NACSA Blog

NACSA Blog

Press Releases


National Association of Charter School Authorizers Appoints Education Leaders to National Advisory Board

The National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) is pleased to announce the appointment of seven distinguished professionals to its National Advisory Board. The 23- member board is comprised of leaders from …


National Survey Shows Charter School Closure Rates Dropped in 2010-2011 School Year

January 30, 2012 (Chicago, Ill.) – A report released today by the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) indicates charter school closures have declined over the past three years. These findings …


NACSA Hails Congressional Action to Strengthen Charter School Authorizing

In adopting the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2010, Congress recognizes for the first time the important role charter school authorizers play in determining charter school quality, winning it praise from the National …


NACSA Announces 2009 Awards for Excellence

The NACSA Awards for Excellence program celebrates individuals and organizations that advance the authorizing profession in three fields: • Advancing Knowledge, • Improving Policy, and • Improving Practice. NACSA announced the 2009 …


The Fund for Authorizing Excellence

NACSA established The Fund for Authorizing Excellence (The Fund) earlier this year to provide direct support to NACSA members who are working to create charter environments that foster schools with high student …


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, …


What’s in a Name? Authorizing vs. Sponsorship

Charter schools may look different from state to state, but one common denominator is that each charter school has an entity that is charged with defining school autonomies and holding the school …