Florida Charter School "Boom": Warning Signs

There is a charter boom going on with too many oddities:

1) 15 of 30 "F" schools in Florida are charters. "Then last year in Florida, charter schools received 15 out of 31 of all the failing FCAT grades that went to public schools. Charter elementary and middle schools were seven times more likely to get an F than traditional public schools."
Read full article here.

2) VP Joe Biden's brother is associated with charter Mavericks HS, which has accounting and performance issues - plus a desire to open 100. Third whistle blower on alleged fraud emerges. Frank Biden has real estate experience.
Read full article here.


3) Parents signed up for an arts-oriented charter, but were not told of its association with Scientology.
Read more here.


4) Duval School Board, in North Florida, followed the rules on charter applications and denied an application. The charter took it to an Charter School Appeal Board established by the State School Board. The appeal board sided with the school board and against the charter. The charter took it to the State Board (all members are appointed), which overturned the appeal board and the district. The district is taking this one to court. What are the rules? Who decides? Murky. More loss of local control?
Read more here.

5) Then there was the recent Parent Trigger mess. Florida residents were denied opportunity to speak at committee meetings and at hearings to give opposing views, while proponents from outside the State were given that access. This is hardly an example of democracy. The good news is that the bill failed. It deserved to fail...the "devil is in the details."
Read more here and here.

6) Florida took RT3 funding and school districts are under strain trying to meet the requirements.

7) In Florida, former Governor Jeb Bush and his Foundation exert too much power.  The Director of his foundation, Patricia Levesque, is adviser to Governor Scott. Her husband is also General Counsel to the Florida House. When voting on charter bills, he advised no conflict of interest nor ethics violation for legislators with personal ties or ties via family to vote on those bills IF the bill did not affect only that family business. Read more here.

8) Last week the Florida DOE issued a report on public charter progress. While some point to the report as clear evidence that charters are "better" than traditional schools, the report itself does not identify variances. One critical factor is that of the total number of public charters in Florida, the performance of only 40% are included in the report. The remaining 60% are not required to be "graded" because the size of the student population is too small to be statistically relevant and under Florida law are excluded. So while we applaud student achievement, growth, and progress wherever it exists, taxpayers still have no information that affirms the disruption leads to any return on investment. There are too many unknowns to recommend Florida's charter boom as a scalable model to replicate.
Read more here.


What happens in Florida is worth watching. These initiatives are heralded in other states as models to follow; however, they do not hold up under scrutiny. Legislators should analyze carefully what is in the best interests of their states students, parents, community members, and taxpayers. Careful deliberation and legislative accountability is not a sign of being anti-charter nor anti-accountability; but rather a sign of doing the job they were elected to do.

Florida Parent Trigger: Too many holes

Parents, community members, and taxpayers pushed back on the Florida "Parent Empowerment" bill and those efforts were successful. The bill died on the last day of the legislative session in a tie vote, 20 to 20. The Miami Herald reported last minute arm twisting by former Governor Jeb Bush to influence a change of position by one Senator to ensure its passage in case the bill came up for a re-vote in the final hours of the legislative session. That did not happen and the bill can be declared officially dead and buried for this year.

Much has been reported regarding the way the process of the bill unfolded including the testimony provided by non-Florida parents and residents and lobbying by non-Florida non-profits to the exclusion of Florida parent groups such as, the Florida PTA and Florida League of Women Voters. The pressure injected all the way to the end is an indicator of how much money was riding on its passage.

Analysis of the bill itself received less attention. The Thursday night Senate debate included discussion of over 20 amendments, which exposed the bill as something far other than a thoughtfully crafted piece of legislation. The amendments were intended to close serious gaps, but instead made clear the bill was more akin to a piece of Swiss cheese than a movement toward parent empowerment, local control, and fiscal responsibility.

On its merits, this bill is little more than changing the deck chairs. As long as classrooms are test-centric and standardized environments for test preparation instead of student-centered environments of learning, there is no real reform.

