The Education Evolving Blog

On November 8th, we blogged about Minnesota lease aid program and “affiliated building corporations” (ABCs). This post is a follow-up that examines the strategies and initiatives that other states have implemented to ease the burden of the costs associated with facilities for chartered schools.

In 2006, Yinghua Academy became the first Chinese immersion chartered school in the country. Ten years later, they've undergone a significant facility expansion and yet again reached enrollment capacity. In 2015, Yinghua was recognized by the US Department of Education as a National Blue Ribbon School—the first time in 15 years that a Minneapolis school received the honor.

On September 28th, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) announced six winners in the recent spring 2016 charter school grant competition. On the same day, the U.S. Department of Education recognized two Minnesota chartered schools as National Blue Ribbon winners.

On August 21, John Oliver did a controversial segment that attacked chartered schools and some states' charter authorizing laws. He failed to celebrate the work that several states have done, including Minnesota, to strengthen authorizers and authorizing processes within the state.