. But not every state will get a share of the loot. In fact, most states won't see a dime.

Dangling Money, Obama Pushes Education Shift NY Times
Holding out billions of dollars as a potential windfall, the Obama administration is persuading state after state to rewrite education laws to open the door to more charter schools and expand the use of student test scores for judging teachers.

Are charters schools a price of entry to reform? The Associated Press
Illinois lawmakers decided in July to allow 60 more charter schools to answer President Obama's challenge after a campaign in that state by the state ...

Student-Focused Education Illinois Review
By Rafael Rivadeneira, candidate for House District 41. These schools work for the students and parents, not for unions and outside interest groups. We need to encourage student and parent choice in the school decision process. Currently Illinois doesn't have enough Charter Schools to meet the demands of waiting lists.

Charter school debuts in secluded Altgeld Gardens Chicago Tribune
So on the first day of school this week, Shannon walked Tamyra Jones, 5, to kindergarten at Chicago International Lloyd Bond, the first charter school to ...

Medill student's slideshow about De La Cruz -- the building that UNO wants

New charter school opens near Altgeld community Chicago Defender
That's when the Chicago International Charter purchased the building from the Archdiocese of Chicago and spent $2 million in renovations, according to ...

Fewer male teachers are in K-12 classrooms in Illinois Chicago Tribune
But after two years teaching 8th-grade math at Calumet Middle School, a charter school in Chicago's Auburn-Gresham neighborhood, and two years at other area ...

The KIPP-ing Point The Jewish Week
Dubovi went to the campus of KIPP (the Knowledge is Power Program), flagship of a charter school network that has grown in 17 years from a single Houston ...

Ask Governor Quinn to Restore $3.4 Million in Transition Impact Aid!

2009-08-07T13:51:00.002-05:00

As we rallied in the gym of Alain Locke Charter Academy last Thursday, July 30th for Governor Quinn’s momentous education bill signing which included the Charter Reform Act of 2009, everyone was not fully aware that the Illinois State Board of Education cut key funding that provides an incentive for districts to look at how charter public schools could be part of their district. This funding is called transition impact aid.

This aid was created in 2000 to provide districts with funding to offset the initial costs of charter public schools and help the district assess its administrative efficiency. When it was created in 2000, it was suppose to provide the district with 90% of the per pupil dollars that a district provided to a charter school in the first year, 65% in the second year and 35% in the third year. At the time ISBE cut this funding, it was only funded at about 35%.

Please help us bring back this integral funding to help spread innovation throughout the state of Illinois. We are asking Governor Pat Quinn to continue to support school districts in their exploration of charter public schools by funding Transition Impact Aid with his discretionary funds. Please ask the Governor for his support in restoring $3.4 million in Transition Impact Aid TODAY.

Click the link below to log in and send your message:
http://www.votervoice.net/link/target/incs36024454.aspx

A note from our Summer Intern!

2009-08-04T16:05:00.002-05:00

Over the summer, INCS had several amazing interns that kept summer at INCS interesting and helped our work run smoothly. Read on to learn about one of our intern's experience at INCS:

My name is Janisha King, and I am currently an intern working with INCS through KPMG. KPMG is a large professional service firm that provides accounting services all around the world. My internship this summer consisted of interning at two different KPMG client sites which included INCS as one of those. I have been working with INCS for three weeks now and this has been such an incredible experience. During this internship I was given a variety of task such as putting data into the database, helping with the annual picnic, and reviewing Credit Card statements to name a few. These tasks were shaped for both my interests as well as INCS.

Taking on such a broad range of work allowed me to not only grow personally but also professionally. Not only has the work been affective but the people involved with INCS have as well. They are very determined and are truly devoted to what they do. This internship has given me an experience that I will never forget.

We’re very happy to have had Janisha at INCS over the summer and appreciate the work she's done!

Gov Quinn signs SB 612

2009-07-31T10:17:00.002-05:00

Governor Quinn signs SB 612 as several of those involved in the process look on. Senator Kim Lightford, Representative Jerry Mitchell, Senator Heather Steans, Senator Ricky Hendon, Representative Barbara Flynn Currie, INCS' Carlos Perez and former Executive Director Elizabeth Evans, Advance Illinois' Robin Steans, Civic Committee's Eden Martin, and Monique Davis, who said, "I was a charter school opponent for many years, but after seeing the remarkable results, I had to join the force and support charters!"

Great news for the state, and from Washington

2009-07-29T10:57:00.003-05:00

Governor Pat Quinn is set to sign Senate Bill 612 (Charter School Reform Act of 2009) tomorrow, expanding the number of charter schools from 60 to 120, with 45 new charter schools allowed in Chicago, five of those schools allocated for drop-out recovery, and 15 for downstate Illinois. We'd like to congratulate INCS staff, our members and the family of volunteers, who worked tirelessly over the course of five years to achieve this victory. The signing will take place at Alain Locke Charter Academy. For details, read INCS' Press Release.

Great News from Washington
The President has announced plans for the Race to the Top Fund to support states leading the way in education reform and innovation in classrooms, and the charter sector should benefit from these resources. We will keep you apprised of upcoming news as draft regulations will be shared in the next few weeks. You can read the release from the U.S. Department of Education.

News from Rockford's New Charter Schools

2009-07-24T10:52:00.003-05:00

Today's Rockford Register Star has a great article on the new Legacy Academy Charter School, which talks about Jarmoro wanting to get into a good kindergarten but missing the age cut off. Thankfully, Legacy was able to cut through the red tape and secure Jarmoro's admission.

He and his family attended a recruitment session Thursday for the school. Legacy was the answer for his family, said Jarmoro’s mom, Myrah Bean.

“I couldn’t even get the public schools to look at him,” Myrah said, because of her son’s late birthday.

Myrah’s mother, Melma Norwood, teaches seventh-grade science at Flinn Middle School in the Rockford School District, and she supports her daughter’s decision to send Jarmoro to Legacy.

“The school provides education for the kids,” Norwood said. “And that’s what it’s all about: Making sure kids learn.”

For more information about Legacy, visit: comped-csn.org

The other charter school opening this fall is Galapagos Rockford Charter School. It will be a K-3 school at 2605 N. School St., the old St. Patrick School. If you are interested in a student application, an informational meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Monday at the Northwest Community Center, 1325 N. Johnston Ave.

