Building on Strength

2011-2013 Strategic Plan

for the Georgia Charter Schools Association 

 September 22, 2010

 

The Georgia Charter School Association (GCSA) has developed a strategic plan to guide its work over the coming three years. The plan contemplates significant new effort by GCSA to focus on and foster quality in Georgia’s charter schools while increasing the number of quality schools in the state, to communicate broadly about charter schools and their benefits while advocating for policies and practices in support of charters, and to develop, market and deliver a range of needed member services while building organizational capacity through targeted strategies that will enable the GCSA to sustain itself.

This plan builds on the Association’s successes, which include:

• Increased Quality. GCSA launched a Quality and Growth Initiative to build the capacity and effectiveness of school leaders, teachers, board members and business managers. The initiative includes:
  • CharterLeader, a program to develop the business and educational competencies of charter leaders
  • CharterStart, a program to help charter petitioners develop high-quality schools
  • GaTAPP, the first non-accredited agency to have authority to certify Georgia teachers, pending approval.
• Improved Member Services. Anticipating and responding to members’ needs, GCSA instituted a variety of programs that are highly-valued by members, including professional development, purchasing programs for insurance and school supplies, and the Legal Advocacy Fund.
• Accelerated Growth. GCSA increased membership among charter schools; the organization now has a membership rate of 96 percent for start-up charters.
• Effective Advocacy.GCSA helped to secure the passage of significant legislation affecting charter schools, including:
  • Establishing a state authorizer of charter schools
  • Making unused district facilities available to charters at no cost
  • Providing charter school employees with state health insurance benefits
  • Enacting a tax credit for donations to capital improvements for charters

The Association also established the Georgia Parental Advocacy Network (G-PAN), a parent-teacher advocacy effort to build awareness of and demand for charters.

• Enhanced Sustainability. Through the creation and expansion of fee-based programs – including the annual conference, professional development and consulting – GCSA increased its earned revenue by almost 70 percent.

Implementation of the plan will build GCSA’s capacity to support the expansion of high-quality charter schools throughout Georgia, and will position the Association as a leader among charter school associations across the nation.

To advise and assist in the development of the strategic plan, GCSA engaged the Atlanta-based consulting firm Kronley & Associates, which has extensive experience in strategic planning and education and in advising membership organizations. In working with GCSA to develop the plan, Kronley & Associates undertook extensive material review about GCSA, national and state polices that affect charter schools, and best and emerging practices for charters. The firm developed administered, and analyzed an electronic survey of GCSA members; conducted in-depth interviews with 20 key internal and external stakeholders; and facilitated four focus groups for GCSA staff and board to raise issues, surface ideas and consider capacities. The firm’s work and the development of the strategic plan was overseen by special strategic planning committee of the board that also included GCSA’s CEO. 

A series of findings emerged from this data collection and subsequent analysis.

1. Fueled by discontent with student achievement and a bipartisan preference for flexibility and choice, the charter school movement is growing nationally.
2. Supported by a favorable policy climate, Georgia is fertile ground for continued growth of charter schools in the state.
3. The evolution of the State’s support for charter schools has led to the development of many different types of “charter schools” with varying structures, effectiveness, financing and accountability systems.
4. Despite the favorable policy climate and the positive growth trajectory for charters, student achievement in charter schools is mixed, quality is uneven, and public recognition and understanding of charter schools and their benefits is limited.
5. GCSA is highly regarded by policy makers, representatives of peer organizations, funders, observers and its members.
6. As it seeks to build on its past successes, GCSA must address several significant issues, including: mission, quality, member services, growth, advocacy, sustainability, and capacity.

The strategic plan recognizes that the climate and context for charter schools in each state is different. The plan is consequently sensitive to the climate and context in which GCSA operates. The plan promotes quality in a policy environment that has produced a plethora of charter school types with little relation to one and another and different ideas about accountability. At the same time the plan enables the organization to address the diverse needs of this varied constituency.

