As all of us hopefully get ready for some fun and relaxation, we reflect upon the eventful 2022 we have had in the world of California charter school authorizing:
- Emergence from the pandemic and the many challenges of its aftermath;
- Continued implementation of recent legislative changes;
- A terrific start for the Charter Authorizer Support Initiative (CASI), thanks to the California Department of Education (CDE), CCAP’s fellow grantees at the Santa Clara County Office of Education’s Charter Schools Department, our regional partners in other county offices of education, and strategic allies like the Small School Districts’ Association (SSDA) and the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT);
- A highly energizing CCAP California Charter School Authorizers Conference in June;
- The completion of CCAP’s projects funded by the four-year federal National Dissemination grant with our counterpart authorizer associations in Colorado and Florida; and
- Lots of training, education, and networking for and by authorizers, both through their own initiative and thanks to the support of the state and federal grants as well as generous strategic investment from the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation.
2023 has more exciting things in store. To list just a few:
- The return of charter renewals, as well as more new school petitions;
- Continued growth of the authorizer network under CASI, especially, we hope, among the smallest authorizing entities;
- More authorizing resources, toolkits, and opportunities thanks to a new three-year National Dissemination grant to CCAP under the auspices of the National Network for District Authorizing (NN4DA);
- A new, broad based Anti-Fraud Task Force to strengthen fraud prevention, investigation, and prosecution; and
- Our 2023 California Charter School Authorizers Conference — see below!
Rest up this month! CCAP wishes you and yours a joyful holiday season and a very Happy New Year.