Webinar with Carrie Irvin of Charter Board Partners

1. PUBLIC CHARTER
SCHOOLS
HOW THEY WORK, WHY IT MATTERS,
AND WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP
ISSUE BRIEF : AUGUST 2018

2. 2
WE’RE FAILING OUR KIDS
LACKING THE BASICS
Only one in three 8th graders is proficient or
above in math, science, or reading.
THE COST OF REMEDIAL EDUCATION
More than four in 10 first-year college
students require remedial education.
These additional classes cost students
$1 billion/year. They also make it harder
for students to graduate on time.
AN INCOMPLETE EDUCATION
Only one in four high school seniors is
“college ready” in math, science, English,
and reading.
Percentage of students achieving
benchmark score on ACT (2017)2
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
English Reading Math Science Met all
Four
Percentage distribution of 8th grade students,
by National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
reading achievement level (1992-2017)1
Note: Science category does not breakout “Advanced”
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Reading Math Science
Below Basic Basic Proficient Advanced
National rates of remedial education enrollment,
by student groups3
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Black Latino All students White

3. 3
IT’S HURTING THEIR FUTURE
THE ODDS ARE AGAINST THEM
Students with only a HS degree are twice as
likely to be unemployed as college graduates.
CHANGING JOB REQUIREMENTS
By 2020, 65% of all jobs in the economy
will require post-secondary education and
training beyond high school.
A LACK OF UPWARD MOBILITY
4-year college graduates earn 64% more
per year than HS graduates, on average.
A college degree is worth about $2.8 million
in lifetime income.
Median annual earnings of full-time, year-round workers
ages 25-34, by educational attainment (2016)5
Unemployment rate for workers ages 25-34,
by educational attainment (2016)4
Post-secondary education
and training requirements6
$0
$10,000
$20,000
$30,000
$40,000
$50,000
$60,000
High school diploma Bachelor's degree
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
High School Graduates College Graduates
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
1973 1992 2010 2020
Less than HS HS diploma
Some college/no degree Associate's degree
Bachelor's degree Master's degree or better

4. 4
IT’S WORSE FOR POOR AND MINORITY STUDENTS
AN UNNECESSARY DIFFERENCE
African-American 8th grade students
are three times less likely to be proficient in
reading or math as white students.
THE GAP BETWEEN RICH AND POOR
Students from affluent families are
7 times more likely to earn a 4-year degree
than students from poor families.
DROPPING OUT
African-American and Hispanic
students are twice as likely to drop out
of high school as white students.8
Adjusted cohort graduation rate for
public HS students, by race/ethnicity (2015-6)9
Percentage proficient in
reading and math, by ethnicity7
Likelihood of graduating from 4-year college,
by family income10
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Reading Mathematics
White 8th graders Black 8th graders
70%
72%
74%
76%
78%
80%
82%
84%
86%
88%
90%
White African-American Hispanic
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Top 20% of income
(>$99K)
Bottom 20% of income
(<$33K)

5. 5
WE ARE FALLING BEHIND AS A NATION
Despite ranking 4th in per pupil spending, the U.S. ranks
24th in reading, 40th in math, and 27th in science.11
The U.S.’s per pupil spending is 29% higher than other
OECD countries.12
RANK READING MATH SCIENCE
1 SINGAPORE HONG KONG SINGAPORE
2 CANADA MACAU JAPAN
3 HONG KONG CHINESE TAIPEI ESTONIA
4 FINLAND JAPAN CHINESE TAIPEI
5 IRELAND BSJG FINLAND
6 ESTONIA KOREA MACAU
7 KOREA SWITZERLAND CANADA
8 JAPAN ESTONIA VIETNAM
9 NORWAY CANADA HONG KONG
10 GERMANY NETHERLANDS BSJG
11 MACAU DENMARK KOREA
12 NEW ZEALAND FINLAND NEW ZEALAND
13 POLAND SLOVENIA SLOVENIA
14 SLOVENIA BELGIUM AUSTRALIA
15 NETHERLANDS GERMANY GERMANY
16 AUSTRALIA IRELAND NETHERLANDS
17 DENMARK POLAND UNITED KINGDOM
18 SWEDEN NORWAY SWITZERLAND
19 BELGIUM AUSTRIA IRELAND
20 FRANCE NEW ZEALAND BELGIUM
21 PORTUGAL VIETNAM DENMARK
22 UNITED KINGDOM AUSTRALIA POLAND
23 CHINESE TAIPEI RUSSIAN FEDERATION PORTUGAL
24 UNITED STATES SWEDEN NORWAY
25 SPAIN FRANCE AUSTRIA
26 RUSSIAN FEDERATION CZECH REPUBLIC FRANCE
27 BSJG PORTUGAL UNITED STATES
28 OECD AVERAGE UNITED KINGDOM CZECH REPUBLIC
29 SWITZERLAND ITALY OECD AVERAGE
30 LATVIA OECD AVERAGE SPAIN
31 CROATIA ICELAND SWEDEN
32 CZECH REPUBLIC LUXEMBOURG LATVIA
33 VIETNAM SPAIN RUSSIAN FEDERATION
34 AUSTRIA LATVIA LUXEMBOURG
35 ITALY MALTA ITALY
36 ICELAND LITHUANIA HUNGARY
37 LUXEMBOURG HUNGARY BUENOS AIRES
38 ISRAEL SLOVAK REPUBLIC CROATIA
39 BUENOS AIRES ISRAEL LITHUANIA
40 LITHUANIA UNITED STATES ICELAND