Based on the findings, and to better reflect GSCA’s current activities, aspirations and stakeholder expectations. a new mission statement was developed for the organization:

• Mission

The Georgia Charter Schools Association seeks to improve educational outcomes for students by fostering the creation and spread of high-quality charter schools throughout the state. It does so by supporting and serving charter schools in every phase of their development, promoting best and innovative practices, educating the public about the qualities and benefits of charter schools, and advocating for policies that will encourage the growth of high-quality charter schools and advance the charter school movement.

The plan also lays out five overarching goals and supporting strategies in key areas, beginning with quality, which will be a critical focus for the Association over the next three years.

• Goal 1: Quality

Encourage, demand and support excellent education in all of Georgia’s charter schools by developing and implementing a comprehensive suite of services designed to manage performance and promote quality at every stage of a school’s evolution.

• Goal 2: Growth

Accelerate the rate of growth of Georgia’s independent charter schools by ten percent a year over next three years while accelerating the rate of growth of district approved charter schools by five percent.

• Goal 3: Advocacy, Communications and Outreach

Spur public and policymaker awareness of, demand for and support of the adoption of policies and practices that promote the creation and growth of high-quality charter schools throughout Georgia.

• Goal 4: Sustainability

Move toward self-sufficiency by continuing to build and market a robust set of programs and services that meets members’ needs and is increasingly supported by fees while expanding the organization’s local donor base to ensure that GCSA becomes measurably more self-sufficient each year.

• Goal 5: Organizational Strength

Increase organizational capacity, recognition and impact by attracting strong leadership from diverse sectors, identifying qualified staff to develop and implement the initiatives described in this plan, and leveraging outreach efforts to connect to and influence policymakers and other key stakeholders throughout the state.

Each of the foregoing goals is aligned with a series of supporting strategies. Strategies are connected to specific measures; these metrics will allow GCSA to chart and analyze its progress and make midcourse corrections as needed.

 

The Georgia Charter Schools Association (GCSA) is a nine-year old membership organization that works to improve student achievement and promote educational choice by serving and advocating for public charter schools in the state. Toward these ends, GCSA has developed several programs over the last three years designed to increase the number of public charter schools and to enhance the capacity and effectiveness of the leaders and teachers who work in them.

In addition, the organization has pursued productive relationships with policy-makers, business persons, thought leaders and others; these have helped propel the acceptance and growth of public charter schools in Georgia. GCSA has also fostered enhanced commitment to quality among its member schools, implemented well-regarded communications approaches to multiple constituencies, and begun to expand its funding base. Finally, the organization has increased its membership, expanded members’ geographical representation, and strengthened its staff and board.

Highlights of GCSA’s achievements in key areas over the past three years include:

• Quality: Launched a Quality and Growth Initiative to focus on developing capacity and effectiveness in school leadership and administration, began preliminary development of a performance management system to rack and measure operational and academic performance in each school,
• Member services: Developed more than eight member services initiatives, including: technical training for petitioners and school leaders; professional development; group purchasing and preferred consultants programs; a teacher accreditation agency; a parent/teacher/board member advocacy group; and a fund for legal advocacy.
• Growth: Increased membership among the 130 existing charter schools, including a membership rate for start-up charter schools of 96 percent.
• Advocacy: Helped to secure the passage of five bills and five legislative initiatives significantly impacting charter schools, including policies: establishing a state authorizer; making unused district facilities available to charters at no cost; providing charter school employees with state health insurance benefits; enacting a tax credit for donations to capital improvements for charters; providing improving budget allocation; maintaining bond financing,
• Sustainability: Increased earned revenue by nearly 70 percent between fiscal years 2008 and 2009

GCSA’s recent success has been in part a product of visionary and effective leadership that is committed to using well-defined metrics to measure the organization’s progress. GCSA has also benefitted from the public policy environment in Georgia, which has embraced competition as a means to improve education in the state. Commitment and context have enabled GCSA to attract significant support from funders within and outside Georgia.[1]

The organization now requires a new strategic plan, which will govern its work for the next three years. To advise and assist in the plan’s development, GCSA engaged the Atlanta-based consulting firm Kronley & Associates, which has extensive experience in both strategic planning and education and in advising membership organizations. The firm’s work was overseen by GCSA’s CEO and by a special strategic planning committee of the board.

