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Charter Schools on Military Installations Report to Congress

The Senate Appropriations Committee directed on page 15 of Senate Report 112-29, which accompanies H.R. 2055, the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, 2012, the Secretary of Defense to "conduct a study of charter schools located on domestic military installations and report to the Committees on Appropriations of both Houses of Congress on domestic locations where charter schools could substantially improve the quality of education for children of military families while meeting the unique needs of this mostly transient population."

This report contains an overview of charter schools in the United States, and a profile of the seven charter schools on domestic military installations. In regards to the second request, to "identify locations where charter schools could substantially improve the quality of education...", local educational agencies (LEAs) are not required to report data on the specific schools military-connected students attend and the academic performance of these students.

There are currently seven charter schools located on military installations in the U.S. in six different states. These charter schools are:

• Jacksonville Lighthouse Charter School: Flightline Upper Academy, Little Rock Air Force Base (AFB), Arkansas;
• Sonoran Science Academy Davis-Monthan, Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona;
• Manzanita Public Charter School, Vandenberg AFB, California;
• Wheatland Charter Academy, Beale AFB, California;
• Sigsbee Charter School, Naval Air Station Key West, Florida;
• Belle Chasse Academy, Naval Air Station/Joint Reserve Station New Orleans, Louisiana;
• Imagine Andrews Public Charter School, Joint Base Andrews-Naval Air Facility, Maryland.

The seven charter schools serve a total of 2,498 students, with about 1,770 (71%) of these students being military-connected. Four of the charters are their own LEA - Flightline Upper Academy, Manzanita Public Charter School, Sonoran Science Academy Davis-Monthan, and Belle Chasse Academy. They are authorized by the state board of education, a state charter school board, or in the case of Manzanita Public Charter School, an LEA, while the other three schools are authorized by and part of an LEA. Two of the charter schools - Imagine Andrews Public Charter School and Flightline Upper Academy - opened in the fall of 2011 and are in their first year of operation. Five of the schools are associated primarily with AFBs and the other two are on Navy installations. Only one of the schools includes high school grades, Sonoran Science Academy Davis-Monthan, which plans to expand to a full middle and high school by SY 2013-14. The other six charter schools are either elementary or middle schools.

Each charter school on a military installation has its own unique story. The profiles in this report provide a summary of how the school started, some of the challenges they faced and overcame, their demographics, student achievement (if available), and other pertinent information.