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THE STATE
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY
OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234 |
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TO: |
Full
Board |
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FROM: |
James A. Kadamus |
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SUBJECT: |
Charter School Applications |
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DATE: |
July 19, 2005 |
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STRATEGIC
GOAL: |
Goals 1 and 2 |
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AUTHORIZATION(S): |
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SUMMARY
Issue for Decision
Should the Regents approve the
proposed charters for two charter schools submitted by the SUNY Board of
Trustees?
Reason(s) for Consideration
Required by State statute, Education Law 2852.
Proposed Handling
This question
will come before the EMSC-VESID Committee on July 21, 2005 for action. It will then come before the full Board
for final action on July 21, 2005.
Procedural History
Under the New York Charter Schools Act of 1998, the
Board of Regents is authorized to make recommendations on proposed charters
submitted by another charter entity.
Upon receipt of a proposed charter submitted by a charter entity, the
Board of Regents shall review such proposed charter in accordance with the
standards set forth in the Charter School Act. The Board of Regents shall either
(a) approve and issue the charter as proposed by the charter entity, or (b)
return the proposed charter to the charter entity for reconsideration with the
written comments and recommendations of the Board of Regents. If the Board of
Regents fails to act on such proposed charter within 60 days of its submission
to the Board of Regents, the proposed charter shall be deemed to have been
approved and issued by the Board of Regents at the expiration of such
period.
Background Information
We have
received two proposed charters from the SUNY Board of Trustees that will be
presented to you at your July meeting.
The proposed charters are for the following:
·
Henry Johnson Charter School,
Albany City School District
·
The UFT Elementary Charter
School, New York City CSD 19/Region 5
The Board of Trustees of the State University of New York (“Trustees”)
approved the application for the Henry Johnson Charter School (“the School”) and
submitted a proposed charter to the Board of Regents in June 2005. Under the
provisions of Education Law 2852, the Board of Regents must either approve the
proposed charter or return it to the Trustees for reconsideration with their
written comments and recommendations.
The School would be located in the City School District of Albany. It would serve 125 students in grades
K-1, and it has no management company.
By its fifth year, the School would serve 350 students in grades
K-4. The School would be modeled
after the Milwaukee College Preparatory School, a charter school formerly known
as the Marva Collins Preparatory Charter School.
The Board of Trustees of the State University of New York (“Trustees”)
approved the application for The UFT Elementary Charter School (“the School”)
and submitted a proposed charter to the Board of Regents in July 2005. Under the
provisions of Education Law 2852, the Board of Regents must either approve the
proposed charter or return it to the Trustees for reconsideration with their
written comments and recommendations.
The School is slated to open
September 2005 and will be located in Brooklyn in CSD 19. It would serve 150 students in grades
K-1 in its first year, and, by its fifth year, the School would serve 450
students in grades K-4. Although
the School does not have a management company, its institutional partner will be
the United Federation of Teachers (UFT). The UFT has provided and would continue
to provide the School with in-kind financial support for a variety of
services.
The following table summarizes the number of
new charters that may still be issued by charter entities in New
York:
|
Charter
Entity |
SUNY Trustees |
All Other Charter
Entities |
|
|
Remaining against statutory
ceiling |
9 |
10 |
|
The New York City Chancellor has also
approved eight conversion charter schools and the Buffalo City School District
has approved one conversion school, all of which do not count against the
statutory ceiling.
Recommendation
VOTED: That the Board of Regents
return the proposed charter for the following charter school to the Trustees of
the State University of New York for reconsideration because it does not meet
all of the criteria for general acceptance, and the projected increase in fiscal
impact would be too great a burden for the district of location:
·
Henry Johnson Charter School, Albany
VOTED: That the Board of Regents approve the
charter agreement pursuant to Article 56 of the Education Law for the following
charter school, and incorporate such school by granting a provisional charter
for a period of five years:
·
The UFT Elementary Charter
School, New York City CSD 19/Region 5
Timetable for Implementation
The Regents
action will become effective on July 21, 2005. The UFT Elementary Charter School will
begin operating in September 2005 if approved by the Regents.
New York
State Education Department
Summary of Proposed Charter
Summary of Applicant Information
Name of Proposed Charter
School: Henry Johnson Charter
School
Address:
To be determined
Applicant(s):
Debra J. Dickerson
Anticipated Opening Date: September 6, 2006
District of Location:
City School District of Albany
Charter Entity: SUNY Board of
Trustees
Institutional Partner(s): Milwaukee College Preparatory
School
Management Partner(s): None
Grades Served: K-1 (K-4)
Projected Enrollment: 125 (350)
Application Highlights
Applicant
Ms. Dickerson is a writer, a parent, and a
resident of Albany.
