February 2021

What Will Really Make the Unions Overplay Their Hand

Good morning, CharterFolk. Thanks again to Nella Urban Garcia for being part of the CharterFolk Chat that we released yesterday. I hope many of you find time to review it over the weekend. Next week I will share additional thoughts about how we attract the future leadership we will need to take the charter school

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CharterFolk Chat #7 – Nella Garcia Urban, Challenging the Charter School Movement to Sponsor a New Generation of Latino Leadership

Good morning CharterFolk. Today I am excited to release our latest CharterFolk Chat, this one with Nella Garcia Urban, Chief Program Officer for Yes Prep Public Schools. As CharterFolk will remember, Nella joined three other Latino Contributors to pen a great column to kick off the New Year. CharterFolk Contributor Column – The Missing Charter

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Why It’s a Now or Never Moment for Charter Schools

Good morning, CharterFolk. Some of you may remember this post from last summer: The Teacher Union Straightjacket – What COVID Reveals If We Act With Courage It ended up having one of the highest readership rates for all posts last year. In it, I argued that teacher unions and other protectors of the Establishment were

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CharterFolk X Vol 27 – Ramona Wilder, Black History Expressed in One Family’s Commitment to Education over Generations

Good morning, CharterFolk. Today it is our privilege to recognize Ramona Wilder, CEO of Wilder’s Preparatory Academy in Inglewood California, as CharterFolk Extraordinaire. The story of the founding of Wilder’s Prep is deeply rooted in the historical quest of Black people across generations to create educational opportunity for students who have been denied it previously.

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West Virginia, No Law at All is Better than an Abhorrent One

Good morning, CharterFolk. My apologies missing a post yesterday. My New Year’s Resolution was to make sure I would not miss a week of including guest contribution here at CharterFolk. Yesterday I was planning to send out a terrific CharterFolk Chat with Nella Urban Garcia, one of the authors of The Missing Charter Leaders: ¿Dónde

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The Great Disconnect of 2021 is Becoming a Massive Chasm

Good morning, CharterFolk. Thanks to many of you for your responses to last week’s post about what CharterFolk is and isn’t. In it I highlighted that we’ve received recent match challenges for the next 100 people who sign up for paid subscriptions. We’ve now made it 20% of the way there, with all of the

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CharterFolk X Vol 26 – Margie Lopez-Waite, Una Poderosa Educadora y Defensora que Avanza las Escuelas Charter y la Educación Bilingüe Para Todos

English Buenos días, CharterFolk. Hoy nos complace reconocer a Margie Lopez-Waite, Directora Ejecutiva de la Academia de Las Américas ASPIRA en Newark, Delaware, como CharterFolk Extraordinaria. El viaje de la vida de Margie muestra cómo un líder poderoso que pone en práctica una visión convincente y resiliencia dentro del movimiento de las escuelas charters puede

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CharterFolk X Vol 26 – Margie Lopez-Waite, A Powerhouse Educator and Advocate Advancing Charter Schools and Bilingual Education For All

Español Good morning, CharterFolk. Today we are very pleased to recognize Margie Lopez-Waite, CEO of Las Américas ASPIRA Academy in Newark, Delaware, as CharterFolk Extraordinaire. Margie’s life journey shows how a powerhouse leader putting compelling vision and resiliency to work within the charter school movement can drive change improving public education for all kids and

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What CharterFolk Is and What CharterFolk Is Not

Good morning, CharterFolk. There’s so much to write about in Charterland these days. Special thanks to RaShaun Holliman for offering such a compelling piece about his early days as Executive Director at the Freedom Coalition. Exciting stuff. There is a fascinating new study coming out of Fordham showing how charter school growth is actually correlated

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CharterFolk Contributor RaShaun Holliman – Elevating Black and Brown Voices as the Inaugural Executive Director of the Freedom Coalition

Good morning, CharterFolk. I hope you are all already following us on Instagram! This morning I am delighted to share with you a Contributor Column from RaShaun Holliman, the inaugural Executive Director of the Freedom Coalition for Charter Schools. I provide a brief bio for Rashaun below. RaShaun Holliman is the inaugural Executive Director of

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