City of Milwaukee and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School Chartering Processes: Academic Accountability Issues   by Alex Molnar   Center for Education Research, Analysis, and Innovation School of Education University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee PO Box 413 Milwaukee WI 53201 414-229-2716   May 3, 1999     CERAI-99-9

City of Milwaukee and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School Chartering Processes: Academic Accountability Issues* (CERAI-99-9) Alex Molnar Professor, Department of Curriculum and Instruction University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee 3 May 1999   Table of Contents Introduction Charter School Reform Overview Charter School Accountability Charter School Accountability Under Wisconsin Law University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Charter School Accountability City of Milwaukee Charter School Accountability Discussion Conclusion Recommendations Endnotes Tables 1-5 Tables 6 and 7 Appendices   Endnotes 1. A National Study of Charter Schools: Second-Year Report, 1998 Executive Summary (Washington, D.C.: Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Dept. of Education, 1998), 6. 2. Bruno V. Manno, Accountability, the Key to Charter Renewal: A Guide to Help Charter Schools Create Their Accountability Plans (Washington, D.C.: Center for Education Reform, 1999), 1. 3. A Study of Charter Schools: First-Year Report, 1997 (Washington, D.C.: Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Dept. of Education, 1997); A National Study of Charter Schools: Second-Year Report, 1998 Executive Summary (Washington, D.C.: Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Dept. of Education, 1998). 4. Bruno V. Manno, Accountability, the Key to Charter Renewal, 1. 5. Bruno V. Manno, "How Charter Schools Are Different: Lessons and Implications," in Charter Schools in Action (Washington, D.C.: Hudson Institute, 1997), 2. 6. Bruno V. Manno, "Charter School Accountability: Problems and Prospects," in Charter Schools in Action (Washington, D.C.: Hudson Institute, 1997), 2. 7. Manno, "Charter School Accountability," 9. 8. Manno, "Charter School Accountability," 3. 9. Chester E. Finn, et al., Charter Schools in Action: Final Report (Washington, D.C.: Hudson Institute, 1997). 10. Ted Kolderie, "What Does It Mean to Ask: ‘Is "Charter Schools" Working?’" posted on the website of the Charter Friends National Network (http://www.charterfriends.org/working.html), cited on 14 April 1999. 11. Kolderie, "What Does It Mean to Ask: ‘Is "Charter Schools" Working?’" 12. Kolderie, "What Does It Mean to Ask: ‘Is "Charter Schools" Working?’" 13. Kolderie, "What Does It Mean to Ask: ‘Is "Charter Schools" Working?’" 14. Bruno V. Manno, "Charter School Accountability: Problems and Prospects," in Charter Schools in Action (Washington, D.C.: Hudson Institute, 1997), 10-11; and Chester E. Finn, "The Policy Perils of Charter Schools," in Charter Schools in Action (Washington, D.C.: Hudson Institute, 1997), 20-21. 15. Lynn Schnaiberg, "Charter Schools Struggle with Accountability," Education Week 17, no. 39 (10 June 1998): 1, 14-15. 16. Amy Stuart Wells, et al., Beyond the Rhetoric of Charter School Reform: A Study of Ten California School Districts (Los Angeles: UCLA Charter School Study, 1998), 20. 17. Schnaiberg, "Charter Schools Struggle with Accountability." 18. Manno, "Charter School Accountability: Problems and Prospects," 11. 19. Manno, "Charter School Accountability: Problems and Prospects," 11. 20. Wells, et al., Beyond the Rhetoric of Charter School Reform, 10-11. 21. Wells, et al., Beyond the Rhetoric of Charter School Reform, 9. 22. Wells, et al., Beyond the Rhetoric of Charter School Reform, 20. 23. Wells, et al., Beyond the Rhetoric of Charter School Reform, 7. 24. Wells, et al., Beyond the Rhetoric of Charter School Reform, 27-28. 25. A National Study of Charter Schools: Second-Year Report, 1998 (Washington, D.C.: Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Dept. of Education, 1998). 26. See for example, Lori Mulholland, Arizona Charter School Progress Evaluation (http://www.ade.state.az.us/schools/charter-schools/); Clayton Foundation, 1998 Colorado Charter Schools Evaluation Study (http://www.cde.state.co.us/charsurv.htm); First Annual Report of the Evaluation of Charter Schools and the Charter School Initiative in the State of Connecticut (http://www.wmich.edu/evalctr/charter/ctcharter.html); 1996-97 Report to the House and Senate Committees on Education (http://www.mde.state.mi.us/reports/psaeval9901/psaeval.shtml); and How Well Are the Charter Schools Doing? Texas Open-Enrollment Charter Schools Second Year Evaluation, 1997-98 (http://www.tea.state.tx.us/charter/eval98/index.html). 27. Joe Nathan, Charter Schools: Creating Hope and Opportunity for American Education. (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1996). 28. Chester E. Finn Jr. and Bruno V. Manno, "The Twelve Labors of Charter Schools," The New Democrat, July-August 1998. 29. Bruno V. Manno, Accountability, the Key to Charter Renewal: A Guide to Help Charter Schools Create Their Accountability Plans (Washington, D.C.: Center for Education Reform, 1999), 2. 30. A National Study of Charter Schools: Second-Year Report, 1998, 9. 