Curriculum/Assessment/Instruction
·
Henry Johnson
Charter School (“the School”) aims to assure that all students reach the highest
levels of scholastic achievement.
·
The School
expects to become a national model of educational
excellence.
·
The School is
working in partnership with the Milwaukee College Preparatory School (MCPS), a
charter school formerly known as the Marva Collins Preparatory Charter
School.
·
The
partnership with MCPS includes design of the School and participation of the
School’s principal in a summer intern program at MCPS.
·
Key MCPS
design elements that the School will reflect include high expectations,
high-quality teachers, and a focus on goals.
·
The School
will start small in order to establish a strong school
culture.
·
Students will
spend more time on task because the School will have a longer school day and
year (up to 200 days), so that after completion of grades K-4, students will
have received the equivalent of more than one additional year of
schooling.
·
The School
will use the Open Court phonics program, Open Court Headway program plus
Accelerated Reader for literature, Saxon Math, FOSS Science, and
Social Studies Alive!
·
The
application has not demonstrated that the School’s curriculum is aligned with
the State learning standards. The
curriculum provided is incomplete and unclear with respect to subject coverage,
and it does not follow required formatting.
·
The School
will administer rigorous, standards-based assessments every six weeks in reading
and math. The School will develop
these assessments in consultation with staff of MCPS.
·
The School
expects to administer the Terra Nova achievement tests in each
grade.
·
The School
will establish a culture based on values of honor, honesty, diligence, and
perseverance.
·
The School
will inculcate a shared vocabulary, e.g., SLANT (Sit up, Listen, Ask questions,
Nod at the teacher, and Track the speaker).
·
The School
will strive to get students to expect excellence from
themselves.
·
Each classroom
will have at least two adults providing instruction, a lead teacher and an
assistant teacher.
·
Teachers will
receive extensive professional development.
·
Students will
receive tutoring according to their needs.
·
The proposed
charter does not describe the processes and timelines the School will follow to
ensure that parents are kept informed of their children’s progress in meeting
their IEP goals.
Governance
·
The School
will have between 7 and 15 members on its Board of
Trustees.
·
Initially the
School will have seven members on its Board of Trustees (including one parent,
yet to be named).
·
At least one
seat on the Board of Trustees will be reserved for a parent of a child attending
the School.
·
The Board of
Trustees will appoint a principal, who will be assisted by an assistant
principal and a business manager.
Students
·
The School
will commence instruction with up to 125 students in grades K-1, including 75
kindergarten students and 50 first grade students.
·
Except for
grade 1 in the School’s initial year, 75 students per grade will be the norm,
for a maximum of 350 students in grades K-4 by the 2009-10 school
year.
·
Class size
will not exceed 25 students.
·
The School
will implement a uniform dress code policy.
·
In the first
operational year of the School, 2006-07, its projected impact will be
approximately $1.2 million, or nearly three-quarters of a percent of the
district’s budget.
·
The impact is
anticipated to increase by four-tenths of a percent in each subsequent year of
the School’s charter.
Potential Fiscal Impact of Charter
Schools
on the Albany
City School District
2005-2010
Charter
School |
Percent
Impact |
| ||||||||||
|
|
|
2005-06 |
2006-07 |
2007-08 |
2008-09 |
2009-10 | ||||||
|
Achievement
Academy C S |
0.45 |
0.87 |
1.28 |
1.68 |
1.65 |
| ||||||
|
Albany
Preparatory C S |
0.59 |
1.16 |
1.71 |
2.24 |
2.20 |
| ||||||
|
Brighter
Choice – Boys C S |
0.71 |
0.84 |
0.83 |
0.81 |
0.79 |
| ||||||
|
Brighter
Choice – Girls C S |
0.71 |
0.84 |
0.83 |
0.81 |
0.79 |
| ||||||
Henry Johnson C S |
0.0 |
0.73 |
1.14 |
1.54 |
1.93 |
| ||||||
|
KIPP Tech
Valley C S |
0.53 |
1.05 |
1.54 |
2.02 |
1.98 |
| ||||||
|
New Covenant
C S |
5.49 |
5.43 |
5.32 |
5.22 |
5.12 |
| ||||||
Totals |
8.48 |
10.92 |
12.65 |
14.32 |
14.46 |
| ||||||
Caution: the per pupil payment could increase or
even decrease yearly, affecting the potential impact. Predictions also cannot be made for
charter schools beyond the final year of their charters, so the potential impact
beyond the 2005-06 school year is even less certain.
·
The School
will have 13 FTE instructional staff in its first year of operation, including 5
classroom teachers, 5 assistant teachers, 2 specialty teachers, and 2 special
education teachers (including a coordinator).
