Category Archives: Florida

Duval County: School Choice is a False Choice

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cash-burningAs 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?

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Cheating the Children

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by Pat Drago

payoffSome 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.

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Which Companies Fund Tax Credit Vouchers?

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money_exchangeA 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?

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Adding New Charter Schools: Will FSU Know Best?

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buck stopsWho 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.

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Charter vs. TPS: Latest CREDO Study Results

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horse-316959_1280CREDO’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?

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Charter Bills Update: Florida 2015 Legislative Session

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Charter school bills are moving again, at least in the Florida House.  The bills are all beginning to look more alike.  The charter school amendmlegislation1ent to HB 1145, filed this week, dropped the requirement for districts to share public school capital outlay millage with charters.  This is good news for financially strapped public schools.

It added a provision stating that charters have a financial audit that does not reveal any of the financial emergency conditions in 218.503(1) for the most recent year. On the surface, this does not sound like a transparency move.

There are some differences in provisions between the House and Senate relating to charter advisory board conflict of interest rules.  The Senate bill 1552 looks stronger than the other bills.  They just require board members to be identified and two meetings be held in the district.  Advisory boards controlled by their management companies cannot be very independent.  Details follow.

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Ethics in Education Conference: Miami

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ethicsI am looking forward to attending this conference on May 1-2, not just because I am a panelist.  The conference is sponsored by the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust.  Co-sponsors are the University of Miami and Miami-Dade Public Schools.  My panel is:

School Choice And Public Resources: What Are The Limits For Charter Schools And Private School Subsidies?

The other panels are very interesting as well.  They cover everything from teaching to the test,  social issues e.g. immigration, bullying, policing as well as oversight and accountability.

Details on the program and location follow.  If possible, join us.

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Effective Schools: Taking the Bull by the Horns in Volusia County

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bull-155411_640Pat Drago (who is a former Volusia County school district administrator) and I had a conversation about how public schools improve.  She had an example from Volusia County.  This was an at risk school population where nothing the district had tried seemed to work. As we talked, she mentioned a friend who was a long time principal who told her that there was one thing that made the greatest difference for her.  What was it?

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Florida Testing Bill Signed into Law

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legislation1The Florida legislature passed the testing bill HB 7069 and Governor Scott signed it today.  There is more in the bill than just the reduction of the testing requirement to no more than 5% of the total number of school days.  Annual statewide testing remains.

I copied the staff analysis of the bill.  It requires an independent review of the Florida Standards Assessment, and the ‘A-F’ school grading system or student results will not be reported until after the study is completed.  The change in the reading requirement for promotion to 4th grade made it into law.

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