October 2021

Looking for an easy way to share the challenges public charter schools face with their facilities?

A new video out this fall from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools addresses the charter school facilities challenge. When it comes to facilities funding, charter schools are not treated fairly or equitably. Find the video here or click below to watch.

As the video notes, charter schools spend 10% more of their budget on facilities than other public schools; many charter school buildings do not have gymnasiums, libraries, or science labs.

Share the video–and help others understand why we need fair funding for public charter schools.

New U.S. Census data point to declining school enrollment in the U.S. between 2019 and 2020. In fact, college enrollment in 2020 was the lowest it has been since 2007. According to the Census Bureau, the bulk of the drop-off occurred at two-year community colleges, “which had their lowest enrollment levels in 20 years.”

Here’s the screenshot figure from the Census Bureau showing long-term trend lines:

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Access the U.S. Census Bureau release here. Find detailed enrollment tables here.

Men are disproportionately choosing to forego college. A recent editorial from USA Today‘s Editorial Board says it’s time to try and understand why.

In September, reporter Douglas Belkin examined this college enrollment trend in The Wall Street Journal: “A Generation of American Men Give Up on College: ‘I Just Feel Lost.'” Belkin cited numbers from the National Student Clearinghouse, which show that at the end of 2020-21, nearly 60% of college students were women; men, on the other hand, made up around 40% of college enrollments. He also notes that compared to five years earlier, colleges enrolled 1.5 million fewer students–with men accounting for 71% of the drop-off.

New NAEP scores, released this month, revealed declines in both reading and math among 13-year-olds. Compared to 2012, reading scores dropped 3 points; math scores declined 5 points.

NAEP, or the National Assessment of Educational Progress, is widely know as “The Nation’s Report Card.” New scores are from NAEP’s long-term trend assessments.

Why have the scores declined?

Keep in mind these scores reflect pre-pandemic learning. To what should we attribute the downturn? While acknowledging that no one really knows, Michael Petrilli, the president of the Fordham Institute and executive editor of Education Next, presents a theory. The Great Recession may be to blame, he says. Here’s his take:

The thirteen-year-olds who took the Long Term Trend exam in January 2020 would have been babies when the economy started falling apart in 2007. Parents were thrown out of work. Many families were thrown into poverty. And the hardship was deep and long lasting. It would have been a miracle had such shocks not had a negative impact on the academic and non-cognitive development of these children.

Challenges from the pandemic will compound learning difficulties. So, what will it take to turn things around? Petrilli writes:

Changing the course of history for this cohort of kids is the challenge at hand today. Accelerating student learning will take commitment, smarts, and the political will to invest federal relief funds strategically. A decade ago, it’s now pretty clear to me, we failed to rise to the challenge in the wake of the Great Recession. Let us not repeat the same mistakes again.

The latest on H.R. 4502 and arguments about “for-profit” charters

“Charter schools are always public schools and prioritize the learning needs of every student. As such, we take exception to the term ‘for-profit’ charter schools. It is misleading …

Many have questioned whether a public charter school that contracts with a management company should receive federal funding. The answer is clear: Charter school students are public school students and deserve fair access to federally funded programs intended to support them.”

Here’s how the numbers stacked up

• 38.5% read at grade level
• 61.5% did not read at grade level

• 43.1% read at grade level
• 56.9% did not read at grade level

Source: Presentation to the State Board of Education from Amy Rhyne, Director of the Office of Early Learning at the NC Department of Public Instruction (NC DPI)

• 43.7% were proficient on the Beginning-of-Grade (BOG) ELA/Reading Test, the End-of-Grade (EOG) ELA/Reading Test, or the EOG ELA/Reading Re-test.
• 56.3% were not proficient on any of the above tests.

Overall, slightly less than half (46.3%) of 3rd graders who were eligible for priority enrollment in reading camp attended.

Source: NC DPI

Program purpose and details

The Fellowship is open to high school juniors and seniors, ages 15 to 18. BRI will choose 10 students to participate in 2021-22. Programming begins in November and runs through June. What will the program entail? BRI notes:

“The fellowship includes a curriculum of learning and dialogue in the great ideas of leadership and citizenship and will provide opportunities for published writing and media exposure.”

STOP application timeline extended

Click on the image from CER to visit the award site.

Schools: YRBS participation is voluntary

“Although schools are randomly selected with consideration that, collectively, reflect the demographics of the state, schools have the choice to not participate in the survey.

“We appreciate that some of the questions in the survey may be considered sensitive, overly probing, or not in alignment with everyone’s values, perspectives, or beliefs … [It] is important that schools notify parents in a timely manner, allowing parents the ability to determine if they want their children to opt-out of participating in the survey.”

Learn more

• Find the middle school survey here and the high school survey here.
• Access national questionnaires from the CDC here.