·
The number of
instructional staff will increase from 13 to 35 over the span of the
charter.
·
The School
staff will initially include a principal, an assistant principal, an
administrative assistant (or assistants), and a business/operations manager, for
a total of 4 FTE administrative staff, a number which will remain constant
during the term of the charter.
·
The number of
assistant teachers will increase from 5 in the School’s first year of operation
to 14 in the last year of its charter.
·
Specialty
teachers will increase from two part-time teachers to three, and special
education teachers will increase from two to four over the term of the
charter.
Community
Support
·
The applicants
have provided evidence in the form of survey responses from the parents of over
300 students who would be eligible for grades K or 1 in 2006-07 indicating their
desire to submit applications for their children’s admission to the Henry
Johnson Charter School.
·
Such evidence
would exceed the standard for adequate community support.
·
The applicants
have surveyed Albany residents and received signatures in support of the Henry
Johnson Charter School from over 1,900 residents.
·
The City
School District of Albany has written its objections to the proposed charter
school, chief of which is the increase in fiscal impact on a district in which
the impact is already well above five percent.
Recommendation
Return the proposed charter to the Trustees of the State
University of New York for reconsideration.
Reasons for Recommendation
The proposed charter does not meet all of the criteria for
general acceptance, and the projected increase in fiscal impact would be too
great a burden for the district of location.
New York State
Education Department
Summary of Proposed Charter
Summary of Applicant Information
Name of Proposed
Charter School: The UFT Elementary Charter School
Address: 300 Wyona Street, Brooklyn, New York
11207
Applicant(s): Randi Weingarten
Anticipated Opening
Date: September 2005
District of Location:
New York City CSD 19 - Instructional Region 5
Institutional
Partner(s): United Federation of Teachers (UFT)
Management
Partner(s): N/A
Grades Served:
K-1 (K-5)
Projected
Enrollment: 150
(450)
Proposed Charter
Highlights
Applicants
Randi Weingarten is the applicant for The UFT
Elementary Charter School. Since
1998, Ms. Weingarten has been president of the United Federation of Teachers
(UFT), representing more than 150,000 active and retired educators in the New
York City public school system. She
is also a Vice-President of the 1.2 million-member American Federation of
Teachers and a board member of New York State United Teachers. As a teacher of history at Clara Barton
High School in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, from 1991 to 1997, Ms. Weingarten helped
her students win several State and national awards. Ms. Weingarten holds degrees from
Cornell University and the Cardozo School of Law.
Institutional
Partner(s)
With more than 140,000 members, the UFT is the
sole bargaining agent for most of the non-supervisory educators who work in the
New York City public schools. It represents approximately 74,000 teachers and
17,000 classroom paraprofessionals, along with school secretaries, attendance
teachers, guidance counselors, psychologists, social workers, education
evaluators, nurses, laboratory technicians, adult education teachers and 32,000
retired members.
The UFT, in its role as partner
organization for the proposed charter school, shall continue to serve the School
and its Board of Trustees as a consultant, service provider, and financial
supporter. On-going support
services to be provided to The UFT Elementary Charter School include the
following:
§
Financial Planning and Management
§
Procurement
§
Human Resources
§
Grants Administration
§
Service Bureau
§
Website and Email Technology
§
Fund and Relationship Development
§
Meeting Space
§
Financial Support
The UFT has and shall provide
in-kind financial support for the above services to The UFT Elementary Charter
School. The UFT shall also loan The
UFT Elementary Charter School sufficient funds to cover any deficits. Such loans
shall only be repaid when it would be fiscally appropriate to do so. The UFT, the UFT Educational Foundation,
and the UFT Welfare Fund have combined assets exceeding $250 million.
Management Partner(s)
None.
Curriculum/Assessment/Instruction
§
The curriculum of
The UFT Elementary Charter School will center on the four main academic subject
areas – English Language Arts, mathematics, social studies and science.
§
The “Habits for
Life and Thought” will be woven through the instructional program with the
objective of equipping students with the cognitive tools to navigate through
life’s problems and challenges. The
Habits for Life and Thought are community, respect, excellence, scholarship, and
trustworthiness (CREST).
§
Trophies/Trofeos
Program published by Harcourt Brace will be used for the English Language Arts
curriculum. Everyday Mathematics
will be used for the mathematics curriculum. The Inquiry Instructional Learning Model
and the Harcourt science textbook will be used for science instruction. Lastly, the Harcourt Horizon social
studies series will serve as the foundation for the social studies
curriculum.
§
The School will
integrate social studies and science core curriculums.
§
The curriculum will
be aligned with the New York State assessments and standards.
§
The UFT Elementary
Charter School will administer all New York State assessments for students in
grades 3 through 5. The School will
assess kindergarten through grade 3 students’ attainment of literacy skills
using the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS).
