Recent Posts

Click to View and Comment

Education Issues Blog

To Educate and Inform on Issues Relating to Public Education

Introduction

Our blog is a tool box. Make it work for you. Here you will find data, studies, and perspectives that inform the discussion about school choice. Send stories of events in your state. Tell us about studies that clarify issues. Do your own studies. Use the information you find here to advocate for League positions.

CONTACT us by email to send posts.

COMMENT by pressing the ‘Continue Reading’ button and scroll to the space provided.

CLICK THE PICTURES on the banner to see the FEATURE STORY. LEGISLATION, and LAWSUITS.

VISIT THE COMMITTEES. You will see the latest on national school reform issues. Learn about school and teacher ACCOUNTABILITY, CURRICULUM, LAWS, MANAGEMENT, FACILITY issues, and VOUCHER concerns. We will post questions of the week about the hot topics. Participate through our contact icon.

STUDY THE RESOURCES. Here you will find sources of information. They will grow with your help. Use the Search bar to locate categories of resources. Write articles and make fact sheets for your own groups. Send what you create to share with others.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE BLOG TO RECEIVE EMAIL NOTICES OF NEW POSTS.

New:

Finally, Reasonable Federal Regulations for Charter Schools Management!

Posted on by

The U.S. Department of Education has proposed regulations to curb charter school management problems. The regulations are tied to federal funding. This is great news! They tackle for-profit charter schools and require community impact studies of charter schools. The Department wants your feedback. Please submit your comments here.

Below I have summarized my comments about the proposed regulations.The Department needs to hear from you. Please stand up and be counted.

I am writing in response to the invitation to submit comments regarding “Proposed Priorities, Requirements, Definitions, and Selection Criteria-Expanding Opportunity Through Quality Charter Schools Program (CSP)-Grants to State Entities (SE Grants)

I strongly support the Department’s attempt to ensure that charter schools operated by for-profit management corporations do not receive CSP grants. As a resident of Florida, I can attest to the problems created by for-profits running schools. In my state, over 50% of our charter schools are run by for-profit management companies.

I strongly support the proposed regulations that seek to bring greater transparency and assess the impact of a new charter school on the community. I especially support the inclusion of a community impact analysis “to inform the need, number, and types of charter schools to be created in a given community.”

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to submit comments. And thank you for proposing much needed reforms.

Sue Legg

Florida Files State Test Waiver Request

Posted on by

Governor DeSantis filed a request to waive federal requirements for state testing in 2021.  If approved, state tests would not be administered.  Specific federal waivers include:

  1. Implement and report the results of the state’s accountability system;
  2. Calculate progress toward long-term goals and measurements of interim progress or indicators;
  3. Meaningfully differentiate among public schools using data from the 2020-2021 school year;
  4. Account for an assessment participation rate below 95 percent; and
  5. Identify schools for comprehensive support and improvement, targeted support and improvement, and additional targeted support and improvement based on data from the 2020-2021 school year.

Florida would still be required to:

  1. Continue to support previously identified schools in the 2021-2022 school year;
  2. Resume school identification in the fall of 2022; and
  3. Publically report the percentage of students, by subgroup, not assessed and the percentage chronically absent.
  4. The waiver application does not exempt Florida from state accountability requirements. The results of state assessments are crucial to help identify students who need specialized supports, help teachers tailor their instructional delivery to support individual student needs, and ensure equity in opportunity and closing achievement gaps for millions of Florida’s at-risk students.

For the most up-to-date data, FDOE will report school performance data, disaggregated by student subgroups, at www.knowyourschoolsfl.org.

Florida has its own requirements based on state test scores.  DeSantis’ emergency order will allow districts to opt out of reporting school grades, school improvement ratings, and learning gains associated with teacher evaluations.  Districts will be allowed to determine if students should be promoted or should graduate from high school.

These waivers are only for one year.  It is a good time to reevaluate the entire testing and accountability system.  There is no good reason to require expensive annual testing at every grade level.  The way Florida uses those scores to rank schools needs to be rethought.

Vouchers are Big Business in Florida

Posted on by

For the past 20 years, a private organization has been growing exponentially using direct and indirect public funds largely out of public view. This organization is the conduit for an unregulated school system without standards being created by the Florida Legislature. It is essentially a money management/marketing firm operating as a non-profit charity.

The organization is called Step Up for Students (StepUpForStudents.org), an SFO (Scholarship Funding Organization) that awards and manages tax credit scholarships for the state of Florida, as well as in Alabama. According to Forbes, Step Up is the 21st largest charity in the United States. To put that in perspective, the American Cancer Society is 18th. In 2019 Step Up and Subsidiaries had $697,363,075 in total assets.

Step Up receives donations from corporations who receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit on corporate and certain sales taxes owed to the state of Florida. Billions of dollars have been diverted to Step Up instead of having been deposited into general revenue to operate state government, including public schools. These tax diversions have been cleverly labeled as “donations.”

The League of Women Voters of Florida has just released an investigative report that details the history, financial dealings, political connections, and audit findings for Step Up for Students. The full report is available here.

Chartered For-Profit: NPE’s New Report

Posted on by

It is time to end Chartered4Profit to ensure that children, not corporations, profit from our tax dollars. Read NPE’s new report which exposes the for profit sector. Over one-half of Florida’s charter schools are run by for-profit management companies. Against the law you say?? Well yes, it is. Florida law makers and charter school companies have found away around that issue. The charters are granted to non-profit organizations which then subcontract to for-profit management firms. These firms hire the teachers, manage the books, and control the curriculum. In most cases, the management companies select the charter school board members in the first place. It is a cozy arrangement.

Why is running a charter school so attractive to businessmen and many politicians? There is money to be made particularly in real estate, fees, and side organizations that provide services. Lots of money–your tax money!

The Network for Public Education has done a deep dive into these organizational structures. You can see for yourself how they work. The report focuses on the four largest chains: National Heritage Academies, The Leona Group, Charter Schools USA, and Academica. Two of these were launched in Florida.

When states take action to privatize schools through school choice, they are choosing to take your money to make money. President Biden was quoted in May 2019 saying “I do not support any federal money for for-profit charter schools, period!” Let’s see if he means it.

JavaScript

Categories

Previous Posts

March 2025
M T W T F S S
 12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31  

Follow Us!