For more information, go to galapagoscharter.org or call 815-388-4644.

Charter schools spend more time on task

2009-07-21T16:14:00.005-05:00

Representative LaShawn K. Ford poses with KIPP students

Almost all charter public schools have an extended school day and year. There are three charter schools that are year-round: Alain Locke Charter Academy, Namaste Charter School and L.E.A.R.N. Charter Schools. But even those that aren’t year-round have an average of 45 more minutes of instruction a day, compared to traditional public schools. For instance, a KIPP Ascend charter school student spends nearly 70% more time in school than a typical CPS student.

There was an article today on NBC called “Back to School, Already?” about Chicago Public School students involved in the Track E program, where students have the same number of school instructional days, but vacations are interspersed throughout the year into shorter, more frequent breaks. This minimizes “learning loss” for kids who otherwise would be out of school an entire summer.

“The district is expanding its year-round school program this year, more than tripling the number of schools that operate on the so-called Track E calendar. On Monday, CPS officials, including CEO Ron Huberman, went door-to-door, handing out backpacks and other school supplies while reminding parents that school starts far earlier for their kids this year."

Whereas Track E is a re-allocation of time, charter schools routinely provide students more individual attention and more time on task. These are a few of the great freedoms charter schools have that allow them to structure and support the needs of both students and teachers.

Illinois Mayors Meeting: Highways to Higher Achievement

2009-07-17T11:41:00.003-05:00

The first-annual Highways to Higher Achievement: Illinois Mayors for Educational Excellence luncheon was held to urge mayors, municipal and civic leaders to reengage in education to improve the health of their communities and determine how charters can be a part of that improvement. We had over 40 guests in attendance including the Mayor of Rock Falls, David Blanton, Oak Park Village President, David Pope, Chris Ward, Illinois State Board of Education, Kevin McGrier, Broadview Trustee. We would also like to thank our INCS Board Members, Beth Purvis and Ron Giles for attending as well. We were welcomed by Tom Thanas, Joliet City Manager, who discussed how the revitalization of downtown Joliet was driven by innovation and partnerships, the same intentions and relationships that engendered charter public schools.

From INCS Board Chair David Weinberg and NACSA President Greg Richmond we heard the words leadership and opportunity. During the keynote address, Mayor Larry Morrissey of Rockford showed how taking the opportunity to lead can bring about real change in your community especially if you re-engage with education.

We hope the result of this meeting will be the re-engagement of mayors, municipal and civic leaders in the education process in their communities. Mayor Larry Morrissey has lent himself to this cause and shared the guidance and encouragement necessary to mobilize communities. INCS is available to support communities with resources and information needed to identify if charter public schools are one of the options leaders might want to use for improving educational options in their communities.

Check out the slideshow of the event!

Dear Governor Quinn

2009-07-08T10:42:00.003-05:00

Check out this letter urging Governor Quinn to sign SB 612 into law in order to double the number of charter public schools in Illinois! Thanks to Ms. Yvette Manning, a parent at KIPP Ascend Charter School, for taking the time to write this inspiring letter. For more information on SB 612, you can read the June blog post, "SB 612 Passes."

Dear Governor Quinn,

My name is Yvette Manning and I am a parent of a student that currently attends Kipp Ascend Charter School located on the Westside of Chicago. I am sending this letter on behalf of my son and his fellow classmates and many children in my community that are concern about their education. I would like to first point out the good job that you are doing with our state and secondly want to encourage you on this legislature to provide more charter schools for the state of Illinois. Secondly, to let you know I am very pleased with the charter school system on the many educated benefits that it provides for the children and especially for my son. The experience I have shared with Kipp has been the best that I have seen in years even since I was in school, of which I am to a product of the Chicago public school system. My son has excelled tremendously since he has been attending Kipp, I am very serious when I say tremendously he went from and “F” and “D” student to a “A” and “B” student he started 5th grade at Kipp reading at a 2nd grade level under the “Accelerated Reading Program”, to currently now going into the 6th grade at a 5.5 grade level in reading. As you may know Lauren Henley which is my son’s reading teacher as won “the Best Teacher of the Year Award” from Kipp Ascend Charter School, which the award was well deserved she works very hard to not only identify the students weakness with reading but to help the students develop their strengths that the students did not know they had, she challenge the students to become better readers by making a promise to stay committed and that the students stay committed on reading at least 30 minutes a night and writing a summary about what you read by clarifying and making connections. My son has transformed to a better reader and enjoys her class. Not just only in reading has he excelled, he has excelled in math and has dedicated on working hard on understanding long division with his math teacher whom makes math fun and enjoys teaching it. Kipp has teachers that enjoy what they do and have love for the children and the community in which they serve. Kipp provides positive reactions and motivates the children about College education, it does not stop at High School, which this exposure my son gets about College I wish I had those resources when I was growing up. Kipp Staff believes in their students that they can achieve, “Work Hard. Be Nice” written by Jay Matthews, which is the theme the staff uses to get the kids motivated and disciplined in order to achieve the goals “climbing the Mountain of Success. I encourage you to get the book that Kipp Ascend is based from and take my letter into serious consideration on how this school has changed my son’s life on education and has motivated him to be the best he can be by “Working hard. Being Nice. Please sign the SB 612, so this can be a success story for all the Parents and children in Illinois.

Sincerely yours,
Yvette Manning

Erie Elementary Charter School has openings for 1st-5th grade

2009-07-02T16:20:00.003-05:00

Erie Elementary Charter School is currently seeking students in 1st through 5th grade for the 2009-2010 school year. Visit their website to learn more and to fill out an application.

About the school:

Children, teachers, parents and Board members, work together to ensure the success of Erie Elementary Charter School, a non-profit organization. The mission of the school is to educate children who will be bi-literate—able to speak, write and read both Spanish and English—by the end of their Erie Charter School experience. Founded in 2005 under the umbrella of 137-year-old Erie Neighborhood House, the school’s educational program is hands-on and interactive; it focuses on the Hispanic heritage of the community and of many of the families of EECS. The fact that children remain with the same teacher for two years, thus supporting the close relationship between children, teachers, and parents, underscores the importance EECS places on social emotional growth. EECS partners with Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Erikson Institute, Ravinia, Suzuki-Orff, and TohKon Judo Academy.

