Charter school seeks to expand
Alameda Community Center officials are looking at recently closed elementary schools as possible sites for new campus
By Peter Hegarty, Alameda Journal, November 20, 2007
The organizers of an Alameda charter school with more than 100 students on its waiting list are eyeing some of the city's recently closed elementary schools as sites for a second campus.
But whether Alameda school district leaders will support the idea of a charter school at either the former Woodstock or Longfellow schools remains uncertain.
Both sites are in the city's West End and just blocks from the Alameda Community Center, which state officials recently named a California Distinguished School.
The same corporation that runs the Alameda center also would run the new Nea Community Learning Center.
"Taxpayers built them as schools, right? They were not meant to be used as closets or for storage," the corporation's Paul Bentz said about the Woodstock and Longfellow sites.
School district trustees closed both elementary schools last year because of declining enrollment, shifting many of the students to the new Ruby Bridges Elementary School.
Trustees will hear the pitch for the new charter school on Nov. 27 -- the night before state public schools Superintendent Jack O'Connell is set to visit the Alameda Community Learning Center to salute it as a distinguished school.
The center, located on the Encinal High School campus, is the first charter school in Alameda County to garner the award, which is based on test scores and other criteria.
The proposal for a new charter school, however, also comes as trustees are wrestling with an anticipated jump in enrollment at some campuses and as they look for ways to absorb it while maintaining small class sizes and neighborhood schools.
Moreover, both Woodstock and Longfellow are not vacant, which could make winning approval for a new charter school difficult.
Woodstock houses the district's special education program, plus a portion of the property has been set aside for the new Alameda Boys & Girls Club, district spokeswoman Donna Fletcher said.
The district's food services department is based at Longfellow, along with family literacy and other programs, Fletcher said.
The new school would serve students in kindergarten through 12th grade and could open as early as next fall if school district leaders give it the green light.
If trustees approve the proposal, Bentz said the organizers next will apply for a $450,000 grant -- part of $150 million in federal money available for California charter schools -- to serve as seed money.
The new school's name, "Nea," stems from a West African word meaning "living to learn" and a "lifelong quest for knowledge," said Bentz, the chief executive officer of Community Learning Center Schools Inc.
Originally known as the Arthur Andersen Community Learning Center, the corporation's first charter school in Alameda was founded in 1996 with money from the Arthur Andersen accounting firm. It also was initially a special program at Encinal High School.
The charter school later changed its name and currently has about 214 students in sixth through 12th grade.
What makes the school a success, organizers say, is that students are taught in nontraditional ways: Youths select their own courses, plus they have a say in the running of the school and in the selection of teachers, who are called "facilitators."
Instruction is also peer-driven, with older students helping younger kids with their studies.
Schools chief backs new learning center
O'Connell says success of Alameda charter school should be duplicated
By Peter Hegarty, Alameda Journal, November 30, 2007
ALAMEDA — State schools Superintendent Jack O'Connell came to town Wednesday to salute the first charter school in Alameda County to be named a "California Distinguished School."
Now the teachers and students at the Alameda Community Learning Center are hoping his visit will rally support behind their effort to open a sister school just blocks away.
If Alameda school district officials approve the proposal, the Nea Community Learning Center could open as early as next fall.
On Wednesday, O'Connell hinted that he supports the new campus, which would serve students from kindergarten through 12th grade.
"Schools like this with a good track record should be replicated," he said.
Located at Encinal High School, the learning center is not like a traditional school: Teachers are "facilitators," for instance, while students are called "learners."
About 214 young people are enrolled, ranging from sixth through 12th grade. Much of the teaching is peer-driven, with older students mixing with younger kids to help accelerate the instruction.
About 100 students are on the waiting list, according to its staff.
The charter school — originally known as the Arthur Andersen Community Learning Center — opened in 1996.
"I would rather be here than at an amusement park," said Kristina Buendia, 12, after she watched O'Connell arrive at the center, which inside looks more like a Silicon Valley start-up with its scattered computer stations than a public school. "Everyone here supports you and works with you."
She was echoed by 16-year-old Fiji Bernart.
"The community here is so fantastic," said Bernart, a 10th-grader. "We all know each other. That doesn't happen at other schools."
For his part, O'Connell noted that the center maintains high academic standards, a key reason why it was selected as a distinguished school. The award is based on test scores and other criteria.
"It's a school that has high expectations for all students," O'Connell said.
