New York Times:  Patrons’ sway leads to friction in charter school

The Beginning With Children Charter School, housed in a former factory in Brooklyn, landed on the state’s list of high-performing schools this year, thanks to rising English and math test scores among black and Hispanic students.

But its founders and wealthy patrons, Joseph H. and Carol F. Reich, who have poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into the school, think it could be better. “It’s above average,” said Mr. Reich, 72, “but considering the effort and the capability and the resources, we don’t feel we’re getting the best we can.”

So last month, the couple — threatening to cut ties, including financial support — forced most of the school’s trustees to resign in a push for wide management changes, and better student achievement.

In an interview, Mr. and Mrs. Reich said they were committed to their original promise of providing children with an education that would lead to success in college and in life. “We promised to build them a model education program that would lay the groundwork for their future,” said Mr. Reich, a retired investment banker. “This didn’t come from nowhere. We were really worried that the school wasn’t delivering.”

Baltimore Sun:  KIPP school to stay open

The saga of KIPP Harborside Academy continues as the school’s board voted last night to keep the school open.  This story continues to exemplify the difficulties that come with starting and operating a charter school in a state with one of the country’s weakest charter laws.  If a well-established and successful charter school organization like KIPP is having this much difficulty, what chance does a community group, educator, or concerned parent have of starting a small charter school?

A week after announcing that an Edgewater charter school would be shuttered, its divided leadership last night formally voted for the school to remain open in a stunning turnaround. But the 3-2 vote by the board of KIPP Harbor Academy left more questions than answers: Where the school would operate? Who would be its principal? And who would staff it since 10 of the 12 teachers have found new jobs?

"We have two teachers and one staff person. … We’re in a very difficult position," said Steve Mancini, a spokesman for the acclaimed Knowledge is Power Program, or KIPP.

The proposal still on the table calls for placing burgeoning enrollment near the school’s current home at Sojourner Douglass College in three portable classrooms, without a gym, cafeteria or bathrooms. School officials earlier yesterday rejected the plan offered by Anne Arundel County school and government leaders as untenable, with Mancini calling it a "cynical ploy" to garner publicity.

"If this was over a bunch of white middle-class children, I guarantee you we wouldn’t be facing this," said Kate Finley, a former teacher who has accepted a new job with a KIPP school in Washington. "My leaving had nothing to do with the parents, teachers or kids at Harbor Academy. I couldn’t stay and work for a district that would treat its own staff and teachers this way."

Los Angeles Times:  Green Dot plans a school in New York

Green Dot Public Schools, the upstart charter operation that has aggravated Los Angeles school administrators and union officials alike with its early successes and expansionist plans, has entered into what it hopes will be a less strident relationship in New York City.

Green Dot founder Steve Barr and Randi Weingarten, president of the powerful New York City teachers union, have reached an unusual agreement to open a jointly run charter high school.  The two are scheduled to announce the collaboration in a news conference at the union’s Manhattan offices today.

"If you really actually believe in kids and believe in their success, those of us in education, we really shouldn’t be in the sandbox fighting with each other. We should be … trying to figure out how to work together," Weingarten said.

Although New York state regulations require that they wait until the charter is approved to work out details, Weingarten and Barr said they expect that the New York teachers will work under a labor agreement similar to the one Green Dot has with its teachers in Los Angeles.