A View from the Boardroom
Over the course of our first 10 years, Chicago International has grown as an organization, both in capacity and capability. The model that the founding board envisioned for Chicago International has proven very worthy. Not only has the model been fiscally sound and efficient, but it also has been scalable across the current 11 campuses with four school management organizations (SMOs) running the day-to-day campus operations.
While the landscape has changed significantly over the past 10 years, much has remained the same. The funding gap remains a constant source of frustration for charter schools. Sadly, we only receive about 80 percent of the funding of traditional public schools (90 percent of basic educational funding, but no funds for capital and no Title 1b through 9 funding). Despite this challenge, Chicago International continues to outperform the local Chicago Public Schools. Imagine the achievement gains our students could make if we had equitable funding! We can dream, but we are far too prudent to hold out for increased government funding.
Even without equitable funding, Chicago International's Board implemented our strategic plan to build a performance evaluation system to track growth for each of our students, individually and cohorts of students, collectively. This system provides timely feedback for the board to review, but more importantly, it gives the teachers specific data related to students' strengths and needs. These data will enable teachers to improve coursework and differentiate instruction—as well as evaluate the SMOs and their performance. The implementation of the performance evaluation system was an integral step in our journey. Over the course of the school year, we are able to view the progress of individual students; the entire grade; and the aggregate student body on each campus.
If these measures meet the high standards we have set, Chicago International will continue to seek out expansion opportunities. It is imperative that the student achievement results are realized before future expansion plans are sought. As we embark on the second decade of the charter school movement, our mission remains the same: see that every child in the city of Chicago, regardless of economic status, has choices in high-quality, college preparatory education.
With a waiting list of 2,400 students, we know there is considerable demand for Chicago International. How we meet this demand is the question that the board must answer. The simple answer is to open more campuses in underserved neighborhoods. We agree, as long as we continue to see positive results in the classroom. This solution is challenging because of the lack of quality school-ready buildings across the city, especially in traditionally underserved communities. As a result, Chicago International continues to look internally to improve and strengthen the educational product we deliver to our students and families every school day.
As Board president and a founding board member, I continue to be impressed by the hard work of all the teachers and the people who guide and support them on a daily basis. The work they do inspires me, but more importantly, their work inspires their students. Come back on a regular basis to read about our teachers and students and the unique ways they are learning together.
Sincerely,
Craig W. Henderson
President of the Board
Chicago International Charter School
