This presentation was delivered by Dr. James N. Goenner at the Ferris State University Charter Schools Twelfth Annual Spring Briefing on May 1, 2014. Dr. Goenner reviewed the achievements of charter schools in Michigan, the lessons learned so far, and the critical steps charter schools should take now to provide excellent educational opportunities for all children.

1. CHARTER SCHOOLS:
FULFILLING THE PROMISE
FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY CHARTER SCHOOLS
12TH ANNUAL SPRING BRIEFING
DR. JAMES N. GOENNER | MAY 1, 2014

2. WWW.CHARTERINSTITUTE.ORG

3. WWW.CHARTERINSTITUTE.ORG
National Charter Schools Institute
• The Institute is a values-driven, nonprofit organization
founded in 1995.
• Our mission is to strengthen the performance and
productivity of the charter schools sector.
• We coach and consult with boards, schools, authorizers,
support organizations and policymakers.
• Our team is composed of passionate professionals.
• We seek to understand, honor and support our clients.
• We believe in and strive to uphold the Golden Rule.

4. WWW.CHARTERINSTITUTE.ORG
Goals for Today
Reflect & Celebrate
Inspire Hearts & Minds
Raise Expectations
Learn & Grow Together
Have Fun!
1
2
3
4
5

5. WWW.CHARTERINSTITUTE.ORG
WWW.CHARTERINSTITUTE.ORG
THIS SLIDE DECK IS ACCESSIBLE AT

6. WWW.CHARTERINSTITUTE.ORG
RELATIONSHIPS
“People don’t care how
much you know until they
know how much you care.”

7. WWW.CHARTERINSTITUTE.ORG
Ideals of Public Education
• All children should have access to a quality
education regardless of family income.
• All children should be prepared for happy and
productive lives.
• All children should be taught the rights and duties
of citizenship.
• Good schools help foster strong and cohesive
communities.

8. WWW.CHARTERINSTITUTE.ORG
Charter Advocates Believe . . .
• There is a difference between the ideals of
public education and the institution of
public schooling.
• Criticism of the system should not be construed
as an attack on the ideals of public education.

9. WWW.CHARTERINSTITUTE.ORG
Charter Advocates Believe . . .
• Parents make better decisions for their children
than government officials, regardless of how well
intentioned the officials are.
• Taxpayers deserve a better return on their
educational dollars.
• All children deserve quality educational options.

10. WWW.CHARTERINSTITUTE.ORG
Strategic Idea Behind Chartering
1. States should withdraw the exclusive geographic franchises given to
school districts.
2. States should create a way to establish new public schools that create
competition for existing schools and provide parents with choice.
3. These new public schools should be authorized by an entity that
oversees and holds them accountable, but that—unlike a school
district—does not own or operate them.
4. These new public schools should be freed from unnecessary rules and
regulations in exchange for producing results.
5. These new public schools should be dually accountable: to the
marketplace of parental choice and to the standards of the
public interest.

11. WWW.CHARTERINSTITUTE.ORG
Charter Public Schools
A legislative strategy to improve public
education by changing its paradigm.
“Strong public charter school laws help encourage
innovation and competition, as well as provide
increased options for public school choice.”
— National Governors Association

12. WWW.CHARTERINSTITUTE.ORG
January 14, 1994
Governor John Engler
signs
Michigan’s Charter School Act.

13. “ We need real change. And real
change means not just more politics,
but more principles. Not just talking
about putting kids first, but doing it.
Not just paying for a world-class
education, but delivering one.
Not just caving into the special
interests, but standing up to them.
Because let’s get something straight
right from the start. There is only one
special interest in this state—our
kids. And our kids deserve better.”
— Governor John Engler,
Address to the Michigan Legislature,
1993

14. WWW.CHARTERINSTITUTE.ORG
Changing the Paradigm
• In theory, law, policy and practice
• “Era of Assignment” to “Era of Choice”
• Removed the district’s exclusive franchise
• Schools without boundaries
• Fund students, not schools
• Empowering parents
• Choice and competition
• Dual accountability

15. WWW.CHARTERINSTITUTE.ORG
“Great spirits have
always encountered
violent opposition from
mediocre minds.”
Albert Einstein

16. WWW.CHARTERINSTITUTE.ORG
Constitutional Challenge
LEGISLATIVE POWERS CASE
• 1994: Circuit court ruling blocks state funding for
charter schools.
• 1995: Second law enacted by Legislature takes effect.
The law addresses the circuit court’s immediate
concerns and allows schools to be chartered and funded
while the first law proceeds through the legal system.
• 1996: Appeals court upholds circuit court ruling.
• 1997: Michigan Supreme Court declares original law
constitutional; second law automatically repealed.

