Miami-Dade did a series of presentations on Florida’s school choice study. Their approach was to consider the unmet needs of children from low income areas. The ability of charter and private, mostly religious schools to meet those needs are considered.
They discussed problems with the conflicting priorities for-profit charter management companies must face when serving ‘low-cost’ children rather than children whose needs are expensive to meet: e.g. ESE, ELL and students who struggle academically. The accountability system rewards schools whose students score well on state assessment tests. This makes charter admissions and dismissal policies subject to scrutiny.
The interrelationship between political and financial support has made conflict of interest concerns a public issue. The need to justify the inability of the private sector to overcome the achievement gap between students from low-income and higher income families has made the public more aware of the need for more efficient and equitable use of tax payer money.
This league’s approach to a discussion of school choice issues may be helpful for others who are planning similar presentations.
