Zero Chance of Passage

Zero Chance of Passage team Celebrates Three Awards at Midwest Book Awards!

Ember — Wed, 15 May 2013 03:20:27 +0000

Zero Chance of Passage: The Pioneering Charter School Story was a top award winner at the May 8, 2013 Midwest Book Awards in Bloomington, Minnesota, winning the Current Events/Political Science Division, the Education/Learning Division, and for Total Book Design. The book was also honored as a finalist in two other categories: Autobiography/Memoir and History.

Here, Sherry Roberts, President of Midwest Independent Publishers Association, presents designer Jay Monroe of James Monroe Design and me as winners of the Total Book Design category. Jay was the creative genius behind the cover and layout of the book. Standing with Jay in the picture to the right are other key contributors to the book: Louise Sundin, contributing Commentary writer and former president of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers; Dana Schroeder, key editorial advisor for the book, who conducted fifteen interviews and painstaking research; and Jon Schroeder, who is a former policy aide to U.S. Senator Dave Durenberger and served as a resource for the story.

And of course, it all couldn’t have happened without the support of my family who joined us in the picture below: husband Mike Junge; sister-in-law Mary Junge and sister Helene Johnson. What a wonderful night to share with family and our book team—I couldn’t be more grateful!

The book is co-published by Beaver’s Pond Press of Minneapolis and Charter Schools Development Corporation of Hanover, Maryland.

Honor your Teachers, Students, and Board Volunteers today

Ember — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 19:32:42 +0000

Celebrating Chartering at my Alma Mater: Duke University Law School, Durham, North Carolina

Ember — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 20:42:40 +0000

After spending hundreds of hours studying in the library “stacks” as a law student at Duke University Law School in Durham, North Carolina, I never dreamed I would return as an alumni author 36 years after graduation in 1977. What an honor to return to campus to speak, just in time for Alumni Weekend. My message for law students of today? Contribute your talents in public law and take a stand for change! My April 11, 2013 presentation, sponsored by the Goodson Law Library, Duke Education Law and Policy Society, and Duke Students for Education Reform can be seen in its entirety on video here. Or read more about my message in the Winter, 2013 issue of Duke Law Magazine. I’m grateful to David Wolfe (pictured right), co-chair of the Duke Education Law and Policy Society, who helped organize the event.

My visit to North Carolina included a press conference at the state capitol in Raleigh and introduction to the North Carolina Senate. My host was former State Senator Eddie Goodall, who is now Executive Director of the North Carolina Public Charter Schools Association. I look forward to returning to Greensboro, NC in July to keynote the Association’s state conference.

North Carolina has over 107 charter schools, and I loved visiting two of them—both highly regarded. Central Park School for Children (CPSC) is a child-centered, project-based K-5 school located in the heart of downtown Durham that encourages creativity and autonomy in its teachers. The school leader, John Heffernan, is all about possibility –and it shows! The children thrive in this year-round school community where a child’s curiosity and challenges are valued and supported by active, hands-on learning. Artistic expression is integrated everywhere. Teachers focus on projects for which students are passionate—if a group loves birds, they’ll learn basic skills around their passion, and make paper mache models of favorite birds to boot. The walls are covered with bright art of all kinds—including a creative demonstration of school projects underway. I especially loved the fifth grade—where the three teachers designed their wide-open learning space and work as a team throughout the year. Below teacher Alex Madrigal demonstrates healthy eating by experimenting with ingredients in making pancakes. And to the left, fifth-grade teacher Erica Nagi, a recent graduate of the Duke School of Education, brings her knowledge of Arabic to the classroom.

Finally, I drove to nearby Wake Forest to visit one of the largest, high-performing chartered schools in North Carolina–Franklin Academy. Founded in 1998 as one of North Carolina’s first 100 schools, Franklin Academy today is home for over 1600 students enrolled on multiple campuses for elementary, middle, and high school grades. With more than 1800 applicants on a waiting list each year, this chartered school is “the most sought after school in North Carolina” according to its leaders. I was especially intrigued with the direct instruction curriculum for the elementary students—a highly scripted curriculum with proven results. Head K-8 administrator Denise Kent explained that Franklin Academy is not for everyone—but those teachers and families who choose to be there share an undeniable passion for the work of this school.

So there you have it—two curricula in two charter schools that couldn’t be more different—from scripted direct instruction to the autonomy of child-centered, project based learning. Both schools are highly successful and courted by their families. What better examples of the choices that chartering provides! I am inspired by both of these high-quality schools that change young lives each day.

August 7, 2012: Chicago, Illinois, Legislative Summit of the National Conference of State Legislatures

Ember — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 15:21:25 +0000

“Empowering Parents through Choice: Stories from the States”: Current and past state legislators share their experience sponsoring legislation on various school choice policies including school vouchers, tuition tax credits, parent triggers and the nation’s first charter school law.

