The National Resource Center on Charter School Finance and Governance

1
The National Resource Center on Charter School
Finance and Governance

• Credit Enhancement for Charter School Facilities
• Project Directors Meeting
• March 20, 2007

2
Goals and Objectives

• Improvements in charter school finance and
  governance in local communities nationwide
• Greater awareness among charter leaders of
  critical importance of effective finance and
  governance to success and sustainability of
  charter schools
• Keener understanding of how to build and
  strengthen the capacity of charter schools
• Greater availability of relevant and practical
  information, tools, and technical assistance
  resources to design, implement, and sustain
  finance and governance systems and practices

3
Audiences

• State policymakers
• Charter school authorizers
• Charter school operators

4
Partners

• The Finance Projectinformation, tools, and
  technical assistance on charter school financing
• USC Center on Educational Governanceinformation,
  tools, and technical assistance on charter school
  governance
• WestEdevaluation to inform project development
  ensure high-quality products and activities
  measure impact on targets

5
Activities and Products

• Develop Information Resources
• Fill gaps in knowledge in how to effectively
  finance and govern charter schools
• Examples profiles of promising practices,
  strategy briefs
• Create Tools and Training Materials
• How-to tools to help work through specific
  financing and governance challenges
• Examples guides, worksheets, toolkits
• Provide Technical Assistance
• Broad-based TA to address common issues help
  desk, teleconferences, webinars, workshops
• Customized TA to address specific needs 10
  on-site engagements in Year 3 of project
• Dissemination Activities
• Website, electronic communications
• Dissemination of published resources

6
Project Approaches

• Build capacity among charter leaders at all
  levels to take steps to improve charter school
  finance and governance
• Project resources should be relevant and
  responsive to the needs and priorities of state
  education policymakers, charter authorizers, and
  charter operators
• Provide practical information and examples that
  charter leaders can easily access, understand,
  and use
• Work closely with leaders in the field to gather
  information on salient issues and challenges
  uncover and understand promising policies,
  systems, and practices and develop and deliver
  useful tools and technical assistance

7
Financing Issues and Challenges

• Operating Funds
• Adequacy, eligibility for funding sources, flow
  of funds, sustainability of funding
• Funding for specialized purposes
• Facilities
• Transportation
• Special education

8
Financing Issues and Challenges (cont)

• Effective fiscal planning and budgeting
• Projecting operating and capital costs, finding
  resources to match costs
• Managing fiscal resources
• Expertise in managing fiscal processes and
  assets exercise of fiscal controls producing
  and using financial data and reports

9
Financing Resources Planned

• State Policymaker Guide to Charter School Finance
• Federal Funding Guide
• Handbook for Effective Charter School Fiscal
  Management
• Sustainability Self-Assessment Tool
• Mapping Funding Sources
• Cost Worksheet

10
Financing Resources Planned (cont)

• Promising Practices and Strategy Briefs on
• How to finance specific components of charter
  school budgets
• How to use key Federal, state, and local funding
  sources
• How to build and leverage resources through
  effective partnerships
• How to coordinate categorical funding streams

11
Governance Issues and Challenges

• Building capacity of governing boards
• Membership composition, expertise of board
  members, understanding of function/duties,
  relationship with head of school
• Creating effective charter school networks
• Educational service providers, EMOs, CMOs
• Engaging parents
• Parent contracts, membership on board,
  participation in decisionmaking

12
Governance Issues and Challenges (cont)

• Forming public-private partnerships
• Attracting partners, resources and expertise
  maintaining a shared vision and mission
• Nurturing effective charter school leadership and
  management
• Recruitment, training, transitions
• Involving teachers in governance
• Collective bargaining, teacher cooperatives

13
Governance Resources Planned

• State Policymaker Guide to Charter School
  Governance
• Promising Practices and Strategy Briefs on
• Organizing governing boards for success
• Fostering strong charter school leadership and
  management
• Options for empowering teachers beyond collecting
  bargaining agreements
• To network or not to network?
• Strategies for parental involvement
• Effective public-private partnerships

14
Upcoming Products

• State Policymaker Guide to Charter School Finance
• State Policymaker Guide to Charter School
  Governance
• Profiles of Promising Practices
• Federal Funding Guide
• Project website

15
Opportunities to Inform and Contribute to the
Resource Center

• Expert informants and reviewers
• Cooperative Inquiry Service
• Promising practice nominations and sites
• Pilot test tools and TA
• Exchange information on website

16
Sharing Promising Practices

• What promising charter school finance or
  governance approaches or practices have you or
  others used?
• What were the goals and objectives of the
  practice?
• How did it work? What resources were required?
• What evidence of positive impact or results
  exists?
• What were the conditions for success? Is the
  practice replicable?
• What lessons can others learn from this
  experience or innovation?

17
Contact Information

• Carol Cohen, Project Director
• National Resource Center on Charter School
  Finance and Governance
• The Finance Project
• 1401 New York Ave., NW Ste. 800
• Washington, DC 20005
• 202-587-1000
• www.financeproject.org