About Us!
The Eastbank Collaborative of Charter Schools (ECCS) is a formal alliance of 10 public schools in Orleans Parish which promotes public charter schools as a permanent option for children. The ECCS is a 501c3 working to maintain the maximum autonomy of each member school, while protecting the long-term structure, durability and operation of all charters in Louisiana. Also, ECCS is a voluntary-network dedicated to keeping principals and their charter boards “in charge” through information and advocacy, shared services, and reduced costs.
Eastbank Collaborative of Charter Schools aims to:
1.
Decrease costs by exploring economies of scale
2.
Share operational resources and information among schools including finance, legal, PR, teacher recruiting and staff development
3.
Offer operational grants to support efficient school operations
4.
Develop a common voice for charter school issues
5.
Monitor federal, state and local school board activities
Accomplishments to Date
1.
Sharing Collaborative-provided services such as legal counsel, facilities consultation, advertising, IT services, accounting services and public relations
2.
Providing a centralized online mechanism for charters to find and hire quality, certified teachers through the ECCS website, where teaching vacancies are matched with posted resumes
3.
Sponsoring an annual Charter School Teacher Fair
4.
Successfully changing the Orleans Parish School Board’s policy on the use of accounting software for charter schools
5.
Purchasing and training member schools in Blackbaud accounting software
6.
Offering an annual Legislative Agenda to deal with issues of management and operation for Louisiana charters
7.
Partnering with the School Leadership Center of New Orleans to provide professional development for member school principals and their leadership teams
8.
Secured 30 percent of federal Restart Funds, totaling $3 million
9.
Ensuring allocation of $700,000 in federal Hurricane Education Assistance Program (HEAP) to charters
10.
Providing briefings on issues such as MFP (Minimum Foundation Program), finances and End of Course testing (EOC) .
11.
Helped Orleans Parish School Board in 2008 successfully renew property revenues dedicated to all public schools
12.
Partnering with the SUNS (Serving the Unique Needs of Students) Center, to help every charter school provide equal opportunities to students with learning challenges
13.
Operating and maintaining a charter school blog at http://blog.nola.com/charterschools/ to disseminate information for member and non-member charter schools and related entities
