CharterNation Podcast

In #ChartersAt30 Part 3, we bring you a special Change Makers interview featuring Nina Rees, the President and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. For the past nine years, Nina has deepened bipartisan relationships in Washington D.C. to secure political support for charters across the country.  CCSA's Myrna Castrejón sits down with Nina to talk about lessons learned from the pandemic and how California continues to lead the way when it comes to charter school advocacy, policies and innovation. In this episode, we also take you to two outstanding charter public schools in honor of National Charter Schools Week. The first stop: St HOPE's Public School 7 Elementary in Sacramento that's working to grow the next generation of Black and Latino scholars. The second stop: The Multicultural Learning Center in the San Fernando Valley that's ensuring its students are bi-literate in Spanish and English by the 8th grade. 

In #ChartersAt30 Part 2, we bring you a special Change Makers interview featuring Jed Wallace, the longest serving president and CEO of the CCSA. Jed was instrumental in building the charter school movement in California. Also, you'll hear key takeaways from this year's Portrait of the Movement Report, the annual study produced by CCSA. This year the study provides us a current picture of the charter school educational landscape in the state, and how charters are continuing to reimagine education, offering unique and cutting-edge programs that influence the public school system. Finally, we continue our Face of Charter School Success alumni series by highlighting Stephanie Orozco, an alumna from Math and Science Preparatory College in Los Angeles. 

Thirty years ago, the 1992 California Charter Schools Act made its way through the legislature and was signed into law, launching a public education movement that has benefitted millions of students statewide. To celebrate this milestone CCSA's CharterNation Podcast is releasing three special podcast episodes beginning this week featuring interviews with influential leaders who played an instrumental role in establishing and growing California's charter school movement. The episodes will also feature the personal stories of charter school alumni who are part of CCSA's Face of Charter School Success series. #ChartersAt30 Part 1  Change Makers interview feat. CCSA's President/CEO Myrna Castrejón interviewing Caprice Young, the founding president/CEO of CCSA. A Tribute to Gary Heart feat. former state Sen. Ember Reichgott Junge The Face of Charter School Success: Aryanna Baytop, Granada Hills Charter HS graduate, freshman at Tulane University

Ensuring more Black educators are leading and teaching in public schools. That's the topic of this week's episode as we honor of Black History Month in February. Our special guest is Laura McGowan-Robinson, the founder and CEO of the Diversity in Leadership Institute based in Los Angeles. Her organization is working to build an effective pipeline of Black teachers and administrators in California. She talks about the systemic challenges that current and aspiring Black educators face. Then, we hear from Christiana Cobb-Dozier, a Black school counselor at Resolute Academy located in the South Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts. She talks about how she's working to help students manage grief, depression and anxiety. Later in the episode, we switch gears and head to San Diego County for a slice of charter school like at The Learning Choice Academy (TLC), a hybrid homeschool thats working to grow a new generation of "tiny home" builders and engineers.  

Happy New Year 2022 from the California Charter Schools Association! It's the start of a new legislative season in Sacramento. Governor Gavin Newsom kicked things off by releasing his proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year. We hear from CCSA's Vice President Colin Miller who gives us more details about the proposed spending plan – and what it all means for charter public schools.  In our Change Makers segment, CCSA's President and CEO Myrna Castrejón interviews Ted Lempert, Executive Director of Children Now, a research and advocacy organization in Oakland. Lempert talks about education funding today under the state's Local Control Funding Formula and what his organization is doing to ensure all students get a high-quality, equitable education. Finally, we bring you an audio postcard from Para Los Ninos in Los Angeles which is offering digital literacy classes to their Spanish speaking parents. Parents learn everything from sending an email to downloading Zoom so they can join meetings. 

In this special episode of the CharterNation Podcast, we bring you a rebroadcast of a CCSA Facebook Live Event that took place on Dec. 9th and focused on how charter public schools are supporting the mental health and wellness of student amid the pandemic. The event was timed to the release of CCSA's 2021 Portrait of the Movement report called Are the Kids OK? How California Charter Public Schools Support Social-Emotional Wellbeing Schoolwide. CCSA's President/CEO Myrna Castrejón hosted the discussion. Special guests included Jennifer Kress, CCSA's Sr. Managing Director of School Performance, Accountability and Research who authored the report; Trisha Lancaster, Executive Director of SOAR Charter Academy in San Bernardino; and Dr. Debra Shroeder, Executive Director of Vibrant Minds Charter School in Anaheim.   

