Special assistant for Charter Schools addresses education panel

Tim Wood, special assistant to the president for Charter Schools, highlighted the successes of Grand Valley’s Charter Schools Office at a panel discussion hosted by EdTrust Midwest, an organization that generated a report on performance of charter authorizers in Michigan.

Wood presented best practices that Grand Valley’s Charter Schools Office uses to enhance student outcomes and maintain strong performance among operators and schools. 

“The hard work in our office is improving instruction and working to improve teaching and learning,” Wood said. “We’re all about making our schools better.”

Wood said that as a member of the Council of Michigan Authorizers, Grand Valley is working with state legislators to attempt to introduce law that would require charter authorizers to pass accreditation in order to authorize new schools, along with other quality and transparency requirements. 

“We have long been an advocate of authorizer quality and transparency, because when one authorizer doesn’t live up to expected standards, we are all painted with the same brush,” Wood said. “Our goal is to put good schools in neighborhoods where they are needed and continue to have high standards for the schools that we authorize.”

Grand Valley’s Charter Schools Office is the first authorizer in Michigan to be recommended for accreditation by an independent accreditation agency. The recommendation followed an intensive review by AdvancED in March. 

Amber Arellano, EdTrust’s Midwest executive director, said that Grand Valley’s Charter Schools Office earned an overall grade of ‘B’ in their report, which she said was “very impressive considering the number of schools that Grand Valley authorizes.”

The event served as a sounding board for area stakeholders in charter schools.