The following activities informed the development of GCSA’s strategic plan:

• Material review. Kronley & Associates reviewed a wide array of materials about public charter schools nationwide and in various states, including material about the policy and educational environment in Georgia. Additionally, the firm reviewed material from and about GCSA, its members, other Georgia public charter schools, best practices at public charters, and public policies that bear on the public charter school movement. The firm looked carefully at the work of other state associations of charter schools to surface some of the more innovative policies and practices of membership organizations generally.

• Survey. Early in the process, Kronley & Associates developed an electronic survey for GCSA, which sent approximately 120 online surveys to representatives of each member school or petitioning group. Forty-five surveys (40 percent) were returned.[2] The survey considered the nature, quality and expansion of member services based on members’ perceptions of GCSA and of their own needs, and explored the public charter school movement, the contexts in which it operates, and emerging opportunities and challenges. Kronley & Associates analyzed the survey responses to use as a platform for emerging recommendations.

• Interviews. Kronley & Associates conducted 20 in-depth interviews with internal and external stakeholders (including staff, member representatives, policymakers, actual and potential funders, business leaders, observers and experts in the field.) The interviews lasted approximately one hour, conducted for the most part by telephone.

• Focus groups. Kronley & Associates developed protocols for and facilitated a series of two focus groups each for GCSA staff and the GCSA board to raise issues, surface innovative ideas, and consider capacities.

Significant findings that emerged from the investigation are:

1. 1.    Fueled by discontent with student achievement and a bipartisan preference for flexibility and choice, the charter school movement is growing nationally.

The charter movement is growing across the United States, although the rate of growth has slowed over the past few years (from approximately 9 percent in 2006-2007 to 6.5 percent in 2009-2010).[3]

Since the first charter schools opened in the early 1990s, Democratic and Republican administrations alike have espoused their development, with Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush issuing proclamations in support of them in 2000 and 2008 respectively. Federal policy makers have dedicated increasing funds to the department of education’s Charter School Program (CSP), a competitive program for federal start-up grants for charter schools. In its first year, 1995, the CSP administered $6 million in grants; ten years later the amount increased to almost $217 million in grants.[4] The Obama administration has embraced charter schools in its aggressive education agenda; one highlight is the Race to the Top (RTTT) competition that encourages states to have policies supportive of charter schools. Many states, including Georgia, have removed restrictions that limit the expansion of charter schools, either as policy preference or in order to better compete for federal RTTT dollars. Georgia’s powerful support for charters is regarded as a key reason why the State was one of twelve jurisdictions that won RTTT awards.

Many leading districts around the country now include charters as an essential element of systemic reform. These districts – including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles – have established their own charter schools and work closely with charter developers to provide a variety of high quality academic experiences to students. In Georgia, Atlanta Public Schools is beginning to move in this direction as are some other districts.[5] Statewide, however, this embrace of charters as a vital strategy to transform districts is not yet a reality.

1. 2.    Supported by a favorable policy environment, Georgia is fertile ground for continued growth of charter schools in the state.

Significant positive policy developments for charter schools in Georgia in the past few years – accomplished with the recognized leadership and steadfast support of GCSA – include:

• Approval of HB881, allowing for the formation of the Georgia State Charter Commission (the Commission)
• Approval of HB555, which requires local school districts to make unused facilities available to charter schools at no cost
• Successful defense of two Commission-authorized charter schools against lawsuits brought by seven districts challenging the constitutionality of the Commission

The current overall climate in Georgia is highly supportive of charter schools. There are no limits on the number of charter schools in the state or on the number of students that can enroll at charter schools. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools ranked the State fourth in terms of charter laws and commitment to charter quality. The State’s progress in the policy arena was further recognized in 2008 by the National Association of Charter School Authorizers with an inaugural “Award for Excellence in Improving Policy,” citing Georgia for its work on implementing effective charter school strategies. The State’s support for charters is considered a significant factor in its being chosen as one of twelve winners in the RTTT competition. Given the generally positive political and legislative climate, and as the state with the largest geographical area east of the Mississippi, there is a need and opportunity for continued growth in Georgia.

