Statements
Mission
Vision: All children in Tennessee will have access to a high quality public education.Mission: The Tennessee Charter School Center supports and cultivates high performing charter schools and advocates for autonomy, accountability, and choice in public education.
Background
The Tennessee Charter School Center is the combination of two Tennessee charter school support organizations: the Tennessee Charter School Incubator and the Tennessee Charter Schools Association. The Tennessee Charter School Incubator Inspired by the success of high-quality public charter schools in other parts of the country, the Tennessee Charter School Incubator (TCSI) was launched in 2009 and was modeled after the New York City Charter Center and New Schools for New Orleans. The work of the Incubator has been centered on systematically identifying and training new charter leaders and managing school launch and early support activities. TCSI has launched 9 charter schools in Tennessee to date, has recruited and placed two high impact Fellows into school leadership positions in the Achievement School District, and will open 5 new public charter schools in 2015. All Incubator-launched schools with tested grades are outperforming their district peers, some by as much as 25% in reading and math.The Tennessee Charter Schools Association Since 1998, The Tennessee Charter Schools Association (TCSA) has focused its efforts and resources on creating a local and statewide policy environment that enables the creation and growth of high-quality public charter schools. The Association was instrumental in helping to get a charter law passed in 2002 and has played a key role in enacting significant improvements to the law over the past decade (elimination of the charter cap, expansion in student eligibility to attend charter schools, and the creation of a statewide authorizer), all of which has led to strong charter growth in Tennessee. In addition to its policy work, the Association has been active in advocacy and community engagement initiatives and in providing technical assistance to new and existing charter schools across the stateThe Center In the fall of 2013, the Tennessee Charter School Incubator and the Tennessee Charter Schools Association announced the formation of the Tennessee Charter School Center.
Impact
In 2013 and 2014, TCSI successfully:"Incubated" six high-performing public charter schools: Purpose Prep (Lagra Newman), which launched in 2013 and will serve grades K-4 in North Nashville; Nashville Classical (Charlie Friedman), which launched in 2013 and will serve grades K-8 in East Nashville; Intrepid College Prep (Mia Howard), which launched in 2013 and will serve grades 5-12 in Southeast Nashville; Valor Collegiate (Todd Dickson), which launched in 2014 and will serve grades 5-12 in Southeast Nashville; STRIVE Academy (Lakendra Thomas), which will launch in 2015 and serve grades 5-8 in McGavock; and Jon Robertson, who will lead STEM Prep High School, launching in 2015 and serving grades 9-12 in Southeast Nashville. Training and incubation support including supporting the founders/school leaders through completion of a 2-year fellowship, completing the charter application process, locating/financing the renovation of a facility, and recruiting students and teachers.Merged with the Tennessee Charter Schools Association at the end of 2013. The goal was to establish one entity that could provide strong incubation and technical support services to new and existing public charter schools, educate and engage the community on school choice, and lead advocacy efforts to create a more favorable policy environment for Tennessee's charters. Most importantly, the Center endeavored to create a unified voice among all charter schools in the state to help grow and improve the quality of the sector.Commissioned and funded School Quality Reviews (academic and performance management school reviews) for a number of Nashville charter schools. Reviews focused on school elements that contribute to student success such as instructional quality, hiring practices, special education practices, school leadership, board governance, school leadership, professional development, use of data, discipline program, etc.Developed training and provided subsidized supports to public charter schools in the areas of data-driven instruction, school finance, and governance.Convened district and charter school collaborative working groups around issues of human capital, facilities, and policy. Provided technical assistance around charter school building identification, acquisition, and financing.Provided startup funding and facilities credit enhancement for four new public charter schools.Goals for 2015:Oversee and support the opening of six new charter school organizations participating in the Center's LaunchSchool program. The purpose of the program is to work with recently approved charter applicants and prepare them for a successful school launch.Continue and improve the Center's Replicating Quality Schools program, which helps high-performing charter organizations scale their organizations to operate additional schools, thereby increasing their impact.Successfully roll-out the Quality Performance Framework, which will help charter organizations measure their performance against a set of high standards to identify areas of strength and areas for improvement.Grow the number of support service offerings to charter schools throughout the state (i.e. governance training, finance and operations, talent recruitment and retention, legal/compliance).Help pass policies at the local and state level that allow great charter organizations to start and grow.Grow the VOICE, a branded initiative under the Center that helps inform and empower parents to be strong advocates for their schools and for school choice.
