Local News

11 GV charter schools eligible for new 'school of excellence' title

By Dan Michniewicz GVL Web Managing Editor
2/7/2010

Making their case for a portion of $4.35 billion from the Obama administration's Race to the Top program, Michigan lawmakers passed legislation in January to reform the state's education system.

The reforms include a revamped system to regulate the creation of new charter schools via the replication of successful charter schools.

Under the new system, pre-existing charter schools can convert to "schools of excellence." Once a school converts to a school of excellence, its educational model can serve as the basis for a new charter school.

There are two ways a charter school can achieve school of excellence status. The first path requires 90 percent of a charter school's students achieve a score of proficient or better on the math and reading portions of the MEAP. The other option is if more than half of the school's students qualify for a free or reduced-price lunch, an indicator of poverty levels, then only 70 percent of the school's students must score proficient or better on those MEAP sections.

In both scenarios, the replicated school must have compiled three years of proficiency data. In addition, the graduation rates of the public schools in the proposed charter school's host district must not exceed 75.5 percent.

Grand Valley State University authorizes 38 charter schools, four of which are in their first year of existence.

Authorizers of charter schools evaluate the school's progress and ensure its compliance with the Michigan Department of Education's guidelines.

Eleven of GVSU's charter schools qualify for conversion to schools of excellence. The previous cap for university-authorized charter schools had been reached, so GVSU could not authorize a new school unless another charter school closed.

In 2009, GVSU closed Discovery Elementary School in Fennville, Mich.

Tim Wood, special assistant to the president for GVSU's charter schools, said GVSU closed Discovery because of a decrease in enrollment, which he attributed to the construction of a new elementary school in the district.

Authorizers of charter schools often employ education service providers to manage the charter schools. Among other things, education service providers staff charter schools.

National Heritage Academies manages one of GVSU's four new charter schools, Achieve Academy in Canton, Mich., as well as 16 of the university's other charter schools.

"That's no mistake," Wood said. "We like NHA because their organization functions at a very high level, and their schools do, too."

GVSU's other new charter schools-- Henry Ford Academy of Creative Studies, Michigan Math and Science Academy, and Washington-Parks Academy -- are also located in or around Detroit, whose public schools posted the worst scores of any of large city on a recent national test.

"The greatest need we saw for quality education was (in the Detroit area)," Wood said.

Similar to public schools, charter schools are funded on a per-student basis. This amount cannot exceed the per-student funding received by the charter school's host district.

In return for authorizing charter schools, the university receives up to 3 percent of the schools' funds. The university must either spend these funds directly on its charter schools or use them to somehow enhance its charter schools.

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