CALENDAR

This school year will be an exciting and pivotal year for the charter school community in Minnesota as we start to see real progress in our movement toward high quality. This year will give us a chance to see if we can capitalize on the momentum we have built to provide all children in Minnesota with a world-class education.

We are now able to claim a small, but growing group of high performing charters in our urban neighborhoods, in our suburbs, and in our outstate rural communities that provide irrefutable proof points that all kids can learn at the highest level regardless of the color of their skin, their income, or the zip code they live in. We know it can be done and we know which schools are doing it. These schools are the driving force for high quality public education in Minnesota and will be the exemplar schools for our policy makers, district leaders, and philanthropic funders to study as we continue to build momentum for meaningful education reform.

However, of these schools, only a small handful also serve a majority of both low-income and minority students. If Minnesota is going to close its racial achievement gap we need more high quality charters throughout the state and we especially need more urban high quality charters serving more low-income and minority students. Our children can’t wait any longer.

In city after city, the charter school model has proven to be successful and effective in increasing academic performance and closing the achievement gap. In the Twin Cities 8 of the top 10 Beating the Odds public schools are charters; in New Orleans 13 of the top 15 public schools are charters; in Denver, 7 of the top 10 public schools are charters. The charter model offers greater autonomy and flexibility than traditional school models to close the gap. But the charter model only works if there is also high accountability. Charters must be accountable for high student outcomes and sound fiscal management or we will lose not only the public’s trust, but also our students’ trust.

In a recent editorial published in the Pioneer Press, we promoted the idea of "churn." Churn is a multi-faceted approach to improving public education for all kids that includes improving existing schools, opening new high quality schools, closing down low performing schools, and re-starting some struggling ones. This approach is our roadmap to reinventing the quality of public education in the region. Notably though, churn only works if there is a continuous replacement of the lowest performing schools with higher performing ones. We know that closing down schools is extremely difficult, but we have a responsibility to the kids to make these tough decisions; recent changes to the charter law allows us to support the authorizers and schools that are willing and able to make this decision.

Charter School Partners is committed to improving public education and closing the achievement gap through the implementation of high quality charters. We feel a sense of urgency to accelerate our efforts and push for faster and better results. We believe the time is now to make good on the promise of high quality education for all. Our children deserve it.