The center's representatives say they hope to open the second campus at either the former Woodstock or Longfellow elementary schools. School district officials closed both campuses last year due to declining enrollment, shifting some students to the nearby Ruby Bridges Elementary School.
But securing approval could be difficult: Woodstock houses the district's special education program, plus a portion of the property has been set aside for the new Alameda Boys & Girls Club, district spokeswoman Donna Fletcher said. The district's food services department is based at Longfellow, along with family literacy and other programs, he said.
But if Alameda school trustees do end up approving the new charter school, its supporters will apply next for a $450,000 grant — part of $150 million in federal money available for California charter schools — to serve as seed money.
The new school's name, "Nea," stems from a West African words meaning "living to learn" and a "lifelong quest for knowledge," said Paul Bentz, the chief executive officer of Community Learning Center Schools Inc. The corporation would run both schools.
O'Connell said he was struck by the enthusiasm among the center's staff and students.
"I was nearly tackled when I came in through the front door," he said.
Group to ask for new charter campus
School district officials to review application today; vote not expected until a later meeting
By Peter Hegarty, Alameda Journal, December 11, 2007
After winning both state and national praise for their work, the organizers behind an Alameda charter school will ask school district trustees today to allow them to open a second campus.
The staff at the Alameda Community Learning Center say they'd like to use either the former Woodstock or Longfellow elementary schools as a site for the new campus, which could open as early as next fall.
Officials closed both Woodstock and Longfellow because of declining enrollment.
The new school would be named the Nea Community Learning Center and it would be run by the same corporation that oversees the Alameda Community Learning Center, which is on the Encinal High School campus.
The center recently was named a California Distinguished School.
While district trustees will review the application for the new campus today, they are not expected to vote on it. That will happen at a later meeting.
But if they eventually do approve it, the school's organizers say they will apply for a $450,000 grant -- part of $150 million in federal money available for California charter schools -- to serve as seed money.
The new school would serve students in kindergarten through 12th grade, according to the center's Paul Bentz
The center was the first charter school in Alameda County to receive the distinguished school award. The state awards are given based on test scores and other criteria.
The recognition prompted state schools Superintendent Jack O'Connell to pay the campus a visit last month.
Also last month, U.S. News & World Report ranked the Alameda charter school as among the best high schools in the nation in its first-ever ratings.
Nearly 1,600 high schools out of 18,790 analyzed in 40 states met the magazine's criteria for great high schools, based on 2005-06 test data. The top 100 earned "gold medals." The following 405 received silver, and more than 1,000 won bronze.
The learning center got a bronze, while Alameda High School earned a silver.
Among other business on today's agenda, trustees will appoint a vice principal for Alameda Adult School and hear a facilities report for the district. They also will consider approving a calendar for the upcoming school year.
Alameda considers charter school's bid
Board members question benefits of Nea Community Learning Center proposal
By Peter Hegarty, Alameda Journal, December 14, 2007
Supporters of a new charter school in the city's West End made their pitch before the Alameda school board Tuesday, saying the school would provide parents more choice and help young people succeed.
But some questioned whether the Nea Community Learning Center would serve mostly white students, along with whether it would reduce the Alameda school district's finances through lower enrollment.
Trustees are set to vote on the proposal Jan. 8.
The same corporation behind the Alameda Community Learning Center -- named a California Distinguished School earlier this year -- would run the new campus, that would serve kindergartners through 12th graders.
If the board gives it the green light, the new school could open as early as next fall.
The Nea Community Learning Center also would be modeled on the Alameda learning center, which organizer Maafi Gueye and others pointed to as a reason to support the charter application.
What helps set the current charter school apart is its unique instruction: Students are called "learners," for instance, while teachers are known as "facilitators."
Moreover, kids of different ages mix together and have a say in what they study and the overall running of the school.
Gueye noted that the center -- located on the Encinal High School campus -- has a waiting list of more than 100.
About 214 kids currently are enrolled, ranging from sixth-graders to high schoolers.
"We have simply outgrown our space," said Paul Bentz, its chief executive director.
On Tuesday, Trustee Bill Schaff questioned whether the new school would reflect the city's diversity, while fellow Trustee Mike McMahon questioned whether the center's instruction methods would work with younger students.
Among those who support the idea of the new school is Trish Spencer, PTA council president.
If the board decides to support the application next month, Bentz said they'd like to open the new campus at either the former Woodstock or Longfellow elementary school.
District officials closed both schools last year due to declining enrollment.
Bentz also said organizers hope to apply for a $450,000 grant -- part of $150 million in federal money available for California charter schools -- to help launch the new school.
