NACSA Blog

NACSA Blog

Press Releases


Los Angeles Unified Charter Schools Director Selected for Board of National Organization

José J. Cole-Gutiérrez, director of charter schools for Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), works each day to bring exceptional public school choices to the children of Los Angeles through high-quality charter …


National Charter Authorizer Group Endorses Wisconsin Ed Reforms

Proposed education reforms in Wisconsin would address significant obstacles standing in the way of a more effective charter public school sector, today said the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA). The …


Partnership Brings Additional Capacity to Nation’s Largest Authorizers of Charter Schools

Developing a pipeline of exceptional talent is necessary to serve and strengthen the growing field of charter school authorizing. The National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) is partnering with three of …


NACSA Applauds Indiana Move to Strengthen Charter Law to Ensure Quality

Greg Richmond, president and CEO of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, today issued the following statement regarding Governor Michael Pence’s signature of revision to Indiana’s charter school law: “Yesterday, Governor …


Charter School Authorizers Group Issues 2012 Professional Practice Index

The National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) today released its 2012 Index of Essential Practices, a set of professional practices to guide quality charter school approval and monitoring. Good charter school …


he_role_of_charter_restarts_in_school_reform

Restarting for Real

A recent story in the Columbus Dispatch detailed the creative ways that low-performing charter schools in Ohio are avoiding closure. According to the report, “some schools have avoided the state’s charter-closing laws …


Improve Quality with Smart Policy and Strong Accountability

Last week, The Oregonian published an op-ed by NACSA president and CEO, Greg Richmond, arguing that the best way to improve the state’s charter schools is to strengthen accountability for their performance. Greg …


Lenders and Authorizers: Can We Talk?

When people talk about “market accountability” for charter schools, they’re usually referring to parents; you have to keep attracting “customers” in the form of parents and students, or you close. But because …


The Challenge Ahead

The new CREDO study on charter school performance was released two weeks ago, and it continues to make a big splash. It included great news about the strength of charter performance in …


On Charter School Discipline: Autonomy, Due Process, and Shared Responsibility

Yesterday, the SUNY Charter Schools Institute hosted a seminar for authorizers and charter school leaders on the laws governing school discipline. In New York, as in most states, charter schools have broad …


Action in the Statehouses: Part III

The majority of state legislative session are now adjourned or nearly adjourned and this week brings some victories and some surprises. In Nevada the full legislature sent AB 205 to Governor Sandoval, …


Staying Immersed

There is a really interesting thing going on in Washington, D.C.’s charter sector. The Public Charter School Board (PCSB) is moving toward approval of a new charter middle/high school (DC International or …


Texas-sized Improvements

NACSA’s One Million Lives campaign emphasizes growth and accountability:  we need both if we are to provide one million children with a better education. In a huge victory, the Texas legislature passed …


How much progress is enough?

Earlier this week my friend Checker Finn wrote a short, barbed blog saying in effect that charter folks shouldn’t brag too hard about outperforming dismal neighborhood schools when so many of our …


Action in the Statehouses: Part 2

Session deadlines keep coming and bills keep moving.  Monday night in Nevada the Senate unanimously passed AB 205, a comprehensive authorizing bill that institutes performance-based contracts, performance frameworks for each charter school, …