National Charter Advocacy Day in DC

2009-07-01T15:04:00.005-05:00

“I support charter schools only because at this point in history charter schools are a mechanism to get the education of our children. The issue is not charter schools, the issue is the education of our children.”

“If this movement is going to mean anything, we’ve got to close that achievement gap. We’ve got to eliminate that achievement gap.”

So said Dr. Howard Fuller, founding Chair of the Alliance, and feature speaker at the National Charter Schools Advocacy Day in Washington D.C. just a week ago. Dr. Fuller’s stirring speech reminded many of us of what is at the core of the charter schools movement: the education of all children across the nation.

Those of us in the field, at the school level, and in the classrooms know first-hand of the amazing achievements going on in some of the most innovative charter public schools across the nation. For instance, a parent who sees her 6th grader’s reading skills steadily improve from a 2nd grade reading level to a 5.5 reading level in just one year, another parent surprised but proud that her son would rather go to school in below-zero Chicago temperatures and not miss his science class than stay home, and teachers watching their students learn and their ambitions grow as they enroll, and stay, in college in neighborhoods where the drop-out rates are higher than college enrollment rates are just some of the stories that show the direct impact charters have made. It is not surprising that the waiting lists to enroll in a charter in many states are at the thousands.

To be sure, not all charter public schools, and schools in general, are at the same playing level. But, that is what the charter school movement strives to do – allow charter holders and operators the opportunity to provide the quality education that our children need. It is our job as parents, teachers, school leaders, and advocates in the movement to make sure that our stories of what works and what doesn’t are heard so that public officials understand how to best improve public education in the nation and to ensure that successful models of schools can be applied in the communities that need it the most.

Last Wednesday, about 1500 charter advocates stormed through Capitol to visit their representatives, bringing the charter school movement to the national stage. Participants included members of the INCS Team and other leaders in the Illinois charter school movement. At the federal level, we asked members of Congress to co-sponsor the All Students Achieving Through Reform Act (ALL-STAR) which would support successful charter schools that are replicating and expanding, and we also asked Senators to approve President Obama’s budget which will increase funding for charter public schools by $52 million.

At the state and local level, we rely on the voices of parents, teachers, school leaders, and community members to get the charter school message across to public officials. Your show of support through the various actions we’ve had, including our very own Charter Public Schools Lobby Day in Illinois, have shown politicians the demand there is for charter schools and have led to this year’s huge legislative victory doubling the number of charters that are allowed in Illinois!

The groundwork for charter public schools has been laid, but it is still up to leaders in the community and to families waiting for their children to receive the public education they deserve to step up and start the conversations needed that will bring charter schools to communities across Illinois. To quote Dr. Fuller again, “nobody is just going to make the changes we need for our kids. We have to struggle to make that happen.”

To listen to his full speech, check out the video below and the link to other video recaps from the 2009 National Charter Schools Conference. You can also view pictures of the Illinois Advocacy Team at DC (and become a fan of INCS!) on the INCS facebook page!

Still Left Behind

2009-07-01T12:36:00.003-05:00

On the final day of June 2009 the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago published a report entitled “Still Left Behind” which revealed a stark and disturbing reality regarding Chicago Public Schools.

The report’s key findings include:
- Nearly half of the students at non-selective-enrollment schools drop out before graduation. Additionally, more than 70% of remaining students at those schools fail to meet 11th grade state standards for college preparedness. High performing students are all concentrated in magnet and selective enrollment schools.
- The perception of improvement in the number of students meeting state standards on assessment tests reflects changes in testing made by the Illinois State Board of Education rather than improved student learning.
- To truly push improvement in CPS a more rigorous national test for student achievement must used as the benchmark. An independent auditor must also be responsible for ensuring all reports regarding student achievement are accurate and distributed in a timely, comprehendible fashion
- Improvement in education depends on providing quality alternatives, including expanding the number of charter and contract schools in Chicago. These schools outperform traditional public schools and spur all CPS schools toward improvement.

The report’s full text can be viewed at: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/downloads/CPS.pdf

National Alliance Charter School Conference

2009-06-30T16:37:00.005-05:00

Check out these videos, which recap some of the speeches from last week's national charter school conference, courtesy of The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. I suggest you check out Dr. Howard Fuller's speech in particular:

INCS is on Facebook

2009-06-29T13:33:00.005-05:00

We have finally joined 2009 and created a Facebook page for our organization. Click on the above link to become a fan of INCS.

Perks: learn the inside scoop on charter schools in Illinois, be up to date on events and connect with other charter school advocates. Plus, see adorable pictures of charter school students.

Charter Up slideshow

2009-06-22T16:45:00.002-05:00

Check out the great photos from this year's Charter Up! Awards Ceremony, courtesy of Anna Bonick, of Hullabaloo Design.

Save the Date for INCS’ Charter Family Picnic

2009-06-19T11:02:00.002-05:00

INCS is pleased to announce our fourth annual Charter Family Picnic on September 12, 2009 at Garfield Park.This is an exciting opportunity to connect with more than 1,200 charter public school advocates, parents, students, and teachers from all over Chicago who are coming to enjoy a day of food, games, music, and other fun activities at Garfield Park!

There are three ways that your organization can help us this year! You can select the level of participation that best meets your needs, and be secure in the knowledge that your commitment will be used to help INCS continue our important work!

Buy an ad in our Program Book

Donate an item or service for the Raffle

Help spread the word

For more information on sponsoring the Charter Family Picnic, please feel free to contact Aimee Mandolini at amandolini@incschools.org.

A note from INCS' Interim Executive Director

2009-06-19T10:59:00.001-05:00

There have been big changes at INCS, what with the recent tide of positive charter school legislation and Elizabeth Evans’ departure after almost five years as Executive Director. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned from being a part of the charter school movement, it’s that change means opportunity. As Interim Executive Director, I want to assure you that INCS will continue to support and fight for what matters – creating positive change for as many children in Illinois as possible. As Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education said recently on NPR, “I’m a big fan of good charter schools. For charters to be successful we need three things in place. First, you need to have a very high bar. You should only be taking the best of the best in allowing them to open new schools. That is a really sacred opportunity and obligation to educate our children and this cannot be 'let a thousand flowers bloom,' it should be the best of the best.”

Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible. Now we have our chance to live up to the promise, as soon as Governor Quinn signs SB 612. Your support during this transition is appreciated and we look forward to the great strides ahead of us this summer and beyond.

Sincerely,
Sylvia Ewing, Interim Executive Director

Namaste Charter School on Chicago Tonight!

2009-06-16T13:20:00.006-05:00

Recent Charter Up! Honoree Namaste Charter School was highlighted as an example of a highly successful school on WTTW's Chicago Tonight! Check out the video clip on WTTW's website.

A Noble Street parent shares her story

2009-06-15T13:16:00.005-05:00

Rosa Gonzalez, a parent at Noble Street Charter School, was kind enough to share her words with us about the school and the positive effects it has had on her son Jonathan. Parents are an integral component to charter school success and we at INCS are pleased to share Rosa's words with you.

I would like to extend my gratitude to Noble Street Charter School (NSCS) for being so great at what they do. NSCS is able to provide my son Jonathan with a safe learning environment. It is rare where you can find a high school that can provide you with that sense of security. I chose NSCS as my top choice of high school for Jonathan because I was impressed with their goals for their students. NCSC expects to have 2020 college graduates by the year 2020. Fortunately, Jonathan's application was picked from the lottery and he has just completed his freshman year. I have seen the commitment and effort from the school in helping the students reach this goal. Jonathan has developed a "college" mentality and has set a number of academic goals for himself. I could not have accomplished this without the help from NSCS. I constantly talk to my son about college and how important it is to not just make it into college, but also graduate! I support the school 100% and although this year has brought some challenges, I strongly believe that this is the school that is going to help Jonathan set higher goals for himself and help him reach those goals.

I also want to commend the school by providing activities that involve the family, the Noble Classic 5K Run and even the Annual Spaghetti Dinner. Jonathan even had the opportunity to spend a week in South Carolina along with his JROTC cadets to participate in boot camp. This was a great experience for him. Jonathan has taken an interest in the Arts. He performed in "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens" play and took part in a dance class and was part of the end of year dance performance "The Pagaggios." He found a creative side to him that neither he nor I knew he had. Thank you NSCS for providing your students with so many wonderful opportunities and positive experiences!

Charter Schools in the News

2009-06-12T13:53:00.004-05:00

Photo by Anna Bonick

Court: Virtual charter school can receive public funds Chi-Town Daily News
The Chicago Teachers Union challenged the Chicago Virtual Charter School's legality and tried to block its public funding. A judge ruled the school's public ...

Charter schools are on the ball Illinois Times
Even though politicians and education reformers have been singing the praises of charter schools for a number of years now, the concept has been slow to catch on outside of America’s big inner cities. This is especially true in Illinois, where only nine of the state’s 39 charter schools are located outside of the city of Chicago.

Use Stimulus Funds to Expand Charter Schools Huffington Post - New York
By UNO’s Juan Rangel. Through this funding strategy, Illinois is creating a new public/private partnership model for public school construction. This model will focus on school ...

Legislation would loosen cap on new charter schools Chi-Town Daily News
Jesse Ruiz, who chairs the State Board of Education, disagrees. He says programs such as the Illinois Network's Charter Up! help educators at traditional public schools learn how to implement successful programs from charter schools. They are an answer to concerns from policymakers who think charters are too insulated, he says.

Area charter schools see honors for their programming Medill Reports
Charter school supporters, students and leaders gathered at the Garfield Park Conservatory on Tuesday to celebrate innovative programming at five Chicago charters. Jesse Ruiz congratulated the audience on the bill's passage and stressed the importance of having charter schools in Illinois to provide alternatives in education ...

District paves way for new academy Peoria Journal Star
Highlights school board vote for requesting applications for a Math, Science, Tech Charter School. Great quote from David Gorenz, School Board President.

Illinois lifts cap on charter schools Rockford Register Star
That means 15 charter schools can be licensed in downstate Illinois, which includes Rockford. In Chicago, 40 new schools can be added, and in the state five allocated for drop-out recovery.

Bill allows 120 state charter schools Chicago Sun-Times
The number of charter schools allowed in Illinois would double to 120 under a bill that passed both chambers amid a swirl of legislative activity late Monday. The bill's passage comes after U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan warned that Illinois...

Lawmakers pave the way to double the number of charters Catalyst
A bill that doubles the statewide charter cap from 60 to 120. Senate Bill 612, now awaiting Governor Quinn's signature, would allow up to 45 additional charters in Chicago, including up to five new charters aimed at dropout recovery.

2009 Charter Up! Video

2009-06-10T16:36:00.002-05:00

Watch the video on this year's Charter Up! Honorees. And be sure to check out the Roadmaps to Innovation initiative!

Independent authorizer article in Focal Point magazine

2009-06-05T15:16:00.005-05:00

Written by Veronica Aguilar, soon to be a senior at
Noble's Pritzker College Prep

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

These are momentous words spoken by philosopher Lao Tzu. A recent article was written in Focal Point magazine, a Chicago international Charter School publication, titled “A Fresh Perspective: Why Illinois needs an independent charter school authorizer.” Written by Marvin Smith, Policy Manager here at INCS, this article successfully illustrates the significant need for an independent charter school authorizer in Illinois. Establishing an independent authorizer in Illinois will be that single step towards a journey of prosperous charters.

Charter schools are enabling Illinois scholars' to achieve academically. This article illustrates how having an independent authorizer would allow for the expansion of more schools to serve more students who need them.

Here's what an independent authorizer would do:

1. Suppoert current, active and effective authorizers
2. Assist communities with school districts working to improve local authorizing activity
3. Lead the authorizing effort in inactive communities

To further the success of high-quality charter schools in Illinois, INCS' proposes that Illinois' independent authorizer be composed of a board of appointed members: “education experts with responsibility for approving charters, overseeing school performance, and renewing charters.” The journey of a thousand miles can only get easier with a step in the right direction: a statewide independent authorizer in Illinois.