This opportunity is present throughout the State. Outside of Atlanta, in smaller cities and their suburbs, charters are an increasingly appealing means to develop, test, and demonstrate the efficacy of promising educational practices. Rural areas more and more recognize the critical link between effective education and the economic growth that is critical to their viability; leaders in these communities are searching for ways to improve educational outcomes for their students. The context in Atlanta, which has slowly begun to embrace charters, strongly suggests increased impetus for the charter movement. A cheating scandal has implicated scores of educators and has added to instability and volatility in the district. The fall-out from this event is catalyzing community concern about education and reinforcing the potential for growth of charter schools.

1. 3.    The evolution of the State’s support for charter schools has led to the development of many different types of “charter schools” with varying structures, effectiveness, financing and accountability systems.

The environment for charters in Georgia has been described as the “wild, wild South” given the many types of charters, their various authorizers, and their geographic distribution. There is an array of possible types of charters, including independent and conversion schools along with career academies. State policy also provides opportunities for Local Education Agency start-ups, state chartered special schools, commission approved start-ups and virtual charters. (Appendix B provides a definition of the types of charter schools in Georgia).

 

The composition of Georgia’s charter schools matters. In comparison to other states, Georgia has an unusually high proportion of conversions. They make up a quarter of all charters in the State[7] (compared to 9.2 percent of all charters nationally and 14.6 percent in California[8], which is largely seen as a state leader in the charter school movement).

The comparatively large representation of conversions is an important element in GCSA’s efforts to improve the quality of all charter schools. According to a report from the Georgia Department of Education, “conversion school performance is somewhat weaker than start-up performance. Approximately 60% of conversion charter schools have made AYP for at least 3 consecutive years, a rate somewhat lower than start-up schools.”[9]

The relatively new charter system adds another layer of complexity. While four districts[10] have successfully obtained charter system status, it is unclear how many more may seek it, how these systems may be configured or what type of support they will need.

When independent start-ups are joined by conversions, career academies, charter systems and other “charter” manifestations they add to the raw number of charter schools in Georgia. Yet there are also some divisions and disagreements among their various supporters. While many groups and individuals view the proliferation of different charter models positively – as a means to promote experimentation and choice – others, some of whom are policymakers, have specific favorites and will only support schools that have some connection to districts, preferring career academies and system charters. This divide complicates GCSA’s efforts to promote the growth of quality charter schools.

A further complication is the geographic concentration of charters in the state. Excluding charter systems, four districts in metro-Atlanta authorize nearly half of all charter schools in Georgia and enroll about 65 percent of all charter students statewide.[11] Outside of the metro area, however, charters are largely unknown in many areas across a geographically large and diverse state. Urban, suburban and rural communities have different needs which require very different strategies to develop successful charters in each setting.

This context presents several challenges; prominent among them explaining what charter schools are to the public, promoting consistent standards for quality across a varied charter membership, and assessing performance. GCSA also confronts challenges in developing, marketing and delivering a coherent compendium of services to a diverse membership group.

Efforts to increase the number of charter schools must also take into account the role of a range of charter management organizations. For example, while these organizations have operated approximately 11 percent of charter schools nationally and 14.5 percent in California, they run about three percent of Georgia’s charter schools. Identifying, attracting and developing high quality charter operators has proven to be difficult, as is engaging well-established small charter management organizations to expand or replicate in Georgia. This number reflects in part the substantial financial resources that are required to attract national operators. Though challenging, attracting qualified operators to the state is critical. Many local charter developers have designed and established high quality schools where students are thriving. Few, if any, however, currently have the capacity to replicate their model and establish new schools.

1. 4.    Despite the favorable policy climate and the positive growth trajectory for charters, student achievement in charter schools is mixed, quality is uneven, and public recognition and understanding of charter schools and their benefits is limited.

