National Online Teacher of the Year From Colorado

Kristin Kipp was recognized by the State Board of Education last year for being one of two Colorado Online Teacher of the Year. Now the 21st Century Virtual Academy (Jeffco) teacher is the National Online Teacher of the Year and will be recognized by the State Board again next Wednesday at their monthly meeting.

Kristin Kipp recently spent a day at the U.S. Department of Education shadowing the Director of the office of Educational Technology. In her blog, she talks about the unique discussions she was a part of during her day at ED. For example, "teacher heavy" programs that rely more heavily upon the teacher's role over the technology-based curriculum.

Congratulations to Kristin Kipp!

Robert Hammond Named Sole Finalist for Commissioner of Education

This afternoon in a unanimous vote, the Colorado Board of Education voted to name acting-Commissioner, Robert Hammond, as the sole finalist for the Commissioner's position. Hammond has been acting as Commissioner since December 2010 when former Commissioner Dwight Jones left to be the Superintendent for the Las Vegas School District.

Hammond has been at the CO Dept of Education for three years where he served as Deputy Commissioner before being named the Acting Commissioner. According to statutes regulating the hiring of public officials, the State Board is expected to name Hammond as Commissioner when it meets next Wednesday for its regular monthly meeting.

Parents Deserve to Know

The State Board of Education has adopted new rules that will require school districts to notify parents when an employee is charged with a felony or a misdemeanor sex crime. The board has been considering this change for quite some time. Chairman Bob Schaffer, Fort Collins, noted the Poudre School District failed to inform parents when two former employees were arrested for crimes involving children. The new rules also cover any adult who transports students when arrested for a DUI.

YAFA Wins Remand from State Board

The Youth and Family Academy (YAFA), of Pueblo, won an appeal heard by the State Board of Education this afternoon. The decision remands the matter back to the Pueblo 60 School District for further consideration. The vote was 6-1 with Elaine Berman being the sole dissenter.

Much of the debate centered on the charter school's contention that their growth data showed them doing as well or better than the other 60 Alternative Education Campuses (AECs) in the state. The school, which has been open since 1996 has consistently scored at the very bottom of achievement measures throughout its history. The related concern about student attendance was another area receiving a fair amount of discussion. The district stated the charter school doesn't send any students to truancy hearings even though the service provided by the district, doesn't have any cost for the school.

The board's discussion after both sides presented their cases was about there being an alternative that was a credible place for the students to attend if it weren't for the charter school. Currently the district has an administrator at the charter school and the charter school is operating without a contract or waivers. The district stated they were prepared to take over the school and even pay rent to the charter school's leaders in order to continue to use the facility.

Lotus Loses Appeal to State Board

On a 6-1 vote, the State Board of Education upheld the district's decision to deny the Lotus School of Excellence-Longmont charter school application.

The Lotus board operates a school in the Aurora School District and planned to replicate its program in Longmont. The St. Vrain Valley School District denied the application due to concerns about conflicts of interest, comingling of funds, governance not being local, projected enrollment, facility issues, and it not being a unique choice within the district. The district hit hard on what it considered inappropriate financial transactions by the Lotus board in Aurora, which was that board members secured personal loans to cover facility costs. Loans from two former board members are still outstanding.

The charter school developers explained their intentions for board governance that included parent representation on the board and a School Accountability Committee at each location.

After little discussion the State Board voted for a motion brought by Marcia Neal to uphold the local school district. State Board Chair, Bob Schaffer, was the lone nay vote for the motion. Both Paul Lundeen and Marcia Neal expressed their desire to support charter schools, but were uncomfortable in supporting this particular charter school given concerns that had been raised during the hearing.

Bob Schaffer Addresses Charter School Conference

State Board of Education chair, Bob Schaffer, addressed the League of Charter Schools' 17th annual conference. In his remarks, Mr. Schaffer spoke about the struggles he and his wife, Maureen, encountered with enrolling their own children in public school before helping to start Liberty Common School.

