Ahhh, the dog days of summer are upon us. Some of you are enjoying a little more rest & relaxation, some of you are in the midst of professional development, and some of you have even returned to the hard work of educating students. No matter what you're working on, LAPCS wants you to know how much we appreciate you and your dedication to the kids of our great state. We are just as dedicated to ensuring students have access to high-quality public education options and providing our member schools with the support and resources they need to be at their best.
Therefore, we are happy to tell you about some new things going on at LAPCS, as well as some opportunities you may be interested in.
Sincerely,
The LAPCS Team
@LAPCSTeam
Strategic Planning & Organizational Revamp
Currently, LAPCS is reflecting on our roles, services, and organizational structure in an effort to create our next three year strategic plan. Staff is working hard to be thoughtful and continuing to focus on how to make LAPCS a more efficient and effective organization that is responsive to your needs. In fact, based on recent focus groups and feedback membership provided, we've hired a Director of Membership, Simone Green, who is responsible for working directly with you to develop programs and services, to facilitate collaboratives, and to create more networking opportunities for LAPCS members. You can contact Simone directly at
sgreen@lacharterschools.org if you have suggestions for things you'd like from LAPCS in the future.
Also, if you haven't already heard, we've brought on a Special Projects Manager, Nikki Chatelain. Nikki is not only the point person for LAPCS events, but she will be overseeing all social media. If you have any good news items that you'd like us to share with our followers, please contact Nikki at
nchatelaine@lacharterschools.org.
Two things we ask you to remember:
- We work for you and want to hear from you. Don't hesitate to contact me directly with any questions, comments or concerns at croemer@lacharterschools.org.
- Our annual conference will be held Sept. 13, 2013. If you haven't registered yet, please do so now by clicking here. You can also read more about it immediately below.
6th Annual Conference
Adjusting the Sails: Staying on Course for Success 
September 13, 2013
Crowne Plaza Baton Rouge
Prepare to be blown away and join us at our 6th annual conference to be held on Sept. 13th at the Crowne Plaza Baton Rouge! This year's keynote is Jeff Duncan-Andrade-- a dynamic and provocative educator and speaker whose focus is exploring the concept of hope in nurturing youth.
Check out his TEDxGoldenGateEd talk, "Growing Roses in Concrete" here.
This year's conference is only a day long, but we've packed it with some amazing professional development and networking opportunities, including sessions covering:
- best practices around HR and employment
- how to help students thrive by building supportive classrooms
- the future of education reform in Louisiana
- navigating board relationships and dynamics
- unionization of charter schools
- common board meeting mistakes
- antibullying strategies for teachers
- driving teacher performance
- applying for and starting a charter school
- "The Leader in Me" program
- workforce development
In addition, there will be three FREE sessions targeted at legislators, parents, and students!
Find out more and register here!
State and Federal Highlights
- Congress continues to work on the reauthorization of ESEA. On July 19th, the US House passed H.R. 5, also known as the Student Success Act (check out the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools' summary here). No Democrats supported the bill, and President Obama has threatened to veto it. While there were provisions that benefited charters, such as allowing charter support groups apply for CSP grants and expanding authorized uses of CSP funds, as well as allowing Title 1 dollars to follow students into any public school they attend (including charters), many Democrats opposed the Act's many cuts to federal programs and the decreased accountability standards. Furthermore, the Act only funds CSP at $300 million, which is clearly not enough to support the many start-ups throughout the country.
- The United States Department of Education recently released an updated version of Supporting the Academic Success of Pregnant and Parenting Students, with a cover letter that provides a brief summary of the pamphlet and applicable regulations.
- The LDE recently clarified elements of the Compass tool:
- Administrators are free to set the frequency and duration of classroom observations.
- Administrators have the ability to design the observation plan that best suits their school's needs.
- The Compass Information System will be changing as of August 22 to reflect specific feedback from principals.
- Starting in 2013-14, parent and stakeholder complaints about schools to the LDE will be routed to the LDE call center (877-453-2721). The call center will assess the concern and choose to either direct the parent back to the school level or to contact the school's Manager of School Performance. Please see the Issue Resolution Process for more details about how the LDE handles routing and resolving concerns.
- Attention Type 5 Charter Schools: see the new RSD Student Code of Conduct for an updated list of expellable offenses.
Upcoming Events
- The National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI) is hosting its 43rd Annual Conference in New Orleans. For more information, check out their website here.
- Education Week is hosting a webinar on August 1, 2013 about securing and financing a charter school facility. Register here for this free webinar.
- Next BESE meeting: 8/13-14
- Next Committee of the Whole meeting (RSD matters only): 9/25
ICYMI
