Charter School Association of Nevada
Legislative Outlook 2017
Chartering better education for Nevada
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Let us know if your school is in the news!
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CSAN Executive Director Pat Hickey testifying on A.B. 154
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Charter School Association of Nevada
Statement on A.B. 154:
Under existing Nevada law, charter schools are exempt from the requirement to pay prevailing wage rates on their new school construction projects. Under provisions of A.B. 154--charter schools would no longer be exempt for "construction, alteration, repair, remodeling or reconstruction of an improvement or property of or by a charter school."
The Charter School Association of Nevada (CSAN) is opposed to A.B. 154.
Charter Schools do not receive facilities funding from state sources. Construction for charter schools [when new schools are built] are done by private funding sources with contracts being signed between private parties. Because no state funding is utilized in the building of charters--they are NOT "public works projects." To require private builders to pay prevailing wage for a non-public works project is simply unfair and wrong.
Support for our position: In 2015, the New York Supreme Court (NY Charter School Association v. Commissioner of Labor, Case: 210 WL 4065431) affirmed an earlier appellate court ruling that "[said] Charter School, and therefore their contractors, are not required to pay prevailing wages."
In California in 2009, the Department of Industrial Relations ruled in a case brought by SMWIA Local Union # 206, that, "construction contracts for new charter schools are between private parties." The issue is whether construction of a new charter school is "paid for in whole or part out of public funds." They are not.
The Guinn Center for Policy Priorities in its May 6, 2016 study; "Need for More Funding is Apparent," stated, "Charter schools do not have access to facilities funds, [Nevada] lawmakers should consider the growing need for sufficient facilities funding for charter schools."
According to the final Nevada SAGE Commission Report in 2016, "The average capital revenue sources received by school districts in Fiscal Year 2015 was $1,288 per pupil." Again, charter schools do not receive any of those funds.
CSAN, representing charter schools in Nevada, will always be willing to bear our fair share of supporting better educational outcomes for students and their families. Fair share is fine, but it's not fair to place the burden of expanding the "pieces of the pie" that build schools--when charter schools at this point in time, are not receiving any funding for capital construction.
Pat Hickey
Executive Director
Charter School Association of Nevada
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*Governor Brian Sandoval*
Statement on A.B. 154:
"In its current form, AB 154 would repeal a bipartisan compromise from last session which has made building schools and public buildings less expensive while maintaining fair wages for those projects, As with all bills, the Governor will review the final language if and when it arrives on his desk but he believes it would be imprudent to begin renegotiating bipartisan legislation or scaling back the reforms from last session."
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Misplaced focus and bureaucratic inertia – Are schools really a priority in Reno?
by Orrin Johnson
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For this story and more from the
Nevada Independent click here
On January 11, my wife and I attended a Reno City Council meeting in order to provide public comment in support of Doral Academy, a proposed K-8 charter school in our neighborhood. The funding was in place, the engineering was done, and the need for more public elementary and middle schools in our area is beyond dispute. All that was needed was site plan approval from the City Council, and we’d have an arts- and STEM-focused public school my kids could walk to just blocks from my own home.
The site plan had been previously denied by city planning staff because of traffic concerns. (A few neighbors aren’t keen on the idea that our growing neighborhood will have even more people using it, and objected.) Pursuant to procedure, the matter was on appeal to the council itself. In the meantime, the engineers designed fixes to the expected increase in traffic, which they had been told would alleviate the City’s worries. They confidently told me before the meeting that city codes had been met without variance, and that the traffic circle they’d designed with the help of City staff had earned the highest possible service efficiency rating traffic experts use. They clearly expected approval.
In spite of the Senior City Planner testifying on the record that the proposed traffic fixes met their standards, the planning staff still – to the obvious surprise and frustration of the Doral folks – recommended against approval. Why? They didn’t feel there were enough bicycle lanes, in spite of there being no legal requirement for such lanes (nor do they exist at any other comparable school in town, save one). As for vehicle flow, it was agreed the traffic circle was great when school was in session, but since it wasn’t needed during non-student pickup hours and would cause a minor inconvenience at those times, well, it was better just to not have a school at all.
Mind you, the school in which my kids — and other kids in our immediate neighborhood — are currently enrolled is too far away to walk or bike to, and the sole access road they’d have to cross if they did is mainly used by large trucks driving in and out of a rock quarry. The school is also nearing 150 percent of its designed student capacity, and growing.
There is no such thing as a neighborhood school with zero impact on the neighbors, but under-educated kids in over-crowded schools doesn’t exactly raise property values either. Even with new education taxes approved last year, Washoe County can’t build regular schools fast enough to meet demand.