§
The School will
provide for students with disabilities to be educated in the least restrictive
environment to the maximum extent appropriate and allowed by each student’s
IEP.
§
English Language
Learners will receive targeted English as a Second Language (ESL) services.
§
Students will
prepare portfolios, which will serve as a form of assessment.
§
Students will be required to adhere to a uniform dress
code.
§
Two teachers will
staff every classroom in grades K-3.
§
Students will have
an opportunity for an after-school program from 3:00-4:30 p.m.
Governance
§
There will be 13
members on the Board of Trustees comprised of School staff, parents of enrolled
students, representatives from the United Federation of Teachers,
representatives of the East New York and New York City community, and the School
Leader.
§
The Trustees shall
serve for staggered three-year terms; however, the classes of Initial Trustees
shall serve for one, two, and three-year terms, respectively so that one-third
of the Trustees’ terms shall expire at the time of each annual meeting
thereafter.
§
The Board will meet
regularly, holding no fewer than 10 meetings in the first year of
operation.
Students
§
In the first year,
the School will begin with 75 kindergarteners and 75 first graders.
§
The School will add
one grade per year until it serves 450 students in grades
K-5.
§
To recruit
students, the School posted flyers at local supermarkets, community centers, and
apartment complexes; placed notices in local newspapers; and notified public
elementary schools, after-school programs, youth centers, daycare and Pre-K
centers and local community-based organizations.
§
A lottery was
conducted in June. Admission
preference will be granted to applicants in the following
manner:
o
First preference will be given to returning
students.
o
Second preference will be given to siblings of students
admitted to the School.
o
Third preference will be given to students who reside in
New York City.
o
Final preference will be given to students who reside
outside of New York City.
§
The student
population to be served includes the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn,
located in Community School District 19.
Eighty-nine percent of the students in this district live in poverty; 53%
of the students in this district are African-American and 40% are Hispanic.
Budget/Facilities
§
The School will be
located at 300 Wyona Street in Brooklyn, New York (CSD 19). This building is owned by the New York
City Department of Education.
§
The School will be
located on the 2nd floor and will expand to the 3rd and 4th floors over
time. The UFT Elementary Charter
School does not anticipate owning or leasing its facility in the
future.
Personnel
§
During the first year, the following full-time employees
will be hired: ten general education teachers, three special education
teachers/coordinators, two paraprofessionals, one physical education teacher,
one ELL teacher/coordinator, one guidance counselor/school psychologist, one
school leader, and one school aide.
The salary for teachers shall be comparable to that of a New York City
public school teacher with a Master’s degree and 10 years of
experience.
§
At full capacity, the School will have twenty-six
general education teachers, five special education teachers/coordinators, three
paraprofessionals, one physical education teacher, two specialty teachers, one
ELL teacher/coordinator, one guidance counselor/school psychologist, one school
leader, two school aides, and two school secretaries.
Fiscal
Impact
§
The proposed budget represents less than .03% of the
budget of the New York City school district for FY ’05.
§
Total revenue for
year one is estimated to be $2,521,020; total expenditures are estimated to be
$2,370,795. The surplus is
estimated to be $150,224.
§
Programmatic and fiscal audits will comply with all
requirements made of public schools.
The School will employ a New York State licensed public accountant or
certified public accountant to perform the fiscal audit. In addition, the School will ensure that
the audit is conducted in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting
Principles (GAAP) issued by the U.S. Comptroller General.
Projected Fiscal Impact of The UFT Elementary Charter School
|
School
Year |
Number of
Students |
Projected
Payment* |
Projected
Impact |
|
2005-06 |
150 |
.009% | |
|
2006-07 |
225 |
$2,109,542 |
.014% |
|
2007-08 |
300 |
$2,939,294 |
.019% |
|
2008-09 |
375 |
$3,839,453 |
.024% |
|
2009-10 |
450 |
$4,814,675 |
.030% |
*Assumes a 3 percent annual increase in the District’s budget
from a 2002-2003 base of $12.9 billion and a 4.5 percent annual increase in the
adjusted expense per pupil, per year from the 2005-2006 final adjusted expense
per pupil of $8,972.
Community
Support
§
Signatures of 350 parents who reside in the community
supporting the School were submitted.
§
Thirteen letters of support have been received from
various community organizations, as well as day care and family centers, such
as: The Family and Life Center of
Mt. Ararat, Groundwork: Powerful Youth for Powerful Communities, On Our Way
Learning Center, Urban Strategies Head Start Center, Association of Community
Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), etc.
Recommendation
Approve the proposed charter.
Reason for
Recommendation
The proposed charter meets the criteria set forth in §2852(2) of
Education Law.