Charter Schools/School Reform Initiatives
Comprehensive School Reform
Initiatives
The Roundtable is actively involved with comprehensive school reform
practices that focus on gains in student achievement, expanded
parental and community involvement and strengthened alignment of
public education from pre-kindergarten through higher education
and/or technical training. Our work includes project models,
research and development and supports successful reform models such
as the charter schools and smaller schools movements.
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The Business Roundtable for Education is
actively involved in creating educational models
that improve student academic performance and has taken a
leadership role in developing:
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Charter school and schools-within-a-school models;
Technical consulting and business services collaborations;
Data analysis training and longitudinal data opportunities.
As such, the Roundtable has been instrumental in the beginning of
four different school models (Charter
School of San Diego, The Preuss
School UCSD,
High Tech High, and
Construction
Tech Academy) within the San Diego educational school community
and statewide efforts include models for collaboration (Charter
School Consortium) and the financial/back office aspects of
schooling (C | BusNet). As part of these reform efforts, in 2004-05
we will leading the San Diego
Baldrige Education Criteria Initiative to help schools improve
their performance and respond to system-wide academic and school
challenges, guiding the third year of the
Data
Analysis and Accountability project and expanding the San Diego
Chess in Our Schools program.
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Charter School Consortium History
(1994-2004)
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The San Diego Charter School Consortium was
established in 1994 as a forum for regional charter schools and
charter school developers to network, share common problems, and
become better informed on all aspects of how to develop and
operate a school and improve student academic performance.
As the charter school movement gained
momentum in California, the need for networking and the desire
to share challenges and celebrations became a common theme
among charter schools. As the advance of legislative and
fiscal responsibilities multiplied, the necessity for a robust
communications and information network became apparent. As
compliance mandates emanating from state and local levels
became more numerous, business planning and operational
assistance were imperative. In the spirit of improved
performance and accountability, charter schools wanted to be
alert to reform efforts and best practices that would improve
student academic performance. And, when necessary, charter
schools required the option to seek outside counsel and
expertise. Each of these efforts was prohibitively difficult
for independent charter schools to accomplish. Hence, the
birth of the San Diego Charter School Consortium under the
direction of the
Business Roundtable for Education.
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Size and Scope of the Charter School Movement
San Diego County is home to one of the
largest cluster of charter schools in the nation -- over
fifty charter schools that exemplify the diversity within the
charter school movement itself. A large urban district (25 charter
schools) is represented along with a small rural district.
Enrollment runs the gamut from 50 students to over 2,500 in the
student population. Approximately 1200 administrators and teachers
are employed in regional charter schools. Total student enrollment
within the consortium schools is over 30,000 pupils making the
consortium the same size as a more than average-sized school
district with an annual combined operating budget of $180 million
dollars. Currently California has chartered over 675 schools statewide
with over 500 in operation. San Diego County is home to 1/10 of
those charter schools.
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3,000 charter schools nationwide serve nearly
800,000 students.
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Number of students in the United States
attending charter schools is increasing at a
rate of about 15 percent a year.
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California is home to one-sixth of all charter
schools in the country and nearly 25 percent of
all charter students, with 537 schools serving
about 180,000 kids --more than double the second
highest state, Michigan, which has 82,000
students in 216 charters.
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Within California, San Diego County serves as a
model for charter school success and within the
county, the San Diego Unified School District
has more charters as a percent of its total
number of schools than any other school district
in the state.
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Current
Charter School Consortium Status
 The number of charter schools has evolved from
the initial five participants to a highly successful consortium.
In January 2004, the Roundtable transferred
operation of the San Diego Charter School Consortium to the
California Charter Schools Association (CCSA). The operational
model developed under the Roundtable in San Diego is now being deployed
under CCSA across California. |
Accountability and
Data Analysis
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 The Accountability and Data
Analysis Project is designed to help charter schools develop new
capacity to measure indicators of progress and become data-driven
organizations.
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California Charter School Groups
Resources
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California Charter Schools :: |
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 There are currently more than 500 charter schools operating
in California, serving about 180,000 students.
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70% of operating charter
schools are start-ups, and 30% are conversions.
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69% of operating charter
schools are site-based, 31% are non classroom-based or a
combination of site-based and non site-based.
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Federal Public Charter
Schools Grant Program monies have funded the opening of
254 new California charter schools.
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Charter schools operate in
47 of California's 58 counties.
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California serves
about 2.5 percent of all public K-12 students in
charter schools.
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Over 300 charter schools
currently operate in urban or inner-city areas.
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:: US Charter
Schools
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Charter
schools are in their second decade and are found in 39
states and Washington, D.C. More than 3,000 U.S. charter
schools educate
735,000 students.
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With
bipartisan support, Congress has allocated
about $200 million annually the past four years for the
start-up of new charter public schools, plus more than
$100 million for charter school facilities.
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Charter
schools stand at the center of the nation’s growing effort
to reform and improve public education. Families now have educational options
previously unavailable.
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Charters are
public schools open to all students regardless of wealth,
gender, race or religion. Charters serve a higher
percentage of African-American, Hispanic and at-risk
students than the
traditional school system.
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More than 60
percent of America’s charter public schools serve student
populations that are more than 40 percent economically
disadvantaged.
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More than
half of all charter schools serve student populations that are more than 40
percent minority.
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More than 40
percent of students in more than half of America’s
charters are considered at-risk of dropping out or once
had dropped out of school.
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Average
enrollment in charter schools is 242 students, compared
with an average 539 in
traditional schools.
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Nearly 60
percent of all charters are authorized by entities other
than local districts.
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:: SD
County Charter Schools :: |
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San Diego
County has more than 55 active charter schools.
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Charter Schools Started by the BRE :: |
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