Charter School Debate Heats Up
By Marc Albert, Alameda Sun, December 14, 2007
Students are called learners, teachers are called facilitators, but regardless of what form of new math is used, money is still called money. That, in a nutshell, is essentially what faces officials weighing the establishment of a new...
Students are called learners, teachers are called facilitators, but regardless of what form of new math is used, money is still called money.
That, in a nutshell, is essentially what faces officials weighing the establishment of a new independent charter elementary school to be operated under the umbrella of the Alameda Community Learning Center. The new school would be called Nea Community Learning Center.
The school's innovative program, based in part on self-directed education, has won wide praise from charter school supporters who are quick to say you can't argue with results. The school has earned the coveted 10 rating on the state Academic Performance Index for the past five years, according to school officials, and recently was feted by Jack O'Connell, the state superintendent of public instruction, and named a California Distinguished School. "We'd like to replicate the successful A.C.L.C. model for more families," said Maafi Gueye, the school's lead facilitator. "As you know, we have a waiting list of 150," she said.
Despite the accolades, Alameda Unified School District trustees also heard concerns Tuesday night that approving a new charter school would drain hundreds of thousands of dollars in state money from the public schools. Under public school funding guidelines, schools are awarded funding based on how many students attend classes each day. Fewer students means less money for the rest of the district.
The district receives roughly $5,777 per student annually from the state. Assuming a starting class of 150 students, all transferring in from AUSD schools, the district would lose $866,550. "Whatever we lose in revenue, we would have to make up in expenses," said Donna Fletcher the district's spokeswoman.
Rob Siltanen, a critic of the new charter, said the school intends to open with more then 300 students, according to figures he culled from its charter application. The figure could not be verified by press time.
While regular schools would have fewer students to educate, the accounting complexities involved in operating an entire district mean the schools wouldn't necessarily be relived of an equal financial burden. "It just doesn't work that way," Fletcher said.
A.C.L.C. began life as the Arthur Andersen Community Learning Center, an experimental school under the aegis of the disgraced accounting firm that imploded during the Enron accounting fiasco.
The school preaches, "project management" in the classroom, has student-led "judicial commissions" to police behavior and a "democratic model" of education.
District Trustees Mike McMahon and David Forbes wondered aloud if the academic freedoms bestowed upon high-schoolers would work as well in elementary school or for kindergarteners who tend to need more structure. A.C.L.C. officials, after listing a team of highly qualified and experienced teachers they hope will form the core of the staff offered, "It's a bit of a faith walk."
Trustees and critics appeared to either accuse the school of cherry-picking high performing students or saying the school's self-directed learning program attracts and retains students who do well without the structured assignments and rule-bound environment of ordinary public schools.
Trustee Bill Schaff pressed Gueye about A.C.L.C.'s enrollment, which has a lower percentage of non-white students than the district as a whole. While Gueye said just four students have been "disenrolled over eight years," Schaff countered that 21 students left A.C.L.C. in the 2005-06 school year, 20 the following year and 16 so far this year. The school currently has roughly 200 students, according to its Web site. "A significant number of the students who are leaving are students of color ... looking at these types of statistics suggest that something is going on underneath," Schaff said.
Gueye quickly retorted, saying that ordinary public elementary schools were not adequately preparing students for A.C.L.C.'s style. "Students are not trained in self-directed learning ... [they are] overwhelmed by aspects of the program ... therein lies the reason we wish to start a K-12," Gueye told trustees.
She said the A.C.L.C model works best for students that have "not been tainted, whose energy has not been squashed [by public school]." Gueye added that some students might drop out of the school after becoming aware of the program's rigors. The school requires all students to take two years of algebra, two years of language instruction and physics.
One former A.C.L.C. student, who did not wish to reveal her name, said the program "works if you are mature enough," but noted, "it was too disorganized for me. I liked it because I didn't have that many responsibilities, but my mom didn't like it because if I didn't do something, there weren't any consequences. Some of the kids are in sixth grade; they can't take on so much responsibilities at age 11," she said.
A.C.L.C. has plenty of boosters. At a public hearing before the school board Tuesday, a score of parents of the school's students and students themselves extolled the program and urged the board to approve the new charter school. "It is an educational model that has been working for 12 years, said Judy Blank. "After [my son's] middle school experience ... we came to the conclusion that this was the place he should be," she said.
Michelle Connolly, a parent of a student at Washington Elementary, said a new charter elementary school would grant parents who can't afford private or parochial school "access to an education model that works."
