California Unfurls Charter School Tool Bank

The California Department of Education unfurled a project on Tuesday to improve the quality of charter schools across the state with an online resource bank.

The new initiative is called “The Charter School Best Practices Project,” announced State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson.

“Charter schools are an important part of the education landscape in California, and strengthening them is a step toward strengthening the system as a whole,” Torlakson said. “That’s why the department launched this effort to pool resources, share ideas, and serve all our students.”

The project contains more than 700 best practices from successful charter schools, which educators can use to start and evaluate charter schools. California is home to 1,161 active charter schools.

Charter schools are public education facilities established by community groups or parents who want to disrupt their child’s academic environment. They are often controversial academic institutions; school administrators say they funnel funding away from existing public schools. In spite of such protests, Clayton Valley Charter High School in Concord, California was incorporated in January 2012.  

While many of the new project’s resources are located online, educators will be providing in-person training sessions.  

The Santa Clara County Office of Education will be hosting a training session in December 2013 to familiarize educators and other interested parties with the “Charter School Best Practices Project.”     

For more information about other training locations, visit the California Department of Education’s website.