Fulfilling the Promise -- Dr. James N. Goenner, National Charter Schools Institute (Ferris State...

CHARTER SCHOOLS: FULFILLING THE PROMISE

FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY CHARTER SCHOOLS12TH ANNUAL SPRING BRIEFING

DR. JAMES N. GOENNER | MAY 1, 2014

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National Charter Schools Institute

• The Institute is a values-driven, nonprofit organization founded in 1995.

• Our mission is to strengthen the performance and productivity of the charter schools sector.

• We coach and consult with boards, schools, authorizers, support organizations and policymakers.

• Our team is composed of passionate professionals.

• We seek to understand, honor and support our clients.

• We believe in and strive to uphold the Golden Rule.

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Goals for Today

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Reflect & Celebrate

Inspire Hearts & Minds

Raise Expectations

Learn & Grow Together

Have Fun!

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RELATIONSHIPS

“People don’t care how much you know until they

know how much you care.”

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Ideals of Public Education

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• All children should have access to a quality

education regardless of family income.

• All children should be prepared for happy and

productive lives.

• All children should be taught the rights and duties

of citizenship.

• Good schools help foster strong and cohesive

communities.

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Charter Advocates Believe . . .

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• There is a difference between the ideals of

public education and the institution of

public schooling.

• Criticism of the system should not be construed

as an attack on the ideals of public education.

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Charter Advocates Believe . . .

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• Parents make better decisions for their children

than government officials, regardless of how well

intentioned the officials are.

• Taxpayers deserve a better return on their

educational dollars.

• All children deserve quality educational options.

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Strategic Idea Behind Chartering

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1. States should withdraw the exclusive geographic franchises given to school districts.

2. States should create a way to establish new public schools that create competition for existing schools and provide parents with choice.

3. These new public schools should be authorized by an entity that oversees and holds them accountable, but that—unlike a school district—does not own or operate them.

4. These new public schools should be freed from unnecessary rules and regulations in exchange for producing results.

5. These new public schools should be dually accountable: to the marketplace of parental choice and to the standards of the public interest.

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Charter Public Schools

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A legislative strategy to improve public education by changing its paradigm.

“Strong public charter school laws help encourage innovation and competition, as well as provide

increased options for public school choice.” — National Governors Association

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January 14, 1994

Governor John Engler

signs

Michigan’s Charter School Act.

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“ We need real change. And real change means not just more politics, but more principles. Not just talking about putting kids first, but doing it. Not just paying for a world-class education, but delivering one. Not just caving into the special interests, but standing up to them. Because let’s get something straight right from the start. There is only one special interest in this state—our kids. And our kids deserve better.”

— Governor John Engler,

Address to the Michigan Legislature, 1993

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Changing the Paradigm

• In theory, law, policy and practice

• “Era of Assignment” to “Era of Choice”

• Removed the district’s exclusive franchise

• Schools without boundaries

• Fund students, not schools

• Empowering parents

• Choice and competition

• Dual accountability

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““ “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”

Albert Einstein

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Constitutional ChallengeLEGISLATIVE POWERS CASE

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• 1994: Circuit court ruling blocks state funding for

charter schools.

• 1995: Second law enacted by Legislature takes effect.

The law addresses the circuit court’s immediate

concerns and allows schools to be chartered and funded

while the first law proceeds through the legal system.

• 1996: Appeals court upholds circuit court ruling.

• 1997: Michigan Supreme Court declares original law

constitutional; second law automatically repealed.

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.

— Aldous Huxley

““ “Public schools are thebackbone of this country, . . . and as long as I am superintendent, charter schools will not be welcome in Detroit.” Detroit Superintendent Connie Calloway, Ph.D.,

as reported by the Detroit Federation of Teachers, June 11, 2007

“““I look at charter schools, for example, as prostitutes in the sense that when our police department tries to curb prostitution, they arrest the Johns now as opposed to the prostitutes because the prostitutes are always going to be there. And charter schools are obviously going to be there.”

