• • Notes from CEO Bill Sims
• • Please see the following important notices:
• • Best Practices in Student Data Management
• • eRate Form 471 Workshop for Charter Schools!
• • Voices in Action National Youth Summit
• • eTech Conference
• • Customized Insurance Package for OAPCS Members
• • Tragedy in Tucson
• • Legal Roundup
• • Ohio Charter School Teachers: Resources Available for Your Classroom!
• • Assessment Updates
• • OAPCS welcomes two newest members
• • Thanks to our members
• • OAPCS Membership News
• • Teacher Collaboration
• • Apple in Education
• • Midwest Auto Auction, Inc.

Editorial
Charter schools are public schools; they should work together.
For the full article click here

Department of Education
Funding Opportunity:
The Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination (AEMDD)
For the full article click here

Department of Education
Funding Opportunity:
Grants for the Integration of Schools and Mental Health Systems program
For the full article click here

Advocacy

Events

Quality Values and Principles

It’s a New Year. Let’s make a collective resolution to continue the progress that we made in the 2009-2010 school year. This past year was a year of tremendous growth for Ohio charter schools. If you have any doubts about this, take a look at the ODE report to the Governor on Ohio charter schools. And there’s another report worth looking at in these regards that appears on our OAPCS web site, the OAPCS Value-Added Data Analysis 2009-2010. Of course there’s room for improvement but Ohio charter schools are now proving their value and owning up to their promise. Let’s resolve to show not only Ohio students and parents but national educational stakeholders that Ohio is leading the way when it comes to charter school improvement and performance. The clear winners will be our students.

The National Best Cooperative Practices Between Charter and Traditional Public Schools Conference proceedings document has just been released. The electronic version is free, and by the way, feel free to print it off. It’s on our web site at: Proceedings Document.  Hardcopy can be purchased by calling our offices (614.744.2266). We’re exceedingly proud of the national attention this conference has received and the proceedings document will serve as a catalyst for the fermentation of other ideas for charter-district collaborations. Take a look.

The OAPCS is also targeting the quality imperative with a symposium this month (January 21) on Instructional Information Systems (IIS). Through a grant from the Ohio Grantmakers Forum with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation the symposium will study the elements of high-quality IIS applications with exhibitions of successful systems in practice. The symposium is open only to Race-to-the-Top participants (currently at capacity with 150 attendees), and will be co-hosted by the Ohio Department of Education. Documents from the symposium will be later available to all schools. We’ll notify our members when the proceedings are available.

I want to call your attention to a new element on our web site (hint: it’s green), which links to a place where tax-deductable donations can be made to OAPCS.  This is the time of year when tax-deductable donations can have a positive effect on personal tax returns. We are thankful for whatever donations are made, no matter how small (or large), because for us it’s a measure of your appreciation for what we do for the charter school community of Ohio.  Thank you in advance for taking a look at this new opportunity and for whatever support you feel is right.

Finally, be assured that the Ohio Alliance is advocating strenuously for no reductions in charter-school funding. Charter schools have no authority to effect levies to compensate for funding reductions; they have no bureaucracies to buffer them from such funding cuts; and, they operate with much smaller economies of scale. Among the many advocacy issues facing charters, including facilities funding, this issue for us is paramount. We will continue to press the new administration and legislators on this “no reductions” position relative to charter school funding along with our rationale.

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FLICS – Please make sure that all economically disadvantaged students have been identified as such by the end of the day on Friday, January 14th. The timeline for the second phase of FLICS is scheduled as follows:
•   January 14 - Preview pulled from SOES for FLI Count
•   January 20 - Summary reports posted to SAFE account; data correction begins for schools
•   January 31- Last day to supply missing data
 
EMAD reporting is almost here!  EMAD information will be e-mailed to the individual(s) identified as the EMAD Coordinator in OEDS-R. Please take a moment to confirm that the EMAD Coordinator designated in OEDS-R for your school is correct and that his/her e-mail address is current. Schools that have not designated an EMAD Coordinator by Friday, January 21, 2011, will miss important EMAD notifications.
 
Career Tech – Community schools and STEM schools should be entering their career tech student information into SOES. Please note that if course information is not reflected in SOES, it may be that your school hasn’t submitted the information in EMIS yet. This must be done first. In order to avoid a disruption in your career tech funding, please have career tech student information for the current year entered into SOES by January 15, 2011.

