Florida is often referred to as “School Choice Central” due to its variety of public school choice options, including vouchers and tax credits, school-to-work academies, and virtual and home schools. Among all the choice options in Florida, none has reached as many children and families as charter schools. In the 2005-06 school year, there were over 300 charter schools serving about 3 percent of the state’s public school students. This report, co-authored by Bryan Hassel, Michelle Godard Terrell, and Julie Kowal, examines the outcomes of the first decade of charter schooling in the Sunshine State. Published by Education Sector, a nonpartisan education think tank, the report reviews the evolution of Florida’s charter school legislation, examines the achievements and the shortfalls of Florida’s charter schools, and offers several recommendations for improvement.
Turning the Corner to Quality: Policy Guidelines for Strengthening Ohio’s Charter Schools
At the request of Ohio’s top government and education leaders in the summer of 2006, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, National Association of Charter School Authorizers, and National Alliance for Public Charter Schools commissioned Public Impact to help create a report recommending strategies to strengthen the state’s charter school program. The report breaks its 17 recommendations into four categories: Keep the Accountability/Autonomy Promise, Strengthen Ohio’s System of Charter School Sponsors, Fund Charter Schools Fairly, and Help Open Quality Charter Schools. Recommendations include closing low-performing charter schools and holding sponsors more accountable for oversight of the growing charter movement while also helping more high-performance schools to open and succeed in Ohio. In return for stepped-up accountability, the document calls for restrictions on the formation of high-quality charters to be removed and for charter schools to receive more equitable funding. In addition to Bryan Hassel and Michelle Godard Terrell, Louann Bierlein Palmer and Peter Svahn contributed to the report.
Ohio Charter School Performance Reports
2010-11 Report | 2009-10 Report | 2008-09 Report | 2007-08 Report | 2006-07 Report
Every August Ohio releases its K-12 state achievement test data. For the last five years, The Thomas B.Fordham Institute has commissioned Public Impact to conduct a brief analysis of charter school performance. Using Ohio Department of Education data, the reports compare the performance of urban charter schools with that of non-charter public schools in the eight largest urban districts in the state (Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo, and Youngstown). Separately, the reports compare the performance of different subsets of charter schools statewide.
“Working the Curve” for North Carolina’s Charter Schools
Public Impact prepared this report for the North Carolina Blue Ribbon Commission on Charter Schools to inform the Commission on the current performance of the state’s charter schools, identify challenges the sector is facing, and provide proposals for the future direction of the state’s charter school policies. Public Impact’s report outlined a course of action to promote a stronger charter sector—including lifting the state’s charter cap, closing low-performing charter schools, and providing better support along the charter school life cycle. The Blue Ribbon Commission developed a report of recommendations for the State Board of Education to consider and included some recommendations outlined in Public Impact’s “Working the Curve.”
Boosting Performance and Containing Costs through Mayoral Academies
A coalition of Rhode Island mayors, including Cumberland’s then-Mayor Daniel McKee (now RI’s Lt. Gov.), asked Public Impact and Martin West (then at Brown University) to analyze the state of public education in the Ocean State and in the five-town region surrounding Cumberland, which is north of Providence. The resulting report paints the picture of a state where performance lags the national average, despite very high per-pupil spending. Public Impact goes on to propose a new model of school governance–Mayoral Academies–in which a mayor-led board of trustees would contract with high-quality school providers to open new, regional public schools. RI’s general assembly passed legislation to enact the new model. Public Impact then helped McKee and Michael Magee found a nonprofit to put the model into action: Rhode Island Mayor Academies (RIMA).
A Commitment to Quality: National Charter School Policy Forum Report
This report, prepared by Dana Brinson and Bryan Hassel for the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement, highlights the accomplishments of and challenges facing the charter school sector nationwide. Outlining a vision in which charter schools provide high-quality educational options for students and families, the report calls for policy environments, charter support organizations, and authorizers that work toward improving the quality of all charters and closing those that do not live up to their promise of providing a high-quality educational choice. The briefing builds on the National Charter School Policy Forum held May 5, 2008 in Washington, D.C., which gathered more than 100 leaders from the charter sector including individuals from philanthropic foundations, charter and education management organizations, nonprofits, and other charter sector advocates.
Building a Foundation for Success: How Authorizers Can Help Schools with the Facilities Challenge
This brief, written by Bryan Hassel and Robin Halsband, explores the ways in which authorizers can, indirectly and directly, affect a school’s ability to obtain the financing necessary for a schoolhouse. Part I examines the indirect impact: how the quality of the authorizer, as perceived by a financial institution, can affect loan decisions. Part II considers the direct, proactive roles that some authorizers have taken to help schools meet their facilities financing needs.