Mr. Schaffer also told about the origins of the charter school movement in the state, when he was a State Senator. In 1992 Rep. John J. Irwin, of Loveland, introduced a charter school bill that died in the House. The following year, in 1993, then-State Senator Bill Owens (R-Aurora) introduced the Charter School Act, which was co-sponsored by Rep. Peggy Kerns (D-Denver). The bill ultimately passed by a narrow margin in the Senate and went on to be signed by then-Gov. Roy Romer. Mr. Schaffer reminded everyone that initially charter schools were viewed as an experiment and that only 50 charter schools were permitted in the first legislation. In 1998 when the sunset provision was lifted, the cap on the number of charter school was lifted.

Mr. Schaffer also spoke about proposed budget cuts for K-12 public education. He said that because of charter schools having control over their own budgets, their nimbleness and flexibility to respond to budget cuts will afford charter schools a better opportunity for creativity. He noted that the State Board of Education grants waivers to public schools, in addition to charter schools, and suggested that more districts may look at the waiver process as a way to handle drastic budget cuts. Schaffer noted that the Governor's proposed budget cuts meant about $470 per student in the Poudre School District, where he's the Principal of a charter school.

Schaffer also talked about national assessments and their impact on public school choice, especially in regard to academics. He noted that standards drive assessments and then those assessments can become the only measure to determine if a charter school is successful. Instead, Schaffer said that the success of a charter school should be determined by the cash flow generated because parents choose the school for their children.

Loveland Classical Schools Supported by State Board of Ed

In a 6-1 vote, the State Board of Education voted to remand the Loveland Classical School charter school appeal back to the Thompson School District for further consideration.

Thompson has only one charter school -- New Vision Charter School - and it also had to appeal before being approved by the local district. The district has less than 2% of its students enrolled in the charter school. The state average is 8.97%.

The district used the new charter school application review rubric and pointed out deficiencies in the application based on that review. Attorney for the charter school, Barry Arrington, pointed out that no charter school application is perfect and with a 1,000 page application, the charter applicants had certainly provided everything necessary to be approved to open a new charter school.

A couple of State Board members raised concerns about the short timeline in which to open a new school and Chairman Bob Schaffer pointed out that Liberty Common School in Fort Collins (which he helped start) was approved in June and opened two and a half months later. He also noted that most of the charter school either have just as short a timeline, or even shorter.

Loveland Classical School plans to open with grades K-11 in the fall. They already have almost 1,000 students already expressing an interest in attending.

Charter School Appeal History in Colorado

It's widely believed throughout the state that "the State Board of Education always supports charter schools" in appeal hearings. The facts say different. Of the 155 appeal cases that have been filed, 100 have been heard. Of those 100 hearings, the State Board backed the district 57 times on first appeal. The other 43 times the State Board remanded the matter back for further reconsideration, thereby supporting the charter school applicants.

Supporting the school district the majority of the time was also true in the early years of charter schools in Colorado. Before 2000 there were 53 charter appeal hearings and 32 times the State Board supported the district's decision to deny the charter application.

From 2004 to 2007 there were 44 appeal hearings filed. It was during this period that the State Board members began searching for another way to conduct appeal hearings. Members Randy DeHoff and Karen Middleton convened a couple of meetings to discuss alternatives which included expert reviewers, a rubric for reviewing charter applications and as different type of hearing process.

This discussion led to the creation of the standard charter school application, checklist for completion and review rubric in 2008 and then charter school appeal hearings dropped dramatically. In 2007 there were 10 appeal hearings and that dropped to one in 2008 and none in 2009.

The development of the standard applcation by the CDE, Colorado League of Charter Schools and the Charter School Institute was revolutionary in that it was the first time the "three C's" collaborated on a project. And it was only the beginning.

Following the standard application, charter school authorizers asked for sample contract language. That was developed in 2009 and just recently revised. The sample contract has something for everyone to love or hate. Some of the provisions are tougher than districts currently use. The contract delineates the responsibilities of both the charter school and the charter school authorizer; a first for many Colorado charter school authorizers to consider.

There has been eleven times that the State Board of Education ordered a district to open a charter school. However, that has only resulted in one charter school actually opening (Imagine Charter School at Firestone).

The first time the State Board took this type of action, the case was taken to the state Supreme Court. Thurgood Marshall Charter Middle School was proposed by an African-American teacher in Denver -- Cordia Booth. The Supreme Court ruling declared that while the State Board did have authority to order a district to open a charter school, it could not dictate the provisions of the contract.

