National Charter Schools Week

Souderton Charter School Collaborative Celebrates National Charter Schools Week

[Souderton, PA] – May 1 marks the beginning of National Charter Schools Week, and students, parents, teachers and communities across the state are celebrating the many successes of charter schools. On Tuesday, May 3, students from Souderton Charter School Collaborative (SCSC) will attend a rally in Harrisburg, led by PCPCS, Keystone Alliance, PCE and PennCAN, to demonstrate support for fair funding of charter schools. SCSC students will meet with members of the Education Committee and Rep. Craig Staats to discuss concerns regarding Governor Wolf’s proven opposition to charter schools. On Wednesday, May 4, starting at 8:45 at SCSC, students and staff will gather to celebrate the importance of charter schools as well as the accomplishments of SCSC from this school year.

Jennifer Arevalo, the school’s Director of Education, reflects on the history of charter schools in Pennsylvania. “One of the original goals of charter school law was to promote innovation in public education. SCSC’s award winning model of education has risen to this lofty goal. We believe that facets of our learning environment should be studied and reproduced.”

Below is a fact-sheet about charter schools in PA and SCSC that clarifies many misconceptions.

What is a charter school? Charter schools are unique public schools that allow parents, teachers, and the community the freedom to be innovative in education while being held accountable for student achievement. In PA there are 176 charter schools serving a diverse student body of 132,531 students. Public school choice is a powerful tool for parents and teachers seeking access to an educational environment different than their local District. As enrollment is a matter of choice (and availability), charter schools inherently answer to their communities.

As public schools, all charter schools:

• Are open to all children

• Are non-sectarian

• Do not charge tuition

• Enroll students through an impartial lottery system

For more information, visithttp://www.publiccharters.org/get-the-facts/public-charter-schools/.

Why were charter schools created? Charter schools were created to help improve our nation’s public school system and offer parents public school options to better meet their child’s specific needs. The core of the charter school model is the belief that public schools should be held accountable for student learning. In exchange for this accountability, charter schools have the responsibility to innovate and share what works with the broader public school system so that all students benefit. PA charter school law can be found here:http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/li/uconsCheck.cfm?yr=1997&sessInd=0&act=22

How are charter schools started and how are they held accountable? The “charter document” establishing each school is a legal agreement detailing the school’s mission, programs, methods of assessment, finances, and measures of success. Parents, community leaders, businesses, teachers, school districts, and municipalities can submit a charter school proposal.

Charter schools are judged on how well they educate children in a safe and responsible environment and how well they manage fiscal and operational responsibilities entrusted to them. Charter schools must operate lawfully and responsibly, with the highest regard for equity and excellence. Charter schools take the same state tests required of all public schools students to assess their learning.

In PA, every five years, the local school board has the obligation to review a charter school’s record and renew the charter for an additional five years so long as the school is found to be producing good student outcomes and operating in a financially responsible and lawful manner.

In the words of Jonathan Cetel, executive director of PennCAN, an education advocacy group committed to improving schools, “Actually, they are held to higher standards than traditional public schools. Like traditional public schools, they must take state standardized tests, but unlike traditional public schools, they are reviewed every five years and can be shut down if they aren’t performing.”

For more, visit: http://watchdog.org/254982/8-biggest-misconceptions-charter-schools/

Who authorizes charter schools? This varies from state to state. In Pennsylvania, individuals or groups seeking to establish a public charter school must apply to the local school board of the District in which the school will be located. If a school district rejects a charter school application, the applicant can appeal to the state’s Charter Appeals Board (CAB). Cyber charter applicants apply directly to the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Learn more about the appeals process here:http://www.education.pa.gov/K-12/Charter%20Schools/Pages/Charter-Appeals.aspx#.VxDpKkfG-PU

How are charter schools funded? Charter schools are public schools and funded by taxpayers. A charter school receives funding from the school district(s) where its students reside. The District deducts a portion of its per- pupil spending (i.e., debt service, federal funds, special education, adult education and transportation costs, facility and construction improvement). In PA, the per-pupil allotment is typically about 75-80% of the student's home school district's total per-pupil allotment. This means that charter schools operate with less public funding than the District schools.

Further, charter schools must fund their facilities (lease, purchase and building maintenance) from this fixed funding stream because they cannot raise taxes. The per-pupil allotment is the only local funding that a charter school receives.

Per-pupil allotment figures are calculated using Form PDE 363. A regular education allotment figure is determined for children not requiring special education services. An additional special education allotment figure is calculated to fund special education services for children who have Individual Education Plans.

What is the mission of SCSC? The mission of SCSC is to have all students leave performing at a proficient or higher level in all academic areas. The overall mission of SCSC is to create an environment that will foster both learning and a commitment to lifelong learning, a learning center in which students, professional staff, parents, and community members are engaged in both their own learning and the learning of others. In this learning environment, all children will be valued and each child's unique qualities will be appreciated and developed. As a concrete expression of this philosophy, home base for all children will be the general education classroom and everyone involved with the learning center, children and adults alike, will have an individualized learning plan.

SCSC is a learning environment that values and nurtures every child as an individual. Together, parents and faculty are developing an individualized learning program to fully develop each child's potential. Parents, community members, and professionals are encouraged to interact with and learn from one another.

Who can attend and what is the enrollment process at SCSC? PA Charter School Law defines enrollment requirements and SCSC offers a structured enrollment process for each school year. State charter school law states that charter schools may not discriminate in admission and all students are to be selected by lottery.

SCSC’s open enrollment period is in January and February for the upcoming year. The open enrollment period is followed by an impartial lottery where children are slotted into open seats and the waiting list is created. Children may be entered into the lottery by providing demographic information: child’s name, birth date, and grade for which they are seeking enrollment; parent’s name(s), home address, phone number, email address; resident school district. Academic or behavior records are not requested.

With this basic student information, all applicants are sorted by grade and priority. By law, SCSC must give priority to students as follows:

1. Siblings of SCSC students in the Souderton Area School District

2. Siblings of SCSC students from all other school districts

3. All others from the Souderton Area School District

4. All others from other school districts

During the impartial lottery, names are “drawn” and if more applicants are received during the enrollment period than can be accommodated, a waiting list for each grade is established using the same priority guidelines listed above.

Performance Data for SCSC: SCSC state test scores are very strong as measured by average state test scores at http://www.schooldigger.com/go/PA/schoolrank.aspx for the 2014-15 school year. Elementary School Ranking #1, Middle School Ranking #24, District Ranking (K-8 school) #2.

Financial Data for SCSC: SCSC served 214 students in grades k-8 during the 2014-2015 school year. The general education population is comprised of a diverse group of children that is representative of the surrounding community. The special education population (13%) is comprised of children with varying degrees of disabilities.

• SCSC spent 76.7% of its funding directly on instruction. This is one of the highest percentages in PA.

• For every child who requires additional special education services, SCSC received incremental special education funding (over regular education allotment) totaling $485,315 to provide the additional special education services and supports to identified students. Audited figures show that SCSC spent 653,197 on its special education program, services and supports.

• Of the $115,367 surplus, $100,796 was the result of internal fundraising activities.

National Charter Schools Week is May 1-7. For information on charter public schools in PA visithttp://pacharters.org/. For national information on charter public schools visit the National Alliance for Charter Public Schools at http://www.publiccharters.org/.

Contact SCSC: 215-721-4560, wendyo@scsc4kids.org