In this episode, host Ana Tintocalis takes listeners to Larchmont Charter School in Los Angeles to learn about a simple yet powerful social and emotional strategy: talking circles. We also preview an upcoming report produced by the California Charter Schools Association called "Are the Kids OK? How California Charter Public Schools Support Social-Emotional Wellbeing Schoolwide."  In the Change Makers segment, CCSA's President and CEO Myrna Castrejón interviews Republican State Senator Scott Wilk, the Republican State Senator who represents the Antelope Valley, Santa Clarita and Victor Valley regions. At the start of this legislative year, he was elected as Senate Minority Leader. Castrejón and Wilk discuss the statewide enrollment decline and learning loss. 

Is homeschooling the next wave in education? That's the topic of this week's Change Makers interview on the CharterNation Podcast Episode 5. CCSA's President/CEO Myrna Castrejón interviews Lance Izumi, Senior Director of the Center for Education at the Pacific Research Institute about his new book, "The Homeschool Boom: Pandemic, Policies and Possibilities." Then, we spend time with Amelie Caswell, a high school senior who was on the verge of suicide until she found Motivated Youth Academy (MY Academy), a nonclassroom-based charter public schools that works to give at-promise students a second chance. And finally, we hear from Angella Martinez, the CEO of KIPP SoCal, about why she believes  each and every public school campus should be equipped with a COVID Response Team. 

PEOPLE POWER! That's the theme of Episode 4 of CharterNation. You'll hear from three individuals who are working in the trenches of Los Angeles to make sure students can access high-quality school options or get the social and emotional support they need. First, as part of our Change Makers interview series, CCSA's President/CEO Myrna Castrejón interviews Jay Artis-Wright, the new executive director of Parent Revolution. Then, spend time with a Christiana Cobb-Dozier also  known as "Ms. CD" by her students. She's a school counselor at Resolute Academy Charter School in the Watts community of South L.A. Christiana shares how she's helping students manage grief and anxiety so they can stay focused in school.And finally, we hear from Alfredo Rubalcava, the CEO/Superintendent of Magnolia Public Schools which has just launched its Portrait of a Graduate initiative.

In honor of Latino Heritage Month, we dedicate an entire episode to understanding how charter public schools are working to transform the lives of Latino students in California. In a special Change Makers segment, CCSA's Myrna Castrejón interviews Marcos Aguilar, one of the visionaries behind Anahuacalmecac International University Preparatory of North America in East Los Angeles. AIUPNA is perhaps the only charter public school in the U.S. to teach indigenous cultures, languages and native ways of knowing.   CharterNation host Ana Tintocalis is then joined by Erin Abshere, CCSA's Vice President of School Performance, Accountability, and Research who offers key takeaways from CCSA's new research brief Two Charter Public Schools, One Mission: Latino Academic Excellence. This special episode then takes listeners to the Central Valley to find out how a career-tech charter high school is changing the way Latino students see their future. 

How can we transform the state's public education system so kids get the wraparound services they desperately need? That's one of the topics in Episode 2 of the CharterNation Podcast which features a Change Makers interview with Maria Echaveste, the President and CEO of the Opportunity Institute based in Berkeley. Ms. Echaveste was a former aide to President Bill Clinton during the inception and passage of federal charter school legislation. She also reflects on that time in public education. Also, CharterNation Podcast host Ana Tintocalis is joined by CCSA's Director of Data Analysis Jonathan Slakey and Learn4Life's Caprice Young to talk about charter school enrollment trends in the state. 

In this inaugural episode, Myrna Castrejón, President/CEO of the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA), interviews former Mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa in a regular segment called Change Makers featuring trailblazers and champions of educational equity in the Golden State. Villaraigosa's interview is part of a special series of Change Makers discussions with influential Latinx leaders during Latino Heritage Month. Also in Episode 1: CharterNation host Ana Tintocalis previews the types of charter school interviews and stories that listeners will hear in Season 1. 

Recent history has made one thing clear: charter school communities up and down the state are leaving us feeling inspired and uplifted. And as families navigate yet another challenging school year, it's also apparent that they, and educators, need a trusted source of news, information, and research that is impacting charter school policies at the local and state level.That's why we're thrilled to announce the launch of our CharterNation Podcast—the only podcast dedicated to California's charter school movement! We hope you'll join us for our first episode (EP1 S1) which debuts on Thursday, Sept. 16.