New York City Charter Schools

November 8, 2006

Dr. Arthur Sadoff

Purpose and Promise of Charter Schools

• Every child deserves a quality education• Every child has the potential to succeed in school and life• Charter Schools are a public school alternative with the

promise of great education• Based on autonomy and accountability, public charter

schools drive high student expectations and academic achievement in a caring culture of commitment

Our Mission

The mission of the New York City Center for Charter School Excellence is to stimulate the supply of high quality charter schools and support ongoing student excellence in all NYC charter schools, impacting the effectiveness of public education. As an independent nonprofit, the Charter Center is an advocate, bridge and catalyst for the achievement of academic and operational success and sustainability of all NYC charter schools for each young person.

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What are Charter Schools?

• Publicly funded, independent public schools that operate according to the terms of a five-year performance contract or “charter”.

• Autonomy for Accountability

• Must meet Regents requirements and state laws for health, safety, civil rights and student assessment.

• Charter Schools are PUBLIC schools and are open to all NYC students regardless of income or ability.

15 Bronx

18 Brooklyn

4 Queens

21 Manhattan

0 Staten Island

100% of Charter Schools serve low-income communities

Charter School Growth

1999-2000

2000-2001

2001-2002

2002-2003

2003-2004

2004-2005

2005-2006

2006-2007

Existing Schools Regents School Districts Conversions SUNY

1

10

1517

23

32

47

58

What it takes to achieve Charter School excellence and long-term success:• Mission & vision with academic achievement and

measurable goals.• Parents as partners involved in academic results for their

kids.• Clear accountability.• Continuous quality improvement.• Community engagement.

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Who can open a charter school?

• Educators• Parents • Community leaders • Not-for profit organizations

Because they are held to very high standards and are responsible for educating public school students, charter schools are approved only after a rigorous review process. Once schools open, they are governed by a not-for-profit board.

CMOs, EMOs and CGOsCharter Management Organizations (CMOs)

Education Management

Organizations (EMOs)

Community GrownOrganizations (CGOs)

CMO stands for Charter Management Organization. CMOs are non-profit organizations that seek to expand a particular model of instruction by establishingnew schools that are similar to one another. These schools share some form of management and curriculum practices.

The term EMO has so far been limited to include only for-profit firms that provide partial support or whole-school management services to public school agencies.

In recent years, many charter schools have

opened as a result of CGOs. CGOs are organic to a particular community or to the city (usually non-profit or community based). CGOs partner with school and have varying degrees of involvement (from providing after-school programming to helping with the design,launch and operation of the school).

Who are the Authorizers?

The Charter Schools Act created three different routes for charterschool approval in New York State, and thus there are three different charter school application forms and processes.

(1) directly to the New York State Board of Regents through the State Education Department

(2) to the Board of Trustees of State University of New York through its Charter Schools Institute

(3) through local boards of education, which in New York City is the Chancellor’s Office

Our Support Commitment

Resources: The Charter Center provides technical assistance, training and support for charter schools as well as Guidebooks via our Web site www.nycchartercenter.org

Grants: The Charter Center provides and facilitates grants to help charter schools get started, operate successfully and achieve academic excellence.

Best Practices: The Charter Center identifies and promotes best practices and models of excellence to charter schools.

Our Commitment to School Quality

Brief History of Special Education in New York City

• Types of programs

• Movement toward inclusion

Charter Schools and Special Education

• Unique Challenges• NY Center for Autism Charter School• Opportunity Charter School

Unique Challenges

• Working with the Regional CSE

• Obtaining services from the Department of Education

• Encouraging Charter Schools to develop appropriate programs

NYC Center for Autism Charter School

• Only for students with Autism

• Selected through a lottery

• Intensive ABA program

Opportunity Charter School

• 50% of their students have IEP’s

• Special needs students are fully included

• Differentiated instruction for all students

• Intensive staff development- “Schools Attuned”

Initiatives from the Center

• Special Education Manual Development*• Training for the Special Education Teachers• Developed an on-line guidebook with a special

education section*• Offered a “Best Practices” Shared Campus grant• Special Education Best Practice Forums

Training for the Special Education teachers

• Eight sessions that are tied into the process and procedural manual developed by Interactive Therapy Group and the Center

• Networking among special educators: – They established a “yahoo” network to share ideas and to

support one another

• Staff development other than manual training – two part training module

Offered a “Best Practices” Shared Campus grant

• Bronx Charter School for the Arts

Special Education Best Practice Forums

• Bringing schools together to share best practices• Having agencies discuss ways that they can work with charter

schools– “Matching grants” were offered to schools that elected to work with

agencies that were identified by the Center

• Schools and agencies that worked together were invited to share their experiences with other schools

Future Endeavors

• Social worker/ guidance counselor supervision sessions provided by an outside vendor

• Medicaid Initiative • Developing an Education Service Agency to

provide Special Education Support to schools

Social worker/ guidance counselor supervision sessions provided by an

outside vendor

• Sharing best practices• Networking for support• Professional development

Medicaid Initiative

• Bringing Medicaid reimbursement directly into Charter Schools in NYC– Given the large number of students who participate in free

lunch programs, it appears that Medicaid can be a lucrative revenue source to offset the cost of providing best practices to students with special needs

• Conducting feasibility study supported by the Center

Developing an Education Service Agency to provide Special Education Support to

schools

• Center supported a study in one NYC borough which suggested a strong need for development of an ESA– Surveys and interviews were conducted at each Charter

School and the CSE– Results support the hypothesis that a new structure should

be put into place to allow for a better service delivery model within charter schools

Developing an Education Service Agency to provide Special Education Support to

schools

• BOCES model in NYS– To encourage resource pooling – School districts may choose, but are not required to join– Financially supported by member school districts

Developing an Education Service Agency to provide Special Education Support to

Schools • Charter Schools and ESA Models

– Way to better understand charter laws– Mutual interest in developing a collaborative and uniform

relationship with district special education staff in the best interest of special education students

– Perception that sharing special education services and related service providers create and economy of scale

– Lack of knowledge regarding standards of practice for high quality services

– Need for access to expertise in both compliance and academic areas of special education

– Need for special educators to have access to a supporting infrastructure

Developing an Education Service Agency to provide Special Education Support to schools

• Examples of types of types of ESA models– CSE designed to only serve charter schools in a particular

borough– Charter school cooperative established by the voluntary

participation of member schools– BOCES structure comprised of voluntarily participating

charter schools and governed by a Board of Directors, with an Executive Director, and staffed with District Lea representatives and CSE members.

Developing an Education Services Agency to provide Special Education Support to schools

• Examples of types of types of ESA models

– BOCES structure comprised of voluntarily participating charter schools and public schools and governed by a Board of Directors, with an Executive Director, and staffed with District LEA representatives and CSE members.