Publications
Better Choices: Charter Incubation as a Strategy for Improving the Charter School Sector
Terry Ryan / December 7, 2011
In this policy brief, Public Impact’s Joe Ableidinger and Julie Kowal examine the merits of the incubation model, outline specific strategies for supporting it, and profile organizations around the U.S. putting it into practice. The authors explain that through the strategic recruitment, selection, and training of talented leaders—and support of them as they launch or expand new charter schools—incubators offer charter school advocates an important tool in guaranteeing quality school choice.
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Fordham's 2010-11 Sponsorship Accountability Report
Kathryn Mullen Upton , Terry Ryan / November 28, 2011
The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation is pleased to share its latest annual Sponsorship Accountability Report, Two Steps Forward, One Step Back. The sixth of its kind, the report reflects on Ohio’s charter school policy environment and the performance of Fordham sponsored charter schools – in terms of absolute achievement, growth, and adherence to goals set forth in our authorizing contract – as well as developments in state law over the year. Despite some tough battles during the state budget as it relates to holding authorizers (and operators) accountable, overall Fordham and its schools had an encouraging year, with Fordham sponsored-charters making achievement gains and positioning themselves to do even better in the future.
After the Budget, What Next? Ohio's Education Policy Priorities
August 1, 2011
To what extent have Ohio's leaders met the challenges and opportunities before them in K-12 education? What needs to happen next?
Charting a New Course to Retirement: How Charter Schools Handle Teacher Pensions
Amanda Olberg , Michael Podgursky / June 22, 2011
In this "Ed Short" from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, Amanda Olberg and Michael Podgursky examine how public charter schools handle pensions for their teachers. Some states give these schools the freedom to opt out of the traditional teacher-pension system; when given that option, how many charter schools take it? Olberg and Podgursky examine data from six charter-heavy states and find that charter participation rates in traditional pension systems vary greatly from state to state. When charter schools do not participate in state systems, they most often provide their teachers with defined-contribution plans (401(k) or 403(b)). But some opt-out charters offer no alternative retirement plans at all for their teachers. Read on to learn more.