6. 6
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
New jobs requiring
some college
New workers with
some college
IT’S HURTING OUR ECONOMY
VACANT POSITIONS
STEM jobs are growing six times faster
than non-STEM jobs. Today, employers have
3 million STEM jobs they cannot fill.
IMPORTING TALENT
As a result, employers in high-growth markets
import workers from other states, leaving
low-skilled workers underemployed.
Meanwhile, their universities import talent
to fill STEM classrooms.
LACK OF AGILITY
In fast-growing economies, local schools
cannot keep up with skilled-job growth.
Colorado’s annual growth in skilled
job demand and skilled workers14
Percent job growth in the last decade13
Foreign students as a %
of graduate STEM programs15
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
STEM jobs Non-STEM jobs
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
ElectricalEngineering
C
om
puterScience
IndustrialEngineering
M
echanicalEngineering
C
ivilEngineering
C
hem
icalEngineering
A
griculturalEngineering

7. 7
-
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
80,000
Start HS Graduate HS or
obtain GED
Graduate HS in four
years
Attend college Obtain a certificate or
better
Obtain 2-yr degree or
better
Obtain a 4-yr degree
or better
Obtain a masters or
better
BUSINESS LEADERS APPROACH SCHOOL REFORM AS A “PIPELINE” PROBLEM
At each step, students fall out of the pipeline. The payoff for plugging the holes in this pipeline are enormous.
Colorado business leaders’ effort to increase HS
graduation rates for poor students from 75 to 93 percent
could help those students earn $5 billion more over ten
years – and increase CO’s 10-year GDP by $7 billion.
Projected educational attainment of each
12th-grade class in Colorado16

8. 8
PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS PERFORM BETTER, ON AVERAGE
CRITICAL DECISION MAKING
In a traditional school, the principal controls
less than 1% of her budget. She and
her teachers have little control over the
curriculum or the length of the school day
and year. A father can’t move his daughter
to a different school that matches her
background, interests, or learning style.
With public charter schools, families decide
what’s best for their kids. Teachers have more
control over their lessons. Principals have more
control over their budgets. Schools can
specialize (and stay open longer). High-per-
forming charter schools grow; and
underperforming schools are replaced.
More than 6,900 charter schools serve 3.2
million students across 44 states. They educate
10% or more of the student population
in 200 school districts.19
Charters receive 72 cents on the dollar
compared with traditional public schools.
That’s a $3,500 difference, per student.
CLOSING THE GROUP GAP
Black and Hispanic charter school students
are twice as likely to be proficient in math than
their district school counterparts, and 50%
more likely to be proficient in English.
MORE LEARNING EVERY YEAR
Charter school students, on average,
obtain 40 days of additional learning in math
and 28 days in reading over students at
traditional schools in their area.
Additional days of learning of urban charter
students over urban district students, by subject17
Additional days of learning of urban charter
school students, compared to urban district students,
by subgroup and subject18
0
10
20
30
40
50
Math Reading
0
20
40
60
Black Hispanic ELL Poverty
Mathematics Reading

9. 9
ABOUT CHARTER BOARD PARTNERS
1. Nonprofit organization committed to strengthening the governance and quality of public
charter schools
2. Recruits leaders with valuable skills, experience, perspective, expertise, and resources that
public schools often have a hard time accessing
3. Eight years, 14 states, hundreds of schools, hundreds of new board members, thousands of
board members trained
4. Partner with charter school boards, charter support organizations, charter management or-
ganizations, state departments of education, authorizers, and quarterback organizations
5. Diversity, equity, and inclusiveness are top priorities

10. 10
CHARTER BOARD’S ROLE
1. Set targets for improving student outcomes and monitor progress regularly
2. Recruit and hire talented leaders, hold them accountable for results, retain, and support strong leaders
3. Set strategic vision, help set goals, measure progress regularly, and adapt strategy as needed
4. Ensure resources are allocated towards achieving goals, and ensure organization is well run
5. Advocate for the school, and for equitable access to good schools, with decision makers, elected officials,
funders, and policymakers
6. Help raise funds for special programming, enhanced offerings, and facilities
7. Ensure that the board is strategically composed, high functioning, and providing tight oversight

11. 11
REWARD
1. Civic engagement
2. Leadership development
3. Network-building
4. Community relationship-building

12. 12
CHOOSING A SCHOOL
1. It is easy to find a school that matches your interests.
• By teaching method
• By student body
• By mission
2. Age of students
3. Lifecycle
• Start-up
• Turnaround
• Successful
• Successful, growing
• Transition (transferring management)

13. 13
WHAT TO EXPECT
1. Recommend larger boards (13-15) to limit workload for each member
2. 8-10 hours/month; terms last 1 to 3 years, typically renewable
3. Committees allow you to focus on what you’re good at, or learn a new skill
• Core
o Budget/audit
o Communications/fundraising
o Governance
o Performance/academics
• Specialized
o Real estate
o Gala
4. Fundraising
5. Liability

14. 14
HOW CHARTER BOARD PARTNERS AND BUSINESS FORWARD CAN HELP
1. Assessing the best school and board role for you
2. Identify schools that match your interests
3. Training you in board governance, budgeting, and education policy
4. Ongoing support throughout your term on the board:
• Connect you with other boards to share strategies, identify resources, get advice
• Provide tools, templates and tips so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel
• Support your board to help them improve effectiveness and make better use of board members’ time
• Introductions to stakeholders that can be helpful to the school

15. INFO@BUSINESSFWD.ORG
BUSINESSFWD.ORG
1155 CONNECTICUT AVENUE NW
SUITE 1000
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20036
202.861.1270