To learn more about this, as well as a background on authorizing and potential Illinois roadblocks, check out the full article here.

Youth Connection Charter School: A Drop-Out Case-Study

2009-06-05T14:04:00.008-05:00

"Each year in Illinois, close to 30,000 students drop out of school. At any one time, there are over 100,000 Illinoisans between the ages of 17 and 20 who are out of school. The consequences for these youth and for the state are dire: the unemployment rate for high school dropouts under age 20 is close to 70% and those dropouts who do work earn far less than high school and college graduates."

That is from Sarah Lieberman Weisz, author of Success with Drop-Outs, a new tool commissioned by INCS, that provides case studies on Illinois charter schools by independent authors. The first case study is on recent Charter Up! honoree Youth Connection Charter School (YCCS).

One of the first schools to open, YCCS was chartered in 1997, and has been a pioneer for supporting students aged 17-21 who have dropped out of school. They serve as an excellent model that has inspired similar charters statewide with their community-based programs and innovative educational services.

Learn more about the successes of YCCS and drop-out recovery by reading the case study.

Charter Up! Up and Away!

2009-06-03T12:40:00.004-05:00

Photo by Anna Bonick

Thank you to all that came out to yesterday’s fourth annual Charter Up! Recognition Ceremony! We had a wonderful event at the Garfield Park Conservatory with a roomful of charter supporters from across Illinois. Nearly 120 school leaders, community members and leaders, students, teachers and administrators, and principals from in-district schools throughout Chicago came to celebrate the honorees and to learn about these successful programs. We heard from guest speaker Jesse Ruiz, chairman of the Illinois State Board of Education about the impact charters have had across the state, and school leaders also learned from INCS very own Steve Zemelman how they can adapt and replicate these innovative programs at their owns schools or partner with a charter school to exchange ideas and work together through the Roadmaps Initiative. Also, a special thanks to CICS Ralph Ellison’s fantastic a capella gospel choir who helped close the event on a “high note”!

Be sure to read our Press Release about the event and learn more about the programs here!

SB 612 Passes! Charter Schools Double in Illinois!

2009-06-01T10:41:00.004-05:00

Monumental news for the charter school movement! Last night, SB 612, also known as the Charter School Reform Act of 2009, passed the Illinois Legislative Assembly in a 45-10 vote. This means that we will now have 40 new charter schools available in Chicago and 15 in downstate Illinois, with 5 new schools allocated for drop-out recovery!

This remarkable feat could not have been accomplished without the exemplary efforts of everyone in the charter school family.

“We owe a great debt of gratitude to the charter school parents who wrote letters to their legislators, who traveled down to Springfield for Charter School Lobby Days, who spoke at events and rallies and who spread the word about charter schools to other parents and friends,” said Carlos Perez, INCS’ Director of Public Policy.

We are indebted also to all the teachers, administrators, students and community members who make charter schools the best schools they can be – innovative, high-quality, community-focused schools that are tailored to meet the needs of all students and to prepare them to succeed not just locally, but globally.

There is much celebration ahead, but with great success also comes hard work. We must continue to strive, and to provide ALL students the opportunity to attend a great school, despite where they live or what challenges they face. Each and all of you who are a part of the charter school movement deserve credit for the long, hard slog that led to the historic vote in the Illinois General Assembly yesterday and I am so proud to say that Illinois is the first state in the nation to respond to President Obama's call for more charter schools as part of his vision for a strong national economy and his goal that the United States return to the world's top spot for college enrollment.

This is wonderful news, but it has been a long and bumpy ride. As a result of this work literally tens of thousands of families in Illinois will have opportunities they could not have otherwise obtained. And teachers will have real choices for the kind of public school environment they want to work in.

~Elizabeth Evans, Executive Director

Study: performance of charter schools in suburban and downstate communities

2009-05-27T16:08:00.005-05:00

The Illinois Policy Institute has recently released a new report, Unsung Heroes: Charter Schools, which examines the performance of charter schools in suburban and downstate communities.

Interest in charter schools outside of Chicago has rapidly increased in the last year, with 3 charter school proposals approved in Rockford and 2 more in the works, in addition to proposals submitted in the South Suburbs, Joliet, Peoria and Waukegan. IL law caps the total number of charter schools outside of Chicago at 15 in the suburbs and 15 downstate.

Here are the report's highlights, courtesy of the IPI blog:

The Data
The new Illinois Policy Institute report focuses on charter schools that enrolled K-12 students during the 2007-2008 school year. These downstate and suburban charter schools outperformed the district averages in 72.1 percent of direct comparisons of academic performance.

In every instance, charter schools posted higher attendance rates and lower truancy rates than district schools.
In 4 of 7 comparisons, charter schools had a higher percentage of all students meeting/exceeding state standards on state tests. (In one instance, the overall performance of district schools and a charter school was identical).
In 4 of 6 comparisons, charter schools made stronger one-year gains on state tests.

A closer grade-by-grade, subject-by-subject analysis of performance showed charter schools were making strong headway. Overall, the grade-level test results at charter schools exceeded the district averages 72.0 percent of the time.

In a wide majority of comparisons, downstate and suburban charter schools outperformed the average at district schools in each subject tested: reading, math, science and writing. And in two schools where the grade-level performance of economically disadvantaged students could be compared directly to district averages, charter students outperformed the district averages in 67.7 percent, or 21 of 31, direct comparisons.

The demand for charter schools is real and the need is urgent. More than 13,000 students on wait list in communities throughout Illinois want the charter public school option. In fact, according to a recent poll of Illinois parents, demand for charter public schools is strong and growing. The poll showed that approximately 80 percent of parents are both interested in and favor charter public schools.

Legislators are taking notice of this large constituency of parents, teachers, students and leaders who will no longer wait silently on the sidelines. The charter school community is empowered, vocal and will not rest until every child in every community has the chance to choose a quality education.

Charter schools in the news

2009-05-22T17:00:00.005-05:00

Recapping the Hoxby Lecture Show-Me Daily
In a nutshell, Hoxby reviewed the data collected in recent years from charter schools in New York and Chicago — and the news is very good! Charter schools as a whole are proving to be an effective means of improving student achievement, ...