Collectively, charter schools in Georgia are performing relatively well even while serving proportionally more low-income students than traditional public schools. As the chart below indicates, 60% of charter students participate in the free/reduced lunch program while 53% of traditional public school students do so.

Georgia’s charter schools also enroll greater percentages of minority students than traditional schools do – 61% compared to 54%.

 

By several important measures, charter schools are out-performing traditional public schools. Charter high schools have a higher graduation rate than traditional schools – 81% compared to 79% – and all but one of the State’s career academies, which are not reported in charter school graduation rates because they are considered ‘programs’ rather than ‘schools,’ have graduation rates of 90% or higher.

Students in charter high schools also perform better on the Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT) in all subjects than do students in traditional schools. “In 2009, as in every year since 2006, charter high school students had a higher pass rate than traditional public school students on every content area of the GSHGT.”[13]

An indicator that provides another perspective on the efficacy of charters is the proportion of charter students that meet or exceed performance standards as compared to the proportion of students who do so in neighboring traditional public schools. This measure is particularly revealing because in these instances the charters and their neighboring schools serve the same population. As the chart below reveals, charter students outperform their peers at neighboring public schools.

 

While there is much to applaud about charter schools’ performance, there are also challenges. A slightly lower percentage of charter schools made AYP in 2008-09 than did traditional public schools – 85 versus 86 percent.[15] At the same time, traditional schools are catching up to charters – even exceeding them – according to several measures of student performance. In 2009, the same percentage of charter school students met or exceeded CRCT performance standards in English Language Arts (ELA) and Social Studies as did students in traditional public schools. Students at traditional public schools actually exceeded charter students in math and science on CRCT scores. While students at charter high schools still outperform them, their peers at traditional schools across the state seem to be moving closer. The proportion of charter students who met or exceeded GHSGT performance standards as compared to students at traditional high schools was only one percentage point higher in math and science and was two percentage points higher in ELA and science.

As these statewide data suggest, the performance of individual charter schools varies. Many are very successful in fostering high levels of academic success. Others, however, are faltering; their students are not matching the success of their district peers. 

One emerging explanation for the mixed quality of charters schools (as measured by student performance) is the proliferation of many charter types in the state. Conversion schools perform lower than independent charters and exert a downward pull on overall performance data. In addition, early results suggest that district charters may be having a similar effect. For example, the graduation rate for charter schools dipped slightly last year; coincidentally, three new charter systems were included in the performance review that year. These systems represented 22 schools, with generally lower performance rates.

The quality issue and its connection to multiple charter models suggest that GCSA pursue various approaches to quality enhancement at those conversion and district charter schools that request assistance. In addition, GCSA needs to undertake increased and ongoing study of the performance of the various charter models in the state and surface findings for policymakers, charter advocates and operators, and the public of the impact of conversions and charter systems. The lagging performance of many of these schools confuses public perception of charter schools and adds to public uncertainty about their efficacy.

This uncertainty is compounded because many Georgians are not even sure what charters are. Charters are frequently confused with vouchers or are believed to be private enterprises, not public schools. In other instances, where there is a basic understanding of their structure, charter schools are misperceived by some as elitist enclaves, educating a select few. A robust expansion of charter schools requires a substantial, comprehensive and ongoing outreach campaign to dispel these misconceptions and cultivate informed demand.

 

1. 5.    GCSA is highly regarded by policy makers, representatives of peer organizations, funders, observers and its members.

External stakeholders – leaders in the national and Georgia policy sector, peer organizations, charter schools and philanthropic institutions – all spoke well of GCSA. In particular, the leadership of Tony Roberts and the staff is seen as high-capacity, engaged and effective.[16]

The organization was awarded high marks in several areas. The Association’s advocacy is highly visible and productive, and observers credit GCSA’s work in the past years to making the environment more friendly to charter schools. Particularly strong areas of advocacy include its work at the State Capitol, its cultivation of relationships that give the association weight and access to officials that school leadership does not have, and support for petitioners during the chartering process. 