Connolly said Washington draws 40 percent of its student body from outside Alameda and it is often difficult to organize parents to take an active role in making extra-curricular programs happen.
Critic Rob Siltanen unveiled a doomsday scenario set in motion by the new school in an e-mail. "It is highly likely that programs and services for children will have to be cut; class sizes will increase, at least in grades 4-12; health, counseling and other services for students will continue to decline; arts, music and athletic programs will be reduced further; teacher and staff compensation will continue to fall relative to nearby districts so that AUSD's ability to attract and retain great teachers and staff will continue to weaken; the chances of teacher and staff layoffs will rise; and the probability of more school closures/consolidations will increase," he said.
One of the criticisms of charter schools nationally has been the claim that they siphon off top-performing students and the most actively involved parents. Barbara Mooney, one of a handful of speakers opposed to the granting of a new charter school, said that "AUSD could have super scores," if it could choose who to enroll, and accused proponents of trying to "open a private school on my dime."
The school board is expected to vote on the charter approval at its Jan. 8 meeting.
Second New Charter School Could Drain AUSD Coffers
By Marc Albert, Alameda Sun, December 28, 2007
Still concentrating on the proposed launch of a new charter elementary school by the successful Alameda Community Learning Center, another entity has stepped forward with plans of its own.
Still concentrating on the proposed launch of a new charter elementary school by the successful Alameda Community Learning Center, another entity has stepped forward with plans of its own.
According to AUSD trustee Mike McMahon, the district received a charter application Friday seeking to set up the Renaissance Leadership Academy, a new Kindergarten to 8th grade school.
If approved, both Renaissance and the ACLC effort, dubbed Nea Community Learning Academy, will bring more school choice for Island parents. But additional schools also have a downside. The projects will drain resources from regular district schools and could cause yet another round of fiscal uncertainty, budget cuts, and hand wringing.
According to McMahon, Renaissance hopes to open its doors with 105 students and grow to 205. Nea hopes to open with 150 students.
Charter schools are publicly funded institutions that are not subject to strict district oversight. The schools operate more freely and are praised by supporters as being more innovative and less encumbered by bureaucracy. Opponents, however, accuse the charter school movement of privatizing public education and warn that the lesser oversight is a double-edged sword. A number of schools in California have had their charters revoked.
Big Financial Hit
The prospect of the district taking a big financial hit is real. Numerous charter schools already exist on the Island, and it all comes down to state school funding being doled out based on the number of students attending classes on any given day.
According to district officials, Alameda Unified receives roughly $5,777 per student annually from the state. If both schools open and all 150 students at Nea and all 105 students from Renaissance would otherwise have attended an ordinary AUSD school, AUSD will see it’s state funding plummet by nearly $1.5 million per year.
Charter school supporters say the state funding, which is tied to where a student is attending classes, should go to whatever institution the student is attending. If the district gets less money, it’s because they are educating fewer students. Opponents retort that it isn’t that simple. State regulations and various fixed costs associated with running an entire district mean authorities can’t painlessly find $1 worth of cuts for each dollar in lost funding.
McMahon said the district’s board of trustees would likely hold a public hearing on Renaissance’s charter application on Jan. 22 and make a determination in mid-February. Nea’s application will most likely receive an up or down vote at the AUSD’s board meeting Jan. 8. A public hearing on Nea’s application was held Dec. 11. Decisions made by the board can be appealed to a county oversight body and also to the State of California.
Nevertheless, funding for AUSD won’t be part of the discussion. State law forbids it. “All we can do is approve it based on its educational merit,” McMahon said there are five criteria upon which the board must make its determination. “The fiscal reasons are not one of them.”
McMahon said he has received 18 letters in support of Nea’s application and 15 letters against it.
Protect Our Public Schools: No New Charter School
By Ron Siltanen, OpEd Piece Alameda Sun, January 3, 2008
Alameda’s great public schools are the foundation of our community. They
benefit all of us by upholding the promise of equal opportunity for all,
by strengthening our collective bonds, and even by helping property
values. Now is not the time to cripple our public schools by gambling with
charters, vouchers, or any other quasi-private school plan.
Providing equal opportunity through public education is a moral
imperative. As the Supreme Court explained a half century ago in the
Brown case, public education “is the very foundation of good citizenship .
. . it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in
life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. . . . [it] must be
made available to all on equal terms.”
Should the School Board approve a new charter school? No. Not now, when
it would gut our public schools. Not for a risky K-5 plan. Not for the
few on the backs of thousands of others.
