The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) is required to submit this report to the Legislature regarding the status of existing charter schools, the number of petitions for new charter schools, and the action taken by school boards and DPI on petitions for new charter schools (see Wis. Stat. §115.28 (49)). This report offers the results…

This report documents two distinct stages of decision-making regarding new charter school proposals. The first is a "development" decision which includes the following: (1) further study of a new charter school; (2) considering participation in a charter consortium; or (3) study of a federal Charter Schools Program grant or subgrant for…

There were a number of historic public charter school policy wins across the country in 2017. Kentucky became the 44th state (along with the District of Columbia) to enact a charter school law. Colorado and Florida provided charter school students with unprecedented access to locally raised dollars for facilities. Tennessee and Texas created new…

In "Redefining the School District in America," Nelson Smith reexamines existing recovery school districts (RSDs)--entities in Louisiana, Tennessee, and Michigan charged with running and turning around their state's worst schools--and assembles the most comprehensive catalog of similar initiatives underway and under consideration…

This 2015 annual report shares many of the accomplishments achieved by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools in 2015 including the celebration of their 10th anniversary. Among other achievements, the report highlights: (1) At the end of 2015 Congress and the President agreed to an $80 million increase in support for the federal Charter…

School districts held an exclusive franchise on public education services until 1991, when Minnesota passed the first law permitting public charter schools. Charter schools are publicly funded, authorized by various agencies designated in public law, but independently managed. They operate outside district control, and most can draw students from…

Council for American Private Education (CAPE) is a coalition of national associations serving private schools K-12. "Outlook" is published monthly by CAPE. This issue contains the following articles: (1) House Panel Approves Two ESEA Reauthorization Bills; (2) President Obama Proposes Budget for 2013; (3) Charter Schools Causing Collapse…

Online learning has steadily become a more integral strategy for schools and districts in their efforts to offer students greater access to the courses they need. Where in the past, much of the online learning activity happened at the state level or regional level, more and more schools are exercising greater control over their online and digital…

Correspondence schools, motion pictures, radio, educational television, and computer-assisted instruction have all been hailed as technological innovations that would revolutionize education, reducing, if not eliminating entirely, education's dependence on traditional schools and their teachers. The latest innovation is "virtual…

Four schools in the Milwaukee Public School (MPS) district now have appeared on the state's list of schools needing improvement for four years in a row. After four years on the list, schools are required under federal law to take corrective action, which could include restructuring the internal organization of the school, replacing staff,…