When the Charter Schools Act was adopted in 1993 it was a pilot program with a sunset of 1998. When the sunset provision was lifted, almost half of the charter schools in the state were open due to the appeal process.

Janus International School Appeal Fails with State Board

The State Board of Education voted unanimously to support Denver Public Schools' decision to not approve Janus International Charter School's application. Charter applicants had difficulty communicating their vision. Moreover, probably the most damaging fact was the applicant's acknowledgement that they had no students at all.

Testifying for DPS staff, a member of the Application Review Team (ART), noted that the entire application lacked coherency. For example, the school said they'd be implementing the IB curriculum, but that wasn't reflected in their budget.

New board members Paul Lundeen (5th CD) and Dr. Debbe Scheffel (6th CDE) both asked questions during the hearing and voiced their support for high quality charter schools. Ultimately, all seven State Board of Ed members voted against the charter school applicant.

A Step Back in Time

Last week I attended a charter school application hearing in the Thompson School District that felt like a time warp back 15 years. District (union) staff were there to speak against the charter school application and they cited old myths as their reason for not wanting a charter school. Myths that most of the state agreed 15 years ago were no longer valid.

The Thompson School District has one charter school: New Vision Charter School that is a Core Knowledge school serving grades K-8.

The school currently being proposed in Thompson is called Loveland Classical Schools (LCS) and would be a K-12 Core Knowledge school with an emphasis on classical education and modeled after the successful Ridgeview Classical Schools in Fort Collins. It came out during public testimony that all of the founders of Ridgeview came from Loveland after board members at the time (2000) told applicants they wouldn't support a charter school. Currently 126 Thompson students attend Ridgeview Classical Schools (RCS).

A couple of district staff members spoke about bad charter schools they had been associated with previously. An RCS math teacher spoke after them and said, "We agree that not all charter schools are good. But LCS isn't trying to model after one of those. LCS is trying to model after a successful charter school (RCS)."

Almost every Thompson school board member asked the charter school developers to work with them on a school-within-a-school or an Innovation School instead of the charter. One board member even stated, "We have experience in so many areas (of education) and we do it every day." The comment was apparently disparaging the capacity of parents to create a new charter school and provide a successful educational program. LCS founders cited the lack of a guarantee for longevity of the classical educational program if it were operated by the district and a concern that the classical educational philosophy would be implemented with fidelity.

The charter school application was denied on a 7-0 vote after an approximately two hour hearing, the third of such hearings in the district. Two days later LCS founders filed a motion to appeal the decision to the State Board of Education for hearing. According to statute, the State Board must hear the appeal within 60 days.

The Charter School Board Discussion in the St. Vrain Valley School District

There's a controversy brewing in the St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD) over a proposed change to district policy that would require charter school board members to live within school district boundaries. This would be the first time a district will have imposed such a requirement.

According to a Longmont Times-Call editorial, this district policy provision is not warranted because the district's charter schools are doing well and the editorial questions why this change is proposed after a proposed charter school application last year had out-of-district founders.

Last year the Lotus School for Excellence proposed a new charter school using a model similar to the school they already operate in Aurora. The application was denied, in part due to their founders -- and proposed board members -- being from outside the school district. In the Lotus proposal they intended to use their existing governing board to also oversee the new school in Longmont.

It's apparent that the vital issue with this whole debate is where should the line be drawn in charter school authorizing responsibilities. This subject came up in the last legislative session when certain lawmakers wanted to see "something done about" schools like the Cesar Chavez School Network. The top three administrators of the Network were eventually terminated, but it was disclosed that they had extraordinarily high salaries and little accountability. Several lawmakers questioned who had the responsibility to ensure things like that didn't happen.

There are differing viewpoints on where the line should be drawn between charter school accountability and "regulation creep." The charter school philosophy embodies the right of a charter school to operate independently, in exchange for increased results. Leaders in the charter school community have expressed concerns over the years that gradually charter school autonomy has been eroded. In fact, this was an issue in the most recent charter school appeal hearing before the State Board of Education.

This debate about autonomy is likely to be a hot topic at the committee hearings established as a result of HB10-1412, which creates a committee to review charter school standards and charter school authorizer standards. The committee will meet this fall and ultimately, have recommendations for the State Board by August 1, 2011.