If the Board approves the new charter school, the result will be a 1-2
million dollar hole blown in the AUSD budget. The result would be an
acceleration and deepening of the painful cuts in student programs and
services that AUSD has already endured in recent years, including, for
example, the larger class sizes and reduced counseling services this year
at Alameda and Encinal High; increased probability of school
closures/consolidations, as almost occurred last winter with Wood Middle
School; layoffs or reduced hours for the staff and teachers who serve the
students, as happened with office and support staff at most school sites
this year; and even more pressure to cut arts, music and athletic
programs.
Would it ever be good public policy to make such harmful cuts (and more)
affecting more than 9,000 students, all for an unsound, uncertain charter
program that would at best only benefit a few hundred students? In 2008,
with a projected $14 billion state budget deficit and the high probability
that there will be statewide cuts in education spending coming this
spring, the answer must be no.
Apart from its disastrous financial impact, the charter application should
be denied for an equally important reason: the charter applicants (NCLC)
are unlikely to successfully implement the unsound program they propose.
NCLC has acknowledged publicly the risk surrounding the K-5 (elementary)
portion of their charter by explaining that it would be "a bit of a trust
walk." That's not good enough for our kids and it's not good enough under
the law.
As just one example, it would not be sound practice to have five to seven
year olds in grades K-2 participate in a “democratic community” where they
are not directly taught their foundational academic skills such as
building basic literacy but are instead led by a “facilitator” to
“understand the need to take ownership of their educational experience.”
This approach is particularly risky and unsound for students reading below
grade level (on the “downside” of the achievement gap) whom NCLC claims to
be striving to attract to their new school.
Leaving aside for now the question whether ACLC’s good tests scores really
tell the whole story about the extent to which their existing 6-12 program
is as successful as claimed, there is no question that the ACLC/NCLC
organization itself has no experience outside grades 6-12 in the very
different world of K-5 education. Moreover, NCLC’s K-5 leaders lack
recent classroom teaching experience and are unproven as administrators.
Finally, ACLC serves a skewed population, with certain groups
overrepresented among those who enroll and different groups
overrepresented among those who leave. This may not be ACLC/NCLC’s
intent, but it has been its practice. Since the proposed new school has no
significantly different recruiting or retention plan compared to the
existing practices at ACLC (other than eliminating sibling priority), a
random lottery for enrollment won’t change anything. A random lottery of a
skewed population will still yield a skewed population.
It would be wrong to approve the NCLC charter to possibly benefit that
small, skewed population when the budgetary impact of that decision would
necessarily be borne by the thousands of AUSD students who will not be
participating in the charter school.
Our strong public schools are Alameda’s most important asset. Let’s work
together now more than ever to protect our public schools and to help them
overcome the serious challenges they face, not turn and walk away.
Contact the School Board and urge them to vote no on the proposed new
charter.
School board must pay heed to community
By Jeffrey R Smith, OpEd Piece Alameda Journal, January 4, 2008
Anyone dozing through Economics 101, knows Gresham's Law: "Bad money drives out good money."
Gresham's Law applied to public education might read: "Mediocre education drives out good education."
Within the Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) everyone agrees that students have a right to choose their school; yet a clique seems unwilling to provide substantive choices.
It's equivalent to a free press with no paper to print on.
De facto opponents of choice argue the great leap: Unless improvements to education instantly accommodate all students, then make no improvements. It's the all or nothing approach.
The Community Learning Center Schools (CLCS), a nonprofit currently running the Alameda Community Learning Center (ACLC), has a solution.
CLCS has petitioned for a new K-12 charter school: the Nea Community Learning Center (NCLC), modeled after ACLC's best practices.
AUSD has more schools than students to fill them; it has boarded up schools.
The CLCS petition -- a savvy move -- suggests using Longfellow or Woodstock as a school.
Citizens paid school taxes to erect Longfellow and Woodstock as schools; deviating from that intent is violating public trust.
AUSD mavens want shuttered schools for logistics: tool sheds, warehouses, bureaucratic lebensraum, the Boys and Girls Club, etc.
Paul Bentz, CLCS/CEO and ACLC science facilitator, says: "a winning lottery ticket gets a students into ACLC, students self-select to stay or to depart."
Students languishing on the couch are opting out of ACLC; parents expect results; eventually the educationally timid levitate off the couch, pack up their apathy and trudge off to more coercive educational platforms where hall monitors contain them in classrooms and teachers dangle tinsel as extrinsic motivators.