Seventh-graders create iPhone app Chicago Sun-Times
More than $10,000 in cash and prizes was awarded to four high school entrepreneurs May 6 during the 4th Annual Citywide Business Plan Competition & Luncheon. The competition…showcased business plans from students representing ACE Technical Charter High School, Gwendolyn Brooks Academy, Chicago Vocational Career Academy and Global Visions Academy.

Seats open at Galapagos, Legacy charter schools Rockford Register Star
Seats are still available for two Rockford charter schools, and even though enrollment sessions have technically ended, both are still accepting applications.

District 150 eyeing charter school Peoria Journal Star
Both charter and math-and-science oriented schools exist in Illinois and nationwide. Such a charter school in Peoria would be a public school and would be ...

Charter school proposed for Bremen SD 228 Southtown Star
The presentation was made by Shirley A. Morris, a vice principal with Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, who would be an administrator at the school.

Chicago Public School Reforms and Renaissance 2010 Add 60,000 Performing Seats to Neighborhood Elementary Schools PRNewswire
The Illinois Facilities Fund's (IFF) new report - Here and Now 2: Change We Can Measure - documents the contribution made by charter and other new schools under Renaissance 2010, Mayor Richard M. Daley's ambitious plan to create 100 new schools in five years.

Spreading best practices takes more than awards Catalyst Chicago
The Illinois Network of Charter Schools has announced the winners of the 2009 Charter Up! award, and one winner, Civitas Schools, got a much-needed breath of fresh air.

Bremen District 228 mulls proposal for first Southland charter school Southtown Star
Just as the buzz over charter schools is ramping up nationally, the first of those schools could be coming to the Southland soon.

Decatur charter school touts achievements to lawmakers Pantagraph
For the first time in its eight-year history, Robertson Charter School administrators outlined their achievements and funding needs to a panel of lawmakers Wednesday.

Governor Quinn on Re-Imagining Illinois

2009-05-18T15:06:00.006-05:00

photo via United Power

Sunday is usually a day reserved for hope, family and reflection. This Sunday, May 17, at Congregation Solel in Highland Park was just such a time. My colleague Carlos Perez and I joined a multigenerational, diverse audience of over 700 people eager to participate in Re-Imagining Illinois. The event was a dialogue between DuPage United, Lake County United, Chicago PACT, United Power for Action and Justice and Governor Pat Quinn. For some participants, having Governor Quinn in office is like having the fairy Godmother of progressive politics in charge for a change. The four key issues on the table included the state budget, affordable housing, education reform and political corruption. All of the speakers were eloquent, but this was a great opportunity for Lake County United members to talk about the recent defeat in their battle to get authorization for a charter public school in Waukegan. They asked for Quinn’s help with a school district apparently hostile to charters. These eloquent speakers shared their personal stories, called “education the new civil rights movement” and said that “zip codes should not determine the type of education a child receives.”

Quinn left no doubt that he agrees with President Obama’s support for charters. “I support charter public schools, not just for Chicago but for all of Illinois” he said. In response to their requests, he promised to look into funding issues as well as to learn more about independent authorizing.

We have new hope in Springfield in the Governor’s office and with elected officials like Senator Lightford, Senator Steans, Representative Mitchell and others. But Governor Quinn says elected officials alone can’t bring education reform to Illinois. If Sunday’s gathering is any indication, the voice of the people is ready to be heard. The panels were not made up of professionals but rather concerned residents. The very kind of people the Governor may look to when he fills the vacant seat on the Illinois State Board of Education this summer.

View a recap of the event below:

Related: Governor Quinn's Illinois Reform Commission

2009 Charter Up program descriptions

2009-05-15T15:42:00.007-05:00

Here are brief descriptions of the 2009 Charter Up! Honorees. Charter Up! gives Illinois charter schools an opportunity to celebrate their innovation, passion, and successes with each other, as well as bring public awareness to the experience of charter schools and the positive outcomes they create for children.

In addition, Charter Up! honorees will have the opportunity to serve as a model for other in-district schools through our Roadmaps to Innovation initiative, a school-to-school mentoring program between charters and other public schools that gives each school a chance to collaborate and innovate.

To learn more about these programs, come to our award ceremony on June 2nd at the Garfield Conservatory. Contact INCS' Mireya Vaca at mvaca@incschools.org or for details.

Chicago Math & Science Academy
College Path Program
The CMSA College Path Program was created to support CMSA’s mission for all students to attend college. Goals of the program are two-fold. First, tracking student academic progress, and second giving all students exposure to the college experience. Program provides student one-on-one time with a College advisor, a college readiness class and SAT preparation retreats. One hundred of CMSA’s first graduating class in on track to graduate and attend college.

Civitas Schools (CICS Ralph Ellison, CICS Northtown, CICS Wrightwood)
Civitas Community Leadership Program
The Community Leadership Program is an initiative that effectively and strategically guides students in the development of their leadership and diligence skills. Various facets of this program address all members of the school community: students, staff and parents. All three parties are involved in the process. Parents participate in interactive workshops, staff teaches the importance of community service and students evaluate their strengths and areas of growth.

Namaste Charter School
Peaceful People Tools
As part of its holistic approach, Namaste considers the socio-emotional development of its students crucial to their overall success in school and in life. Peaceful People Tools teaches students about space awareness, self-control and stress management, managing anger, building empathy, proactive interventions and conflict resolution. It is evident through internal and external evaluation that Namaste’s Peaceful People Program leads to students being on task for greater periods of the day during academic instruction.

Noble Network
Curriculum and Assessment Program
The Curriculum and Assessment Program provides a structure for designing and measuring the teaching and learning that occurs at all Noble campuses. The gathering of this information encourages the sharing of best practices. Assessment data is the basis for quarterly network-wide and frequent campus-based professional development, conversation and collaboration among and between teachers, principals’ work with teachers and the superintendent’s monitoring of consistent academic growth throughout the Noble Network.

Youth Connection Charter School
Grow Your Own Teachers & Peer Advocates
Grow-Your-Own Teachers & Peer Advocates was established as a community-based answer to the challenge of finding and retaining a qualified teaching pool for high-need schools. YCCS’ initiative offers parents, volunteers and supporters with the opportunity to become certified instructors in their preferred school. Through a partnership with Chicago State University and a peer advocates program this program is a proven success.

