Illinois Mayors Meeting: Highways to Higher Achievement

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!

Study: performance of charter schools in suburban and downstate communities

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.