NPE Report: One billion dollars wasted on charter startups

Valerie Strauss, education writer for the Washington Post, published a big story today. Carol Burris, the Executive Director of the Network for Public Education, tracked federal startup grants in several states. In ‘Asleep at the Wheel’, she found 1,000 charter schools receiving federal start up funds either never opened, opened and then closed due to mismanagement and other reasons. Even the U.S. Inspector General’s warning about charter mismanagement was ignored by the U.S. Department of Education. 

The complete NPE report is here.

We know that similar problems have been uncovered in Florida.  See the Black Holes: Where does federal charter money go?

Controlling charter mismanagement and abuse has to be tied to the federal government’s funding authorization.  Over four billion dollars in federal start-up grants have been given to the states to open charters, needed or not.  This is the time to let your congressmen and women that they need to be better stewards of your money.

 

 

Black Holes: Where does federal charter school money go?

Federal State Education Agency (SEA) grants awarded for charter development in Florida reached $67, 644, 267 over four years.  A federal Office of the Inspector General audit could not find the money. The report stated that there was not “a reliable universe of charter schools that received and spent funds”.  The Florida Charter School Division awarded the funds to the charter school startups but had no mechanism to track them.  It is no wonder that charter schools open and close so fast.  Operators can receive up to $300,000 just to open a charter, and there is no way to find the money if they suddenly close.

No doubt that making laws is easier than finding funds to implement them properly.  Reaffirming that the public interest is more important than the financial opportunities for legislators and their supporters cannot be ignored.  Districts need to be empowered to monitor and correct charter mismanagement.  The Commission on Ethics needs some teeth so that it will sting when violations occur in the legislature and other public entities.   The Miami Herald’s series on “Cashing in On Kids” outlines the problem.  It is time to curb for-profit management of schools. Other states have done so.

“Hopeless” School Expansion

Governor DeSantis announced he plans to expand charter schools into 247 federally designated Opportunity Zones. These charters would fall under a revision of the current Schools of Hope legislation. They can open within a five mile radius of a persistently low performing public school without district approval. There were 53 persistently low performing schools in 2018.

The change in the Schools of Hope legislation to Opportunity Zones would mean that a charter could open without district approval in any of 247 federally designated low income areas in Florida even if there was already a school that was not low performing. The financial incentive for opening these charters is a tax break on real estate. But then, real estate investments are the motive for a majority of charter school owners…nothing new there.

There are four ‘high performing’ charter companies qualified to open these schools:  Democracy Prep; KIPP New Jersey; IDEA, and Somerset.  Somerset is a subdivision of Academica, Florida’s largest for-profit charter management company.  

These schools post high achievement for the students who survive.   Here are some articles about the reasons why:

Are IDEA Charter Schools a Good Idea for Austin?

IDEA is a no nonsense selective charter school that admits students with no discipline problems. It has a grade retention policy for students who struggle. Of those in Austin, Texas who started ninth grade, at best 65% graduated. They serve primarily Hispanic students. A report on IDEA is here.

Democracy Prep had its origins in Harlem, New York. This chain has a high student attrition rate, but it does add some new students as others drop out. It boasts high percentage of students entering college, but a low college completion rate. The percentage of ninth graders remaining until high school graduation is shown in the graph below.

KIPP charters are also ‘no nonsense’ charters. They have a relatively high fifth grade retention rate, and as students drop out, they are replaced by higher achieving students.

One of the founders of KIPP was discharged due to allegations of sexual misconduct against a student and a staff member. A study of KIPP attrition was done by EducationNext.

Somerset is a group of Academica charters based primarily in Miami. It was the only management company to bid on the takeover of Jefferson County schools in 2017-18. The latest school grade report shows an improvement from a ‘D’ to a ‘C’.

Paying for Someone Else’s Choice

by Sally Butzin

Family Empowerment Scholarships help parents make a choice you pay for. There is a logic disconnect in this idea when there is no guarantee that the choice parents’ make is even a good choice. Read Sally’s article in the Tallahassee Democrat. She is a League member who is taking an active role in monitoring the legislative bills coming from this session. This is a bill that is contrary to all who support public education believe.

Voucher Supporters and Opponents Coming Forward

Interesting to see how the religious communities view vouchers. The Catholic church supports them. The Florida Council of Churches is opposed. Reverend Russell Meyer was quoted in a Florida Phoenix article. He stated that there should be the same accountability standard for all schools. Teachers should be certified. He further said that there should be one standard of accountability for all schools supported by public money. I could not agree more. See the article here.

New Voucher Bully Bill Filed

Senator Diaz wants more victims of bullying to go to private schools. Last year, only 126 of 212 applications were approved. The new bill, SB 1410 allows parents to go to Step Up for Students and file a claim. No verification of the claim by the school district would be necessary.  The bill also provides for a transportation scholarship.

These are the 2018 Hope scholarships that sales taxes from new car sales fund. Of course the other voucher bill that Governor DeSantis proposed allows anyone to get a voucher whose family income is under 260% of the federal poverty level….let’s see, that’s any family of four earning less than about $63,000 dollars.  No pretense for serving the poor any longer.  The Florida constitution does not matter much either evidently.

Senate Education Package Announced

The Senate Education Committee released this press report with its education priorities.

Family Empowerment Program. Vouchers to private schools paid through the public school per student program funds. These vouchers are capped at 15,000 students for this year. Families with incomes up to 260% of the poverty level will receive 95% of the district average cost. I do not know how this voucher plan is legal. Florida’s constitution prohibits vouchers.

Recruitment, Retention, and Recognition bonuses. The SAT/ACT scores are no longer required. Recruitment bonuses are for specific core academic areas of need. Retention bonuses are targeted and include a gain score component. Recognition bonuses are determined by the principal.

Remove Barriers to Teacher Certification This seems to reduce costs of retake exams.

Revise School Facility Plant Survey and Student Cost per Station Requirements to Allow More Flexibility. This is a much needed revision of how new schools are funded.

Enhance Support for Community Wrap-Around Services. These community schools would be given support for after school programs, extended day or year instruction, counseling and other services. There are some excellent community schools, and this bill supports their expansion. They are district managed.

Enhance Safety and Security.. This is the Guardian program which allows districts flexibility to move funds from school operations (mostly instruction) to capital outlay (mostly facilities and equipment) to meet state mandates for school hardening.

We do not have the House priorities yet.

REALLY BAD BILL: SB 1028

Don’t give our local money away!  Senator Hutson, (Flagler, St. Johns and Volusia counties) filed a bill that gives the State of Florida the right to determine how funds from local school referenda are distributed. This means that if, as was done in many counties in 2018, local voters taxed themselves to support their schools, the money could be given to charters or other agencies. If the governor gets his new voucher proposal passed to fund private school tuition, could our tax money go there too? Suppose voters in a district passed a referendum to raise their teacher salaries, as Miami Dade did, they would have to share with charter schools.

Charter school proliferation is a big reason that school district funding has gone down in the first place. Charters take money from public schools. There are 654 of them, and they keep opening and closing. It is a waste of money to have so many that are not needed. Other states cap the number of charters, not Florida.

The bill language says “local funding approved by voter referendum” can be apportioned by the state. The legislature is constantly eroding local government control. This one is outrageous.