NATIONAL CHARTER SCHOOL LEADER JOINS INSTITUTE

							NATIONAL CHARTER SCHOOL LEADER JOINS INSTITUTE
Susan Barker, Educator and Accountability Authority, Named Senior Fellow



Contact:
Charter Schools Institute
State University of New York
518-433-8277

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, June 13, 2001



Susan Miller Barker, a nationally recognized leader in the approval and oversight of public charter schools, has
joined the State University of New York's Charter Schools Institute as Senior Fellow, Institute President Robert J.
Bellafiore announced today.

"Susan Barker possesses a wealth of experience in all aspects of the approval, monitoring and operation of public
charter schools," said Bellafiore. "She will be a key member of the Institute team as we continue to work with
visionary educators to help public charter schools improve educational opportunities for children."

Ms. Barker comes to the Institute after a successful tenure as Massachusetts Associate Commissioner of Education
for Charter Schools, where she headed that state's sole charter school authorizing office. In this position, she has
been responsible for authorization and oversight of all 47 public charter schools in Massachusetts, as well as
administration of a federal $10 million charter school assistance program and charter school policy development and
guidance.

"In Massachusetts, public charter schools provide high quality public school alternatives to children and their
families," Ms. Barker said. "I am excited about bringing this experience to New York, and building on the State
University's impressive record as a charter school leader."

As Institute Senior Fellow, Ms. Barker will play a key role in the development and implementation of public charter
schools' Accountability Plans and monitoring schools' progress against these plans, as well as help develop the State
University's charter school renewal process, review applications for new charter schools and help evaluate charter
school's educational effectiveness. Ms. Barker for the last two years has evaluated charter school applications before
the Institute.

Ms. Barker is a nationally recognized expert in public school accountability. As Associate Commissioner for Charter
Schools, Ms. Barker has also been responsible for implementing Massachusetts' nationally recognized charter school
accountability model, analyzing charter performance from charter granting to renewal. She has also served as a lead
inspector for the Massachusetts Charter School Accountability Initiative.

Prior to her work in Massachusetts, Ms. Barker was Assistant Director of Modern Red Schoolhouse design at
Hudson Institute, a public policy research organization in Indianapolis and Washington, D.C. Modern Red
Schoolhouse is a comprehensive, nationwide school reform project focused on rigorous academic standards.

Ms. Barker also was selected to sit on Hudson Institute's National Task Force for Standards and Assessment where
she worked with administrators, teachers, and community members in Miami, Memphis, Philadelphia, New York,
Indianapolis, Boston, and San Antonio to refine and implement the academic standards and rigorous student
assessments of the Modern Red Schoolhouse school reform design.

Before joining Hudson Institute, Ms. Barker was a teacher and technology coordinator responsible for curriculum
development and integration of technology and curriculum at Indian Creek Science and Technology Discovery
School in the Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township, Indianapolis. An original staff member at this
Blue Ribbon school, she provided leadership as the head of the School Improvement Team, Performance-Based
Accreditation Team leader, director of Local and Regional Media Fair, Arts in Education coordinator and chair of
the Indian Creek 2000 initiative. In 1990, Ms. Barker received an Excellence in Education Award.

Ms. Barker has provided workshops and seminars for the Hoosier Association of Science Teachers, Minneapolis
Education Association, American Association of School Administrators and the Core Knowledge Foundation. Also,
she worked for IBM Corp. as an educational instructional specialist, and was a visiting lecturer at Butler University.

Ms. Barker has a master's degree in administration, planning, and social policy from Harvard, as well as master's and
bachelor's degrees from Indiana University. She is currently a doctoral candidate in administration, planning and
social policy at Harvard, with her research on K-12 educational governance and accountability. The 1999 Edward
Meade Fellow, she is a member of Harvard's Urban Superintendents Program.

Charter schools are innovative public schools of choice created by parents, educators, civic leaders and other
community leaders, and open to all students. Operating under a five-year license, public charter schools receive
waivers from many state regulations in exchange for greater academic and fiscal accountability. The waivers allow
schools flexibility in setting curriculum, staffing, hours, budgeting and more. In exchange, charter schools agree to
set and meet measurable goals for student achievement or face losing their charter.

New York has 23 public charter schools this year, educating some 6,000 students. Those include 16 charter schools
authorized by the Trustees. Another 14 public charter schools are scheduled to open in September.