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SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today announced the appointment of Carol Barkley as director of the Charter Schools Division within the California Department of Education (CDE), effective January 1, 2008.

"Carol brings to this important position an understanding of the California Department of Education, the State Board of Education, and strong relationships with charter schools and authorizing agencies," said O'Connell. "She has been in a critical role in the Charter Schools Division since its inception nearly four years ago, and has established a statewide and national reputation as an expert in the administration of the Public Charter Schools Grant Program, a cornerstone of the Division."

Barkley has worked in state government since 1991 with the last 13 years at CDE. She served as project director over the past five years for the state's $100 million federal charter school grant program and as regional consultant for charter schools in Los Angeles County and Bay Area counties within the Charter Schools Division. The 53-year-old Sacramentan led an effort to share with other states, best practices from California that has been a pioneer in the creation of charter schools. Barkley also has extensive experience in crisis and counseling work at public and nonprofit agencies.

"I look forward to working more closely with charter school authorizers to support them in their oversight of charter schools," said Barkley. "Our Division will work to support school districts and other charter school authorizers both to maintain and improve high-quality charter schools and to quickly identify those schools that are not succeeding. We will also continue the Department's support of high-quality charter schools that are working to close the achievement gap."

California adopted public charter school legislation in 1992, becoming the second state in the nation to do so. O'Connell has long been a supporter of such schools and created a Charter Schools Division within the CDE in 2003 to address their rapid growth in popularity. There are approximately 700 charter schools and eight all-charter districts currently operating in California. About 16 percent of these are conversions of existing schools, and 84 percent are start-ups. Charter schools are located in 49 of California's 58 counties, and are spread over rural, suburban, and urban areas. Student populations are diverse and tend to reflect the student populations of the districts in which the charter schools are located. The total number of students enrolled in California's charter schools is an estimated 250,000.

Charter schools are public schools that can be models of innovation providing programs that offer everything from an emphasis on foreign languages to performing and fine arts. They may also meet the needs of students who are not well served by traditional school settings. Some charter schools develop partnerships with other public agencies, such as the California Conservation Corps, county government agencies, and local community colleges. Some provide specialized programs, such as a program to place students in work experience settings or a program of comprehensive family services. While most charter school students attend site-based programs with the look and feel of a traditional classroom, other students participate in programs with research-based alternative learning modalities, such as the Montessori methods, or programs that are tailored to the needs of the individual student, such as non-classroom-based or independent and virtual programs. In some cases, charter schools focus on dropout recovery, providing a second chance to students who wish to pursue a California high school diploma and who have not been successful in other settings.

A most recent development is an innovative, interactive Web-based map on Charter Schools in California that allows the public easy access to specific information on charter schools at Charter Schools in California Counties. For more information on CDE's Charter Schools Division, please visit Charter Schools - Specialized Programs.