Funding will help drive quality and accountability in Pennsylvania charter schools The Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools (PCPCS) announced today that it has received a $1.14 million grant from the Walton Family Foundation. The three-year grant was made with the goal of expanding efforts to drive quality and accountability in Pennsylvania charter schools, and [...] More »
After more than 14 years of operation and experience in Pennsylvania and from educators in 39 other states, we know what makes for high-performing charter schools – dedicated teachers, involved parents, individualized attention, exceptional curriculums, enlightened leadership, and strong authorizers. None of this is surprising, and with the exception of the strong authorizer, everyone is [...] More »
The U.S. Department of Education’s Charter Schools Program is requesting public comment on proposed plans for its new Exemplary Charter School Collaboration Awards competition. This competition (84.282P) is designed to create incentives for charter schools to collaborate with non-chartered public schools and non-chartered local educational agencies (LEAS) to share and transfer best educational and operational [...] More »
The U.S. Department of Education’s Charter Schools Program (CSP) has just announced two new Non-State Educational Agency (Non-SEA) grant competitions for 2012. Applications for both competitions are due June 6, 2012. The CSP’s Non-SEA Planning, Program Design, and Implementation competition (84.282B) provides grants directly to public charter schools so they can plan, design, and complete [...] More »
Update from the Compact Committee - Meeting #9 Mar 30, 2012 The Committee addressed questions and concerns of charter schools relative to current charter modification and expansion policies. These included a lack of clarity about the timing and criteria for decisions on charter modification and inconsistencies in the criteria used to make modification decisions in recent [...] More »
On February 15th 2012, PCPCS President, Lawrence Jones, testified before the PA Senate Education Committee against House Bill 1973, a bill that would severely defund Cyber Charter Schools in Pennsylvania. More »
Rock Center Special Correspondent Chelsea Clinton visits Central Falls, R.I., where a public school and charter school have formed a unique partnership to better serve their students. Rather than compete with one another, a group of public school teachers are working with teachers from The Learning Community charter school to devise programs that have already raised [...] More »
The Internal Revenue Service recently issued a Proposed Regulation titled “Determination of Government Plan Status.” This regulation would force states to prohibit charter school teachers from participating in state retirement plans. Presently, every single state that authorizes charter schools either requires or permits charter school participation in the state’s retirement system. Therefore, this regulation would [...] More »
Joined by Philadelphia education, business and philanthropic leaders, Mayor Michael A. Nutter announced today that he and other education leaders have signed a historic agreement to increase the number of high-performing schools in the City. The Philadelphia Great Schools Compact unites the mayor, school district and charter school leaders in a bold, collaborative plan to focus [...] More »
The number of ELL students throughout the United States is increasing yearly and it is the responsibility of our schools to educate these students. 2.9% of the student population of Pennsylvania is ELLs. This increases greatly in the urban areas. Charter schools continue to enroll very few ELLs which have caused many to question the [...] More »
After 14 years of operation and experience in Pennsylvania and from educators in 39 other states, we know what makes for high-performing charter schools – dedicated teachers, involved parents, individualized attention, exceptional curriculums, enlightened leadership, and strong authorizers. None of this is surprising, and with the exception of the strong authorizer, every one is identical [...] More »
It is necessary that the Board and the Executive Director/ED School Head work together to set a school’s culture of excellence and determine the school’s success of its mission. Bylaws must clearly state the roles and responsibilities of members of the Board of Trustees (BOT) as well as the ED/Head of School. All stakeholders in [...] More »
The following is a transcript of the testimony of Lawrence F. Jones, President of the Pennsylvania Coalition for Public Charter Schools, given to the the PA House Education Committee in Philadelphia on Thursday July 28th. Good afternoon Chairman Clymer, Chairman Roebuck, members of the Education Committee, members of the legislature, and audience members. My name is Lawrence F. [...] More »