Florida's Charter School "Boom"

According to Charter Schools USA, new Florida legislation "has sparked a 38 percent increase in charters applying to open, or nearly 100 more this year over last year’s 252. The state has more than 400 charter schools, the third highest number in the country. More than 130,000 Florida students, or 5 percent of its public-schooled students, attended charters in 2009-2010." This new law provides an easier process for opening new charters for those who have demonstrated academic and financial success.

Nevertheless, elected county school boards are still responsible for determining how many and which charter applications will be accepted. Some disagree with this process and suggest that an independent body should replace local control in these determinations. One proponent of such a change is Charter School USA CEO John Hage, who was an advisor to former Governor Jeb Bush and participated in the drafting of Florida law creating charter schools in 1996. Local school boards express concerns over further erosion of local control.

Polk County rejected Charter School USA's request to open a charter school citing a failure to demonstrate compliance with "the state's new law for duplicating the programs of other high-performing charter schools." Charter School USA has decided to appeal this rejection to the State Board of Education.

Clay County schools is the largest county without any charter schools citing its existing quality programs as the reason. The Clay County school board is unconvinced that charters will exceed what the traditional schools already offer. However, School Board chairman Frank Ferrell worries that "lawmakers would further erode the limited oversight school districts have over charters."

“I think some of that authority is being taken away,” Ferrell said.

Read more in School Board's Getting Tough on Charter Applications.

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?

Charter Schools: The Tale of Many Cities

This week Florida Senator David Simmons, chair of the PreK-12 Budget subcommittee, commented at a recent meeting that charter failures in the state are worrisome. Simmons had this to say:

“The finanical impact is great,” he said. “Some of them are failing, and that’s a financial issue…Those that are failing are costing not only a human toll but a financial one.”

Some examples that may have crossed Simmons desk include:

The Miami-Herald reported that two Miami-Dade charter schools, the Academy of Arts and Minds and the Balere Language Academy, were shut down last week.

Many parents have been complaining that The Academy of Arts and Minds the school did not have enough books or teachers when school started in August. Parents have also complained about the school’s governing board decision-making, when the decided to hire the charter founder and landlord, Alonso-Poch, to also be "the school’s manager under a $90,000 no-bid contract." The chairwoman of the school’s board did not vote in this decision; however, Ruth “Chuny” Montaner is Alonso-Poch’s cousin.

Balere Language Academy troubles include a pending foreclosure lawsuit on its school building, $136,000 in outstanding debts, including $99,000 owed to a previous landlord, and is "under investigation after advertisements surfaced indicating that the school was being used as an adult-themed nightclub on the weekends. The school’s principal, Rocka Malik, has denied that the school was doubling as a club — though a phone number on the ads comes back to her husband’s business.

A West Melbourne charter school is in danger of closing due to poor performance. The charter's parent management company has sent $1 million to keep the school going and redirected to improvement. Nevertheless, parents have been pulling their children out of the school. A Florida Today article reviews the rather interesting real estate purchases and sales that has flowed into the investment. Two Imagine Charter schools, located in North Lauderdale, are also failing as identified in an investigative report by Scathing Purple Musings. This report revealed that 15 of 31 "F" schools in Florida are charters. Imagine Schools CEO Dennis Bakke was on Governor Scott's education transition team.

As charter applications are on the rise, Simmons interest is timely. Such events are not limited to Florida.

Who pays? Who benefits?

Parent Across America submits proposals for ESEA reauthorization

Parents Across America wrote to Senator Harkin, starting the letter this way:

Dear Senator Harkin,

Your proposed revisions to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act show that you and the HELP Committee have listened to some of the concerns voiced by parents and others about the problems with No Child Left Behind.

The letter was followed by a list of proposals Parents Across America wish to see excluded in the new legislation as well as items that they recommend be included.

Below are three of the listed recommendations for inclusion:

• Less emphasis on standardized testing and more reliable accountability and assessment practices including local, teacher-designed assessments supplemented with teacher and parent surveys and site visits.

• A full range of parent involvement opportunities including a stronger parent voice in decision making at the school, district, state, and national levels.

• The right of parents to opt their children out of standardized tests.

Grumpy Educators hopes that Senator Harkin, the full committee, and the U.S. Congress pays attention to the concerns of parents, community members, and taxpayers.

Florida Tea Party Network Want Governor Scott to Quit Race to the Top

Hat tip to Scathing Purple Musings for posting the announcement by Florida's TEA Party on Race to the Top. For months now, Grumpy Educators has been asking where they stood on the issue.

Here's a segment:

The Tea Party Network, a consortium of 70 tea-party organizations statewide, argues that “for states to regain control of education and bring it back to the local level, they must stop taking federal money and the strings that come with the money.”

Read the entire article Florida Tea Party Network Want Governor Scott to Quit Race to the Top for their complete statement.

UPDATE: Governor Scott signed the grant proposal and says he will return the money IF there are any strings attached. The Pre-K funding is not a gift and to know the strings, someone has to analyze the grant application and requirements first. Much has already been written about the requirements. Scott does not say what parts he found helpful and which less so.

ESEA legislation: Which way is the wind blowing?

Legislation regarding the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act hit the proverbial fan. Some of the key initiatives promoted by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and other education reformers are being revisited, reduced, diminished, or disappearing. One thing is clear, there is bipartisan support for shifting authority over education away from Washington D.C. and back to the States.

Several articles to help understand these current events can be found here:

Ed Week journalist Alyson Klein says there are over 144 amendments to the recently filed Harkin-Enzi bill, the one to replace NCLB. Klein points to areas to watch for in Wednesday's markup.

Alexander Russo of the Scholastic Administrator notices the absence of ed reformers with the announcement if the Harkin version of new education legislation.

Rick Hess gives his views of the Harkin-Enzi proposal and a follow up on the current legislative events in Harkin-Enzi ESEA Madness.

Shifting Focus by Joy Resmovits in the Huffington Post points to changes in direction on federal mandates regarding teacher evaluation.

And one more about Senator Lamar Alexander's proposal, what he thinks of Harkin-Enzi legislations, and the concerns over a "national school board."

Ed Week follows up on S.C. parent

Ed Week followed up on parent Gretchen Herrera. What I found interesting was this comment at the end of the article:

This is a classic instance of retaliation under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the ADA. I hope the parent pursues an OCR complaint and other remedies. She and others needing help with lawless school districts might want to join the Council of Parents, Advocates, and Attorneys (COPAA) at www.copaa.org and participate in the listserve, for lots of helpful free advice and support.

The South Carolina parents have filed Office of Civil Rights complaints and the investigation is ongoing.

Grumpy Educators reported that the student has now enrolled in a public middle school and his complex medical condition and recommendations of the medical team apparently will be honored.

UPDATE: A comment added to the Ed Week follow up article is worth reading.
"Thanks for the followup on this story. I am concerned that any virtual school does not recognize medical advice as official. I thought virtual schools were often chosen by families because of medical conditions a child might have that would make attending a regular school difficult. This situation seems to have flown in the face of what was best for this student. After reading your original article, I contacted this school via facebook and was advised that to eliminate the possibility of a medically fragile student having to endure any state mandated tests, it would be best to enroll said child in the private virtual school also run by this company.