Less visible are some of the services GCSA offers to its members. A survey revealed that a significant portion of members are unfamiliar with GCSA’s programs, indicating a need to better communicate with and market services to members. Those who are knowledgeable about GCSA’s services regard them positively. CharterStart and CharterLeader in particular are seen as good programs that are “strengthening the infrastructure of schools” and paving the way for increased student achievement.

1. 6.    As it seeks to build on its past success, GCSA must address several significant issues.

Interviews, focus groups and analysis surfaced several issues that GCSA must confront as it moves forward. These include:

• Mission. GCSA must be clear – if it wishes to attract significant funding – that the purpose of charter schools is to promote better outcomes for all students. While choice alone may be a compelling argument for some charter supporters, it is not the reason the movement will attract substantial funding, particularly from philanthropic organizations.

• Quality. In order to improve student outcomes, charters must have excellent curricula, visionary and effective leadership, highly-qualified staff, and strong infrastructure. GCSA must stand for and promote these attributes. In doing so, it should push and pull its members to define, adopt and refine definitions of quality and relentlessly pursue it, while ensuring that its own services are of the highest quality. GCSA’s services to members should increasingly stress quality.

As part of its comprehensive efforts to improve quality, GCSA will also need to monitor its own performance. This should involve periodic review of the strategic plan goals, progress in meeting those goals, and an analysis of what is working and what is not. The organization should make mid-course corrections in its strategies and approaches and update its strategic plan on an annual basis.

• Growth. The organization must expand substantially beyond Atlanta. In doing so, it should be able to aid start-ups in the petition process and to work with communities – in smaller cities and it rural areas – to understand charter schools and the benefits they can bring and to embrace them.

• Advocacy, Communications and Outreach. GCSA should continue to address major policy areas for charters, including equitable funding and funding for facilities. It must also continue to promote the charter movement.

At the same time, GCSA must see advocacy as an integral part of a broader communications strategy that involves outreach to the public, to key policymakers and to its members. Strategies to strengthen communications should be differentiated, comprehensive, sustained and connected.

A key focus of communications should be the promotion of best practices to school districts and reform organizations, not only to member schools. The potential of charter schools, which develop and test new practices, to spur substantive reforms in traditional schools is not yet fully realized. The best practices generated by charters should be disseminated by GCSA.

• Sustainability. Sustainability strategies should look, ultimately, to self-sufficiency – the organization cannot assume ongoing support from large philanthropic organizations. To move toward this goal, GCSA, must strengthen member services, earn greater recognition and leverage recognition into support from local donors throughout the state. GCSA must surface and implement approaches to meeting the needs of a diverse membership, with different capacities and interests. It must also increase its efforts to marketing services to its members.

• Capacity. Compared to other organizations, GCSA has a small staff. If it is to develop and implement new and effective strategies, it must increase its capacity. At the same time, the organization should revisit the composition of its board and recruit leaders from business, and faith-based and civic organizations.

 

Mission

GCSA’s earlier mission was limited in its scope and reach: it spoke of the Association’s role as an effective advocate and service provider. The new mission statement reflects GSCA’s current activities, aspirations and stakeholder expectations.

The Georgia Charter Schools Association seeks to improve educational outcomes for students by fostering the creation and spread of high-quality charter schools throughout the state. It does so by supporting and serving charter schools in every phase of their development, promoting best and innovative practices, educating the public about the qualities and benefits of charter schools, and advocating for policies that will encourage the growth of high-quality charter schools and advance the charter school movement.

 

Goals and Strategies

The plan also lays out five overarching goals and supporting strategies in key areas: (1) quality, (2) growth; (3) advocacy, communications and outreach; (4) sustainability; and (5) organizational strength; strategies to enhance member services are contained in all of these goals. These following goals and strategies for the next three years (noted as years four, five and six) arise out of the contextual findings and respond to the unique needs of GCSA, its members and other stakeholders. Each of the overarching goals is aligned with a series of supporting strategies and connected metrics, which are presented in a chart following each goal and brief descriptive summary.

