ACADEMIC/ACCOUNTABILITY ACADEMIES 2002

SUMMER ACADEMIC/ACCOUNTABILITY ACADEMIES The Charter School Resource Center's Academic/Accountability Academies 2002 will focus on helping charters prepare for the new Texas assessments in reading, writing, and math. The workshops will be held in Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio at no cost to the charters. These workshops will cover grades K - 11 and offer excellent in-service for the 2002-2003 school year. Watch the Friday Fax® for specific titles and dates of upcoming workshops.

THE SEVENTH ANNUAL TEXAS CHARTER SCHOOL CONFERENCE will be May 5 & 6, 2003 at the Renaissance Hotel in Austin. We will be celebrating Charter Schools Week 2003 during this event. As you plan your 2002-2003 school calendar you may want to consider scheduling staff development days on May 5 & 6, 2003 so many of your teachers will be able to attend. Starting July 2, 2002 you may begin making your hotel room reservations by calling 512-343-2626. To receive the $125 room rate with up to four people in a room, let them know you are with the Charter School Conference.

FOUNDATION SCHOOL PROGRAM (FSP) SOFTWARE TRAINING School finance specialists in each ESC Region will soon be providing training on the newly developed web-based, interactive system which will replace the current submission practices for submitting the School Calendar(s), District Summary Attendance Reports (Superintendent's Reports), and State Compensatory Enrollment data to the Division of State Funding. This new system is the mechanism from which future ESP payments to the charter schools will be generated. Please alert the personnel who are responsible for these submissions, either at the corporate and/or campus level(s), to training opportunities in your region. The first item that will be submitted through the web-based FSP system is the Charter School Calendar(s). The due date for the calendar(s) is August 2, 2002. A template to use in planning the calendar is located at www.tea.state.tx.us/school.finance/charter/chrt03.html. Please use the template to assist in planning the charter school calendar only. You no longer need to submit paper copies of the calendar to the Division of State Funding. For questions call Nora Rainey at 512-463-9238.

NATIONAL CHARTER SCHOOL SURVEY At the first of the year you should have received a two-page National Charter School Survey from the Center for Education Reform in Washington, D.C. If you haven't already, please fill out the survey and return it to them in the envelope that was provided. For additional information call 202-521-2118.