Charter+school+movement+exploding+in+Florida

==The charter school movement is exploding in Florida, creating new opportunities for parents, educators and entrepreneurs. But are the results any better than traditional schools? ==

BY KATHLEEN McGRORY
===__kmcgrory@MiamiHerald.com __ === = Mornings at the Charter School of Excellence are an all-out attack on reading. = = At 9 a.m. sharp, the children divide into small groups, spread out across the Fort Lauderdale campus and spend 90 minutes studying phonics, vocabulary and reading comprehension. To keep the student-to-teacher ratio low, every instructor in the building — the P.E. coach, fine arts teacher and teachers-in-training included — is assigned to a group. = = The strategy is working. Despite a 71 percent poverty rate among students, the school has received eight consecutive A grades from the state. = = This is exactly what Florida’s charter school pioneers envisioned when they launched the movement in the early 1990s. They argued that public schools set free from school board politics and big district bureaucracies could tailor their programs to pupils’ needs, helping students to achieve. = = Since then, the movement has exploded. More than 58,000 children now attend charter schools in Miami-Dade and Broward — nearly a tenth of all public school students in South Florida. = = That number is almost certain to balloon. State legislation passed last week will make it easier for new charter schools to open and existing ones to expand. Another new law will allow for the creation of virtual charter schools, which will enable students and teachers to connect over the Internet without brick-and-mortar buildings. = = Some of the region’s charters are among the best schools in the country: Mater Academy Charter Middle/High in Hialeah Gardens, the Archimedean Schools in West Kendall and the Charter Schools of Excellence in Broward, to name a few. But others are places where students are taught in tool sheds, textbooks are in short supply and public dollars are used to pad principals’ pockets. = = The big picture? The bulk of South Florida charter schools perform no better nor any worse than traditional public schools. = = Charter school advocates, a powerful lobbying force in Tallahassee, contend that competition from charters has raised the bar for all public schools. = = “This empowers parents by giving them options,” said Robert Haag, president of the Florida Consortium of Public Charter Schools and superintendent of the Charter Schools of Excellence. = = But opponents fear the charter movement has drained local districts of revenue while creating a parallel educational universe — one where there are no rules and no standards but hefty profits. = = THEIR OWN GUIDELINES = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Like traditional public schools, charter schools are funded by sales and property taxes. But unlike traditional schools, which are run by locally elected school boards in Florida, charters are managed by independent governing boards. They can hire and fire teachers as they please, pay whatever salaries they want, and cherry pick the best students, leaving struggling ones to the traditional schools. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Charter schools are subject to state accountability measures. Students take the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests and schools receive grades. If a charter school receives back-to-back failing grades, its local school board can close it. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Charter schools are also businesses that must stay in the black to stay open. In Florida, they are run by a combination of non-profits and for-profit companies. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> At their best, charter schools are teaching and learning laboratories — places where best practices are put into action and get results. = = = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“The districts will be the first to tell you, they run a big bureaucracy and are very slow to make changes,” said Jonathan Hage, president of the Broward-based company Charter Schools USA, which runs the Renaissance and Keys Gate schools. “They’re like a ship in the ocean. We’re like a little key boat.” = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Take the Archimedean Schools in West Kendall. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The schools, housed in a castle-like building that calls to mind the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, enroll about 750 students from kindergarten through high school. Students at all levels study classical Greek mathematics — in Greek — and spend an additional hour studying traditional mathematics each day. Greek language and philosophy are also built into the rigorous curriculum. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Archimedean has become a hub of academic excellence. Each year, its students earn some of the highest FCAT scores in the state. The school routinely wins national competitions in math and science. More than 900 children are on the waiting list, founder George Kafkoulis said. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Other charter schools fill a specific niche. The South Florida Autism Charter School was started in 2009 by a group of parents who said the public school district lacked programs for autistic children. The City of Hialeah became a partner, offering the school space in a public library. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But at their worst, charter schools have shoddy academic and financial records. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">At Rise Academy in Homestead, for example, students had scant access to textbooks and supplies, state education officials said. Student bathrooms were rarely cleaned and lunches were stored in unsanitary conditions. And bank records revealed thousands of school dollars had been spent on clothing, restaurants, a pickup truck and Orlando theme parks, while teachers went without paychecks. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Miami-Dade School Board stepped in and closed Rise last summer. The state Board of Education overturned the decision, saying Rise hadn’t had a chance to defend itself. But Rise Academy never reopened, and law enforcement sources say the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Miami-Dade Schools Police are investigating the school. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Since 1995, 23 Miami-Dade charter schools have closed their doors for academic or financial reasons. Of the total, 14 opted to close themselves; the remaining nine were ordered closed by the Miami-Dade School Board. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In Broward County, eight have closed. Three of them were shut by the Broward School Board. = =<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff0000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> SIMILAR SCORES = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The bulk of South Florida’s charter schools are on par with traditional public schools when evaluated based on standardized test scores. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">On last year’s state exams in math and reading, traditional public school students in Miami-Dade, Broward and statewide performed slightly better than their charter school counterparts, but not by much, state data shows. (See chart). = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In Miami-Dade, 51 percent of traditional public schools earned an A grade last year, as compared with 56 percent of charter schools. But a larger percentage of charter schools earned a failing grade than traditional public schools. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In Broward, 59 percent of traditional public schools earned an A grade. Half of charter schools did the same. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“Many, many studies reach the same conclusion,” said Diane Ravitch, a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton and a charter school opponent. “Charters don’t get better results than regular public schools.” = = = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Mornings at the Charter School of Excellence are an all-out attack on reading. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> At 9 a.m. sharp, the children divide into small groups, spread out across the Fort Lauderdale campus and spend 90 minutes studying phonics, vocabulary and reading comprehension. To keep the student-to-teacher ratio low, every instructor in the building — the P.E. coach, fine arts teacher and teachers-in-training included — is assigned to a group. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> The strategy is working. Despite a 71 percent poverty rate among students, the school has received eight consecutive A grades from the state. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> This is exactly what Florida’s charter school pioneers envisioned when they launched the movement in the early 1990s. They argued that public schools set free from school board politics and big district bureaucracies could tailor their programs to pupils’ needs, helping students to achieve. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Since then, the movement has exploded. More than 58,000 children now attend charter schools in Miami-Dade and Broward — nearly a tenth of all public school students in South Florida. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> That number is almost certain to balloon. State legislation passed last week will make it easier for new charter schools to open and existing ones to expand. Another new law will allow for the creation of virtual charter schools, which will enable students and teachers to connect over the Internet without brick-and-mortar buildings. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Some of the region’s charters are among the best schools in the country: Mater Academy Charter Middle/High in Hialeah Gardens, the Archimedean Schools in West Kendall and the Charter Schools of Excellence in Broward, to name a few. But others are places where students are taught in tool sheds, textbooks are in short supply and public dollars are used to pad principals’ pockets. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> The big picture? The bulk of South Florida charter schools perform no better nor any worse than traditional public schools. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Charter school advocates, a powerful lobbying force in Tallahassee, contend that competition from charters has raised the bar for all public schools. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> “This empowers parents by giving them options,” said Robert Haag, president of the Florida Consortium of Public Charter Schools and superintendent of the Charter Schools of Excellence. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> But opponents fear the charter movement has drained local districts of revenue while creating a parallel educational universe — one where there are no rules and no standards but hefty profits. = =<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff0000; display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> THEIR OWN GUIDELINES = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Like traditional public schools, charter schools are funded by sales and property taxes. But unlike traditional schools, which are run by locally elected school boards in Florida, charters are managed by independent governing boards. They can hire and fire teachers as they please, pay whatever salaries they want, and cherry pick the best students, leaving struggling ones to the traditional schools. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Charter schools are subject to state accountability measures. Students take the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests and schools receive grades. If a charter school receives back-to-back failing grades, its local school board can close it. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Charter schools are also businesses that must stay in the black to stay open. In Florida, they are run by a combination of non-profits and for-profit companies. