New Hampshire Center for School Reform

Newsletter Update, March 18, 2004

We are pleased to bring attention to New Hampshire's progress.

In this edition:

  1. DEMOCRATS AND CHOICE

  2. CHARTER SCHOOLS & NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

  3. EDUCATION FUNDING

  4. CHARTER STUDENTS: WHO’S COUNTING?

  5. FUNDING SOLUTIONS FOR CHARTER STUDENTS

  6. APRIL 4th—PLANNING GRANTS DUE

  7. A SMALL SCHOOL SERVING DEAF STUDENTS? WHY?

  8. HEARD ABOUT THE NORTH COUNTRY?

  9. NEW HAMPSHIRE CHARTER SCHOOL UPDATE

DEMOCRATS & CHOICE

 

Charter schools and choice cross party lines. Do you know personal positions of Republican and Democratic leaders? Check it out:  Democratic & Republican Leaders on Choice.

 

Democratic Leadership Council goals (in "A New Agenda for the New Decade”):

“OFFER EVERY PARENT CHARTER SCHOOLS AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF CHOICE

Goals for 2010

·     Turn around every failing public school.

·     Make charter schools an option in every state and community.

·     Offer every parent a choice of public schools to which to send his or her child.

·     Make sure every classroom has well-qualified teachers who know the subjects they teach, and pay teachers more for performance.

·     Create a safe, clean, healthy, disciplined learning environment for every student.

·     Make pre-kindergarten education universally available.”

 

CHARTER SCHOOLS & NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

 

“Charter schools are an important alternative in districts where schools are having difficulty improving academic achievement."

  • Under No Child Left Behind, children who attend schools identified as needing improvement have the opportunity to enroll in charter schools located within their district.

 

From the United States Department of Education Web Site.

See “Understanding Charter Schools” or

 “How To Start” from the NH School Reform web site for more information. We post planning and start-up grant applications.

 

EDUCATION FUNDING IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

 

Check our web site’s legislation page. We link to the House Calendar, contact info for House Education Committee and new education bills. 

 

HB100, begins: “The general court acknowledges that the state of New Hampshire has a solemn affirmative responsibility to provide the opportunity for a constitutionally adequate education to every educable child in the state.

 

So how can charter school students be denied adequate education funds this year? True, this is the first year of charter schools and there are confusions to solve, but it’s almost April!

 

A reason some districts have refused to fund is responsibility for borrowing costs. Who pays? For several wealthy districts the borrowing cost this year is 2-3% on $2,000 to $20,000. This is not to acknowledge legitimate concerns. Still…is more than 10 months needed to assure state adequacy funds reach <100 children where payments are being withheld?

 

As amended, HB 297 focuses on Direct Pay of targeted state funding for state-authorized charter school students. We need the simplest, most direct funding path.

 

The Department of Education testified recently it has no capacity to issue adequacy checks, even if a new $70,000 consultant and other charter school support services are funded. NH has under 400 charter school students next year.

 

CHARTER STUDENTS--WHO’S COUNTING?

 

We are!  We count 177 students for this year. In the next biennium we estimate 372 students in the 1st year and 695 students in the 2nd  year (in state-authorized charter schools). 

 

ADM of charter school students (attendance) is not counted by former school districts; attendance is counted by the charter school because it is a fully independent public school. That means charter school students will not be in “district” ADM counts but will only in the independent charter school ADM count. For purposes of “attendance,” charter school students are re-assigned (RSA 194-B: 9, IV) just as with any change of public school. They need to be counted as a separate group or may get lost.

 

At least one state ruled that passing money through a district where the child no longer attends violates student confidentiality laws.

 

FUNDING SOLUTIONS FOR CHARTER STUDENTS

 

Funding solutions we propose:

1.      create a category for charter schools, as though there was a charter school SAU

2.      create a formula for targeted aid for state-authorized charter schools (like Arizona)

3.      assure the money goes directly to the charter school (like states with highly-rated laws)

4.      for an approved state-wide school serving a complex special population, have a panel recommend the annual funding and line item allocation

5.      have a diversion provision (like PA) for school districts that refuse to send funding, whereby the state then sends the money instead.

 

APRIL 4TH --PLANNING GRANTS DUE TO DEPT OF EDUCATION

 

New Hampshire DOE offers small grants of $5,000-$10,000 to explore charter school options. Funds cover materials, meeting ads, travel, etc., to help community members learn about RSA 194-B (NH Charter School & Open Enrollment Act) and answer: is there a school model that benefits our area? addresses overcrowding? meets No Child Left Behind requirements for choice? brings back a village school? better serves at-risk students? Check it out. Need assistance? Feel free to contact us.

 

A SMALL SCHOOL TO SERVE DEAF STUDENTS. WHY?

 

Legislative study committees have addressed ‘New Hampshire Deaf Issues.’ The current  Commission was charged to study “education.” The result: the Laurent Clerc Academy charter school--an academic, choice bi-lingual academy taught in American Sign Language and printed English, an in-state option for New Hampshire students who learn directly from masters-level teachers, not through interpreters.

 

Commission findings:

  1. New Hampshire has one of the highest drop-out rates in the country for deaf students,

  2. New Hampshire has a critical shortage of qualified interpreters, an issue in the quality of student programs,

  3. 20% of New Hampshire’s deaf students attend school out of state,

  4. district costs when there is only one (1) deaf student range from $20,000 to $148,000 (2002 data),

  5. there is no truly accurate information as to numbers of deaf and significantly hard-of-hearing students for multiple reasons, e.g. use of different definitions in different types of studies.

 

Laurent Clerc Academy is now open and accepting students (can be a time-consuming process). The academic curriculum is equal to the academic curriculum for hearing students in hearing schools with college prep as a standard. Curious minds are welcome to read our summary of the Commission’s findings.   

 

HEARD ABOUT THE NORTH COUNTRY?

 

Nine (9) school administrative units collaborated to plan North Country Charter Academy. Students who dropped out as far back as 2001 have returned to school--9 students will graduate by June. Average math score gain is 2.2 years…in just half a year. This school—in fact, all the new charter schools—assures each student has an individual program plan. So far, NH charter schools are determined to achieve academic results. Congratulations to Lisa LaVoie and the North Country superintendents.

 

NEW HAMPSHIRE CHARTER SCHOOL UPDATE

 

The 6 new charter schools are managing to excel even though funding issues are fully distracting a few schools. New Hampshire Center for School Reform has a goal of raising $60,000 to try to help schools through this year. For information, do contact us.

 

Several schools are accepting applications for next year.

 

For a complete listing of schools, go to www.nhschoolreform.org

 

Charter school web sites. Check out:

            Seacoast Charter School, based in Stratham 

            Cocheco Arts & Technology Academy, based in Dover

            The Academic Equestrian Academy (not authorized, but has a web site):

 

Space Needs:   1) Keene & Rochester area for 25-60 students

                         2) Keene area for 40-200 students (science high school)

                         3) Manchester to Nashua corridor for 40-300 students (science high school)

                         4) Concord area for 40-120 students (K-8)

                         5) anywhere…100 students, school plus residential potential

                         Contact us, please, if you have a space idea.

 

Remember: April 4th is the due date for New Hampshire charter school planning and feasibility study grants.

 

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