The Florida legislature has a penchant for "pass it now, fix it later" legislating.
Proponents of this bill used the familiar and worn-out education reformer narrative that answers valid questions with disdain and insults. Why not answer the question with facts? Opponents were characterized as "conspiracy theorists" and concerns dismissed and ignored.

Undoubtedly, the bill will return next year. However, Florida parents, community members, and taxpayers learned much this year; and as others with legitimate concerns about education reform initiatives nationally, becoming more visible and active in federal and state-level shaping of education. The push back is real and growing.

Related article: Parent Trigger: "Scholastic Snake Oil with Deliciously Deceptive Spin on Parent Involvement."

Value Added Measurement: Wanted Professional Palm Reader

Want to bet on a horse? Put your trust in a bookie whose job it is to predict winners after studying potential to win based on breeding, training, and standings in recent races. Want to invest in the stockmarket? Put your trust in a stockbroker whose job it is to predict companies that show signs of being a good investment, with potential growth, and a stable financial structure.

Want to know about a child's school achievement. Put your trust in an algorithm, a formula which will predict how much progress the student should make based on a complicated equation of 10 factors, but do not ask how it works. Florida determined that socio-economics would not be included as one of the 10 predicting factors.

StateImpact Florida and the Miami Herald went looking for some explanation on how it will work and they got this answer:

"No lay person, teacher or reporter can understand it. So just trust us."

This formula will be used in Florida as the basis for merit pay this way:

The formula is designed to predict how students will score on the state’s standardized exam—the FCAT. And then it adjusts teachers’ pay depending on how well their students measure up against that predicted score.

Until recently, for $190 Chinese parents signed their children up for "palm-reading tests that could allegedly tell a child's intelligence and professional aptitude." Palm-reading tests have been determined to be pseudoscience and Chinese educational authorities banned the practice.

"Predicting is not an equation."

Related posts:
SB736/HB7019: The trouble with value-added measurement
NUT Report: "We have to do something."
Student Data Collection: Purpose, Costs, Risks?

Charter Schools 101: Buyer Beware

Although Florida parents have been testing the charter school waters over the years, I was unable to locate a comprehensive analysis that examined how many parents stayed, how long did they stay, and if they left, where did they take the children? Anecdotal evidence indicates that some parents have been satisfied with their charter school experiences; others not so much. The forces of power, access, and money fueling the spike in charter school expansion are certainly counting on more of the former and less of the latter.

To that end, it is not surprising to learn that the Walton Foundation is funding a new Florida lobbying organization with members, such as KIPP, a nationally recognized charter management company, and Patty Levesque from Jeb Bush's Foundation and also an education advisor to Governor Scott.

Other players in the scene include Charter USA's CEO Jonathon Hage, who was also on Governor Scott's education transition team. Charter USA will challenge Polk County's decision to reject the application to open charters in that county.

Recently, House Representative Erik Fresen was cleared by the Ethics Commission, which investigated a complaint asserting he failed to disclose a conflict of interest as it pertained to SB7195, a bill making it easier for charters to expand. Supporting the complaint is the fact that Fresen's sister and brother-in-law work for Academia, which operates 12 charters in Florida. The Ethics Commission found that since passage of SB7195 affects all charter schools and not just Academia, no conflict of interest applies. Representative Fresen is a member of several education committees. Read more here.

Then, there is Vice President Joe Biden's youngest brother, Frank Biden, who is president and director of development for Mavericks High School, charter management company. Biden plans to open 100 more charters for at risk and high school drop outs in the next year and a half.

The Mavericks High School charter has an interesting focus and since they already operate 8 schools, I decided to see what information was easily available that would help a parent make an informed decision. I discovered that Mavericks has been operating in Florida since 2007, but I was unable to uncover performance data, retention information, or graduation rates.

How will parents make informed decisions?

This question must be on the minds of many right now. According to one report, Florida parents are showing greater interest in charter schools. The same report provides a questions for parents to consider before making a decision to change from a public school to a charter. Here's that list of questions:

Here are some questions to ask when deciding whether a charter is right for your family and, if so, which one.

What is the basis of the charter school's curriculum, and how does it incorporate Florida's common-core requirements?