Detroit School Board President Dr. Jimmy Womack, Detroit News Online Video, July 18, 2007

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Lack of Public Understanding

• In a Gallup survey:

• 39% believed charter schools are public schools

• 50% believed charter schools are allowed to teach religion

• 60% believed charter schools can charge tuition

• 58% believed charter schools can select students based on their abilities

• Researcher Rick Hess wrote:

“Fifteen years [into the charter movement], what most Americans ‘know’ about

charters is factually incorrect. It’s not just that people are unsure or randomly

incorrect—it’s that they are systematically incorrect in ways that paint charters

in the worst possible light.”

• These numbers are not an accident. Even in states where charter schools excel,

the public thinks they excel because they’re private schools taking away money. Is

it any wonder, then, that elected officials are able to impose caps, bar access to

facilities and deny charter schools equal funding?

“Charter schools are here. That's yesterday's argument. We're having the wrong discussion. We need to have a larger discussion about education. I'm open to good education for all kids.”

— Heaster Wheeler, executive director of

the Detroit Branch NAACP,as quoted in the Detroit Free Press,

September 11, 2009

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The First 15 Years:Establishing the Right for Charter Schools to Exist

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Lessons

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• Front-Load: Complexity Is Deceiving

• Start With the End in Mind

• One Size Does Not Fit All

• Opportunity to Align Goals, Standards, Assessment and Evaluation

• Results Matter

• Challenge of Rapid Growth

• Closing a School Is the Ultimate Test

• Surgical Strikes Are Better than Nuclear Bombs

• America Is the Real Experiment

“When I go slow, I go fast.” — Chinese Proverb

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Lessons (continued)

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• One Size Does Not Fit All

• Opportunity to Align Goals, Standards, Assessment and Evaluation

• Can’t Regulate Excellence

• Navigating the Invisible Line: Oversight vs. Support

• How to Differentiate Performance

• What Gets Measured Gets Done

• If You Collect It, Do Something with It

• Closing a School Is the Ultimate Test

“When I go slow, I go fast.” — Chinese Proverb

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Lessons (continued)

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• Trouble Takes Time

• Surgical vs. Nuclear Strikes

• Making Your Case: Data and Knowledge Management

• Capture the Baselines and Benchmark

• Establish Reserve Funds

• You’re Making History—Get a Historian

• Never Get to California If We Waited for the Freeway

• Charters Are Like Mining Gold

• America Is the Real Experiment

• Have Fun!“When I go slow, I go fast.”

— Chinese Proverb

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“It is not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what’s required.”

— Winston Churchill

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The Next 15 Years:Performance,

Performance & Performance!

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WHAT REALLY MATTERS

Ensuring all students are prepared for success in

college, work and life.

“ Let me be clear, I am not simply advocating for more charter schools. We need more good charter schools. There needs to be a high bar set for entry during the charter application process, and accountability systems need to link student

achievement to instruction.”

— Arne Duncan,

U.S. Secretary of Education,

Statement on Charter Schools

in Turnaround Business,

June 25, 2009

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Performance Expectations

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ACADEMIC:

All Students Prepared for College, Work and Life

FISCAL:

Greater Productivity, Bigger Bang for the Buck

ORGANIZATIONAL:

Restoring the Public Trust

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Academic Achievement

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• Educational goals must now include demonstrably improved academic achievement for all groups of pupils.

• Increases in academic achievement for all groups of pupils shall be the most important factor in renewing a contract.

The Next 15 Years:Measuring for Success

ACT Scores and Postsecondary Enrollment

Backwards Mapping from the Act:Beginning with the End in Mind

12th Grade

2nd Grade

“The future is not what it used to be.”

— Yogi Berra, Baseball Hall of Famer

Achieving Breakthrough

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Model the Way

Inspire a Shared Vision

Challenge the Process

Enable Others to Act

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Encourage the Heart5

Five Practices of Exemplary Leaders

Kouzes and Posner

“““Set the standards higher for yourself than others would set them for you.”

John Maxwell

THANK YOU!

NATIONAL CHARTER SCHOOLS INSTITUTE | 711 WEST PICKARD STREET | MOUNT PLEASANT, MICHIGAN 48858

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