Needs
Fundraise an additional $550K in Nashville to support: 1. Advocacy efforts to inform parents and community members about school options and how to be effective advocates for their schools 2. School support services Replicating Quality Schools - Intensive training to help existing charter operators scale into Charter Management Organizations.LaunchSchool - Competitive program in which the Center selects and works with newly approved charter school applicants on pre-opening efforts to ensure a strong school start.Quality Performance Framework - A set of high-quality standards to which charter schools measure their performance against and engage in a school improvement process with technical assistance from the Center.Governance Training - Regular workshops provided by the Center to charter schools to ensure they develop and maintain strong boards.Parent Guide - Online portal to provide information to and help parents with identifying high-quality options by geography. 3. General operating support
CEO Statement
The education achievement gap -- that is -- the discrepancy between the academic achievement of white students and African American and Latino students, and the discrepancy between the academic achievement of low-income students and their more affluent peers, is one of the most critical issues facing Tennessee and our country. Despite decades of reforms in our public education system, a shameful gap still persists. Year after year, hundreds of thousands of students in our state -- mostly children from low-income families and children of color -- are failed by our education system, leaving them with few promising opportunities as adults. But, we know it doesn't have to be this way. The debate about whether the achievement gap can be closed is over. It's being done. Across our state, we have shining examples of schools defying the odds and proving that regardless of background, all students can achieve at high levels. The challenge before us now is to accelerate the creation of these promising school models and take them to scale to ensure all of our students receive a rigorous, college-preparatory education. The Tennessee Charter School Incubator (the predecessor organization to the Center) was created in 2009 through a public-private partnership to lead an ambitious effort to launch a significant number of new, high performing college preparatory charter schools in Memphis and Nashville. Our goal is for these schools to not only establish a baseline for what should be expected of all public schools, but to also encourage additional bold education reforms across the state. Already, the organization has launched 12 public charter schools (with plans to open 4 more schools next year), a number of which have become some of the highest performing schools in the state, and a number of which are in the process of growing their impact. In 2013, the Incubator acquired the TN Charter Association (and renamed the organization the Tennessee Charter School Center). In addition to launching new schools, the Center now works on policy at the state level and is engaged in advocacy and parent mobilization efforts to support school choice. We are truly energized about the future of education in Tennessee and believe this state is on the leading edge of education reform in the country. We are grateful to the funders supporting our work and we hope that we can build even more partnerships in the years ahead.
Board Chair Statement
For far, far too many years, many of our children in Nashville have not received the education they deserved. This problem greatly burdens our most impoverished children, where education can be the power that overcomes the obstacles of poverty. Demography does not have to be destiny. In the past ten years, many high quality charter school operators have 'proven the possible,' showing that low-income students can achieve at the same level as their higher-income peers, when given the right school environment. The job now is to replicate, and even improve upon, these high-quality public charter schools. TCSC does the difficult, time-consuming work behind the scenes that is necessary to start and sustain great public charter schools. This includes recruiting and training exceptional school leaders, and providing them with excellent support services as they get their schools started. I am proud to be part of an organization that is putting to bed the notion that poor kids cannot achieve at the same level as high-income students, including acceptance into and graduation from the nation's top colleges and universities. The public charter schools started through TCSC will teach generations of low-income children at levels that didn't seem possible ten years ago. Naturally, there are obstacles to TCSC's work, especially since it challenges the status quo. Finding affordable facilities and overcoming political roadblocks are among the most significant issues. Recruitment of truly exceptional teachers is probably the single most important factor in the success of our incubated charter schools. TCSC is on the front lines of this work every day. I am passionate about TCSC because I believe public charter schools represent a fundamentally new and more effective form of governance for public education - true school autonomy combined with true accountability. Autonomy only works, however, when combined with great talent. TCSC finds and trains talented school leaders who can take full advantage of the autonomy offered by the charter school form of governance. With an autonomous framework, strong organizational support, great leaders, and talented teachers, students at TCSC incubated schools are performing at levels traditionally associated with our state's best public schools, all while serving a high percentage of low-income students. TCSC is delivering on the power and the promise of what a public education in America should be. It is indeed a worthy cause.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Education - Charter Schools |
| Secondary Category: | Community Improvement, Capacity Building - Alliances & Advocacy |
| Tertiary Category: | - |
Areas Served
Nashville (Davidson County), Shelby County, Knox County, Hamilton County
| TN - Davidson |