Every single person on that council campaigned as a problem-solver. But only Mayor Hillary Schieve and Councilwoman Neoma Jardon seemed willing to actually drive planners toward a solution. Councilwoman Jenny Brekhus, announcing that her mission was “preservation of neighborhoods” (we live in a barely decade-old tract development, not a gentrified historic district) and obviously proud to have found an answer to a question no one was asking, fretted that the Reno Police Department couldn’t handle the volume of calls second-graders apparently generate.
Councilman Paul McKenzie, whose grandkids go to private schools, complained there wasn’t enough parking. When reminded the site was actually at their legal upper limit for regular parking spaces, but had hundreds more hidden underneath playground space for special events, he complained (without evidence) that all those extra parked cars would constitute some sort of hazard.
Councilman David Bobzien worried that more “odious” businesses may move in if they aren’t picky about traffic now (residential zoning allows schools, but not Madam Tabitha’s Toys & Water Pipes). Councilwoman Naomi Duerr, the only member to respond when I reached out for comment, used a lot of words to say nothing of substance at all, but at the meeting announced she “just couldn’t get there” based on what had been presented by the bureaucrats.
Councilman Oscar Delgado spoke airily of the importance of bicycle lanes, like in Chicago and Detroit.
All of them claimed to want the school in Reno, and I don’t even doubt they meant it. Policymakers can never perfectly balance their many competing public interests. But when those policymakers focus inordinately on the Perfect to the detriment of the Good, it starts looking like an excuse not to build a school. One may even suspect that education in my community is something politicians prioritize on campaign mailers more than in actual practice.
I don’t know if this is just the inertia government bureaucracies always tend to engender, a leftover habit of historic neglect for Nevada schools, or quiet philosophical opposition to any sort of school choice. Either way, real families will continue to suffer from inadequate facilities and unwieldy multi-track schedules.
Worse, this is exactly the sort of thing that erodes faith in government institutions as a whole. If the council — already battered from public reports of dysfunction from independent investigators — can’t approve a ready-made, code-compliant elementary school in suburbia, what can they get done? If other Reno businesses learn that “following the law” isn’t enough when getting permits to build, and that they could lose thousands of dollars spent planning and re-planning projects according to the whims of politicians, why would they risk investing in Reno at all?
Fortunately, only Jenny Brekhus wanted to kill the school outright with a final denial. The rest of the council agreed to continue the hearing to January 25th for further consideration, where a final decision will be made. I hope that when they meet again, the kids in my neighborhood and beyond wind up with education solutions rather than “rescue” from inadequate bike lanes to a school that doesn’t exist.
Orrin was a political columnist for the Reno Gazette-Journal in 2015 and 2016. He has appeared as a guest commentator on Nevada radio and television programs including Nevada Newsmakers and The Travis Christiansen Show. He began blogging in 2005 for his law school’s Federalist Society chapter and in 2007 started his own blog, First Principles.
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A letter to Gov. Sandoval from a charter school teacher
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For this story and more from the Nevada Independent click here
Dear Governor Sandoval,
My name is Alison Thomas. I am a proud life-long Nevada resident. I am also a teacher. It is my job in education that allowed us to cross paths several times. The first time I met you was just months after you were elected as our Governor. You came to my school, Nevada Connections Academy, and participated in a birthday party for Dr. Seuss.
That’s me… The Cat in the Hat. It was a really fun day! You read to dozens of students who were present in the room as well as 100+ students spread around the state using our online classrooms.
Two years later, we met again. Colleagues from Nevada Connections Academy and I were on a Southwest flight with you and former Lieutenant Governor Brian Krolicki. The two of you were on a visit to Southern Nevada to tour the Valley of Fire State Park. I remember this flight well because it was one of the bumpiest flights between the cities EVER, which says a lot because almost all of them are bumpy! I also remember it because you were kind enough to take a picture with us prior to boarding.
And then, just this past fall, my friend/colleague from Nevada Connections Academy and I were enjoying an early morning run on our day off from school for Veteran’s Day. Obviously you had a similar idea. We ran into you and your dogs, hiking on the Hunter Creek Trail.
My coworker and I bit our tongues because we both wanted to share the battle our school is waging with the State Public Charter School Authority and beg for your help, but we knew you were just trying to have a nice, quiet morning with your pups. So I write you now…
Nevada Connections Academy is an amazing educational option for students across Nevada. We’ve been operating since 2007. We started with a handful of staff and about 400 students. Now we are a staff of more than 100 people who work hard to serve more than 3200 students spanning the Silver State.
