There are a few facts we should know automatically. Here are some about Hillsborough:
-
Charters compete with good public schools; they do little to help communities. There are 101 charter schools in Hillsborough. Only 35 charters serve low income area students and only a third of those achieve an A or B on school grades.
-
Charter schools are no panacea for poverty. CSUSA for example, has 19 charters in the area. Those that serve high income schools do well just as those district-run schools do. Charters that draw predominately from low income families struggle.
-
Charter schools have high teacher turnover. The WFTS Tampa Bay reports on Channelside, a CSUSA charter that is losing ground. Its school grade is dropping. Its students are not doing as well as they once did. The reason? A student describes the loss of her teacher for three months. They watched movies with an uncertified substitute teacher.