A 2015 PUBLICATION OF THE LOUISIANA ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS (504) 274-3651 | www.lacharterschools.org Celebrating 20 Years Education of Charter Schools Reform page 3 Celebrating Timeline page 10 Opening One of LA's First Legislator Charters Voting Records page 4 page 13 Directory of Mythbusters Charter Schools 20 years page 14 page 6 2 Don’t Give Up on Education Reform A Message from Caroline Roemer Shirley M. J. “Mike” Foster, Jr. Governor of Louisiana Caroline Roemer Shirley 1996-2004 LAPCS Executive Director [email protected] It is difficult to believe we As I travel across Louisiana, I’m proud that this state’s passion for great public are already celebrating education is building! Some of that passion comes from business and civic the 20th Anniversary of groups like our Chambers of Commerce, the Louisiana Association of Business charter cchools in Loui- and Industry, and the Council for A Better Louisiana. They have stood with us siana. The bill that es- on important legislative reforms. tablished charter schools Sometimes the arguments were heated. Inside this issue, you will see the was authored by my good friend, the late Cecil Picard. results of this hard work and how what was once controversial is now the norm. cHe and I were on the same page when it came to the We have embraced change. importance of improving education in Louisiana. It was a mission of sacrifice and hard work. To reinforce Leaders like Representative Stephen Carter, for example, for years took on the issue of school board my commitment, I refused to take a governor’s salary reform, because parents and school leaders were complaining that elected boards were micromanaging until teachers were paid a salary equal to the southern school districts, even to the point of interfering with hiring and firing decisions. School Boards are regional average. supposed to be visionaries, directing where a school district should be in five or 10 years. Rep. Carter took on this issue, building a consensus for action until he was successful in passing legislation that is today Charter schools have played an important role in our known as Act 1. state’s educational system. I know many parents who have selected the charter school option and they have, We have to do whatever is necessary to ensure that every youngster in this state has the opportunity to get on many occasions, voiced to me their appreciation for a good education. I’ve very proud of our state’s charter law for that very reason. The strength of our law, that opportunity. the fact we have a healthy road to charter authorization, has helped our state attract good schools and good teachers. When I travel around the country, educators are excited to hear that I’m from Louisiana because Employers across our state are complaining that they we have made so many bold changes. We’re on the move and it is good to set high goals and give educators cannot find home-grown talent for the technological the tools to meet them. jobs available in the energy and the health industries because our graduates do not have the right skills. I’m glad to be a part of this movement. If you haven’t already, come on and join us! That does not mean our students cannot learn. It is an indication that our schools are not doing the job quite right. That is why, when we were trying to lay out a strategy for public education in Louisiana, we focused on accountability - holding the adults responsible for their students’ test outcomes. In order to succeed, we must stress accountability, teacher evaluations, paren- tal choice in school options and curriculums that raise the bar. I encourage the people of Louisiana not to give up. Things are changing in education. It’s an uphill battle and we have a steep hill to climb to get to “average.” But it is possible. Possible because we have chosen to do things differently. We have nothing more important in which to invest... than our children. Mike Foster was elected as the 53rd Governor of Loui- siana in 1995 and made improving public education one of the focal points of his two terms. The state’s first charter schools opened in his first year as Governor. From left to right: LAPCS Executive Director Caroline Roemer Shirley, Crescent City Schools CEO Kate Mehok, Crescent City Schools Board Chair Jean-Paul Hymel, LAPCS Governance Initiatives Director Makiyah Moody, and 4th Sector Solutions CEO Joe Keeney. Crescent City Schools was the 2014 LAPCS Excellence in Governance Award winner. 3 Louisiana Celebrates 20 Years of Charter Schools This year, Louisiana’s Charter School Law turns 20 The law, considered one of the top two in the nation for promoting char- school transferred to the jurisdiction of In 2009, the Louisiana Legislature ter school authorization and funding by the National Alliance for Public the RSD. Capdau charter in Orleans be- voted to remove the cap on how many Charter Schools, was originally enacted in 1995 (Act 192) as a pilot came the first RSD school in 2004. charter schools can operate in the state. There were five charters in the Orleans The legislation was introduced to help the program allowing up to eight school districts to volunteer to participate. state in its bid for “Race to the Top” fed- These districts could either grant charters to eligible groups or apply to RSD in August 2005. Then Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath of the levee eral stimulus dollars, as well as recognize the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) to op- failures decimated Orleans Parish. the growing number of charters now oper- ating in Orleans Parish. erate a charter school themselves. The law also required 75 percent of In November of 2005, the Louisiana charter school teachers to be state certified and 85 percent of students Legislature passed Act 35. Act 35 In 2010, The Red Tape Reduction and Local Empowerment Act that was to be eligible for free or reduced lunch programs. changed the definition of a failing public school and the terms under which the state signed into law by Governor Bobby could assume control of a school. The def- Jindal in July had the intent to make inition of failing became “below the state traditional public schools more like In 1996, three charter schools opened in and included special provisions for the average.” In the 2004-05 school year, the charters. Among other things, the law Louisiana, all serving students with aca- creation and operation of Type 5 charter state average School Performance Score allows local school districts to seek a demic and/or behavioral problems. Inter- schools. (SPS) was 87.4. Using the new criteria, four-year waiver of state laws and BESE ested applicants complained about the the RSD took over 102 of the 118 public policies, with some exceptions. Academi- Until 2003, Louisiana had four types cally unacceptable schools covered by difficulty of gaining charter school autho- of charter schools, with the categories schools in New Orleans, converting the rization from local school boards. majority of takeovers to charter schools, the waiver are required to make certain dependent on which entity authorized changes, based on best practices, de- The law was thus substantially revised the charter for the school to operate and shifting management to a system of schools. This followed announcements signed to improve school performance. in 1997 (Act 477) to allow all school dis- whether the charter was a new school or During the waiver period, they will not be tricts to participate, and the number of one converted to a charter. by the Orleans School Board that it was unable to open public schools during the subject to state takeover and placement in charter schools statewide was capped at In 2003 a new type of charter (Type 5) the Recovery School District. 42. The 1997 act also allowed an “appeals- 2005-2006 school year. was created to identify a pre-existing continued on page 15 type” procedure under which an eligible group could submit its charter proposal directly to BESE if a local school board failed to approve it or if the local school board placed conditions on the approval There are five different types of charter schools in Louisiana of the charter which were unacceptable to the group. By 1999, the number of charter schools in Louisiana grew to 13. The first char- ter school approved in Orleans Parish, the New Orleans Charter Middle School, had 900 families applying for 117 spots. In 2003, a constitutional amendment (Act 1293) and four bills (Act 9, Act 260, Act 381 and Act 944) impacted the op- eration of charter schools. The constitutional amendment autho- rized the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to take over failing public schools or provide for others to do so; it also authorized BESE to receive, control and spend the state and local per pupil share of the Minimum Foundation Program (MFP) for those schools. Thus, the Recovery School District was estab- lished and a “failing school” was defined as a school with a School Performance Score below 60. Companion legislation (Act 9) spelled out the procedure BESE is to follow to imple- ment the provisions of the constitutional amendment; created a new “Type 5” cat- egory of charter schools as one option BESE has for providing for the operation of a failing public school it takes over; 4 What It Was Like to Open One of Louisiana’s First Charters the transition has been difficult for us as a community, the academic progress of the Jay Altman open admissions schools over the past 10 years has been beyond what any of us would CEO, FirstLine Schools have predicted back then.