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After an eventful legislative session, the debate over who should authorize new public charter schools has re-emerged in several key states across the country. Hailed as an issue "as old as charters themselves," the push and pull between state and local stakeholders continues to create setbacks in continued public charter school growth. Continue Reading...
Michigan Leads the Way with Cyber Charter School Law
posted by: Cindy Omlin | May 31, 2012, 08:40 PM
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder made national headlines this month by signing into law a progressive piece of legislation designed to greatly expand online charter schools in the state. The law will lift caps on virtual charter schools and allow students on waiting lists the opportunity to dual-enroll in both high school classes and online college courses.
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School Choice and Charter Schools Become Presidential Campaign Issues
posted by: Cindy Omlin | May 30, 2012, 10:44 PM
Last week both President Obama and Governor Romney turned their attention to the growing education crisis in the United States, signaling a new focus on education reform and school choice as emerging campaign issues. On Monday, the Obama administration announced a new round of Race to the Top competitive grants, and in several high-profile speeches, Governor Mitt Romney outlined his potential education plans to the electorate with a strong focus on school choice and charter schools.
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As you know, AAE recently launched a new website for the charter school community: www.aaecharters.org. The new website is geared toward charter school teachers, administrators, education reform leaders, associations, and interested parties searching for timely updates and research on issues affecting the public charter school community.
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Last week, the Alabama House Ways and Means Education committee declined to vote on a less-than-ideal public charter school bill that would have allowed low-performing public schools in Birmingham, Huntsville, Montgomery, and Mobile to be converted to public charter schools. The decision is considered a blow to the Alabama education reform movement and will leave charter proponents at least a year away from another chance at comprehensive public charter school legislation in the state.
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Celebrating the Success of the National Charter School Movement
posted by: Cindy Omlin | May 09, 2012, 08:20 PM
As we highlighted Monday on the AAE blog: May 7-11, 2012, is National Charter Schools Week. This is a time to celebrate the important role charter schools have in improving our education system. This year is particularly noteworthy as public charter schools in the U.S. are celebrating twenty years of success.
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AAE Celebrates Educators & Charter Schools This Week
posted by: Cindy Omlin | May 09, 2012, 08:17 PM
This week, May 7-11, 2012, is both National Teacher Appreciation Week and National Charter Schools Week. AAE is pleased to recognize hard-working educators and celebrate the growing national public charter school movement this week and every week.
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Jana Horne, Moscow Charter School, Moscow, ID, Wins NWPE Teacher Scholarship
posted by: Cindy Omlin | February 22, 2012, 03:48 AM
Congratulations to Jana Horne, a 4th - 5th grade teacher at Moscow Charter School in Moscow, ID! A member of Northwest Professional Educators (NWPE), Ms. Horne has been awarded an NWPE teacher scholarship for $455 to fund a course titled "Inspiring Elementary Students with Engineering" on PBS TeacherLine, which will augment Ms. Horne’s instruction in the school’s new STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) teaching method. Through enhanced knowledge and skill in teaching engineering principles, Ms. Horne’s students will learn the engineering design process and the development of model eliciting activities.
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Andrea Cull, Heritage Community Charter School Teacher, Caldwell, ID, Wins NWPE Grant
posted by: Cindy Omlin | February 01, 2012, 06:50 AM Congratulations to Andrea Cull, a 6th – 12th grade science teacher at Heritage Community Charter School, in Caldwell, ID! A member of Northwest Professional Educators (NWPE), Ms. Cull has been awarded an NWPE classroom grant for $500 to purchase an advanced water monitoring kit for the school's science program. Continue Reading...
Paige Olivetti, North Star Charter School Teacher, Eagle, ID, Wins NWPE Grant
posted by: Cindy Omlin | February 01, 2012, 03:34 AM Congratulations to Paige Olivetti, a 6th grade teacher at North Star Charter School, in Eagle, ID. Paige has been awarded a classroom grant for $360 from Northwest Professional Educators to fund the purchase of mentor texts to help students master the “Six Traits of Writing.” Continue Reading...
Kathy Duplessis, White Pine Charter School Teacher, Ammon, ID Wins $500 NWPE Grant
posted by: Cindy Omlin | February 01, 2012, 02:43 AM Congratulations to Northwest Professional Educators (NWPE) member, Kathy Duplessis, a kindergarten teacher at White Pine Charter School who receives an NWPE classroom grant for $500 to purchase the Core Knowledge Language Arts Listening & Learning Classroom Kit. Continue Reading...
New Report: Status of Charter School Unionization
posted by: Cindy Omlin | December 13, 2011, 02:24 AM
A new report by the Center on Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington sheds light on the status of charter school unionization nationwide. In a climate where charter schools laws are changing dramatically and teacher union membership is declining, the prospect of charter schools unionizing has become a very real threat to the flexible, innovative environments these schools were meant to cultivate. This report attempts to analyze the status of unionization by examining why teachers unionize and the diverse collective bargaining agreements of unionized charters, however it misses the mark in addressing the disconnect between the charter movement and bargaining agreements in general.
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While charter and virtual school environments are seen as solutions to modernizing education, the concept of the "hybrid" charter school, or a blended environment, is gaining steam in communities across the country. The schools are combination of both an independent, innovative charter with the technology and online curriculum usually associated with a purely virtual school.
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Mr. David Mullins, 7th-8th grade mathematics and technology teacher at Idaho Arts Charter School in Nampa, ID, has been awarded a classroom grant for $500 by Northwest Professional Educators (NWPE), the state’s only non-union professional teacher association. The grant will fund purchase of an Apple iPad to improve instruction and student participation. Kim Hunter presented the award on behalf of Northwest Professional Educators at a school staff meeting in May. Continue Reading...
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has been in the news recently over the attempted unionization of a small charter school on Cape Cod. Lighthouse Charter School was once the pride of the area; unfortunately due to some growing pains and administrator turnover the school was at a crossroads that made it vulnerable to a "card-check" unionizing effort. Some teachers are questioning the legality of unionization without an election. Regardless of the outcome at Lighthouse, any attempt to unionize a successful charter school initiates a necessary conversation about what unionization could mean to the overall charter environment in Massachusetts and elsewhere.
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As reported in the AAE State Policy Update this week, a Georgia law clearing the way for new charter schools in the state was struck down by the Georgia Supreme Court in a high-profile decision on Monday. The decision overturned the Georgia Charter Schools Commission, which allowed the state to approve and fund charter schools over the objection of local school boards. The court's ruling will undoubtedly affect thousands of students, reshaping the face of funding for public education in the state, and perhaps set a precedent that could affect other states' emerging charter movements.
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This week, May 2-8, 2011, is both National Teacher Appreciation Week and National Charter Schools Week. AAE is pleased to recognize both American educators and charter schools this week and every day. Read Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's statement on the occasion here.
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Member Mention: Wings Charter Teacher Awarded Grant for Science Materials
posted by: Cindy Omlin | March 25, 2011, 10:41 PM We are happy to award Mr. David Grindstaff, an NWPE member and teacher at the Twin Falls, ID, Wings Charter School, with a classroom grant for $422 to purchase earth science curricular materials to enhance student achievement. Continue Reading...At their annual convention held earlier this month, the National Education Association heard a series of new business items (NBIs) that display their distaste for the charter movement: NBI 91, which failed to pass after debate, sought to start a counter-campaign to a number of documentaries about education reform and charters that will be playing in theaters across the country this year Continue Reading... As well as being National Teacher Appreciation Week, May 2-8, 2010, is National Charter Schools Week. Read President Obama's proclamation here. Continue Reading... |
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