How is learning evaluated? Do students get report cards or grades? Do they use books or iPads?

How experienced are the teachers, the principal and other administrators?

Does the school offer extracurricular activities such as music, art or sports?

Who sits on the school board, and when does it meet?

Aside from state and federal funding, where does the school get its money: community fundraising, private foundations?

How successful is the school? How long has it been around? Is it financially sound, and how do students perform on state-mandated tests?

Because charter schools typically don't provide transportation, is the location convenient?

Although the list puts school success and track record near the bottom of the list, I think parents would be wise in this environment to move that question up and be prepared to make a personal visit to the charter and a call or two to the school district office to get some answers to that question. Each charter stands on its own, so it is hard to say if Florida-wide performance is even available. There is much to consider and charters are not for everyone.

In short, buyer beware. There is much to consider.

Charter Schools: Parent Caution Advisory

While charter school expansion continues in Florida, so do the challenges to local decision-making. KIPP is a nationally recognized charter operator; however, KIPP Jacksonville operates a middle school with an "F" performance. The charter's application to open two new charters was questioned by the Duval School Board, which asked KIPP to explain why they should approve an application for more schools when they are operating one with an "F". Duval will vote on the application on November 1; however, KIPP has said they will appeal if their application is rejected.

Parents, community members, and taxpayers rely on school boards, who have the mandated responsibility of approving applications to open charters, monitoring them, and closing those who are non-performing. The application itself does not include reporting on a charter's performance history. Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson does not believe the application should include such information; however he does believe that school boards must consider charter performance as part of their decision-making process. In a Florida Department of Education statement, Robinson's views were clarified:

The Commissioner contends that performance of charter schools should be taken into consideration prior to any new charter school development because providing a quality learning environment for all students is paramount.

The Florida Times-Union quotes Greg Richmond, president of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, who said that "a poorly performing school shouldn’t be approved to open new schools."

“KIPP nationally is a great organization, but every school still has to earn its own way,” Richmond said.

“So if you’re an 'F’ school, you’ve got to bring that grade up before you can start talking about opening some more schools.”

The November 1 decision is one to follow as well as Charter USA's challenge to the recent Polk County School Board's rejection of their application.

With mounting challenges to a local school board decision, what can parents rely on to make informed decisions on school choice?

NUT Report: 89% Florida schools fail to make AYP requirements

NCLB legislation requires the nations schools to achieve 100% proficiency in assessments or be sanctioned (which means funding cuts). The US Congress agrees that the bar they legislated is unreasonable, but have so far made no adjustments. Under this criteria, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan warned that 82% of the nation's schools would be designated as failing; however, the Secretary has the power to give "waivers." Legislators have been critical of Duncan's waiver procedures, which require adherence to Race to the Top objectives that have not yet been legislated.

Education Week reporters reviewed data and determined that 89% of Florida schools are out of compliance with NCLB mandate to reach 100% proficiency through standardized testing data. Will Florida also request a waiver?

Of note, Scathing Purple Musings reviews effects of unfunded mandates on local districts here and here. The only way mandates will be funded is through increase in revenues at the local level. The mechanism is through property taxes. From Washington D.C. to Tallahassee, fiscal irresponsibility continues.

Watching Flagler School Board Colleen Conklin and possible lawsuit against the State over school funding. Read her rationale here.

Who do they think they are fooling?

Florida Test Results: You Cheated, You Lied

Jaime Escalante came to mind today. Remember the movie Stand and Deliver, the story of the Los Angeles teacher, who taught AP Calculus to kids from a not so good Los Angeles neighborhood? He helped them pass the AP exam, but the outstanding results were called into question. The kids took the test again, and passed. The movie is based on a true story.

Several Florida school districts woke up to bad news this morning. Scathing Purple Musings reports that 100 students at Volusia and Flagler schools are being reviewed for possible cheating.

