1. WASB State Convention 2012 Charter Schools and Reform Efforts 1

2. Agenda Guidance for Charter School Developers Presentations by two successful charter schools in Kenosha and Sparta Questions and Answers 2

3. What is a Charter School? Charter School: A charter school is a tuition- free public school created on the basis of a contract or “charter” between the charter school and a local school board or other authorizer. A charter school has more freedom than a traditional public school in return for a commitment to meet higher standards of accountability. (NACSA, 2006) 3

4. Wisconsin State Statute s. 118.40 Allows anyone to create a charter school; Specifies who can sponsor or authorize a charter school; Has no cap on the numbers that can be created; Specifies what must be included in a contract; Outlines what a charter school can and cannot do. 4

5. Wisconsin Charter School Law Under Wisconsin law, contracts/charters may be for any term not exceeding 5 school years. School board authorizer decides if charter school is an instrumentality or non-instrumentality charter school. 5

6. Wisconsin Charter School Law Must be open to all students in the district May not require any pupil to enroll May not charge tuition May not be sectarian 6

7. Flexibility in state la w Charter schools are exempt from most state laws in chapters 115 through 121 and can have: --flexible school calendar and hours --school-specific professional development --individual curriculum --specific graduation requirements 7

8. Flexibility and Accountability Charter School requirements: -- Participate in statewide assessments -- Employ licensed teachers -- Complete the school performance report -- Follow all health and safety rules 8

9. Governance Boards The entity that runs the charter school: --Has autonomy and independence or power to make decisions over budgets, personnel and policy; --Must negotiate waiver of school board authorizer’s board policies. 9

10. Governance Boards Majority of Governance board members must be parents and community representatives Administrators or school board members should not serve on the governance board as this could be a conflict of interest 10

11. Is this a school or a program? Does the charter school provide the student’s primary elementary or secondary education? If sharing a building, is the charter school physically separated from the traditional school? Are students reported as enrolled in the charter school and not in another public school? 11

12. Is this a school or a program? Are students taking their core courses in the charter school? Are some staff teaching only in the charter school? Is there a charter school website? Is there a random lottery for admission? 12

13. Available Wisconsin Grants Federal rules require 3-year continuous relationship  Planning Grant (12-18 months)  Implementation Grant Year 1 (12 months)  Implementation Grant Year 2 (6-12 months) For start-up costs not operational costs 13

14. Elementary Charter Schools (K4 through 5 th Grade) Student Enrollment Grant Amount Per Year Three Year Total >300 Students$250,000/year$750,000 100-300 Students$200,000/year$600,000 <100 Students$150,000/year$450,000 14

15. Secondary Charter Schools (6 th through 12 th Grades) Student Enrollment Grant Amount Per Year Three Year Total >300 Students$300,000/year$900,000 100-300 Students$225,000/year$675,000 <100 Students$175,000/year$525,000 15

16. Secondary Charter Schools SIFI and Economically Disadvantaged (6 th through 12 th Grades) Student Enrollment Grant Amount Per year Three Year Total >300 Students$325,000/year$975,000 100-300 Students$250,000/year$750,000 <100 Students$200,000/year$600,000 16

17. WCSA Wisconsin Charter School Association http://www.wicharterschools.org/ The Annual Charter Schools Conference will be held in Lake Geneva at the Grand Geneva Resort on March 15-16, 2012 17

18. Wisconsin Charter Models Montessori Interdisciplinary Learning Collaborative Environmental/green Inquiry/Project-based Learning/Place Based Multi-age Engineering/STEM Arts/Culture 18

19. Wisconsin Innovative Schools Network (WISN) See website at www.wisn.netwww.wisn.net 19