NEWSLETTER
August 12, 2008

CHARTER SCHOOL FACTS
LOCAL AUTHORIZATION in NEW HAMPSHIRE
BLENDING COLLEGES AND HIGH SCHOOLS
NEW HAMPSHIRE'S FEDERAL CHARTER SCHOOL GRANT

CHARTER SCHOOL FACTS
Did you know: That 3% of all schools in America are charter schools but 12% of the top high schools in America are charter schools? In California, 250,000 students attend charter schools—more than in any state? One (1) chartered public school in 1991 has spawned 4300 charter schools today? That the number of charter schools is increasing by several hundred schools each year? That New Hampshire’s original law allowed for 10 charter schools per year?

Did you know that there is no moratorium in New Hampshire for locally-authorized charter schools? New Hampshire's moratorium during 2008-2009 is just for state-authorized charter schools. There is no limit on locally-authorized charter schools--a reason to fix these statutes.

LOCAL AUTHORIZATION in NEW HAMPSHIRE
In New Hampshire, the local authorization process has 3 key steps after the charter application is written. Step #1: the local school board reviews the charter school application for completeness and gives its opinion to the state board of education. Step #2: the state board of education then also reviews the application for completeness, and approves or denies a school charter. (The approved charter is not the local authorization to open). Step #3: the legislative body of the school district has a hearing on the approved charter, and votes authorization to open. The timelines for local authorization & charter application review takes more than a year. A statutory timeline waiver provision, though, allows for a more expedient process. For more information go to: How to begin.

BLENDING COLLEGES AND HIGH SCHOOLS
Colleges and high schools are blending programs more than ever. For years, high school students have taken occasional college courses for dual credit (high school and college). This joint or dual enrollment saves money—earning college credits without typical college expense, e.g. living away. Usually dual enrollment is allowed only during the senior year of high school. In New Hampshire, a unique program—Running Start—offers college courses for high school students at a very low tuition.

The U. Pittsburgh model—called The Accelerated High School—is open to juniors and seniors. Each term, the Accelerated High School program permits qualified high school students to take up to two college courses while in high school.

More recently, complete high schools are located right on college campuses—both typical and specialty high schools. International High School (for immigrant students less than 4 years in the US) is located on campus of LaGuardia Community College in New York City. Northeastern University (Boston) hosts the Health Careers Academy charter school. Students are connected to high expectations and area hospitals. High schools welcomed on college campuses are found all over the country.

Colleges wishing to step in and improve American high schools now are even sponsoring their own public schools. University of Chicago sponsors three charter schools.

From time to time we read about high school students who earn an associates degree before high school graduation. This is Early College, where high school and college are blended. Since 2002, more than 160 high schools in 24 states and the District of Columbia have started or been redesigned using the Early College model. Through Early College programs, even low income and other students who typically do not attend college can earn an associate’s degree while working toward high school graduation.

Then, there are blended campuses—purposely built intertwining college and high schools. In New Orleans, three colleges and a high school will be built on one collaborative facility complex. Each school will shoulder its own facility costs. This innovative NOHO college high school complex plans to be open in 2 years and is one of the first of its kind, being built on donated land.

The most recent innovation is colleges inside high schools. College Now (Lane Community College, Eugene, Oregon) offers free academic and technical courses inside area high schools. Bronx Community College in New York also is co-located at local high schools, offering courses after hours. How do these options differ from AP courses? The coursework is likely different but also College Now courses are free—there is no costly testing requirement as with AP courses.

These college/high school blended programs not only stimulate higher achievement and college connections, they provide access to college for increasing numbers of American students, many of whom might not otherwise have this opportunity.

NEW HAMPSHIRE'S FEDERAL CHARTER SCHOOL GRANT APPLICATION

New Hampshire's Department of Education was unfortunately denied charter school start-up funding by the US Department of Education. For its second try at bringing a few federal dollars into New Hampshire from the $200 million national stimulus program, New Hampshire was denied for a second year in a row. The denial followed the US Department of Education recalling the small amount of funding in this state already approved for two charter schools that had already opened. Taking money back from new schools that had launched and depended on their next year of startup funding is very harsh.

The hope (the grant just denied) was start-up funding for five additional charter schools in this rural state. Three new schools were in line, including two schools moving forward under local authorization. No doubt about it—small states with limited personnel are given no break at all by the US DOE. Small states are unrealistically expected to compete with states that have years of innovative school experience and access to teams of professional grant writers. Perhaps this is one reason why the USA still has ten (10) rural states left behind in this national, charter school initiative.

Eventually someone at a high US DOE level will insist states like New Hampshire and Mississippi be considered for federal funding in a special pool and not have to compete with larger states with more grant-writing acumen and resources. Until then, New Hampshire can be discouraged, again, by the lack of interest in our state.

The crime of our state's denial of continued federal grant support for new schools this year is that New Hampshire’s legislature just decided chartered independent schools were one of the state’s highest priorities. One would think that this would be a strong criterion for providing federal stimulus funding.

We recommend some innovative thinking at the Office of Innovation.