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 …


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 …


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 …


Action in the Statehouses

This past week has been a whirlwind in statehouses across the country, as the pace of legislative proposals picked up in the face of end-of-session deadlines. Over a dozen states are considering …


Standing Up for Quality

Speaking of creating an ecosystem for charter school accountability, here is Bill Phillips, president of the Northeast Charter School Network (NECSN) with a call for clear quality standards for charter school renewal …


Creating an Ecosystem for Accountability

Last month, the US Department of Education and the National Charter School Resource Center hosted an Accountability Summit to explore emerging accountability challenges across the charter school sector and to discuss a variety of …


Evidence to the Contrary

Today the Center for Education Reform published a report labeling the move toward independent, statewide authorizing commissions as a “dangerous trend.”  Our conclusion based on research and experience couldn’t be more different.  …


Stronger Still

Last week in New Orleans, NACSA wrestled with issues of standardization and differentiation in the charter school sector. We held our annual joint meeting of our Board of Directors and National Advisory …


Redefining the School District, Tennessee-style

American public education has overcome all sorts of roadblocks in its illustrious history — but in facing the problem of persistently failing schools, our traditional systems have hit a wall. Even when given some powerful turnaround …