A book signing event for Zero Chance of Passage: The Pioneering Charter School Story immediately followed the panel presentation

Click here for a brief recap of the conference.

July 24: Johns Hopkins University

Ember — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 15:18:24 +0000

Click here for a brief recap of the conference.

National Charter School Conference, Roundtable Discussion

Charter School Policies and Leadership: Shaping the Next 20 Years

The School of Education sponsored “Charter School Policies and Leadership: Shaping the Next 20 Years”, a leadership conference recognizing the 20th anniversary of the charter school movement. A distinguished group of national and local charter school representatives had been invited to the July event to assess the impact of these increasingly popular non-traditional public schools. Since the first charter school opened in Minnesota in 1992, the number of schools has grown to over 5,000 in 41 states. Nationwide, more than 2 million students attend charter schools and another 600,000 are on waiting lists . The two-day event was held on July 24 and 25, on The Johns Hopkins University Homewood campus.

On day one of the conference, a number of nationally prominent representatives, including James Shelton, Assistant Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Education, Michael J. Connelly, CEO of Mosaica Education, Inc., and Ember Reichgott Junge , the state senate author of the legislation setting up the first school in 1992, discussed what they have learned about charters and where they would like the movement to be in 2032. Maryland State Senator and SOE alum, Bill Ferguson, participated in the discussion. Moderators for the various discussion groups included SOE Dean David Andrews, SOE Visiting Fellow Peter Groff and Henry Smith, Executive Director of the Office of Partnerships in Educational Transformation.

On day two, SOE invited local charter school leaders discussed their operations and the role of the university in addressing their professional development needs. Peter Groff lead a discussion on School Culture and also the Business of Charters. The conference ended with Senator Junge talking about Autonomy and Accountability: Lessons Learned and Challenges Moving Forward. Junge recently published a book on her experience in passing the initial legislation in 1991 establishing the first school – Zero Chance of Passage: The Pioneering Charter School Story.

Zero Chance of Passage Earns Top Reader Views Awards

Ember — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 20:08:35 +0000

I was delighted to learn today that Zero Chance of Passage, The Pioneering Charter School Story won several top awards in the 2012 Reader Views Reviewers Choice Awards. They are:

· Winner, Midwest Region

· Winner, Special Conversations Award for Best Regional Book of the Year
(This winner is chosen from the first place winners, fiction and nonfiction, in all regional categories around the country.)

· National Winner, History/Science Category

Many thanks to my co-publisher, Charter Schools Development Corporation, for helping to make this book possible. The pioneering story needed to be told, and I’m grateful that these regional and national awards will raise even more awareness of chartering and its origins.

For a complete listing of all Reader Views Reviewers Choice Awards, click here.

All Aboard for National School Choice Week in Chicago

Ember — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 00:43:54 +0000

On January 29 I joined the National School Choice Week Express in Chicago on its Whistle-Stop Tour across the nation. And what a celebration it was! Despite the pouring rain outside, Chicago’s Union Station was teeming with charter school parents, teachers and students. Their passion for their schools and their school choice was unmistakable! See the photos below.

I was invited by the Illinois Network of Charter Schools to join the rally. David Weinberg, pictured with me to the left, is founder and board chair of the Network. About 12.5% of all public school students in Chicago attend a public charter school. I watched with interest last year during the teachers strike in the Chicago district schools. The heart of the debate was not salary—it was about accountability. That is a good debate! Performance accountability has been fundamental to the charter school contract since chartering began twenty years ago. If performance objectives are not met, the school can be closed. That doesn’t happen with district schools.

Heartland Institute hears Zero Chance of Passage

The Heartland Institute, based in Chicago, is a national nonprofit research organization dedicated to finding and promoting “ideas that empower people.” That certainly describes chartering and public school choice, so I was pleased to be their featured speaker during National School Choice Week. The Heartland Institute has been a strong supporter of chartering with legislators around the nation. You can hear the Heartland daily podcast about the Pioneering Story of Charter Schools here, and see a video of my presentation here. Granted, the conservative audience and I did not agree on everything, but there was plenty of common ground and robust conversation. We fundamentally agree on this: sometimes the best thing that policymakers can do is step back, remove the barriers, and let citizens take the lead. That’s how we have over 5600 charter schools in the nation today! Perhaps most surprising to this Chicago audience was how chartering emerged from a Democratic legislature over union opposition, and how Minnesota is now home to the first teachers union-initiated charter school authorizer in the nation. Zero Chance is indeed feeding a new conversation from both sides of the aisle, and I love that!