Goal 1: Quality

Encourage, demand and support excellent education in all of Georgia’s charter schools by developing and implementing a comprehensive suite of services designed to manage performance and promote quality at every stage of a school’s evolution.

The strategic planning process surfaced and emphasized the critical importance of quality to fostering better outcomes for students and to the ultimate success of the charter school movement. All aspects of GCSA’s work – in advocacy, in growth, in effective member services and in building a strong organization – are connected to its relentless pursuit of quality in charter schools.

The strategies that follow are comprehensive and interconnected. They embrace quality assurance and performance management and contemplate a robust set of member services; from training leaders and staff to ensuring financial stability and effective back office operations. They also recognize that schools have different needs in each of these areas and provide for targeting services based on these needs.

One example of this approach is the performance management system. Once the system is developed, GCSA will follow-up by:

1. Encouraging continuous improvement at member schools by recognizing exemplary performance
2. Developing and disseminating case studies about high-quality charter schools
3. Collaborating with the State Charter Commission and Department of Education in developing strategies to improve lagging schools

GCSA’s approach to quality is data driven. The organization will use data to continue to refine quality standards, to assist members in managing performance and in measuring their progress through multiple measures. Data will be used to recognize superior performance but it will be used also to promote accountability and to ensure that chronically low-performing schools lose their charter accreditation – GCSA will develop and implement a system to support the closure of these schools.

Goal 2: Growth

Accelerate the rate of growth of Georgia’s independent charter schools by ten percent a year over next three years while accelerating the rate of growth of district approved charter schools by five percent.

Georgia remains fertile ground for the creation of new high-quality charter schools. GCSA will adopt a multi-pronged approach to foster this growth. It will identify areas without independent charters and target them for special attention. Work will concentrate on a “belt” of smaller cities that the Association believes may be especially open to new charter schools. It will act as a broker in these communities, spurring interest and identifying and connecting sources of funds – individual donors, corporations, foundations and districts – with high-quality charter operators, including well-regarded nonprofit charter management organizations.

GCSA will also work with districts that already have charters and seek to promote greater scale for charters in these communities. Atlanta is a special case here – GCSA will continue to target Atlanta and its suburbs. Atlanta has accepted (if not warmly embraced charters) and there is increasing community pressure for charters, which is now heightened by both a cheating scandal in district and the positive attention brought to charters by new state policies and the State’s receipt of a Race to the Top grant. GCSA will leverage these developments in ongoing efforts to grow charter school in Atlanta.

In promoting growth, GCSA’s strategies will include:

1. Developing materials specifically targeted to the identified communities that promote benefits of charter schools.
2. Increasing G-PAN activity in these communities by reaching out to parents, chambers of commerce, faith-based institutions and community foundations.
3. Engaging school boards in understanding the benefits of charter schools and school choice.

Goal 3: Advocacy, Communications and Outreach

Spur public and policymaker awareness of, demand for and support of the adoption of policies and practices that promote the creation and growth of high-quality charter schools throughout Georgia.

GCSA is recognized for its success in advocating for public policies that have propelled Georgia to the forefront of states that are creating a positive climate for charter schools. The organization has not only enjoyed its success; it has also learned from it. One significant finding is that effective advocacy must be ongoing and involve more than reaching out periodically to policymakers, as central and critical as that continues to be.

GCSA will consequently make advocacy the centerpiece of a robust and continuous advocacy, communications and outreach function. GCSA will advocate for specific policies that include affordable facilities, equitable funding and charter accountability. It will expand its support for legal advocacy that promotes these issues. GCSA will also seek to identify and support policymakers who back charter schools and are in favor of policies that promote their growth and quality.

At the same time, GCSA will expand its efforts. It will develop a comprehensive program to explain charter schools to a public that too often does not understand charters and cannot distinguish them from student vouchers. It will seek to become known as the “go-to place” for credible and reliable information about charters by sponsoring and disseminating high-quality research and case studies about the charter movement, charter schools, the benefits of charter schools and the value of competition and choice in spurring improvement.

GCSA will become more effective in regularly engaging print, broadcast and electronic media. It will also be more purposeful about its relationships with key actors; businesspersons and business organizations, faith-based organizations and civic leadership.