Critics argue that students should be forced to remain at ACLC -- in order to drag down ACLC's academic performance index (API).
In 2007 ACLC turned away 175 students.
Each year, ACLC--with an API of 852 -- champions over Encinal -- with an API of 714 -- and Alameda High -- with an API of 817. Apologists scramble to dismiss the API results.
Recently critics guffawed when state Superintendent of Schools, Jack O'Connell, visited ACLC to praise them and to designate ACLC a California Distinguished School.
Adding insult to injury, U.S. News and World Report recognized ACLC with a bronze rating, ranking it in the top 8 percent of the nearly 19,000 schools it analyzed.
Another charter school pressures AUSD to make over due decisions.
Scaling down a bureaucracy is seemingly impossible. AUSD hires fewer than 30 people a year. Does it need six people in human resources? Or four people in assessment, to distribute statewide tests drafted in Sacramento? Are three people needed in curriculum - which is predetermined by Sacramento -- or personnel resources at a copy center? How many people are required in payroll?
Critics argue charter schools siphon students from non-charter schools; therefore the petition should be denied. Imagine a district anywhere where that is not the case.
Are we back to square one: recognizing the student's right to choose; but providing no choices?
The Spartan Pedaretes presented himself for admission to the council of the 300 and was rejected; he went away rejoicing that there were 300 Spartans better than he.
If AUSD's school board rejects CLCS's petition, will Bentz and the 12 other petitioners similarly go away rejoicing, confident there are 18 Alameda schools better than what CLCS proposes?
The decision to approve this charter is subject to neither public whims nor school board caprices.
If the petitioners are in compliance with federal and state regulations regarding charter schools, then the board must approve the petition.
The AUSD School Board must understand its mandate.
Charter group seeks postponement
Supporters of proposed Nea Community Learning Center likely to appeal decision if application is denied
By Alan Lopez, Alameda Journal, January 8, 2008
Officials with Alameda Learning Center Schools say they likely will appeal to the county and then the state department of education if their application for a new charter school in Alameda is turned down by the Alameda Unified School District.
That scenario is the latest wrinkle in the lively charter school debate. The topic was scheduled for the school board meeting tonight, with a recommendation to the Alameda Unified School District Board not to approve the charter for a new K-12 charter school, dubbed the Nea Community Learning Center. However, the charter school group on Monday requested a postponement.
"We wrote the charter so it could be presented at the district," said Maafi Gueye, the lead facilitator with the Nea Learning Center. "If it's rejected by the district, we would go to the county and put it in front of (Alameda County School District Superintendent) Shiela Jordan."
Officials with the proposed Nea Learning Center already have had great success with their earlier venture, the Alameda Community Learning Charter School, a grades-six-through-12 campus located at Encinal High School. The school is run by the nonprofit organization Community Learning Center Schools.
That school recently was named a California Distinguished School -- the first charter school in Alameda County to receive that honor -- and earned recognition from state schools Superintendent Jack O'Connell, who visited the campus in November.
The recommendation to the school board, however, is based on a narrow set of criteria specified by the state that include such questions as whether the charter school has provided a comprehensive description of its educational program.
"Under charter law, they needed to address a comprehensive description of the program that they would be offering," district Superintendent Ardella Dailey said Friday. "From our perspective, they haven't done that. That's crucial, that's essential."
Paul Bentz, the CEO of Community Learning Center Schools, disagreed with the analysis, but said the group would be willing to provide any information the district might need.
"When I left town 10 days ago," he said by phone, "we had over 170 applications for the program, and 120 of them were for K-5, despite the fact that they may feel that we didn't adequately describe the K-5 program in the charter.
"I don't agree with them," he added. "The reality is 120 families who put in applications have a belief in us and faith that we can do this."
On Monday, officials with the Alameda Community Learning Charter group provided a response to issues raised by the school district. They also sought to put off the school board vote by 30 days. As of press time Monday, the school district had not announced a decision on whether to grant the postponement.
District Denies Charter Proposal
By Julia Park Tracey, Alameda Sun, January 11, 2008
The Alameda Unified School District's Board of Education denied the request for a new charter school Tuesday night, based on the recommendation of the evaluation committee. The school board voted unanimously (5-0) to deny the charter proposal from Community Learning Center Schools, Inc., also known as NCLC, an outgrowth of the Alameda Community Learning Center (ACLC).
