...by presenting at the 2008 Ohio Charter School Conference. The Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools is proud to host the annual conference at the Crowne Plaza - North in Columbus, Ohio on Oct. 14-15, 2008.
The OAPCS is seeking energetic, motivated and passionate people to present during 50 minute breakout sessions at the conference this year. Hiring and retaining teachers, special education, engaging parents and using technology in your classroom are just a few topics that have been tossed around as potential breakouts. Have a better idea? Submit the call for proposals, outlining your presentation by June 9 and you could be on the agenda.
Share your best practices and help OAPCS with "Charting the Course to Quality."
National Charter Schools Conference
There is still time to register for the National Charter Schools Conference, June 22 - 25, 2008 in New Orleans. In addition to Danny Glover, Geoffery Canada and Governor Bobby Jindal, Petra Nemcova will be a part of this years conference.
Supermodel Petra Nemcova, a survivor of the Tsunami in Thailand, established the Happy Hearts Fund (HHF) in 2005. The mission of HHF is to improve children's lives through education, sustainability and technology. HHF supports programs such as the building of kindergartens, schools, medical centers and computer labs around the world. Petra is excited to announce HHF's first project in the United States - a donation of over 150 computers and other equipment to the Andrew H. Wilson Charter School in New Orleans.
As the end of the year draws near, the challenge to keep the learning going in school is a difficult task. The warm weather fuels the energy of students and it becomes more difficult to keep their attention. Thankfully, Scholastic.com has pulled together a long list of activities and lesson for the final month of school.
Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools Fifth Third Center 21 E. State Street, Suite 940 Columbus, Ohio 43215 Office: (614) 744-2266 Fax: (614) 744-2255 www.oapcs.org
OAPCS at the table as Governor's "education reform process" dialogue begins
Several weeks ago, the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools received a copy of the "Summary of Education Reform Process" document informally released by Governor Ted Strickland's office.
Although short on details, the document does include "charter school accountability" among the Administration's priorities, specifically, creating policy changes to "increase the academic, fiscal, operational, and governance accountability" of Ohio's charter schools.
In a summary of proposed education governance reform legislation, the Governor addresses his plan to create a cabinet-level director of the Ohio Department of Education. According to the document, the proposal will "preserve all existing policy and program statutory mandates, including all existing requirements and procedures regarding vouchers and charter schools." It would also "add language to further protect against administrative undercutting of vouchers and charter schools."
As the old expression goes, "the devil is in the details" ... and, at this time, little is known about Governor Strickland's apparently evolving position on community charter schools, other than his clearly stated concerns about for-profit management companies and his perception of their alleged conflict in putting students - rather than profits - first.
No immediate impact on current lawsuits against charter schools
Gov. Ted Strickland today appointed Nancy Hardin Rogers, dean of the Ohio State University College of Law, as Ohio's interim attorney general.
The recent resignation of Marc Dann as Ohio's attorney general has had no immediate impact on the lawsuits filed by the AG's office against four community charter schools.
On May 15, just one day after Dann resigned under pressure from Ohio's Democrat leaders, Judge Tucker heard oral argument in the AG's lawsuit against New Choices Community School in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas.
"We're pleased to continue to support the legal defense of New Choices against this unwarranted attack," said Bill Sims, President/CEO of the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools (OAPCS). "We hope that the new attorney general will not share Marc Dann's perspective that Ohio's charitable trust law applies to community charter schools. From the onset, we have disagreed with the AG's actions to go outside legislative provisions for closing underperforming charter schools."
"Given the unprecedented nature of the lawsuit where the attorney general is taking an aggressive role in trying to regulate the performance of public schools, I would expect the new attorney general to examine whether this is an action worth continuing," said Chad Readler, lawyer for New Choices Community School.
On May 14 Finance Fund announced a solution to address the increasing number of vacant and abandoned properties in the state of Ohio. LandLOC is a newly created program that provides statewide financing helping non-profit, community-based organizations to gain site control of vacant and abandoned residential properties.
"Vacant and abandoned properties negatively impact the economic vitality of Ohio's urban and rural areas," said James R. Klein, CEO, Finance Fund. "The goal of this initiative is to give communities an opportunity to recover these properties and bring them back to productive use."
To be eligible, organizations must be 501 (c) (3) non-profits, and must be dedicated to meeting the needs of a geographically defined low income neighborhood or community. Eligible projects must be in alignment with or enhance a broader strategy or revitalization plan addressing the vacant and abandoned properties issue. Interested? Call Finance Fund at (614) 221-1114.
Jay Smink, executive director, National Dropout Prevention Center/Network, ended a two-day, Career-Based Intervention (CBI) conference with a national dropout prevention seminar in Dublin, Ohio, on May 5. He provided information related to understanding the dropout problem, using data and implementing strategies. A summary of some of the information is provided below.
On May 14 Finance Fund announced a solution to address the increasing number of vacant and abandoned properties in the state of Ohio. LandLOC is a newly created program that provides statewide financing helping non-profit, community-based organizations to gain site control of vacant and abandoned residential properties.