An Alternative View on Charter Schools and Backfill
After more than 20 years of working together, Paul Hill and I have finally found something we might really disagree on. Paul has legitimate concerns about the “backfill” issue (whether charter schools should be required to take students mid-year or after traditional entry grades), concerns that are grounded in his research with Gail Foster and […]
The Obligations of High-Output Charter High Schools
For good reason, the most widely admired charter high schools are the ones that take kids from the highest-risk categories (poverty, one parent, big city, black or Hispanic, male) and get them into and through selective colleges. It’s a big deal for one school to double or triple a big city’s numbers of potential minority […]
Lessons from the Trenches on Making School Choice Work
This blog was originally published on the Brookings Brown Center Chalkboard. In the United States, what school a child attends is determined in large part by where she lives. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, nearly three-quarters of American children attend schools assigned to them based on their residence. When combined with deep […]
Opening Doors: OneApp Improves Enrollment Process but Shows Need for More Good Schools
Bringing a greater sense of order to the school choice application and enrollment process is getting a great deal of attention these days. In the two months since we released our report on common enrollment systems in New Orleans and Denver, I’ve fielded several calls from individuals in charter advocacy organizations, mayors’ offices, school districts, […]
New Orleans: From Recovery to Renaissance
As we approach the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, I find myself bracing for a different kind of unwelcome deluge: commentators who reduce our complicated reality to lopsided praise or polemic. The truth is that New Orleans is neither a miracle nor a failure; it is a city where a group of committed leaders and […]
What’s the Next [R]evolution for New Orleans Schools?
Here is a question that I don’t know the answer to: what will be the third groundbreaking regulatory innovation born out of New Orleans? The first groundbreaking innovation was moving from a government-run system to an educator-run system. This innovation put power in the hands of great educators. The second groundbreaking innovation was creating an […]
A Culture of High Expectations in New Orleans
I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. And you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. —Martin Luther King, Jr. King’s words are a challenging reminder of our responsibility to each other in achieving our potential. […]
Do Charters Cause Portfolio or Does Portfolio Cause Charters? Chickens and Eggs Revisited
Last week, Neerav Kingsland made an important argument in his blog about charter market share and cities adopting the portfolio strategy. He wrote: “I think charter growth begets portfolio more so than portfolio begets portfolio.” and “…without charter market share in the 20-40% range, I don’t think we’ll see many cities adopt [portfolio strategy elements […]
Changing the Narrative in New Orleans: Sarah Newell Usdin Talks with Adam Hawf
Sarah Newell Usdin is District 3 Representative of Orleans Parish School Board and founder and past CEO of New Schools for New Orleans. Adam Hawf previously served as assistant superintendent of Portfolio at the Louisiana Department of Education, and deputy superintendent of Portfolio at the Louisiana Recovery School District. He spoke recently with Usdin about […]
A Renewed Sense of Hope in New Orleans: Jamar McKneely Talks with Adam Hawf
Jamar McKneely is the Chief Executive Officer of InspireNOLA Charter Schools. Adam Hawf previously served as assistant superintendent of Portfolio at the Louisiana Department of Education, and deputy superintendent of Portfolio at the Louisiana Recovery School District. Hawf spoke recently with McKneely about what the past 10 years have meant, and what the next 10 […]