The committee, made up of AUSD administrative staff and an outside consultant, evaluated the proposal in light of current law, board policy and the Model Charter School Application adopted by the California State Board of Education. The final guideline was the "Criteria for Denial" as outlined in the Charter Schools Act.
According to the committee's written evaluation, "With all due respect to the ACLC staff that authored the charter proposal, it quickly became apparent that the NCLC charter proposal was seriously deficient."
"Obviously we were disappointed," said Paul Bentz, CEO of NCLC and development director for ACLC. "We'll be looking into appealing the decision to the county board of education."
Board member Mike McMahon agreed with other board members that the proposal relied too much on its success at ACLC "when, in fact, it has to stand on its own two feet (as) a document of accountability on how you plan to run your school." The charter's own success at ACLC "sort of shot them in the foot," he said.
The board meeting ran late with many speakers on hand to share their views. Both sides were about evenly represented. Letters to McMahon's Web site were split 5-4 in favor of the charter.
One of the issues at hand, according to the committee's evaluation, was "insufficient detail regarding the proposed K-5 program. At the public hearing, it was stated that, 'We will develop the program...it will be in place next year.' This does not provide a reasonably comprehensive description of the educational program of the school." Other issues concerning underrepresented students, governance and oversight of the school, facilities and a lack of sufficient signatures were also cited.
However, long-term, McMahon said the board's decision Tuesday night was only "delaying the inevitable" about charter schools on the Island. "We get the point related to school choice" in the district, said McMahon. "The challenge is providing that choice."
District denies charter school plan
Nea Learning Center officials plan to take proposal to Alameda County education board next
By Peter Hegarty, Alameda Journal, January 11, 2008
School district leaders turned down an application for a new charter school, prompting its supporters to say they now will pitch their proposal to Alameda County education officials.
Trustees voted 5-0 Tuesday against the Nea Community Learning Center -- which would have served students in kindergarten through 12th grade -- after a district committee called the application "seriously deficient."
"For me, there was one egregious deficiency," Trustee David Forbes said. "That was its K-5 program. There just was not enough information on how it would work."
Superintendent Ardella Dailey also criticized the application, saying it did not offer details on how the campus would meet the needs of its high schoolers if it opened at one of the district's closed elementary schools, as organizers were hoping.
"Needless to say, I'm very disappointed," said Paul Bentz, the CEO of Community Learning Center Schools Inc. "The application is not seriously flawed. There were some minor issues that were raised that we feel could have been easily addressed."
The organizers asked for a 30-day extension, but it was denied.
Bentz said Wednesday that supporters now will ask county schools Superintendent Sheila Jordan to review the board's decision, and they still hope to open at one of the district's closed school sites.
He also said they may look for another location.
The new school would have been modeled on the Alameda Community Learning Center, which opened in 1996 and is located on the Encinal High School campus. It serves about 200 students in grades six through 12.
More than 170 applied to the new school, Bentz said.
The same corporation would run both schools.
Much of the instruction at the Encinal site is peer-driven, with older kids mixing with younger students, who have a say in how the center is run.
Last year, state officials named the charter campus a "California Distinguished School" and state Superintendent Jack O'Connell praised it when he visited in November -- support that the organizers behind the new school were hoping to build on.
But many of the 38 public speakers at Tuesday's meeting were against the application.
"These people are the same people who tried to get vouchers through, and now they're taking another avenue," longtime teacher Ashley Jones said. "I hope they never come back."
Ian Merrifield, student body president at Encinal High School, also urged a no vote.
He read a letter from recently-retired Encinal Principal Bill Sonneman, who described his relationship with the charter school as "strained at best" and accused its staff of "picking and choosing to meet their needs" from Encinal's resources.
"There is no denying that they're a selective, private school," Barbara Mooney told the board.
The proposal to open a sister campus sparked a flurry of debate among bloggers and others even before Tuesday's vote, with some saying the learning center serves mostly white students and does not reflect the ethnic make-up of the district.
In a letter to trustee Mike McMahon, Encinal High School teacher Brian Rodriguez called it a "niche" school with lax discipline that relies on Encinal to provide extra-curricular activities, such as sports, dances and music classes.
Among those who backed the application was PTA Council President Trish Spencer, who said an additional charter school would give parents more choice.
"For me, the good news is that the issue showed that people are passionate about public education," Forbes said. "The last thing we want is apathy."
Later this month, trustees will consider an application from the Renaissance Leadership Academy, another charter school hoping to open in Alameda. A vote is expected in February.