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As part of our work with the Ohio Grantmakers Forum, OAPCS has partnered with ODE to create the Best Practices in Student Data Management Symposium, to be held January 21, 2011, at the Conference Center at Northpointe in Lewis Center, OH. Registration opened on January 3rd, and was capped at 150. By January 4th, 179 people had signed up! Schools are being notified if they have been registered or are on the wait list. This amazing response reflects the interest in this topic. Watch for communications following the event, as we plan to share the presentations and other information from the event to all via our website. Thank you for your quick registration, and please forward any questions about Student Data Management to Marianne Lombardo, V.P., School Performance and Accountability at mlombardo@oapcs.org.

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It’s not too late to register for the Charter School eRate/eTech Workshop, to be held January 25th , from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm at the eTech office at Ohio NET 500 West Lane Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43221-3975. We also have the Participant Link (click here) for those that cannot travel.
 
Lorrie Germann, State eRate Coordiator, and Quentin Briggs, Education Technology Consultant of eTech Ohio want to help charter schools get the full discounts available with the eRate program. All things eRate can be shared, as well as helpful information on other eTech programs and services (the tech coordinators listserv, the upcoming eTech state conference, the important BETA survey, technology plans, ways that collaboration can save money, and other items). Come learn and share!  Please be aware that the plan is for state assessments to be administered online in coming years. It is critical that charter schools have the technology infrastructure in place to meet these evolving needs. If you plan to attend, please let us know via email to mlombardo@oapcs.org.

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SAVE THE DATE
U.S. Department of Education’s
Voices in Action
National Youth Summit
 
February 26, 2011
Washington, D.C.
8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
 
Please join us for an historic event to engage middle/high school students from across the nation in transforming our nations’ schools and in meeting the President’s challenge to lead the world in college completion by 2020.
 
This is an event designed to engage middle and high school students. If your organization is interested in sending youth representatives* or have any questions please contact Robert Gomez at robert.gomez@ed.gov
 
More details such as hotel, location, registration information will be available in the coming week.
 
*Students must be sponsored by a non-profit organization or school district. Organizations are responsible for minors and in providing appropriate chaperones.

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Each year, eTech Ohio hosts a technology conference where participants have the opportunity to hear from national and international experts on integrating technology into the classroom environment. Typically it attracts teachers, administrators and technical staff, from Ohio’s public schools. This year’s conference runs from Jan. 31–Feb. 2, 2011. A full listing of Conference activities is available here www.etech.ohio.gov/conference/. For more information see their announcement below.

Learn how to integrate technology into your classroom at Ohio Educational Technology Conference

The Ohio Educational Technology Conference, slated for Jan. 31 to Feb. 2 in Columbus, will provide teachers with opportunities to experience a variety of cutting-edge speakers, exhibits, and ideas that will invigorate and expand approaches to integrating technology into the learning experience. More than 500 sessions and displays are part of the conference agenda.
 
Teachers are invited to “Bring Your Own Tools” for ninety-minute sessions that are designed to for attendees to learn on their own equipment and discover new and expanded functionality possibilities.
 
Keynote and featured speakers include Peter Sheahan, Matt Monjan, Brené Brown, Salman Khan, and Phill Nosworthy. For an early look at the experience the conference will provide, check out the “Truth and Dare” segments for Khan and Nosworthy. Through these snippets, they provide a real-world example of the impact they have seen technology make in the classroom and issue a “dare” to teachers. During the conference, teachers will be able to share how they plan to answer the challenges brought forth by each speaker. For the first time in conference history, representatives from the U.S. Department of Education will be on hand to discuss the federal department’s view on the role of technology in education.
 
For complete details and registration information about the 2011 Ohio Educational Technology Conference, visit the eTech Ohio Conference Page. Graduate credit options will be offered, and team and student rates are available. Conference attendees will receive certificates of attendance, which may be provided to your Local Professional Development Committee for CEU consideration. For assistance with registration, contact eTech Ohio at (877) 383-2406 or conference_registration@etech.ohio.gov.

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OAPCS members have access to an exclusive program for their schools’ insurance needs. CharterSafe is the first insurance program designed specifically for charter schools by school leaders and school insurance experts. CharterSafe was created as a direct response to schools’ needs of finding insurance options that provided the correct coverage at group reduced rates.