The Joyce Foundation Comes to Minnesota

While in Chicago, I visited with fellow Duke University alum Butch Trusty of The Joyce Foundation, which is dedicated to “development of policies that improve the quality of life for people in the Great Lakes Region and serve as models for the rest of the country.” Butch is Senior Program Officer for the Education Program, committed to improving teacher quality, insuring children’s literacy by third grade, and supporting high quality public charter schools and other educational innovations. The Joyce Foundation is focused on improving public education in Chicago, Indianapolis, and now Minneapolis, especially by eliminating barriers that prevent low-income students and children of color from reaching their full educational potential. This is a welcome new partner in Minneapolis! The Joyce Foundation will work with MinnCAN and Minneapolis Public Schools among other partners in these efforts.

Part-Time Opportunities for Passionate Charter School Advocates

Ember — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 21:49:26 +0000

If you are passionate about charter schools and want to help spread the pioneering charter school story and its lessons for today, there is an opportunity for you!

Ember Reichgott Junge, the Minnesota state senator who authored the first charter school law in the nation, recently published Zero Chance of Passage, The Pioneering Charter School Story. She wrote this book to dispel the myths about chartering, reclaim its origins, and inspire more students and teachers to become involved in charter schools across the nation (see www.ZeroChanceOfPassage.com). Charter school leaders have been enthusiastic about this book as an entertaining reference for volunteers, staff, and community, and an important tool for board and staff development, recruiting new families, or shaping messages for media and policymakers.

To expand reach to charter school leaders and authorizers, Ember is hiring a part-time sales force—responsible college students included—to call charter school staff and board leaders in Minnesota and other states to offer them a special volume opportunity to use this book. Sellers must be available for daytime calling during school hours, and have web access for research and follow up. Compensation may be hourly or based on commissions, as preferred. Distribution partnerships with charter school state associations or other organizations are possible.

If you would like to help spread the pioneering story of charter schools in your state, please send a letter of interest to Ember Reichgott Junge at ember@visi.com. Please include the following:

~Resume
~Interest and experience with charter schools and education reform
~Sales experience, including college activities
~Volunteer activities and experience

Thank you!

Tune in for a conversation with Ember on the Judy Corrao Show

Ember — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 03:20:42 +0000

It was like a trip down memory lane when I joined Judy Corrao for a lively edition of the Judy Corrao show, to be shown Sunday, January 20 at 7:30 p.m. on Metro Cable Channel Six. Judy remembered well when Ember traveled her pioneering legislative journey to pass charter school legislation twenty years ago, as recounted in her book Zero Chance of Passage, the Pioneering Charter School Story. There are many parallels between that tumultuous journey and the politics of today, and many lessons for reflection as a new chapter begins at the statehouse with the 2013 Minnesota legislature. I hope you will tune in!

Celebrating Democrats for Education Reform in New York

Ember — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 13:06:02 +0000

For me, it was like coming home after twenty years. No, not to New York City. Home to DFER: Democrats for Education Reform. Home to a group of Democrats across the country who share my passion for education reform and improving America’s public education system so all students have opportunity to succeed.

That’s why I was so honored to be one of four recipients of DFER’s 2012 “Brian Bennett Education Warrior Award” on December 11. (www.dfer.org). I am pictured to the left with Joe Williams, Executive Director of DFER, and two other “Warriors” to his right: Rhode Island Education Commissioner Deborah Gist and New Jersey State Senator Teresa Ruiz.

A talented DFER staff member, Zo Mpofu, honored each Warrior with a special collage (image to the right): I loved it!

In remarks, I noted that the pioneering story of charter schools was indeed a story of “Democrats for Education Reform” ….20 years ago… as Democrats championed the legislation through the DFL-dominated Minnesota House and Senate. And we can’t forget the most visible Democratic champion of all – Governor Bill Clinton – who made chartering a key part of his education agenda in his 1992 presidential campaign.

Visiting New York Charter School Giants

It was also a time to visit old friends. James Merriman, Chief Executive Officer of the New York City Charter School Center, leads this Manhattan-based center (originally championed by then Schools Chancellor Joel Klein) which helps new charter schools get started, supports existing schools, and builds community support. (www.nyccharterschools.org).

Today New York City has 159 charter schools serving 56,600 students, with nearly 53,000 students waitlisted for NYC charter schools. Imagine: for every child in a NYC charter school, another child is waiting!

Finally, the trip could not be complete without visiting a man who inspired me over 20 years ago to start this pioneering charter school journey. I first met Sy Fliegel when he spoke to the Itasca Conference on Education Reform in northern Minnesota in 1988. Fliegel was then deputy superintendent in the East Harlem district of NYC. He helped transform these schools from “worst in the city” to schools of choice, attracting students from around the city. He did it by empowering teachers and providing them the autonomy they needed. To me, this was the model of a charter school. His entrepreneurial vision, backed by his track record, motivated me greatly. Today Fliegel continues to create change as President of Manhattan’s Center for Educational Innovation Public Education Association (CEI-PEA) (www.thecei-pea.org ) I love his focus on building successful public schools in both the charter and district sectors, and sharing best practices. That, I hope, is the wave of the future throughout this country!