For a different perspective on the CMO, listen to SIIW (School Improvement Industry Week) • The Podcast.

The charter school movement… will… make its strongest claim on mainstream American education when a national group announces the most successful fundraising campaign in the movement's history - $65 million to create 42 schools in Houston…. The money, which comes from some of the nation's foremost donors, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, would make the Knowledge Is Power Program the largest charter school organization in the country. KIPP… has made significant gains in the math and reading achievement of low-income students in most of its 52 schools across the country….

The number of independently run, taxpayer-supported schools has grown rapidly, to nearly 4,000, since the movement began in 1991. But that counts for only about 5 percent of public schools, and most have been small and overlooked…. National studies suggest that students on average do not perform better in charter schools than they do in regular public schools, but that has not diminished the popularity of high-achieving programs such as KIPP, Green Dot, YES in Texas or Amistad in Connecticut.

KIPP began 13 years ago in Houston as a fifth-grade experimental class taught by Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin, then in their 20s…. KIPP officials said donations for the Houston expansion included $30 million from Houston Endowment, the Hines Interests Limited Partnership and philanthropists Laura and John Arnold. The Gates Foundation pledged $10 million and the Walton Family Foundation, $8.7 million…. GAP clothing stores founders Doris and Don Fisher -  KIPP's leading backers since 2000 - pledged $5.3 million….

Although KIPP receives tax dollars for each student it enrolls, private money is often needed to acquire facilities and hire staff at the outset. KIPP officials said they need on average between $1,000 and $1,500 per student above what they receive from public sources to support special features such as longer school days and week-long field trips to other cities….

Nelson Smith, president of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools…. "In the final analysis," he said, "charter schools will be sustained by state and local efforts that include private as well as public funding."

Jay Mathews, Washington Post, March 20.