After a review using statistical analyses conducted by the Caveon Test Security, 14 counties have been contacted by the Florida Department of Education to investigate for cheating due to "unusual high levels of erasures." The districts are: Broward, Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, Duval, Flagler, Gadsden, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Lee, Leon, Manatee, Orange, Polk, and Seminole.

http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2011/06/florida_department_of_education_broward_palm_beach_schools.php
UPDATE: Go here to keep on top of this fast-moving story.

No love today for FCAT or End-of-Course tests it seems:

SB1620/HB7197: Digital Learning Bill Passes

Late Monday, I noticed that the House ditched its version of so-called digital learning and voted on a new bill that matched the Senate version. Last week I read the 50 plus page Senate bill and called my legislator to voice my concerns. The entire Brevard delegation supported the bill. As written, the bill opens the door for outsourcing virtual charters. The requirements for teachers include a type of certification for individuals who may live outside the United States, but no Florida teacher certification requirements are needed. These virtual charters do not require a physical presence in Florida; however, all who offer services must be approved by the Florida Department of Education. This bill is also an unfunded mandate requiring school districts to provide access for those who do not have the proper equipment and internet access. The bill was introduced by Florida Senator Anitere Flores, who is listed as a member of the digital learning committee on the education foundation established by former Governor Jeb Bush.

On another note, UCF won a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grant to develop national standards for blended learning that seems will apply to higher learning. Blended learning means students attend class AND complete some coursework online. This approach has years of supportive research as the most successful application of online learning and so noted on the UCF website. More students successfully finish courses in blended learning than other formats. SB1620/HB7197 does not acknowledge the research and takes a step backward in successful application of virtual capabilities.

This blog marks #50 and coincides with the near end of the Florida legislative session. So-called education reform sped through legislatures nationwide with barely any public discussion and even less media coverage. Non-public entities with no accountability are establishing national policy on national standards, national assessment, and national curriculum. Local control has been vastly diminished. Soon the U.S. Congress will be taking up the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind. Many of the issues connected with education reform will likely re-emerge. Grumpy Educators serves as a resource for Brevard County residents and others who are interested in education reform and may be helpful for those who are interested in the reauthorization when it comes up. Hopefully, the national media will take greater interest in covering these issues when they are debated in Congress.

Education reform is a complex topic and moves faster than a speeding bullet. I have attempted to break it down into small enough chunks so the entire picture could be understood. I hope it has been helpful. Now, as last year, Sandra In Brevard will take a blogging break. However, there are two separate groups who have organized to push back on the efforts to nationalize education that I am following closely.

Best regards to all readers of Grumpy Educators.


SandraInBrevard

Education Reform: North Carolina Changes Course

In the 2004-2005 school year, North Carolina began implementing end-of-course exams. Last year, some were eliminated and more will be eliminated this year. With bi-partisan support, Bill 48 passed the N.C. General Assembly and SB114 passed the Senate. The legislation is now headed to the Governor's desk for signature. This legislation removes all state tests except those required by the federal government and is expected to save nearly $3 million dollars.

According to the Civitis Institute, North Carolina's Conservative Voice, Republicans led the charge to end the tests, due to the complaints by parents and teachers that education had become teaching to the test. Democrats, on the other hand, opposed the measure saying "testing is necessary to identify which schools are failing so resources can be distributed accordingly."

Other reasons drove the decision for change. The validity of end-of-course tests themselves had been called into question and they are standardized rather than norm-referenced. The legislature wants some testing, but believe the "current one is not the right one."

There are concerns that the legislation may conflict with the terms of Race to the Top requirements. N.C. expects to receive $350 million over the next four years. Additional concerns were raised by a Superior Court Judge saying ending these tests would "violate student's rights under the state Constitution." The judge's statement while a bill moved through the legislative process was met with some consternation and questions as to where testing measures are mentioned in the state Constitution.

In the meantime, Florida lunges into the creation and implementation of standardized end-of-course testing, silent on the costs, and ignoring decades of parent and teacher complaints in bi-partisan fashion.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/03/06/2114865/pay-plan-has-cms-teachers-on-edge.html#ixzz1Fr21xqoi
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/reasonselimtests
http://www.carolinajournal.com/jhdailyjournal/display_jhdailyjournal.html?id=7451
http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/opinion/our-views/state-moves-end-some-standardized-tests-342279

Missed blogs on educational reform? They are all here.