Goal 4: Sustainability

Move toward self-sufficiency by continuing to build and market a robust set of programs and member services that meets members’ needs and is increasingly supported by fees while expanding the organization’s local donor base to ensure that GCSA becomes measurably more self-sufficient each year.

A member survey conducted during the strategic planning process revealed overall satisfaction with GCSA’s member services while identifying areas for expansion and strengthening. These areas include training and education programs, which are sources of increased revenue.

GCSA will reach out more to its members through visits and telephone calls. Electronic communications will also enable more interactivity between the association and its members.

The annual conference also provides an opportunity for expanding both services and revenue. A major way to do so is to create affinity groups within the membership – these groups will be based on type of charter, size and longevity. Affinity groups recognize the diverse nature of charters in Georgia, they also provide GCSA with an opportunity to develop and market additional services targeted to specific interests and needs.

GCSA will also build its development and marketing capacity. Hiring additional personnel with expertise in development and marketing and relying on outside assistance for certain special events will enable the organization to increase positive member and community recognition and enhance fundraising from local donors, including individuals, corporations and regional, state and community foundations.

Goal 5: Organizational Strength

Increase organizational capacity, recognition and impact by attracting strong leadership from diverse sectors, identifying qualified staff to develop and implement the initiatives described in this plan, and leveraging outreach efforts to connect to and influence policymakers and other key stakeholders throughout the State.

GCSA has accomplished a good deal on relatively meager resources. It has a smaller staff and budget than leading peer organizations. Simply put, the organization’s capacity has not matched its successes or the growth of the charter movement in the state.

GCSA will remedy this situation by building board and staff capacity and by enhancing its own accountability. It will ensure that its board is composed of prominent and well-regarded leaders from more than the charter school community. It will do so by identifying and recruiting individuals from business, faith-based groups and community institutions. It will solicit nominations from funders, members, leadership groups such as Leadership Atlanta and Leadership Georgia, and current board members. GCSA recognizes that recruiting board members of the caliber it desires requires cultivation and time; it will consequently create a pipeline to board membership by creating an advisory committee.

GCSA will need to hire more staff, if it is to implement the strategies in this plan. It will add a director of development and more staff to help market and deliver services and support advocacy efforts. Another key addition will be a director of quality and accountability who will help develop and implement the performance management system and oversee data collection and analysis.

Finally, GCSA will monitor its own performance under this plan. It will assess progress in each area and make mid-course strategic corrections when needed. It will also use what it learns to maintain a rolling three-year strategic plan; the goals, strategies and metrics in this plan will be updated annually.

 

Jim Griffin, President
Colorado League of Charter Schools

 Lisa Grover, Chief Executive Officer
New Mexico Coalition of Charter Schools

Russell Hardin, President
Robert W. Woodruff Foundation

Mridula Hormes, Principal
Imagine Wesley International Academy

Ehab Jaleel, Co-Founder, Executive Director
Amana Academy

Elisa F. Levy, Grants Manager
The Marcus Foundation, Inc.

Gary Martin, Co-Founder and Principal
Hapeville Charter Schools

Kelly McCutchen, President, Chief Executive Officer
Georgia Public Policy Foundation

Penny McPhee, President
Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation

Martha Nesbit, Founder, Director of Instruction
Oglethorpe Charter School

Adam Porsch, Program Officer
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Daniel L. Quisenberry, President
Michigan Association of Public School Academies

Tony Roberts, Chief Executive Officer
Georgia Charter Schools Association

Marisol L. Rodriguez, Program Officer
Walton Family Foundation

Ben Scafidi, Chair
Georgia Charter Commission

Nelson Smith, Founding Chief Executive Officer
National Alliance for Public Charter Schools

Lynette Walker, Chief Administrative Officer
Atlanta Preparatory Academy

Jed Wallace, Chief Executive Officer
California Charters Association

Eric Wearne, Deputy Director
Governor’s Office of Student Achievement

Appendix B: Charter School Classifications and Definitions

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