Good morning, CharterFolk.
I wrote over the weekend, I would start a news roundup on Monday mornings to provide readers with updates on the developments we follow here at CharterFolk.
We’ve got a Top 10 list to get through this morning. Let’s get straight to it.
10. Elephant in the Room
We’d be remiss not to start here.
The Supreme Court will weigh in on the concept of religious charter schools. I’ve written about this repeatedly here at CharterFolk, and we’re sure to return to it often in the months ahead.
Suffice it to say, the origins of this case really have nothing to do with charter schools. This is the work of religious liberty advocates using charter schools as a canvas upon which to paint their picture.
But it doesn’t matter.
We are inevitably drawn into the debate, to the point that this issue becomes the elephant in the charter school room.
We will hope that the Supreme Court does not throw out decades of sound jurisprudence and open up an opportunity for charter school opponents to argue that, if charter schools must be allowed to be religious, they shouldn’t exist at all.
9. A Deputy Education Secretary from California We Can Feel Good About
Many of you may have seen that Penny Schwinn was announced as the Deputy Education Secretary.
I wasn’t thrilled by Penny’s work in Florida to transition an already great traditional public school into one that would feature selective admissions in an attempt to get the school into the state’s top five.
But I consider that an exception.
Penny’s been a steadfast education reformer. I visited her charter school in Sacramento several times. It was, and still is, a phenomenal school.
And in comparison to the previous Deputy Secretary from California appointed by the prior administration?
It’s a contrast we should all feel very good about.
8. Funding Equity Progress in Ohio
Sometimes decks being stacked against us can feel almost impossible to overcome. But when effective advocacy happens, things can improve steadily over time, like has happened in Ohio this decade.
Charter schools have made significant progress on funding equity in recent years, especially high-performing ones.
We’ve still got further to go, but kudos to Fordham for its relentlessness here.
Dayton, anyone?
7. Brokenness Atop Brokenness in Chicago
This saga just goes on and on, CharterFolk.
After all the dysfunction of 2024, the Chicago teacher union may actually strike in 2025.
It’s brokenness piled atop brokenness, while students and families …
… continue to struggle.
6. St. Louis Sadly Follow Suit
If only Chicago were the only one.
Sadly, the next megalopolis down the Mississippi proves that major urban school district brokenness …
… is no uncommon thing.
5. A CharterFolk Modeling How to Say it Loud
The amazing thing is that anyone simply speaking the truth gets targeted by status quo protectors.
In this case, it’s a former board member from KIPP St. Louis who is now facing backlash for having said the patently obvious thing about the St. Louis school district in her role as a state board member.
It’s modeling exactly what Derrell has called for:
4. Voucher Program Costs When Most Recipients Already Had Their Kids in Private Schools
Meanwhile, new reporting shows how the economics of Florida’s voucher program are playing out.
The left-leaning Public Policy Institute of Florida estimates that 70% of the new voucher recipients in Florida previously had their kids in private schools costing the state approximately $3 billion.
It surfaces the question that we so far haven’t seen an answer to in states that are early adopters of universal vouchers:
Where’s the money supposed to come from to pay for all this?
3. Saying It Loud About the School District Masquerade in Montana
Out in Montana, school districts are keeping up their masquerade, calling new schools they’re opening “charter schools” in order to deceive the public and protect turf.
This article points out that the only application that was rejected last week was the one that proposed to create a truly autonomous charter school.
As I wrote a few months back, we should say it very loud:
These new schools in Montana are absolutely not charter schools.
2. Facilities After Closures? What About After Fires?
A sad one from Denver.
But who knows. It may be too early to tell. The DPS Superintendent and Board say they will return later to determine what should happen to facilities left vacant as the district closes under-enrolled sites. Maybe charter schools will get a fair shake in the end, especially considering the recent changes in the DPS school board.
Meanwhile, for charter schools affected by fires?
I can’t say I’m impressed by the response thus far coming from area school districts, which have seen pronounced enrollment declines and clearly have space to house the charter schools if they so choose. It’s not reassuring that charter school leaders had to sign a letter reminding the districts of their legal responsibility to provide facilities to the affected schools. The callousness of the district official quoted in this article certainly speaks volumes.
I was in Paradise, California in 2018 where I saw what it looks like when charter schools and district schools come together in a true spirit of community after devastating fires.
In Los Angeles, we’re yet to see that spirit emerge.
We’ll keep pushing.
Meanwhile, CharterFolk, please do what you can to help.
1. More Than “Dissolving” Being Proposed in Indiana
There’s a lot of focus and outrage in Indiana about a bill seeking to “dissolve” school districts that end up serving fewer than half of the students in their jurisdictions. What gets less attention is another far more serious bill meant to significantly free up all public schools to be able to do new and innovative things with students …
… including converting to charter school status.
We may not like “dissolving” headlines coming out of Indiana right now, but if we stay focused on the totality of the policy consideration happening there, we see that Indiana is leading the nation into a new discussion about what public education will evolve into in the years ahead.
Call it another form of “saying it loud.”