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Much has been written about the horrible tragedy in Tucson, Arizona. It has been suggested that Ohio students may want to write letters to the 9-year old victim’s family. She was a bright young girl who was very interested in the democratic process but an innocent bystander in the senseless shooting. Christina-Taylor Green, 9, died at the hospital an hour after she was shot at the event. The third-grader already was an aspiring politician. Christina had just been elected to the student council at Mesa Verde Elementary School and had been interested in politics from a young age. (MSNBC) A friend of the OAPCS who lives in Tucson is coordinating such student letters. If students in your school or classrooms would like to send letters, they should be sent to the OAPCS offices by January 20 and we will forward them. The address is OAPCS, 33 North Third Street, Suite 600, Columbus, Ohio 43215.

The Christina-Taylor Green Memorial Fund has been established through the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona. Checks can be made out to the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona with “In Memory of Christina-Taylor Green” in the memo. People can send the checks directly to the Foundation at: 2250 E. Broadway Boulevard, Tucson, Arizona 85719-6014. To donate online through their website please click here.

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Welcome to Legal Roundup, a new feature of Insight. In this section, we highlight some recent court decisions pertaining to schools both in Ohio and around the country. Sometimes, the decisions will directly relate to charters; other decisions will apply to all public schools.  

This edition of legal roundup focuses on two cases that directly affect Ohio. The first is a decision pertaining to would-be charter school sponsors in Ohio. The second is a First Amendment case out of Tennessee. Cases involving the constitutionality of a law are decided by federal courts. Ohio, along with Tennessee, Kentucky and Michigan, are in the Sixth Circuit, so the decision in this case is binding in Ohio.

Given the newness of this section, I welcome your suggestions! Are there any particular types of cases you would like to see? Anything that needs more clarification? Please write to me at Stephanie Klupinski, sklupinski@oapcs.org.

Also, please be advised that this column is for education purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.  


Brookwood Presbyterian Church v. Ohio Department of Education

Decided by the Ohio Supreme Court on November 30, 2010
Issue: Can the ODE’s decision that a sponsor applicant is not an education oriented entity be appealed to a court?
Holding: In a 5-2 decision, the Ohio Supreme Court said yes, the entity can appeal the decision.

Ohio is one of the only states in the nation that allows nonprofits to sponsor schools. There are three requirements a nonprofit must meet, according to law: it must have been in operation for at least five years; it must have assets of at least $500,000 and a demonstrated record of financial responsibility; and the department of education must be an education-oriented entity, as determined by the Ohio Department of Education. But what happens if ODE decides a nonprofit does not have an education-orientation? Does the nonprofit sponsor applicant have any recourse?

The answer is yes, according to the 5-2 decision of the Ohio Supreme Court handed down on November 30. In Brookwood Presbyterian Church v. Ohio Department of Education, the court held that the sponsor applicant may appeal ODE’s determination to a court of common pleas. This means that Brookwood Presbyterian now will go to the Franklin County Common Pleas Court and try to convince the court that it does indeed have an education orientation.  

The court’s decision, which can be found at http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov, is an interesting read, with judges debating over the meaning of the word “final.” According to the majority opinion, the ODE’s determination that nonprofit does not have an education orientation is final, but it can still be appealed. This is like a trial court entering a jury’s final verdict of “guilty” of a defendant, but then the defendant appealing the case.  

The result means that ODE longer has the final (no pun intended) word on what constitutes an “education orientation.” Now the case will head back to the Franklin Court of Common Pleas. Will that court side with ODE and find that Brookwood does not have an education-orientation? The term “education orientation” is vague, and it has never been clear how much of an orientation toward a charter school sponsor can, or should, have.  

This case could lead to courts getting more involved in deciding what is an “education orientation,” or it could lead to clearer law in the Ohio Revised Code.


Defoe v. Spiva

Decided by the Sixth Circuit on November 18, 2010
Issue: Can a school suspend a student for wearing a shirt with the Confederate flag on it?
Holding: Yes, according to the decision by the three-judge panel on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.

