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Executive Director's Message
PCCS celebrates 2007, the 10th year of Pennsylvania's charter law! Starting with 1,800 students in six schools in 1997, Pennsylvania's charter school count stands at 120 schools with more than 60,000 students attending. Pennsylvania's charter school student enrollment growth continues to average more than an astounding 10 percent per year. Interest in starting new schools remains high, with 42 applications for the federally funded planning grants, administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, submitted in 2006. More than two dozen groups usually attend the annual "Start a Charter School" Workshop sponsored by the PCCS at Drexel University every year.
PCCS is an organization of the state's charter schools. Membership is by schools. 20 schools from every region of the state are represented on the PCCS Board. Strategic Planning recently completed by the PCCS Board reveals that we going to focus on three broad areas: Advocacy, Parents & Students, and School Services. Our new website is organized into these three areas: 1) Our member schools want new schools developed for the more than 26,000 students on waiting list that cannot attend a public school of their choice. 2) Our member schools want families involved in the start and operation of their schools and the new schools. And 3), our member schools need low cost, high quality professional services to help them development and maintain quality education programs. The PCCS mission is to vigorously pursue these goals.
Entering my fourth year as Executive Director, my aim is to develop the Coalition in its ability to achieve all three goals. In doing this, a personal objective is to do it with as much energy as I see in the leadership of our 120 charter schools. Given the vibrancy of this leadership, this is a very high standard to meet!
William Tomasco, Executive Director
Pennsylvania Coalition of Charter Schools
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