NACSA Blog

NACSA Blog

Press Releases


NACSA President and CEO Greg Richmond Remembers Donald Fisher, Gap Inc. Cofounder and Charter School Advocate

The National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) President and CEO Greg Richmond released the following statement today in response to the death of Donald Fisher, Gap Inc. Co-founder and Charter School …


New Study Sets Priority Areas and Recommends Strong Standards So All St. Louis Students Have Access to a Quality Education

St. Louis, MO – The National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) and IFF, in conjunction with the St. Louis Mayor’s Office, released a new study today analyzing the performance, location, and …


NACSA President Applauds Findings of New Survey on New Orleans Charter Schools

A new survey of New Orleans citizens has found that they strongly support charter schools and education reform efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The survey, conducted by the Council for …


NACSA President Appointed to Aspen Institute’s Commission on No Child Left Behind

National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) President and CEO Greg Richmond was selected today to serve as a Commissioner on The Aspen Institute’s Commission on No Child Left Behind. Richmond, an …


NACSA Announces $9.4 Million in Grant Funding

The National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) announced today that it has received $9.4 million in investments from three of the nation’s preeminent foundations — the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, …


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 …