17. Facts do not cease to exist
because they are ignored.
— Aldous Huxley

20. “Public schools are the
backbone of this country, . . . and
as long as I am superintendent,
charter schools will not be welcome
in Detroit.”
Detroit Superintendent Connie Calloway, Ph.D.,
as reported by the Detroit Federation of Teachers,
June 11, 2007

21. “I look at charter schools, for
example, as prostitutes in the
sense that when our police
department tries to curb
prostitution, they arrest the
Johns now as opposed to the
prostitutes because the
prostitutes are always going
to be there. And charter
schools are obviously
going to be there.”
Detroit School Board President Dr. Jimmy Womack,
Detroit News Online Video, July 18, 2007

23. WWW.CHARTERINSTITUTE.ORG
Lack of Public Understanding
• In a Gallup survey:
• 39% believed charter schools are public schools
• 50% believed charter schools are allowed to teach religion
• 60% believed charter schools can charge tuition
• 58% believed charter schools can select students based on their abilities
• Researcher Rick Hess wrote:
“Fifteen years [into the charter movement], what most Americans ‘know’ about
charters is factually incorrect. It’s not just that people are unsure or randomly
incorrect—it’s that they are systematically incorrect in ways that paint charters
in the worst possible light.”
• These numbers are not an accident. Even in states where charter schools excel,
the public thinks they excel because they’re private schools taking away money.
Is it any wonder, then, that elected officials are able to impose caps, bar access
to facilities and deny charter schools equal funding?

24. “Charter schools are here.
That's yesterday's argument.
We're having the wrong
discussion. We need to have
a larger discussion about
education. I'm open to good
education for all kids.”
— Heaster Wheeler,
executive director of
the Detroit Branch NAACP,
as quoted in the Detroit Free Press,
September 11, 2009

26. WWW.CHARTERINSTITUTE.ORG
The First 15 Years:
Establishing the Right for
Charter Schools to Exist

27. WWW.CHARTERINSTITUTE.ORG
Lessons
• Front-Load: Complexity Is Deceiving
• Start with the End in Mind
• One Size Does Not Fit All
• Opportunity to Align Goals, Standards, Assessment and
Evaluation
• Results Matter
• Challenge of Rapid Growth
“When I go slow, I go fast.”
— Chinese Proverb

28. WWW.CHARTERINSTITUTE.ORG
Lessons (continued)
• Can’t Regulate Excellence
• Navigating the Invisible Line: Oversight vs. Support
• How to Differentiate Performance
• Capture the Baselines and Benchmark
• What Gets Measured Gets Done
• Closing a School Is the Ultimate Test
• Never Get to California If We Waited for the Freeway
• America Is the Real Experiment!

29. “It is not enough
that we do our
best; sometimes
we have to do
what’s required.”
— Winston Churchill

30. WWW.CHARTERINSTITUTE.ORG
The Next 15 Years:
Performance, Performance
& Performance!

31. WWW.CHARTERINSTITUTE.ORG 31
WHAT REALLY MATTERS
Ensuring all students
are prepared for success in
college, work and life.

32. “ Let me be clear, I am not
simply advocating for more
charter schools. We need
more good charter schools.
There needs to be a high
bar set for entry during the
charter application process,
and accountability systems
need to link student
achievement to instruction.”
— Arne Duncan,
U.S. Secretary of Education,
Statement on Charter Schools
in Turnaround Business,
June 25, 2009

33. WWW.CHARTERINSTITUTE.ORG
Performance Expectations
1
2
3
ACADEMIC:
All Students Prepared for College, Work and Life
FISCAL:
Greater Productivity, Bigger Bang for the Buck
ORGANIZATIONAL:
Restoring the Public Trust

34. WWW.CHARTERINSTITUTE.ORG
Academic Achievement
• Educational goals must now include
demonstrably improved academic
achievement for all groups of pupils.
• Increases in academic achievement for
all groups of pupils shall be the most
important factor in renewing a contract.

35. The Next 15 Years:
Measuring for Success
ACT Scores and
Postsecondary Enrollment

36. Backwards Mapping
from the Act:
Beginning with the End in Mind
12th Grade
2nd Grade

38. “The future is
not what it used
to be.”
— Yogi Berra,
Baseball Hall of Famer

40. Achieving
Breakthrough

41. 4
1
Model the Way
Inspire a Shared Vision
Challenge the Process
Enable Others to Act
1
2
3
4
Encourage the Heart5
Five Practices of Exemplary Leaders
Kouzes and Posner

42. “Set the standards higher
for yourself than others
would set them for you.”
John Maxwell

43. THANK YOU!
NATIONAL CHARTER SCHOOLS INSTITUTE | 711 WEST PICKARD STREET | MOUNT PLEASANT, MICHIGAN 48858
VIEW THIS SLIDE DECK ONLINE AT
WWW.CHARTERINSTITUTE.ORG