31. "University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Charter Schools," informational brochure, dated Summer 1998, 2. 32. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Charter Schools, "Application for Charter School Status, Fall 1998," 2. 33. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Charter Schools, "Application for Charter School Status, Fall 1998," 12. 34. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Charter Schools, "Application for Charter School Status, Fall 1998," 7-8. 35. City of Milwaukee Charter School Review Committee, "Charter School Application Guidelines and Procedures," revised July 1998. 36. City of Milwaukee Charter School Review Committee, "Charter School Application Guidelines and Procedures," 9-10. 37. City of Milwaukee Charter School Review Committee, "Charter School Application Guidelines and Procedures," 1. 38. Charter School Contract Between City of Milwaukee and Downtown Montessori Academy, Inc., 31 August 1998, 5. 39. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Charter Schools, "Application for Charter School Status, Fall 1998," 4; "University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Charter Schools," informational brochure, dated Summer 1998, 4; University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Charter Schools, "Briefing Paper: UWM Charter School Contract, Spring 1999," 9. 40. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Charter Schools, "Application for Charter School Status, Fall 1998," 7. 41. Charter School Application for The Milwaukee Academy of Science, submitted to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 1998, 12, 36; and Charter School Application for The Milwaukee Urban League Academy of Business and Economics, submitted to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 1998, 12, 36. 42. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Charter Schools, "Briefing Paper: UWM Charter School Contract," 3. 43. City of Milwaukee Charter School Review Committee, "Charter School Application Guidelines and Procedures," 9. 44. Charter School Contract Between City of Milwaukee and Khamit Institute, Inc., 31August 1998. 45. Charter School Contract Between City of Milwaukee and Khamit Institute, Inc.; Charter School Application for Khamit Institute, submitted to City of Milwaukee on 29 May 1998, 18; Charter School Application for Downtown Montessori Academy, Inc., 1998, 5; and Charter School Contract Between City of Milwaukee and Downtown Montessori Academy, Inc., 5. 46. Charter School Application for The Central City Cyberschool of Milwaukee, submitted to the City of Milwaukee on 16 October 1998, 23-26; and Charter School Application for YW Community Education Center Charter School, submitted to University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on 4 December 1998, 23-24. 47. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Charter Schools, "Briefing Paper: UWM Charter School Contract," 9; and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Charter Schools, "Application for Charter School Status, Fall 1998," 7. 48. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Charter Schools, "Application for Charter School Status, Fall 1998," 7-8. 49. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Charter Schools, "Briefing Paper: UWM Charter School Contract," 3, 18. 50. City of Milwaukee Charter School Review Committee, "Charter School Application Guidelines and Procedures," 9. 51. Charter School Contract Between City of Milwaukee and Downtown Montessori Academy, Inc., 5. 52. Charter School Contract Between City of Milwaukee and Khamit Institute, Inc., 8-9. 53. Charter School Application for The Central City Cyberschool of Milwaukee, 23-26; and Charter School Application for YW Community Education Center Charter School, 23-24. 54. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Charter Schools, "Briefing Paper: UWM Charter School Contract," 10, 13; and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Charter Schools, "Application for Charter School Status, Fall 1998," 7. 55. Charter School Contract Between City of Milwaukee and Khamit Institute, Inc., 19. 56. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Charter Schools, "Briefing Paper: UWM Charter School Contract," 8. 57. Charter School Contract Between City of Milwaukee and Khamit Institute, Inc., 9. 58. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Charter Schools, "Application for Charter School Status, Fall 1998," 3, 12. 59. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Charter Schools, "Briefing Paper: UWM Charter School Contract," 9.   Table of Contents Introduction Charter School Reform Overview Charter School Accountability Charter School Accountability Under Wisconsin Law University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Charter School Accountability City of Milwaukee Charter School Accountability Discussion Conclusion Recommendations Endnotes Tables 1-5 Tables 6 and 7 Appendices   Return to Projects and Publications "City of Milwaukee and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School Chartering Processes: Academic Accountability Issues" (CERAI-99-9) was produced for the Institute for Excellence in Urban Education, UW-Milwaukee.