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> At their best, charter schools are teaching and learning laboratories — places where best practices are put into action and get results. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Ravitch, now a research professor at the New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, said charter schools often “skim” high-performing kids out of neighborhoods, and advise low-performing kids and kids with disabilities to go elsewhere. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“When they take special-ed kids, they tend to be those with mildest disabilities,” Ravitch said. “Thus, the regular public schools get overburdened with most challenging students.” = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Charter school leaders deny skimming students. They point out that some charters cater to children with disabilities or struggling students. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Fernando Zulueta, a charter school pioneer and founder of the charter management company Academica, said the model is not a panacea. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“As a movement, we advocate for quality,” Zulueta said. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Overall, Zulueta said, charter schools are the pennywise alternative because they generate equal outcomes at a lower cost. (Charter schools receive fewer dollars for facilities than traditional public schools.) They also give parents more control over their child’s education, he said. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The explosion of charter schools has led to a tug-of-war between school districts and charter school operators, both of whom receive state funding based on how many children enroll. In a time of cuts to education, Florida’s countywide school districts need every dollar they can get to fund their massive operations. Charter schools, which function like private businesses, need the money to stay afloat. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Both the Miami-Dade and Broward School Boards have responded by increasing the number of magnet programs to keep students from leaving their schools. An example: When parents started talking about the South Florida Autism Charter Schools, the Miami-Dade district hurried along plans to open a specialized center for autistic children at Blue Lakes Elementary, a traditional public school. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The friction between the districts and charter schools is palpable. Charter school operators say school districts erect roadblocks to prevent new charter schools from opening. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“It’s like going to McDonalds and asking them to license a Burger King,” Haag said. “They don’t make it easy on you. We’re the competition.” = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">School districts, however, say they don’t have enough control. And when a charter school fails, districts say they are left to pick up the pieces. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="bold" style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">THE FUTURE? = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Many people see the expansion of charter schools as a Republican effort to undermine public schools and teachers’ unions. It’s clear that Republicans in the Florida Legislature — aided by newly minted Gov. Rick Scott — are the driving force behind encouraging more and more charters. But Democrats also support them. President Barack Obama is a vocal advocate of charter schools, as is his secretary of education, former Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Charter school operators and management companies maintain a strong presence in Tallahassee, contributing thousands of dollars to both Republicans and Democrats. One Broward-based charter school operator, Charter Schools USA, donated $65,000 to political parties, candidates and political action committees in the 2010 election cycle, public records show. The movement has lobbyists (including former Republican Party of Florida Chairman Al Cardenas) and considerable influence. Zulueta’s brother-in-law is state Rep. Erik Fresen, vice chairman of the pre-K-12 education policy committee. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Big dollars are also at play. In Florida and across the United States, the charter school movement has spurred a multi-billion dollar industry for school operators, consultants and management companies. Charter school operators aren’t likely to get rich overnight, but experts say the field can be lucrative for entrepreneurs, executives, consultants and investors. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Virtual charter schools could be an even bigger cash cows for education entrepreneurs because they don’t require much overhead. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Next year, Miami-Dade predicts charter school enrollment will grow by 5,350 students to reach 40,656. Traditional school enrollment is expected to dip by 4,247 students to 305,697. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Is this the future of public education? = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As long as parents like Nilda Catala keep flocking to charter schools, it seems likely. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Catala enrolled her son in Mater Academy Charter Middle/High in Hialeah Gardens so he wouldn’t have to attend the neighborhood middle school. She chose Mater because students must wear uniforms and the challenging curriculum was designed to prepare pupils for college. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“I love the school,” said Catala, whose son is graduating this year. “It’s the best thing that ever happened to us.” = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Read more: __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #003399; font-family: serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">[] __ = = = = = = = =News= =home=