New charter school in the south suburbs?

2009-05-14T12:12:00.013-05:00

Interest in charter schools is heating up in the South Suburbs, as more and more communities are developing charter school proposals around the state. The latest charter school news comes from Bremen District 228. District officials are weighing a proposal from a group of local educators to open a charter high school. On Tuesday night, over 60 community members attended a public hearing for the proposed charter school, which would be called South Suburban College Preparatory Charter School and would be housed in the now-shuttered St. Emeric Catholic School in Country Club Hills.

District 228 Superintendent Bill Kendall said in today's Southtown Star article:

"I think anytime there's a program that might benefit students, we need to look at it and consider it."

We at INCS applaud the district for taking the proposal seriously and for looking at new, innovative options to help students succeed. We also applaud the community members who attended Tuesday night's meeting, for taking the time to ask valuable questions about the proposal.

Other recent articles about the proposed school can be read here and here. Check back for updates on this exciting potential development in the Southland.

Generation INCS: a note from our spring intern

2009-05-14T11:41:00.008-05:00

Each year, as part of our internship program, Generation INCS, we recruit one to two charter school students to come to our office a few hours each week to experience working in a nonprofit environment. Some of their responsibilities include:

Assisting advocacy, communications, and school supports teams
Conducting research reviews of national charter reports, and
Updating data and information

Our current intern, Jasmine, graciously allowed us hone some of her technological skills and write a blog for us. Here are her words about her school and her experiences:

My name is Jasmine Lumpkins, I’m a sophomore at Young Women’s Leadership Charter School (YWLCS). I have attended YWLCS for about 2 or 3 years now. At first I couldn’t believe that I actually had to attend an all-girls school. My first impression was that there would be too many girls, and lots of drama. But I quickly came to the conclusion that I was wrong. So far, my experience at YWLCS has been a great opportunity because I get to experience many different things that many other schools don’t offer. YWLCS wants their students to expand their minds, to make and achieve higher goals. I’m glad that YWLCS offered me a chance to gain real work experience with the Career Field Experience program, which is also known as Internship. Without this I wouldn’t have had a chance learn about working with the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, what it’s like to have a job, work with people in an office area, and to learn more about how charter schools work. Now I know that, I can always reflect back on what I can do now that I couldn’t do before.

We're very happy to have Jasmine on board this Spring and appreciate the work she's done for us so far. To learn more about Jasmine's school, check out their YouTube video:

charter schools and imPURE thoughts

2009-05-12T16:34:00.005-05:00

Charters are at the center of a great (and urgent) debate about public education reform. This is terrific news for students and teachers who day in and day out work together on academic excellence. It’s also terrific for those of us looking for new metrics and new methods of public accountability to open the next breakthroughs in American public education. It’s great news for teachers seeking higher status and support for their profession and for parents seeking more respect from the institutions of public education.

It’s disappointing then when voices in the debate pick and choose their fact to fit another agenda, as Parents United for Responsible Education (PURE) did in their recent blog entry. The fact is charter public schools and closing unacceptably low-performing schools are two totally separate issues in this great debate. If individuals associated with PURE actually looked at the whole picture, they would not be attempting to discredit charters as part of their honest questioning of school closing policies in Chicago.

In the 21st century, we must regain our place as the leader among nations in giving every single student an equal chance at the education necessary for their lifelong success.

2009 Charter Up! Winners

2009-05-12T15:13:00.010-05:00

Announcing the 2009 Charter Up! Winners

The Illinois Network of Charter Schools is happy to congratulate this year’s Charter Up! winners:

Chicago Math & Science Academy - College Path Program

Civitas Schools (CICS Wrightwood, CICS Ralph Ellison, CICS Northtown) - Community Leadership Program

Noble Network of Charter Schools - Curriculum and Assessment Program

Namaste Charter School- Peaceful People Tools

Youth Connection Charter School- Grow Your Own Teachers

Thanks also to all the schools that submitted an application. We received many great submissions highlighting successful and innovative programs that are making a substantial difference in the lives of their students and communities. Please join us in honoring the selected schools at our fourth-annual Charter Up! Recognition Ceremony, June 2nd at the Garfield Park Conservatory. To RSVP, please email Mireya Vaca at mvaca@incschools.org or call her at (312) 235-0798, ext. 17.

Check back soon for more detailed descriptions of the programs! Or view last year's winners in this short video:

If you can't see the embedded file, click here to view the videos.

Charter schools in the news

2009-05-08T14:17:00.006-05:00

Youth Connection Charter School Grad

The Case for Charter Schools: And why Waukegan didn’t buy it Chicago Reader
7 page article about Waukegan struggles, charter successes in Chicago, reports like RAND study quoted, quotes by members from Noble, CICS and UofC, and fellow advocates in arms.

Chicago charters branching outside the city Catalyst
According to the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, these three charters will be the first charters in Rockford and will join the existing nine charters ...

Charter school group tries again in Joliet Chicago Tribune
There are 39 charter schools in the state, according to the Illinois Network of Charter Schools. Chicago has 30 -- some with multiple campuses -- while the ...

African American students are thriving in Afro-centric schools Florida Times-Union
"Public schools have failed African-American students, which is shown in lower graduation rates and lower achievement," says education professor Carol Lee of Northwestern University, founder of the Betty Shabazz charter school in Chicago, whose three campuses boast 825 students from kindergarten to Grade 12.

Why charter schools matter Huffington Post
National Charter School Week is an opportunity to celebrate the 4600 public school options created in 39 states. It's also a chance to reflect on why ...

Chicago's charter schools reflect unmeasurable success Chicago Sun-Times
LTE by INCS' Executive Director: “A recent article by Rosalind Rossi titled "Ron Huberman: Raising the Bar on Charter Schools," has shined light on a matter of great concern to charter public schools -- performance metrics…”

Charter schools in Chicago, New York better serving disadvantaged students St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Hoxby’s talk will focus on what she’s learned from her study of over 100 schools — the biggest study of charter school affects so far, she says — and how charters are teaching educators what works for disadvantaged students in American cities.

