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Volume II, Issue 4, March 6, 2006
Charter Leader News

This week's Charter Leader News features information on the following . . .

Project Postcard/March 21 Lobby Day
Job Fair
State Stimulus Fund RFPs
Science Teachers Forum

PROJECT POSTCARD TAKES ON NEW URGENCY

The launch of PROJECT POSTCARD -- the Charter Center's latest effort to press state lawmakers to lift the statutory "cap" on public charter schools during the current legislative session -- has taken on greater urgency as budget negotiations intensify.

Last week, State Senator and Chair of the Senate Education Committee, Steve Saland (R-Poughkeepsie), proposed legislation (#S.6881) to allow 100 more charters to be authorized, but only upon approval of the local school district. Senator Saland's bill would:

limit charter schools to 5 percent of a district's enrollment

grant local districts oversight of local charter schools

alter the charter funding formula by cutting elementary school funding by 10 percent and increase high school funding by 10 percent

The provisions of this bill would virtually guarantee that charter schools will never open anywhere outside of New York City. And should NYC elect a mayor opposed to charter schools, this bill could be harmful to future charter school viability.

In addition to asking NYC charter schools to show their solidarity for a "cap" lift by issuing postcards and copies of the 2006 Charter School Parents Advocacy Guide to parents, board members and supporters this month, the Charter Center is working with the New York Charter Schools Association to organize a March 21 Lobby Day in Albany. Our goal is to have two representatives per school attend. On this day we will advocate in favor of the Governor's charter school proposal -- including lifting the "cap" and providing capital financing for charter schools -- and against the Saland bill.

The Center will charter a bus to take NYC school leaders, parents and supporters to Albany on March 21. For those school leaders that cannot attend the March 21 Lobby Day, we ask that you (and your school parents) contact your local state legislator's office and make known your support for lifting the cap, facility funding for charter schools and other pro-charter school elements of the Governor's bill.

To make reservations for the March 21 Lobby Day or obtain postcards and parent advocacy guides for upcoming open houses, parent meetings and other events, please contact Jeff Maclin at: jmaclin@nychartercenter.org, or call 212-437-8310.

We urge everyone with a stake in the charter school movement to join the PROJECT POSTCARD campaign and sign up for the March 21 Lobby Day.

Thank you

OPERATIONS NEWS

Charter Center "Job Board" Up and Running:

As announced in the last edition of the Charter Leader News, the Charter Center will host a Charter Schools Job Fair on March 18 and 19 at the Brooklyn Marriott Hotel. To prepare for the Job Fair the Center created a Job Board database which already contains nearly 800 resumes from qualified candidates for teaching, leadership, administrative and specialist positions that have been submitted since the temporary site went up a couple weeks ago, all of which will be search-able by system users.

In order to access these 800 resumes, you must receive Taleo software training. Two sessions are still available -- March 10 (1pm - 4pm) and March 14 (10am - 1pm). Both sessions will be conducted via Web by a Taleo training consultant. Please contact Stephanie Lawkins at slawkins@nycchartercenter.org to reserve a space for scheduled sessions.

The Center is also able to accommodate a limited number of people who are unable to attend any of the scheduled training sessions via general online Taleo training courses. However, these sessions are open to multiple Taleo customers and will NOT be specific to the customized feature of the NYC Charter School Job Board site.

To access the information and participate fully in this initiative, we ask that you commit some training time to our Job Board -- which is yours to use for the entire year -- and that you attend the upcoming Job Fair.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

State Stimulus Fund RFP

Information on the next State Stimulus Fund Request for Proposals (RFP) will be announced during the New York Charter Schools Conference (March 16-18) in a presentation by William Lake of SUNY-CSI. The Center congratulates the 12 NYC charter schools awarded SSF Start-Up Implementation Grants in the last round, and will provide to all schools applying this round for grants. Please contact Tony Lopez at alopez@nycchartercenter.org if you are interested in receiving technical assistance.

CURRENT EVENTS

Best "Science" Practices Forum at Williamsburg Collegiate Charter School - March 18, 2 to 4:40 pm:

Notice to all Science Teachers: Do you have some great science experiments to share? Do you want to hear about ways to integrate technology into your science classroom? Bring your best science practices to Williamsburg Collegiate Charter School, 157 Wilson Street, Brooklyn, NY (between Lee and Bedford) on Saturday, March 18th from 2 to 4:30 pm. Hillary Rubenstein, founding Science teacher at Williamsburg Collegiate, encourages attendees of this informal gathering to bring their laptops and materials to share, or simply come to listen, gather ideas and meet other stellar science teachers discuss their successes. A LCD projector will be provided for those who wish to share technology. Science teachers from grades K-12 are welcome. Please RSVP to Hillary Rubenstein at hrubenstein@collegiatecs.org . For directions see: http://www.collegiatecs.org/

Mission

The mission of the New York City Center for Charter School Excellence is to stimulate the supply of high-quality charter schools and support ongoing student excellence in all NYC charter schools, impacting the effectiveness of public education. As an independent nonprofit, the Charter Center is an advocate, bridge and catalyst for the achievement of academic and operational success and sustainability of all NYC charter schools for each young person.