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Education Reform: A Good Old Fashioned Crisis

National and state policymakers cite U.S. student performance on international exams as the reason for urgent education reform. These results are the indicators that the U.S. will not be able to compete in the global marketplace. And so the reforms begin....again.

In 1983, a report titled "Nation at Risk" described the grave outcomes for the nation if the reported decreased S.A.T. scores at that time, were not taken seriously. In the context of the Cold War, the report found a "rising tide of mediocrity" was sweeping through the public education system.
"If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war. As it stands, we have allowed this to happen to ourselves."

In 1990, the U.S. Secretary of Energy commissioned the Sandia Laboratories to support the claims in the "Nation at Risk" with real data. The study of declining S.A.T. scores revealed that overall scores had indeed dropped, but the scores of sub-groups had increased, known in statistics as Simpson's Paradox. The fact that more students of all backgrounds were taking the S.A.T. than in previous years is significant in understanding test scores. The government received the report, did not like the analysis, shelved it, and the narrative continued. Others who examined the analysis found the findings relevant, but the media took no interest. What has resulted is a national past time of reform efforts in every single administration since - Democrat and Republican. In 1980, the U.S. spent $16 billion on education to $72 billion in 2007.

In other words, the U.S. has been in a sustained state of an education crisis for 31 years, dominated by an industry of professional education reformers, non-profit educational consultants, publishing corporations, and software developers, standing in line to answer the call of legislators and politicians, who promise to make education their number one priority and fix the broken system.

After 12 years of test-driven schools with questionable outcomes, isn't it long overdue that we hold the Florida legislature accountable? Failing to pass legislation that meets the requirements of Race to the Top funding has funding consequences. The requirement, as I understand it, is that legislation must mandate that teacher evaluations be based to some degree on student achievement data. Current bills are far more complex and attempt to standardize a process statewide. Proponents acknowledge the bills are incomplete and will be fixed over time. There is worry over costs and silence on the math.

Conclusion
We are in a budgetary crisis now, but I do not believe we have been in an education crisis at all. The word has been used effectively to manipulate public opinion for 30 years. After reading commentary and opinions from a variety of viewpoints, I conclude we do have serious problems that require precision akin to a surgical team, whose members are knowledgeable and experienced working with children and adolescents, armed with the relevant data gathered over the years, and unaffiliated to politics, large corporations, and money-pumping non-profits.

Not a dime should be diverted from classrooms and students in order to fund solutions and experiments that fail to identify the problem and fail to identify all the costs.


http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-04-22-nation-at-risk_N.htm
http://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/the-end-of-the-education-debate
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0422/p13s02-lepr.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gerald-bracey/righting-wrongs_b_75189.html

Missed a blog on education reform efforts in Florida? You can find them all here.
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Education Reform: One More Hour for Low Performing Schools

Earlier this year, Florida Senator David Simmons declared his intention of filing a bill that would extend the day for schools categorized as low performing. According to the Tampa Bay Gradebook, bill details will be revealed this week.

Simmons calculates the cost for such an initiative ranges between $30 and $100 million dollars. "He said he strongly believes the Legislature will be able to find the money."

Some school districts have been supporting extra time in low performing schools. Teachers have a lot to cover and some students seem to benefit from additional time. Unless I am missing something, Simmons should be able to refine the range of costs since the math seems relatively simple: the number of low performing schools x number of teachers and staff x 1 additional hour of operational costs

It is difficult to comment without reading the details; however, this bill is a targeted solution to a defined problem. Adding an hour is not a complex effort requiring enormous effort. Also, this solution means the students needs are front and center. What really matters is not the time itself, but the quality of that hour. I'll keep an eye out for the bill.

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/gradebook/content/florida-legislature-consider-longer-school-day-struggling-schools

Missed reading a blog on Florida education reform efforts? You will find them all here.

Avatar: www.clipartheaven.com