Blog

Mom Launches a Parent “Union”

by Nina Rubin on December 1st, 2011 | Read more

Back in January, Akron, Ohio, mother Kelley Williams-Bolar became the poster child for ending zip code education and expanding school choice when she was convicted of what can only laughingly be called stealing education.

Williams-Bolar would end up spending 10 days in jail for placing her two daughters in the relatively high-performing (and, more important to her, safe) Copley-Fairlawn school district (where few of the black students drop out) instead of keeping them in the woeful, more-dangerous Akron district (whose Balfanz rate for young black men and women, respectively, is 62 percent and 76 percent) in which her family resided. The conviction jump-started the much-needed discussion over expanding inter-district public school choice and forced a new discussion about ending zip code practices that condemn poor and minority children to the worst American public education offers (and keeps middle-class families from improving their own options).
What Parents Need to Know About ESEA Reauthorization

by Nina Rubin on October 3rd, 2011 | Read more

Parents and communities should have access to comprehensive, easily accessible data on how schools are doing. In “Parents Want to Know,” [3] the Ed Trust zeroes in on the expected reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as the opportunity for lawmakers to require public reporting on such crucial indicators as achievement, high schools, school climate, teachers, school districts, and funding levels. ESEA reauthorization can fill in the gaps No Child Left Behind didn’t address, while leaving in place its focus on accountability for key outcomes.
Eight State Chartered Special Schools to Get 2011-12 Funding Gap Bridged by the State

by Nina Rubin on July 28th, 2011 | Read more

State officials have approved a plan forged by Governor Nathan Deal and members of the State legislature — namely, House Speaker Jan Jones (R-Milton) and Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers (R-Canton) — as well as State School Superintendent John Barge will forward fund the bricks-and-mortar state chartered special schools for an amount equal to the average local district share calculated as if locally approved charter schools.
Parents & Students Rally to Save Ivy Prep

by Nina Rubin on June 13th, 2011 | Read more

WSB-TV
Posted: 11:59 am EDT June 11, 201
NORCROSS, Ga. — Parents and students are working hard to fire up an S.O.S. — save our schools.

People turned out in force Saturday morning at Ivy Prep Academy in Norcross, to save the school which is one of 16 charter schools that may be forced to close following a Georgia Supreme Court ruling.

Ivy Prep opened in 2008 and will open this fall. After that, if something doesn’t change, it may not stay open long.

Dee Dee Horton, co-president of Ivy Prep’s Parent Teacher Student Association, led a rally for several nicknamed “parent warriors.” They’re all fighting to keep the charter school open.

“We want school choice. It’s all about choice. That’s the reason we’re here today,” Horton said.

The future of the all-girls school was put in jeopardy last month when the Supreme Court ruled the commission that approved the charter school was unconstitutional. The issue: that taxpayer dollars are taken from the public schools and funneled to the charter schools.

On Saturday morning, Channel 2’s Amanda Cook was there as Ivy Prep students, called scholars, shopped for discounted school uniforms and listened to testimony from students, parents and teachers about Ivy Prep.

“She was a decent student, but when she came here, her grades went up. She’s a straight A student now,” said Marlon Madden, talking about his daughter who is a student at the school.

Saturday’s rally was a push for momentum, to endure the summer-long fight to get local school boards and legislators to change their minds and approve the needed funding to keep charter schools open.

“We’re frustrated that a decision was made around school choice, and we feel like that choice has been taken away from us,” Madden said.

“We have a right, as all parents do, for your money to follow your children,” Hudson said.

The next step for the parents and teachers is to go to the school board meetings in both Gwinnett and DeKalb counties this week to start laying out the reasons to keep the school open.
The nation is watching Georgia

by Nina Rubin on May 18th, 2011 | Read more

NY Times
By SAM DILLON Published: May 16, 2011

A ruling by the Georgia Supreme Court on Monday cast doubt on the future of 17 charter schools there, leaving thousands of families uncertain about whether classes will continue through the end of the academic year and how students will continue in the fall.

National charter school advocates, who had closely watched the case, said they feared the ruling could encourage a new wave of litigation against charter schools, which are publicly financed but independently run.

Since the law established it in 2008, the Georgia Charter School Commission had authorized operations and public financing for 17 schools, officials said. Nine of them, with a collective enrollment of about 8,000 students, are in operation this year; eight new ones were to open this fall with an additional enrollment of about 7,000 students, said Tony Roberts, president of the Georgia Charter Schools Association.

The ruling threw the nine existing schools into some turmoil, raising questions about whether the state would finance their operations through the end of the classes, about another three weeks. “All these schools are getting anguished calls today from students and parents, with everybody asking the same thing: ‘Am I still going to have a school?’ ” Mr. Roberts said.
Charter Parents: Tell GA legislators we need their help today!

by Nina Rubin on May 18th, 2011 | Read more

In the coming days and weeks we need parents, school leaders, and school supporters to put pressure on your Georgia General Assembly, State Superintendent John Barge, Governor Deal, and members of the State Board of Education. Find your state representative here. Write a short letter today, in your own words, or using this sample text. Written communications are better than email, and personal visits are even better.

As the parent of a charter school student at (NAME OF SCHOOL) I am devastated by the Supreme Court ruling which threatens our state’s Commission-approved charter schools. The General Assembly MUST fix this issue. Not tomorrow, today! Our children’s futures are at stake.

I urge you to work with Governor Deal, the State Board of Education and State Superintendent of Schools John Barge to find a short term fix to preserve the existing Commission charter schools and for the Commission schools scheduled to open in August. I also urge you to work on a Constitutional Amendment to fix this misguided decision.
Celebrate Our Schools @ Charter Schools Rock!

by Nina Rubin on March 21st, 2011 | Read more
Savannah Charter Community Meeting, Feb. 17th

by Nina Rubin on February 9th, 2011 | Read more

Free Community Information Meeting
Thursday, Feb. 17th 6:30-8:30 pm
Eckburg Auditorium, Savannah Technical College
5717 White Bluff Road, Savannah GA 30405

Find out more about charter school options in the Savannah area:
- Celebrate the outstanding charter schools in our area at an informational panel discussion on charter schools.
- Meet staff and leaders from Oglethorpe Charter School, Gateway to College, Coastal Empire Montessori Charter School and Charter Conservatory
- Learn about current petitions for new area charter schools (Savannah Classical Academy, West Chatham Preparatory and Port Wentworth Community School).
- A charter school may be the perfect fit for your child. Come and learn more!
For more information, call Julie Diebolt 912-604-1598
Introducing 100 Dads

by Nina Rubin on February 2nd, 2011 | Read more

Meet Rich Thompson, an Atlanta dad who dotes on his daughters and is active in their charter schools. Rich is working with G-PAN to launch “100 Dads” — an initiative to engage more fathers in supporting and steering charter schools. Rich’s vision is powerful. Read what can happen “When Dads Show Up.”
Parents + Community = Better Schools

by Nina Rubin on January 26th, 2011 | Read more

Parents are the drivers of the charter school and school choice movement. This conference helps connect the dots between parent engagement and student achievement. Register today! Attend on Saturday, January 29th.