In 1969, the United States Supreme Court found that a school could not suspend students for wearing black armbands in protest of the Vietnam War. In that case, called Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District, the court famously Defoe v. Spiva continued stated that students do not “shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate.” That case has had a legacy on school discipline and free speech, allowing school administrators to discipline students for expression that causes or has the potential to cause a substantial disruption. In Tinker, the Court stressed the importance of political protest and found that the armbands had little chance of substantially disrupting the school environment.  

But that, of course, does not mean students can wear whatever they want to school. Since Tinker, classroom attire has been the subject of much court controversy.  In this recent case out of Tennessee, a high school student wore a t-shirt with a Confederate flag to school. He had done this once before and had been sent home, for breaking the district-wide ban on displays of the Confederate flag in school. The policy emerged after instances of racially-motivated harassment, bullying, and even assaults had occurred.  

The court in Defoe found that the school’s policy was constitutional and therefore rejected the student’s argument that his t-shirt was a political symbol of Southern Heritage deserving of constitutional protection.

The judges, however, differed as to how they reached the decision. Two relied on Tinker and found that the school’s policy was well-founded because the past racially-motivated instances made it reasonably foreseeable that displays of the confederate flag could cause substantial disruptions.  

The other judge also found for the school, but it did not use Tinker. Instead, that court found that under a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court case, Morse v. Frederick, school districts could discipline speech even without show-ing that the speech did or could cause a
substantial disruption to the learning environment. In Morse, a student held a banner reading “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” at an Olympic Torch relay event across the street from the school. The Supreme Court upheld the school’s discipline of the student, noting the widespread problems of drugs amongst young people and the school’s interest in prohibiting the advocacy of drug use.

But it has been—and remains—unclear how broad Morse’s ruling is. In Defoe, one judge takes a very broad reading, seeing it as not only allowing schools to discipline for pro-drug speech, but for other speech that inhibits important school policies. The other two judges take a more limited (and more widely accepted) view of Morse, which says that it only applies to pro-drug speech.  

The question of whether school officials can only discipline school speech like in the above two cases if it does or could cause a substantial disruption is a hot topic in education law.

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Need classroom materials to teach and support your students this year (lab equipment, calculators, novels, etc.) Sign up for a free teacher account on DonorsChoose.org to begin requesting these resources now!

How do I participate?
1.    First, log in to your teacher account on www.donorschoose.org/DonorsChoose.org (if you don't have one, any public school teacher can sign up at www.donorschoose.org/teacher).
2.    Once you're logged in, submit a request for the classroom materials you need (microscopes, math manipulatives, models, notebooks – you name it!).

Note: Teachers are especially encouraged to submit projects this summer, as many DonorsChoose.org funders are eager to support requests in the late summer and early fall.

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Test Administration in 2011
The OAA test administration in 2011 will begin on April 25. In 2011, Easter is on April 24 and many districts have scheduled, or are considering scheduling, spring break the week of April 25. Spring break during the week of April 25 will mean the district has the week of May 2 for the initial administration and the week of May 9 for make-up testing only.

Districts cannot use the week of May 9 for initial administration. To meet the results deadline in June, the scorable materials need to be picked up during the “rolling” pickup period: May 6, May 9 and May 10. If this does not happen, the return of test results in June would be jeopardized.

Please consider scheduling spring break the week before Easter. If time off is required after Easter, perhaps the Monday following Easter also could be included in the spring break. This still would allow districts time to administer tests the week of April 25.

Reminder – Suspension of Ohio Achievement Assessments (OAA) in Writing and Social Studies
The development and administration of the OAA grades 4 and 7 writing assessments and the grades 5 and 8 social studies assessments will continue to be suspended for the school year 2010-2011 due to budget cuts. The OAA-Alternate Assessment for Students with Disabilities in the areas of writing and social studies also will continue to be suspended for the school year 2010-2011. At this time, we do not know if these tests will be returned to the assessment program. Development and administration of assessments for these subjects is dependent upon funding available in the next state biennial budget.

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OAPCS would like to welcome two of its newest charter school members, L.E.A.D and L.E.A.R.N Academies. L.E.A.D and L.E.A.R.N Academies are both conversion schools sponsored by Liberty Local Schools in Youngstown, Ohio. 

