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TEXAS CHARTER SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT ADVISORY COUNCIL |
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Written by Charter Reporter
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Saturday, June 14 2008 |
TEXAS CHARTER SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT ADVISORY COUNCIL
Monday, June 9th, was a historic moment in Texas Charter School Education. Charter holders from every type of charter school came together to develop consensus for policy priorities that will shape the future of charter education in Texas. The past year was erroneously noted as a "divided charter school industry". It was in fact, a young movement spending the time to unravel the complexities and inequities of existing policies that continue to prohibit the freedom to develop those innovative reforms envisioned by original charter legislation. It was also a year spent opening the lines of communication that were never before fully developed.*
This past April the Coalition for Hope and Opportunity in Charter Education (Charter C.H.O.I.C.E.) realized that charter holders must be provided an open forum free of association alliances and pre-set agendas to discuss what really mattered to each charter's superintendents. This led to the development of the Texas Charter School Superintendent Advisory Council.
The Council first met in May to set the stage and by June tripled attendance in Austin. Dr. Cheryl Washington mediated the agenda as fellow charter holders worked throughout the day to reach consensus for the top policy priorities sending a message to legislators that a unified voice from charter schools in Texas would present a clear and strong message that children attending charter schools should be provided with the
1) equitable funding, 2) equitable facilities and an 3) accountability system_ that validated individual growth provided each student through their charter school experience. Between this meeting and the upcoming July meeting, a group of delegates have volunteered to continue refining the group’s definition of the top three priority goals.
The minutes of the June meeting will be presented at the July meeting for approval by the group and published through a variety of methods to get the message out to all.
As a co-founder of Charter C.H.O.I.C.E., I wish to thank the outstanding leadership of A.C.E., TEACH and the Charter Policy Institute, Cardle Consulting and each busy superintendent for taking the risk, the time and the effort to advocate for the charter movement in Texas. And of course, thank you Chuck Cook and Debra Miller for your leadership.
Please join us again on July 21st at the American Youthworks Campus to continue these important open forum discussions. For more of the history of the development of the Superintendent Council, I have included the April Charter CHOICE newsletter that announced the group's intentions.
April, 2008 Charter C.H.O.I.C.E. Newsletter
The Texas CharterC.H.O.I.C.E. Board met recently to refine our mission in a structure that best serves our membership. While an alliance for charter schools such as the Next Step organization will provide the answers to many struggles – and while Next Step has accepted many of our recommendations and has offered board positions to both CharterC.H.O.I.C.E. & ACE leaders – we will continue to provide significant leadership input to legislators via a Texas Charter Superintendent Advisory Board, while also continuing to provide an array of services to charter school leaders across Texas.
Leaving the daily challenges of running a statewide association to Next Step will focus our efforts as the innovative charter education leaders who hold great insight to the needs of our industry. Your service on the Charter Superintendent Advisory Council will allow us to continue to:
· Develop specific advocacy recommendations that reflect the views of all charter holders; · Liaison with Commissioner Robert Scott, the State Board of Education
(SBOE) & the TEA; and
· Interface with Legislators & policy groups regarding Interim Charges, upcoming legislation, and other key education issues impacting charter educators.
CharterC.H.O.I.C.E.’s Charter Superintendent Advisory Council encourages you to relay your vision for what upcoming legislation, or engagement on what the Interim “Accountability System Reform” Charges should look like. We have already testified on the need for a Value-Added Growth Model at the “Select Committee on Public School Accountability” hearing held April 14th in San Antonio, and anticipate that a significant portion of future hearings will focus specifically on the need for such measures as it pertains to the Charter Industry.
As such, please let us know if you will be able to attend our CharterC.H.O.I.C.E. Superintendent Advisory Council organizational meeting on Friday, May 2nd in Dallas. The Texas Charter Superintendent Advisory Board will also be meeting on the first Friday of the months of June, August, September & October to interact with legislative & statewide policymaking leaders. These meetings will be held at our Austin headquarters.
We hope you will plan to contribute! Your input will play a vital role as the 2009 Legislative Session approaches.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, June 14 2008 )
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