February 1st, 2010

Charter Leaders,
 
Good Monday afternoon! I hope your charter family has been safe this weekend under the heavy blanket of white powder.
 
Last week was very productive at the Alliance. This week we are moving forward to:
Redesign and expand our website and communication systems so we can begin connecting the charter community
Plan your annual conference tentatively set for July 11-13
Secure a home in Raleigh close to the John Street and Lane Street “power block”
 
On Wednesday several board members and I will attend the Leadership and Innovation Committee of the State Board and I will be at the full board meeting on Thursday. The former committee is co-chaired by Ms. Chris Greene, mother of the Alliance Board Secretary, Chuck Greene.
 
Thanks to Headmaster Joe Maimone and his staff the Alliance and about 20 charter leaders from western NC gathered at Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy last Tuesday for a Regional Roundtable discussion. Representatives from about 15 schools told the Alliance that they were concerned about recent State Board of Education policies which seemed contradictory to legislative intent of the Charter School Act. They also expressed a wish to improve dialogue with the Office of Charter Schools. The press release for the first two regional meetings is attached.   
    
TJCA , Henrietta 
 
 
  Reading notes——————————–
 
The fifth annual edition of “Hopes, Fears, & Reality,” published last week by the National Charter School Research Project (NCSRP) at the University of Washington Center contains several positive indicators about public charter schools’ ability to improve public education.
 
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The former “Education Governor”, Jim Hunt, voiced his support of raising the artificial limit of NC charter schools last week. Jack Betts of the Charlotte Observer reported  that Hunt was all for lifting the statutory cap on charter schools. I had heard the 3-term Governor say a few weeks ago in Pinehurst that we should put our feelings about charters aside and start looking at the statistics.
 
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Fanny Flono wrote this week in the Charlotte Observer about Geoffrey Canada’s charter in NYC. “Take the Harlem Children’s Zone’s Promise Academy. Geoffrey Canada and his charter school are getting a lot of notice for the success they’re having with low-income students. It’s an infant-through-12th grade program that provides a wide range of services in addition to education and engages parents to supply the support needed to enable student success. Most important, it provides highly effective teachers and principals for all students, and quickly gets rid of educators who don’t perform to par.
The nonpartisan, education advocacy group Education Trust has looked nationwide at successful public schools – charter and otherwise – and found the same factors, in particular the consistency of highly effective teachers. The trust says “study after study shows that good teachers have, by far, the highest impact on student learning. It’s not who their parents are or how much money they have – it’s who their teacher is.”
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  Raleigh Charter High
 
Please get your membership application (attached) and dues in as soon as possible. We have about a third of the schools in the fold and want 100%. Dues are $3 per student with a maximum of $1,500. A letter from Brandon Smith, a Director and our Membership Co-chair also is attached and speaks to why you should partner with the Alliance in this critical period for charter schools in NC.
 
Feel free to mention becoming a Facebook fan (after the homework) to your families and post some news about your school. Also, let me know what’s going on in your school by return email. Let’s share that good news!
 
Eddie Goodall
President
Raleigh, North Carolina
704-236-1234