Governor, I know you sincerely want to raise Nevada’s graduation rate. I’ve devoted my career to working toward that same goal. But please consider what is being done by groups like the Charter Authority who are responding to your polices… Governor Sandoval, the Charter Authority is trying to close NCA simply because a single, flawed metric of graduation rate. It is unprecedented for a single metric to be the sole justification for an action of this magnitude.
This will actually make Nevada’s graduation rate worse, not better. Yes, closing down NCA and sending the 1600 high schoolers home will certainly raise the Charter School Authority’s graduation rate as the state measures it. But it will actually REDUCE the graduation rate for the state of Nevada. Many of them, perhaps the majority of them are unlikely to re-enroll anywhere else, but they won’t leave the state. They will be dropouts.
Yes, Governor Sandoval, our 4-year adjusted graduation rate is very low. Why? Mostly because 49.5% of our high school students enroll after their freshman year having already fallen behind in credits at another Nevada high school. There is NO accountability for these schools – and we know for a fact that these schools often counsel students to enroll in virtual school rather than drop out – which wipes away their accountability and places it unfairly on us.
Did you know that the school meets every single one of its performance criteria under its written charter? Did you know that in 2016 it was at or above the state proficiency average in reading in every single tested grade? Did you know that NCA student scores on the 10th grade science test were significantly above the state average?
Does this sound like a school that deserves to be shut down?
Governor Sandoval, this has to stop. Our families are terrified of losing their school, which for some is the best, last or only option they have. This fight has only made us an even better school. Our staff remains committed to serving our students despite the uncertainty we face every day.
Nevada Connections Academy is a good school. One data point does not detract from the impact we have had and will continue to have on our students. Please do not let the State Public Charter School Authority eliminate this choice from your state.
Sincerely,
Alison Thomas
Nevada Connections Academy Teacher
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Nevada Independent- March 9th, 2017
The story begins in 2015, when Republicans who swept to power in the conservative "red wave" of the 2014 election threw their Democratic colleagues off balance right out of the gate. At a hearing three days into the session, they presented a polarizing, two-pronged bill.
The 74 - March 8th, 2017
An explosive charter school phenomenon in Massachusetts this week raises two major questions for the rest of the country: 1.
Are we looking at more Bostons emerging, where the odds of winning a charter seat are now 1 in 16? 2.
And, if that’s the case, what do those spiraling odds say about the commonly embraced American goal of giving equal opportunity to all?
Washington Post - March 8th, 2017
In education, few questions matter more than what to do for students stuck in enduringly terrible schools. Such schools produce more dropouts than graduates; they are associated with violence, community disorganization, and blunted futures for children. Bringing dramatic change to such schools has rightly become a national priority, in part because of the federal government’s multi-billion-dollar investment in School Improvement Grants, or SIG.
Two Possible Paths for a Tax-Credit School Choice Plan in Congress Education Week - March 2nd, 2017 Of the various school choice bills that might enter the arena in Congress, creating tax credits to fund private school choice might be the most logical, and it's one of the options the Trump administration is considering.
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Opinion/Commentary Articles
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Please Note: The following is a sampling of opinion articles about charter schools that appeared in the media. The opinions in these articles do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Charter School Association of Nevada (CSAN).
MPR News - March 9th, 2017
Launched only 25 years ago, charter schools run themselves independently while still spending taxpayer money as they try to innovate their way to new educational breakthroughs to benefit children who aren't succeeding elsewhere. They're trying to prove what works and what does not work.
Coloradoan - March 9th, 2017
Charter public schools are not funded fairly in Colorado. This is a problem that has long deserved the attention of our state legislators. Now they have the chance to vote for fairness.
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Education Blogs, Forums and Resources
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Below are some other great education reform news, blog and discussion sites that may be of interest:
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The following is a list of events put on by Schools and organizations throughout the state:
Academica Nevada Teacher Hiring Fair
Date: Saturday, March 11th
Time: 9:00am-12pm
Where: Somerset Academy - Losee
4650 Losee Road
North Las Vegas, NV 89081
Coral Academy of Science Las Vegas to Host Mathmatters, Free Math Contest Open to All Southern Nevada 4th and 5th Graders
Date:
Saturday, March 18th
Time: 10:30am
What:
On Saturday, March 18, Coral Academy of Science Las Vegas (CASLV) will host the math contest, MathMatters. The event is free and open to all fourth and fifth grade students. Students will test their skills by solving 15 challenging math questions ranging from fractions to operations and algebraic thinking. Meanwhile all attendees will enjoy the school’s 4th annual STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) expo. Winners of the competition will win prizes including an iPad Mini 2 for first place, a Kindle Fire HD 8 for second place and a Kindle Fire for third.
Register: To register for MathMatters, click here.
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