by David Safier
The feds awarded $4.69 million to 21 Arizona charter schools. The preferred schools are supposed to be those providing "challenging curricula and rigorous assessment to underserved students."
BASIS received money. So did three Sonoran Science Academy schools. They're good schools, but do they serve underserved students? Do they need the extra federal help?
Below is a list of all 21 schools. I looked for something to use as an "underserved" proxy — either ethnicity or free/reduced lunch status of students at the schools. Unfortunately, I wasn't very successful.
I know we have a few good researchers out there. Can anyone dig up ethnicity or free lunch reports on these charters?
I found a few free/reduced lunch percentages which I've put after the school's name but not enough to give me a sense of how much funding went to schools serving students with the greatest need.
It's never easy setting up a good school, but it's a hell of a lot easier if the students are motivated and not from poor families. If charters are going to be a serious part of improving education, they have to do a good job of serving our toughest students to educate. That's why the feds say they're pouring money into education. That's where it should be going.
Making the educational "winners" even bigger winners isn't what Obama and Arne Duncan have been talking about.
Alhambra Education Partnership, Inc., Phoenix
Anthem Preparatory Academy, Anthem
AZ Compass Schools, Inc., Chandler
BASIS School, Inc., Oro Valley
Compass Points International, Inc., Prescott
Glendale Preparatory Academy. Glendale
Great Hearts Academies – Phoenix Core, Phoenix (around 50%)
Northview Public Charter High School, Casa Grande
Phoenix Collegiate Academy, Inc., Phoenix (over 90%)
Pima Prevention Partnership, Phoenix (over 90%)
Presidio School, Inc. Bisbee (both Presidio schools around 70%)
Presidio School, Inc. Sierra Vista
Research Based Education Corp., Paulden
Scottsdale Preparatory Academy, Scottsdale
Sonoran Science Academy, Tucson (All SSA schools, under 25%)
Sonoran Science Academy- Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson
Sonoran Science Academy – Phoenix
South Valley Academy, Inc., Phoenix
The Odyssey Preparatory Academy, Inc., Buckeye
Verde Secondary Academy Public Charter High School, Tucson
Vista Point Public
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Adam, if that story about the hearing is anywhere near accurate, it’s amazing. Any chance you would be able to dig up the date of the hearing and/or remember any specifics, like names? Those minutes are public record, often to be found on the web. I would love to see what the minutes show.
In AZ the charters can be granted by a district, by the DOE, or by the Charter Board, so almost anyone can get one. The main goal of the charter schools in AZ is to execute the Republican goal of eliminating public schools.
There are good charters and bad ones, but the goal is the same: to help the radical right gut the public schools.
Just another disgusting act on the part of AZ Republicans. These people disgust me.
Frankly, I think thats a wonderful idea. I talk to parents all the time who have or are considering moving their kids to charters…the complaint I hear the most is “our kids aren’t getting a good education.” I’m dumbfounded by the comment, to say the least. I understand that some people are disenchanted with the public school system and some have had bad experiences, but that doesn’t mean turn to a small/parochial/corporate charter school. Thats the beauty of open enrollment-many districts have wonderful programs that will provide their students with the help they need, but have a negative connotation; i.e. the South Mountains and Roosevelts of the education world. If more school districts created charter schools, I think it would let them offer a different type of program that they probably couldn’t offer any other way, or be able to focus on one specialized area (like we are)
I remember sitting in the basement of the executive tower for the hearing, one applicant came to mind, it went something like this.
applicant: “I have three years of teaching experience and my husband has 1, and we want to take our experience and help some kids”
chair: “do you have a curriculum?”
applicant: “no ma’am, not yet. we are developing it, to help the kids.”
chair: “do you have a facility?”
Applicant “no, the last one fell through, so we are working on getting another.”
chair : “do you have your budgets worked out?”
applicant “no, but we will”
…and the board unanimously approved it. I think my jaw hit the floor after this exchange.
Thanks in advance for the help, Adam.
It seems the Arizona charter school model doesn’t encourage districts to start their own charters. However, in Oregon, where I taught, my understanding is that school districts are the ones who give charters, not the DOE. That means the charters are very carefully scrutinized, and in the process, districts often set up their own charters.
I asked a friend on the Portland School District Board, someone who is no special friend of charters, how good the charter schools in her area are. My friend said, they’re very good because they have to go through so much scrutiny to be OK’d.
Here’s from the ADE press release:
“the highly competitive grant . . . awards up to $230,000 per school for up to three years.” Good luck on that raise.
You asked a question I’ve been asking myself for a while now. Why are there so many charter schools and why do they pop up everywhere? Is there really a need for them in the community?
A word first, I am a governing board member of the Alhambra Elementary School District. We are the ones that created and helped to charter Alhambra Education Partnership. We applied for everything, clearly defined how funding from our district will not be used at the charter and vice versa. To the best of my knowledge, only a a handful of districts have created charter schools through their district, off the top of my head, Washington School District comes to mind. When applying for our charter, we were scrutinized more then other people applying. We had the facility, the education model, curriculum, and focus in place. Other people had no location, no plan, and they were given a charter without a second thought. I was shocked. How can we hand out charters like candy?
Anyways, our charter school serves a specific purpose. We serve (albeit a small number) mostly Alhambra students who are looking for a school structured much like our elementary schools. I am not sure how familiar you are with our district but we have a long history of serving our traditionally under served students. 90% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch. (district wide) Many are immigrants, some are refugees. We have been able to stretch our budget to offer our students the education they deserve, and we constantly rank in the top in the statewide test scores. We opened our school because we has people in the community asking for a high school that was structured like our elementary schools. In all honesty, and this is my opinion, our main feeder school, Alhambra High School (of Phoenix Union HSD) doesn’t serve our students as well as they should. Our charter, Alhambra College Prep, offers students in Alhambra, and surrounding districts, a different choice. Students are treated like young adults, (as they should be) they are offered a college prep atmosphere, and much more is expected out of them. They are developed not just educationally, but also socially. They are taught and given the tools to be leaders in their community, something many schools lack. They have the opportunity to get an AA at the same time they leave high school.
I could go on and on, but back to the issue at hand. These students are the children of immigrants, many of them are the first to attend high school/take college classes. They might not have the opportunity to get what they receive at ACP anywhere else. These students are traditionally considered “at-risk” (a label I loathe).
Anyways, I will get the info you asked for, and will let you know.
I teach at one of these schools, and I can say that, unless I am confused about the meaning of “underserved,” we don’t have many underserved students. If we’re measuring it by Free/reduced lunches, the number would be close to zero.
On a related note, how much federal funding did each school get? I might be jockeying for a raise…