Meet the Charter Schools Reception

2009-05-06T14:25:00.009-05:00

Last week, INCS held our second “Meet the Charter Schools” Reception, which is part of the College for All Cooperative (CFA) and was designed to:

Introduce colleges/universities to charter public schools as a new market for college recruitment
Provide the opportunity for colleges/universities to learn about the distinctive character of individual charter schools that are part of CFA
Foster connections between colleges/universities and charter schools.

There were 34 representatives from 31 colleges and universities in attendance, from Illinois, the Midwest and beyond. The CFA schools that participated were: CICS Northtown, CICS Ralph Ellison, DuSable Leadership Academy, Youth Connection Charter School, Noble: Pritzker College Prep, Noble: Gary Comer Campus, UNO, Catalyst, Galapagos, Perspectives and Chicago Math and Science Academy. Thank you all for doing a great job of presenting your schools and for highlighting the distinctive traits that make charters so unique, innovative and focused on strong college-going cultures.

One college representative said that the highlight of the event was, “Actually meeting the people whom help shape students' futures. It is an impressive collection of some of the best and most passionate education providers I have ever met.”

Charter schools in the news

2009-04-30T17:09:00.008-05:00

(students from the Noble Network participate in Earth Hour)

If you're tired of reading about the dreaded swine flu, then look no further. Take a peek at this week's charter school news stories, from Illinois and beyond:

Parents, schools must work together Chicago Tribune
Parents of more than 15,000 students are signed up on the waiting list for charter public schools, which produce higher graduation rates, higher achievement levels and higher attendance than comparison schools. Yet the cap on charters remains in place. These startling statistics declare loudly that we are failing terribly at educating our students in Illinois, which Duncan knows all too well.

Teacher earns award with recycling project Chi-Town Daily News
Other Kohl McCormick award winners in Chicago were Elizabeth Goss, a second-grade teacher at Legacy Charter School; Camia Hoard, first-grade teacher at Frazier Preparatory Academy; and Lourdes Molina, a bilingual-preschool teacher at Belmont Cragin Early Childhood Center.

Charter school cap, safety measures top lawmaker’s talk Rockford Register Star
Rockford recently had three charter proposals approved by the Illinois State Board of Education, and two more are pending. Only five more charter licenses remain for the state. School Board member David Kelley said he would like to see the state raise the cap, if not remove it…

State Should Meet Demand For Charter Schools Worcester Business Journal
Having appointed Chicago's top educator and charter school champion Arne Duncan as his Secretary of Education, the president is putting his money where his ...

Huberman and Chicago charter school accountability

2009-04-28T15:43:00.009-05:00

We appreciate the focus of the recent Chicago Sun-Times article by Rosalind Rossi titled “Ron Huberman: Raising the Bar on Charter Schools," which shined light on a matter of great concern to charter public school -- performance metrics. This is an important issue, and one that will continue to pop up in the education sphere again and again. In fact, a NY Times article today addressed a similar NCLB concern. Upon taking a closer look, you'll see that evaluation metrics for charters go above and beyond traditional school standards. Even before the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act, charter public schools were tied to student performance and additional levels of accountability. In fact, the ability to implement academic innovation is linked to charter schools’ freedom to adapt to student needs and quickly act on them.

Unlike NCLB, which relies on “adequate yearly performance” as its main metric, charter schools have multiple metrics built into their accountability frame, including governance, budgetary, curricular, instructional and student performance. In Illinois, charter schools have been closed if they don’t meet these benchmarks. Imagine a traditional school administrator being dismissed for student performance or their financial stewardship. It’s hard to imagine traditional school systems being regularly evaluated in such a rigorous way.

Even with such rigorous metrics in place, Chicago charter schools are meeting AYP at much higher rates than traditional Chicago public schools: 50% to 34%, according to the CPS Office of Research, Evaluation and Accountability. Charter schools welcome accountability and our schools are always working on ways to measure and improve quality. But in Illinois, tests used by the state do not measure for student growth, aptitude and capabilities – all of which are important aspects of NCLB.

Don't you think we need to present the whole picture when it comes to Illinois children?

State and national organizations challenge the AFT to put kids first

2009-04-23T12:53:00.012-05:00

Charter schools are certainly garnering a lot of media attention lately, due partially to the fact that President Obama has made it clear that support for charter public schools has the potential to make a substantial, long-term difference in the lives of their students. Also, today, a Wall Street Journal article was published that highlights the demand for charter schools around the U.S. Illinois is facing the same issue, and is clearly active in the national conversation about education reform.

INCS and the charter community have long been actively engaged in making the Illinois charter voice loud and clear in the midst of all this activity. In fact, yesterday, INCS and the National Association of Public Charter Schools teamed up to create a print advertisement in major Springfield newspapers, which can be viewed here. The print ad calls on the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) president Randi Weingarten to take bold action by supporting the growth of charter public schools. We’ve done this to help Illinois meet President Obama’s call to reform charter public school education laws and allow for the addition of charter schools in districts where they are needed. Weingarten has supported the opening of charter public schools in New York City because she's aware of the benefits that they provide. However, her AFT local affiliate, the Chicago Teachers Union, has stood in the way of opening additional charter public schools. Currently, more than 13,000 families are waiting for the chance to attend a charter public school. In Illinois, far too much time is spent debating the qualifications of charter public school teachers, or attacking the charter school model. This is a disservice to our students. Instead, time should be spent reviewing and reproducing the educational excellence and academic achievements that charter schools provide.

The President and the Secretary of Education realize that our future depends on the investment we make in children today. We’re ready to support these sons of Illinois. Will the AFT do the same?

Welcome!

2009-04-22T13:36:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the Illinois Network of Charter Schools (INCS) blog!

As the collective voice of the Illinois charter school movement, it is vital that we continue our educational focus of putting the needs of children first and offering families the best possible options in public education. With these goals in mind, INCS had decided to launch this new blog on our website. The INCS Blog will allow us to share our position on education policies and comment on breaking news in the charter school movement. Most of all, we want to engage YOU in the important conversations that relate to your schools and education in general. We’ll be posting twice a week, usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so be sure to bookmark us. We hope you will join us as we make this exciting transition and we look forward to hearing from you!