LWVeducation
Should a charter be able to open only because they can fill out a form properly? In February the Palm Beach League of Women Voters sponsored a panel on charter school issues. Frank Biden, spokesperson for Mavericks Schools, was there along with a Palm Beach County Commissioner and a School Board member. He acknowledged in a Sun Sentinel interview that “{Charter schools} should not open in areas where there is not a need.”
This sounds good, but what has happened since?
I am off on a tangent. This is not the same as a vacation. The legislative session is over, and it is time to mull over what happened and did not happen. Where shall we put our energies for next year?
As the thoughts about the inadequacies of charter school oversight were spinning in my head, I saw a field of roses. Hmmm, it must be time to smell them and let these ideas mature. So, I am cultivating my garden of ideas.
If you send things, I will post them, but I will spend the next week or so doing some digging. It must be spring.
Public funding of private schools takes many forms with variable results. Following practices in different states informs our thinking.
The Indiana Center for Tax and Budget Accountability argues that vouchers hurt, not help the education of children. Look at their arguments. What would improve education?
This is an interesting report.
I can hear the sadness in this letter. It is about change in a town she loves.
Can you imagine that a public school can tell you to transfer your child to another school because the company you work for no longer is eligible to send children there?
The Villages is an age restricted, gated community in Sumter County with over 100,000 residents–no children allowed. They have a charter school. They just told 140 students they can no longer attend. Something is unreal.Continue reading
As charters in Duval County increase, the school district faces a $10 million dollar shortfall. Should the district give up reading coaches for traditional schools?
The options for balancing the district budget are not good. If the district draws down its reserve fund, what do they do next year? The district anticipates that there will be 2,000 new enrollments in charters next fall. Charters in Duval County have their own challenges.
On the surface, it would appear that Duval County, like many counties, is facing the reality that splitting money with charters means that no one has enough to do what needs to be done. What is going on?
by Pat Drago
Some policies are all about money. When these come up, Fl. Representative Manny Diaz is often around. He is the Dean at Doral College, the non-accredited place that offers dual enrollment online courses to charter school students taught by their high school teachers. The credit doesn’t transfer, but maybe it saves money. Now, Rep. Diaz is in the news again. See how he wants to save money.
A report from the Orlando Sentinel says tax credit revenue from Florida corporations is down this year. The money is used to fund scholarships for 70,000 children to private schools.
Florida voters rejected these scholarships but the legislature has a work around. They let corporations donate their taxes and bypass the state treasury. One of the alcoholic beverage companies that helps fund scholarships came up $9 million short this year. Step Up for Students, the private group that administers the scholarships will have to make up the difference.
Who are these companies?
Who should approve new charter schools–local districts or the state? Would a university institute funded by the legislature do a better job? Now the State Board of Education has the final say. But, they do not always get it right.
Legislation moving through the Florida House and Senate includes a provision to create the Florida State University Charter School Institute. It would review charter proposals and conduct evaluation studies. Will FSU be able to improve the charter authorization process? Can it evaluate local needs, or do they not matter? If a form is filled out correctly, is that enough to make a charter school a valuable contribution to a local district?
I watched the April School Board of Education meeting. A comment was made about how fortunate Florida was to have the DOE, the Governor, and the legislature all on the same school reform page. Yet, when the attorney for Palm Beach County spoke about denials of charter schools, it is clear that there are practical, important issues that are too easily dismissed. Some checks and balances are needed.
CREDO’s 2015 report on charter achievement in urban areas gives a different twist on the data. You can find results by urban areas in each state.
I looked at Florida. Our charters do not do as well as in other states. The data is broken down by demographics, grade span, across years and annual results from 2007-2011. Comparisons are made for achievement gains for students in charters and a matched set of students in traditional public schools (TPS) in the areas that charters serve. And the winners by Florida school district are?