Giving Compass' Take:

• The author details the challenges that even successful charter school networks need to address as the charter school movement is gathering soon to attend the National Charter Schools Conference.

• How does the charter school network value and utilize their partnerships? Can they take advantage of their network in order to expand information-sharing and innovative practices with each other?

• Learn about how charter school networks are becoming more innovative.

The charter school movement is gathering next week in Austin, Texas for the National Charter Schools Conference . It’s the right place at the right time. Texas is home to some of the most respected charter school networks in the country — KIPP, IDEA, and Yes Prep — as well as great independent charter schools. They flourish because the state has a strong educational ecosystem, in which leaders aren’t afraid to think — and act — big.

Charter school leaders and the Texas Charter Schools Association have put a premium on quality, leading to marked improvement in charter school performance throughout the state.

This year’s conference is occurring at a time of success and opportunities for the charter school movement. Lawmakers in Washington, D.C., increased their commitment to the federal Charter Schools Program this year — funding CSP at a level of $400 million, the highest ever. Included within that funding is more support for charter school facilities — a recognition that charter schools don’t have access to the same tools that school districts do when it comes to finding and maintaining appropriate school facilities.

For charter schools to keep making progress, we need to follow Texas’s example and think and act big, with our minds on the future. That will require tackling a few big challenges.

  • First, we need to make sure that we’re using our freedom to be innovative and preparing our students for the future.
  • Our second challenge is to keep growing the schools we have and pushing into new communities so that more students can access what we offer.
  • Third, we need to be focused on our main mission, which is educating every student for the future.
  • Finally, charter schools must be ready to defend our schools and the freedoms that come with chartering.

Read the full article about charter school network by Nina Rees at The 74