L.E.A.R.N Academy is a KG-3rd grade school that teaches students a total of four languages; Arabic, French, Spanish and American Sign Language, along with giving the students art, drama, dance, music and visual art as other specials within their regular curriculum. Technology is a strong resource that the teachers are using within all aspects of learning. Each student is supplied with an iPod Touch and each classroom has student a response system and amplified systems as well. In addition to the students being in touch with the most recent technology on hand, each student is educated on wellness. Each day begins with Yoga and classes meet with a focus on the whole child. L.E.A.R.N has made a strong commitment to community building, including parent activities, community service projects and family involvement. L.E.A.R.N Academy has also been made sure that they make a presence within the community by partnering with universities, art organizations and businesses. We are excited to have L.E.A.R.N as a member of OAPCS and look forward to seeing what other exciting things are in their future.

L.E.A.D. Academy is a 7th-8th grade STEM school with the infusion of the arts. The school has formed a partnership with the College of STEM at Youngstown State University (YSU) and students will be involved at classes at YSU throughout the year. To help students be college ready, students will begin doing college visits in the 8th grade and engineers and YSU faculty, from the College of STEM, are mentors to the students and the staff. L.E.A.D is also focusing on technology within the classroom and instead of iPod Touches, as L.E.A.R.N students receive, L.E.A.D. students received iPads.

To hear more about L.E.A.D and L.E.A.R.N Academy please feel to contact Jennifer Wall at jwall@oapcs.org for contact information.

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OAPCS would like to thank the charter schools and organization that have been members for 3 years or more.

We appreciate your continuous support for the work we do.

•    Arts and College Preparatory
•    Aurora Academy
•    Bridges Community Academy
•    Citizens Academy
•    Cleveland Entreneurship Preparatory School
•    Columbus Collegiate Academy
•    Crittenton Community School
•    Dohn Community School
•    General Chappier James Leadership Academy
•    Horizon Science Acaemy-Columbus Elementary
•    Horizon Science Academy-Columbus High School
•    Horizon Science Academy-Dayton Elementary School
•    Horizon Science Academy-Denision Middle School
•    Horizon Science Academy-Springfield
•    Horizon Science Academy-Toledo
•    Lighthouse Community School, Inc.
•    Mahoning Unlimited Classroom
•    Mansfield Elective Academy
•    Millennium Community School
•    Mound Street Health Care Academy
•    Mound Street IT Academy
•    Mound Street Military Careers Academy
•    New Day Academy Boarding and Day  School
•    Noble Academy-Cleveland
•    Ohio Connections Academy
•    Ohio Virtual Academy
•    Polly Fox Academy
•    Pschtecin Public School High
•    Springfield Academy of Excellence
•    The Charles School at Ohio Dominican University
•    The Graham School
•    The Intergenerational School
•    ISUS Institute of Construction Technology
•    ISUS Institute of Health Care
•    ISUS Institute of Manufacturing
•    Toledo School of the Arts
•    Virtual Community School of Ohio
•    Washington Park Community School
•    West Central Learning Academy

Associate Members
•    Imagine Schools
•    National Heritage Academies
•    Ohio Council of Community Schools
•    Buckeye Community Hope Foundation
•    Educational Service Center of Central Ohio
•    SchoolOne
•    Smart Solutions
•    The Capitol Link, LLC
•    Total Education Solutions

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The Center for Learning, a 40-year old non-profit publisher is changing how teachers learn and collaborate by introducing hybrid on-line learning. These are on-line facilitated Book Groups that allow teachers and administrators to collaborate with their peers anytime, anywhere while eliminating the cost of travel and substitutes. These on-line Book Groups will begin on JANUARY 19TH 2011 to collaborate in a 21st Century learning format. These are Title 2 funds eligible. Graduate credits are also available. Register at http://www.centerforlearning.org/c-119-book-groups.aspx or contact Brittiani Ketcham at 800-767-9090 x 3601 (bketcham@centerforlearning.org)

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Apple offers special education pricing on Apple computers, software and select third party products to College Students, or Teachers, Administrators and Staff of all grade levels. Call 1-800-MY-APPLE for more information and to register your school and start saving today.

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Midwest Auto Auction has been contracted to liquidate all of the surplus property of the Detroit Public Schools, as well as several Charter Schools in the Detroit Metropolitan area. As you are probably aware, the DPS is closing another 30 (+) Schools this year and we have also been contracted to close three Charter Schools with several others pending. This surplus property includes every kind of item that would normally be found in any school and needless to say, the list of items that will be sold is lengthy. 

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