What's New With SUNY and

                   Charter School Replication?

                        SUNY Trustees Vote to Unanimously

                               Adopt Replication Policies

                                      January 25, 2012

SUNY becomes the first charter school authorizer in the country to adopt policies specific to the replication of high quality charter schools.

• Resolution

 

• Policy Document

Background:

The State University of New York (SUNY) is the largest charter school authorizer in New York and the largest university-based authorizer in the country. SUNY authorized charter schools lead the state's charter sector in student achievement on state assessments in mathematics and English language arts. Despite steady growth in the number of authorized schools, demand from New York State families for more seats in SUNY authorized charter schools has far outpaced the rate at which new schools are opening. In fact, the number of students on waiting lists for admissions to SUNY authorized charter schools has increased six fold in the last five years.

SUNY sought a way to be responsive to this demand without sacrificing the rigor and quality of its existing new school application review process. SUNY focused on the replication of existing successful schools as a possible area where efficiencies in its review process could be identified. While SUNY has already approved nearly 40 replications of existing, successful schools, it has largely done so one at a time and generally using the same application, contract, monitoring and renewal policies and practices as it uses for new schools.

There were also other factors that supported SUNY's focus on replication. The 2010 amendments to the New York Charter Schools Act of 1998 (Act) provided new pathways to charter replication. Charter networks and single successful independent schools across the state seek to replicate on a larger scale and at a faster pace than envisioned by SUNY's existing authorizing practices. In order to continue SUNY's record of granting charters to only the most worthy applicants, SUNY needed to differentiate its authorizing practices to allow for authorizing replicating organizations while maintaining the rigor and accountability for which SUNY is nationally-known.

In 2011 SUNY applied for and won a competitive grant from the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) and its Fund for Excellence in Charter School Authorizing to support its work in the area of charter school replication. Specifically, the planning grant supported a gathering of national public education leaders, Policy Matters: A SUNY Conference on Charter School Replication, which was held at SUNY Global in New York City in July 2011. New York based and national public education leaders; including fellow authorizers, national policy experts, philanthropists, civic leaders, SUNY Trustees and SUNY Charter Schools Institute (Institute) staff, and representatives from schools and charter management organizations interested in replication - engaged in a focused dialogue about the key design elements of authorizing policy specific to the replication of high quality charter schools. This national conversation was essential in shaping SUNY's thinking about replication, and in informing the considerations and policies included in the SUNY Trustees' policies.

Project Archives:

11/21/11:  Draft Policy Document

• Developed with input from a state and national audience (see Conference details below), SUNY has developed a replication specific brief and policy document.  The most recent version is available here:  

A Policy Framework for Charter School Replication:

Background, Considerations, Legal Context, Research, Implications and Policies of the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York for the Replication of Charter Schools

It is anticipated that a final draft will be presented to the SUNY Trustees for adoption in January 2012.

Share your comments with Institute staff via email to: charters@suny.edu

11/22/11: SUNY Offers Replication Options in New School RFP

• SUNY issued a draft of its January 2012 SUNY Request for Proposals to Establish New York State Charter Schools for public comment as required by statute. For the first time the RFP includes specific replication and multi-school options informed by its replication conference and work to date on its replication-specific policy document.

Comments are being accepted on the Draft RFP through Dec. 12, 2011 via email to charters@suny.edu or in writing to: SUNY Charter Schools Institute, 41 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, New York 12207.

7/26/11 - 7/27/11: Our Conference

• “Policy Matters: A SUNY Conference on Charter School Replication” was a two-day meeting designed to engage the public education community in New York and nationally in a focused dialogue on authorizing policy specific to the replication of high quality charter schools (the application, the charter agreement or contract, monitoring and renewal). Held on July 26-27, 2011 at the SUNY Global Center in New York City, the meeting was an incredible success, driving the development of authorizing policy that will lead to the creation of more high quality charter school seats in New York and beyond.

• Key conference materials:

• Conference Agenda

• Environmental Scan report prepared by project consultant Public Impact. 

   

• Final List of attendees

• View conference highlights to the Institute's YouTube page!

 

• And a special thanks to NACSA's Grant Fund for Authorizing Excellence for making this conference possible.

Summer and Fall 2011:  Grant Support

• SUNY's successful Grant proposals to the National Association of Charter School Authorizers' Fund for Authorizing Excellence:

• Planning Grant

 

• Implementation Grant