|
|
The state of Georgia has approved a revised charter for the
Central Educational Center (CEC), which will govern the charter
school in its second decade of operations.
The State Board of Education approved a 10-year renewal of CEC’s
charter by unanimous vote at its June 11 meeting in Atlanta
This is CEC’s third charter, after the school was officially
chartered and created by the Coweta County School System, West
Central Technical College, the Newnan-Coweta Chamber of Commerce
and local businesses in 1999.
The state of Georgia requires local and state boards of
education to periodically review and re-approve the operational
charters of public charter schools, to ensure that the school’s
goals are being met and that the standards of accountability for
the schools are relevant.
The school’s charter was renewed in 2004. This month’s charter
approval is the first renewal of CEC’s charter since the state
of Georgia began allowing 10-year renewals of public charter
schools.
The renewal process also allows the school’s charter boards and
partners an opportunity to improve and update the charter.
The charter “provides the legal basis, and the game plan, that
allows CEC the flexibility to innovate,” said Mark Whitlock, the
Central Educational Center CEO. “It is that flexibility that
allows CEC to meet the needs of students and the school’s
stakeholders, to respond to changes in the economy, and meet its
mission to ensure a viable 21st century workforce.”
For a public charter school, the process of creating and
securing approval for a successful charter model can be a long
process, said Whitlock.
CEC’s partners and chartering committee members took three years
to develop the original charter and finalize plans for CEC The
charter renewal process that ended on July 11 “was a very
thorough and long process, with lots of engagement by various
stakeholders - and that was for a renewal of a charter operation
that has been considered successful for nine years,” said
Whitlock.
CEC’s governing board began drafting a revised charter in
January, 2008. Local stakeholders – including the Executive
Committee of CEC Board, officials from the Coweta County School
System, the Coweta County Board of Education, and West Central
Technical College, were involved, along with the Newnan-Coweta
Chamber and Coweta County Development Authority.
The charter was approved by the CEC Board in August 2008. The
Coweta County Board of Education reviewed and discussed the
charter renewal petition for two months before granting approval
in October. The local board-approved charter was submitted to
the State Department of Education for review on November 1,
2008. Following the revisions suggested by the state and further
re-approvals by local stakeholders, the State Board of
education’s Charter Committee and state superintendent Cathy Cox
recommended approval in May, followed by the State Board’s
approval in June.
CEC first nine years of operation as a charter school have been
very successful, said Whitlock. The school has expanded academic
classes available to Coweta County high school students,
established dual-enrollment classes that allow students to earn
high school and technical college credit and industry
certifications simultaneously, and has improved educational
performance measurably county-wide, said Whitlock.
CEC was named a National Model High School in 2005, has been
visited by hundreds of national and international delegations
seeking to replicate the charter model, and has served as the
model for “career academy” charter schools that have
proliferated in Georgia.
CEC’s new charter is built on the success of its previous two
charters, and has been expanded to include broader notions of
“co-location” of student learning with business and industry,
21st century workforce requirements and expanded views of school
governance.
“We have not, in our initial nine years, used all the
flexibility granted by our charters,” said Whitlock. “We have
“grown into” much of that flexibility. Our partners, including
local business, the Coweta County School System and West Central
Technical College have indicated, during this renewal process,
an expectation that we achieve at even high levels. That will
require greater deployment of the flexibilities granted by the
charter. The bar has been set even higher.
Goals articulated in CEC’s new charter include:
• CEC will cause Coweta County Schools to meet or exceed the US
Department of Education benchmarks in Perkins’s accountability
measures for Reading/Language Arts, Mathematics and Graduation
Rate.
• CEC will increase the number of Coweta County students
dual-enrolled in technical college programs.
• CEC will increase the number of Coweta County students in
work-based learning during the term of this Agreement.
• The CEC Board shall place additional focus on activities of
the organizations that collaborate to cause the existence of
CEC. These
organizational activities will support goals of the charter
school upon implementation of this charter. This provides
sustainable, long-term commitment and collaboration among the
community partners essential to CEC’s success.
• The CEC Board will ensure that the Newnan-Coweta Chamber of
Commerce, the Coweta County Board of Education and West Central
Technical College maintain specific stated goals to support CEC
and its growth.
• The CEC Board shall place additional focus on the flexibility
of the organization to physically locate alongside businesses
and alongside other key institutions. Students benefit because
this closes the gap between the acquisition of knowledge and
skills, gained through the curriculum, and the subsequent
life-long application of those knowledge and skills. This will
increase the seamlessness among business and education that
drives opportunities for students.
• CEC will develop and increase the number of physical and/or
project co-locations with business and industry during the term
of this Agreement.
• The CEC Board shall focus on certifications that link
education and business such as ACT’s WorkKeys (Georgia Work
Ready) certifications. This will increase the value of high
school credentialing that drives opportunities for students.
• CEC will increase the number of CEC team members (students)
who become certified work ready (Georgia Work Ready or other
similar ACT-based national credential or other industry-based
credential) during the term of this Agreement.
• The CEC Board shall ensure that CEC maintains a specific
“continuous improvement” effort. The CEC Board shall ensure that
CEC focus on assisting other communities to replicate the CEC
instructional system design process. Such assistance has been
successfully provided during the current charter period, in part
due to the support of the State Department and State Board’s
Charter Dissemination Grant. This ensures that CEC will
benchmark against best practices.
• CEC will continue to support and build a network of charter
schools, like CEC, sharing best practices, talent and other
resources.
|
|