Trustees to weigh new charter bid
District recently denied separate effort for a new school in the same neighborhood
By Peter Hegarty, Alameda Journal, January 18, 2008
Alameda school district leaders will consider a proposal for a new charter school Tuesday, just weeks after they denied an application for another charter school in the same neighborhood.
Despite the no vote, the organizers behind the Renaissance Leadership Academy, which would serve students from kindergarten through eighth grade, are hopeful their application will be judged on its own merits.
"If not now, when?" said Mandy Tham, one of the academy's petitioners. "Our focus is on the children. We're also about giving parents a choice."
The academy could open this fall if the school board approves it and the organizers secure a suitable location.
Their goal is to find a place in the city's West End, Tham said.
"The West End is a developing area of Alameda," she said. "It's where there's opportunity."
The backers of the Nea Community Learning Center were also eyeing sites in that part of town -- especially the district's recently-closed elementary schools -- when trustees unanimously turned down their application earlier this month.
It failed because the group did not offer enough details on how it planned to educate younger children, relying too much on its track record at the Alameda Community Learning Center, its current charter school on the Encinal High School campus, according to trustees.
Tham and fellow petitioner Julie Thomas say the Renaissance academy will feature a "Student Success Plan" for each child that will tailor to his or her
level of development.
Rennaissance academy officials also plan to "aggressively" recruit students, spreading word about the academy among parents at pre-schools and other places, Thomas said.
The goal is to begin with an enrollment of 105 students and then grow to 205 during the next four years. Kindergarten through third grade will have 20 students in each class, while fourth through eighth grade each will have 25.
On Tuesday, trustees will hear only about the plans for the academy; they likely will vote in February.
Both Tham and Thomas are veteran Alameda educators.
Tham taught for eight years at St. Joseph Elementary School and is the former principal of St. Barnabas Elementary School on Sixth Street. For the past five years, she has been a supervisor in the Teacher Education Department at Cal State East Bay.
Thomas served as vice principal of St. Joseph and is the former admissions director of St. Joseph Notre Dame High School on Chestnut Street. She also is a former teacher.
For information, contact Renaissance Leadership Academy, P.O. Box 1625, Alameda, 94501.
Charter group takes plan to county
School trustees in January voted against the organizers' proposal, which calls for campus that serves K-12 students
By Peter Hegarty, Alameda Journal, February 19, 2008
The organizers behind a new charter school in Alameda's West End now are asking county officials to approve their application after the Alameda school board turned the group down.
County officials already have carried out a preliminary review of the application, and a public hearing is expected to take place early next month, according to Paul Bentz, the CEO of Community Learning Schools Inc.
The proposed campus would serve students in kindergarten through 12th grade and would be a sister campus of the Alameda Community Learning Center, which is located at Encinal High School.
Supporters of the application point to the Alameda center's success -- state officials named it a California Distinguished School last year -- as a reason to rally behind the new charter school.
But in January, district trustees questioned whether the current charter's model would work with younger children, with board member David Forbes calling the lack of background information on the issue an "egregious deficiency" in the application.
Trustees unanimously voted against it, prompting the charter school's supporters to file an appeal Feb. 5 with Alameda County Superintendent Sheila Jordan.
"I've always felt that there was nothing wrong with our charter," Bentz said last week. "The charter itself isn't flawed. It's the charter process that's flawed."
What undercuts the process, he said, is that the agency that votes on the application also competes with the charter school for students and other resources.
"That's not right," Bentz said.
The appeal comes as the Alameda school board is considering another charter application. The Renaissance Leadership Academy would serve students in kindergarten through eighth grade and its organizers also hope to open in the city's West End.
During a public hearing in January, however, trustees seemed wary about the idea, noting that two charter schools already exist in the neighborhood, including the Alameda Community Learning Center.
Much of the instruction at the charter school on the Encinal campus is peer-driven, with older students mixing with younger students, who have a say in how the center is run. The school opened in 1996.
The idea of opening a sister campus sparked a flurry of debate among bloggers and others before the school board considered it, with some saying the learning center serves mostly white students and does not reflect the ethnic makeup of the district.
Bentz said the new school, which would be called the Nea Community Learning Center, is still attracting interest.
As of Wednesday, 191 people have applied. That's at least 20 more than when the charter was before trustees, according to organizers.
No location for the Nea campus has been selected, but supporters were eyeing one of the district's three closed elementary school sites until officials turned them down.
Among those who backed the application was PTA Council President Trish Spencer, who said an additional charter school would give parents more choice.
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