Hill Briefing: Charter Facility Needs 2/26/18

Save The Date! Did you know that public charter schools serve more than 3 million students nationwide, but recent survey data showed that parents of as many as 5.5 million students would enroll them in a charter school if location and capacity were not an issue? Did you know that the inability to finance the

ERN | Progressive Charter Schools Series 

ERN | Progressive Charter Schools Series    Charter schools are public schools that have more decision-making authority than do most traditional public schools. The chartering process begins when a group of people (e.g., educators, parents, teachers, or community leaders) writes a plan for the proposed school. A public authorizing entity, set up by state law, approves or disapproves the

On Teacher Prep, Give SUNY Charter Schools A Chance to Succeed Where Others Have Failed

  The State University of New York (SUNY) authorizes and oversees more than 160 autonomous public schools that serve almost 75,000 students. Last month, SUNY’s Board of Trustees proposed a new set of alternative teacher certification pathways for SUNY charter schools with strong records of performance and invited comments from stakeholders and the public. Nicole Brisbane, Director of Democrats for

The Privatization of New Jersey Public Schools

by Charles Barone   Many of the hottest education debates right now revolve around ascribing good v. evil according to whether or not a school is “public.” In Manichean terms, these debates include: public v. private schools; public charter schools v. traditional public schools; neighborhood schools v. out-of-zone schools; segregated schools v. integrated schools; non-profit

Democratic Voices for Public School Choice

By Charles Barone  Last week, New York Magazine writer Jonathan Chait offered a trenchant analysis of the politics surrounding the confirmation of Betsy DeVos as U.S. Secretary of Education: “Both the right and the left have a shared interest in defining the liberal pro-reform position out of existence, and treating support for DeVos and support for

DFER-DC on Mayor's 'Education Week' Announcements of Investments in Public Charter School Facilities

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Statement from DFER-DC on Mayor’s ‘Education Week’ Announcements of Investments in Public Charter School Facilities Washington, DC – Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser marked the start of the District’s “Education Week” by announcing significant investments in public charter school facilities. The announcements included an annual increase of 2.2% to the per-pupil facilities allotment for public charter

What Should it Take to Become a Teacher?

By Michael Dannenberg The New Jersey Department of Education is considering widely loosening teacher certification requirements at select charter schools. Our view is if it makes sense to experiment anywhere with a loosening of new teacher certification requirements, it’s in already high performing charter schools. Before you object, check out this even more aggressive take

DFER’s Senate Confirmation Hearing Questions for Betsy DeVos

Originally posted on dfer.org  From DFER President Shavar Jeffries:    On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate HELP Committee will convene the confirmation hearing for Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Education, conservative activist Betsy DeVos. From what we know about the education agenda of President-elect Trump and Mrs. DeVos, we are deeply troubled. There is simply

Statement: DFER-NJ on Proposed NJ State Board of Education Regulations on Public Charter Schools

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Paula White, NJ State Director paula@dfer.org DFER-NJ on Proposed NJ State Board of Education Regulations on Public Charter Schools Newark, NJ — In response to continued debate around proposed New Jersey State Board of Education regulations on public charter schools, DFER New Jersey State Director Paula White released the following statement: “Democrats

ERNed Media: 2016 Year in Review

As we approach the end of 2016, here’s another look back at some of our year’s most popular content. Here is your top 12 reading list for December and the holiday break. Happy holidays to all and we’ll be back in 2017! ERNed Media 2016 Year in Review: Top 12 Reading List from Education Reform Now