Choice, competition and turnarounds: Keep an eye on Jacksonville

For people who believe school choice can lead to improvements in the public school system as a whole, an interesting case study is developing in Jacksonville, Fla.

This weekend the Florida Times-Union profiled a persistently struggling school that’s made major changes after receiving two consecutive F grades from the state. It’s worth checking out the whole in-depth series. The third installment ran this morning.

Its low school grades meant Eugene Butler Middle School was going to have to make changes. But the paper’s reporting shows district officials also wanted to combat a slide in enrollment. To attract more students, the school would have to offer something special. The district reconstituted it as a pair of single-gender leadership academies with new leadership and new teachers.

For years, students assigned to Butler had sought other options. Butler sends more students to KIPP Impact Middle School, which is less than two miles away, than any other middle school in Duval County. Its ZIP code is home to more than 100 sixth-through-eighth graders who use tax credit scholarships (Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog and employs the author of this post, helps administer the scholarships).

Last year, the Times-Union summed up the situation this way:

In the 2012-13 school year, 447 students chose magnet schools rather than Butler; 230 used special transfers and 35 more used opportunity scholarships that allow them to go to better-scoring schools; 114 chose charter schools; 79 used McKay scholarships for special educational services elsewhere; and 88 were either schooled at home or attended virtual school on computer.

Only 54 students opted into the school, besides those living in the school’s residential area.

Here’s how superintendent Nikolai Vitti pitched the plan to revitalize the school, according to the paper’s earlier coverage:

“We are losing a significant number of students who should be going to Butler,” he said. “The proposal’s single-gender focus with a college preparatory background is designed to bring more students into Butler. … We have to provide more choices for students, especially those in lower-performing schools.”

A year later, the Times-Union’s more recent reporting suggests an aura of hope surrounds the school.

Earlier this year, the Duval County School Board approved a plan to turn it into a dedicated magnet that could attract students from other parts of the city. If the school draws more students, more funding will follow.

Shawn Coley was among the parents who spoke in support of the magnet proposal back in February. He told the board his son, a “middle-of-the-road” elementary school student, is now making the honor roll at Butler’s all-male academy.

“I’ve seen him turn from a shy kid, to kid a who is enthusiastic about going to school and learning,” he said. “I think that opportunity should be given to every child here in the city of Jacksonville who wishes to attend that school.”

This has long been one of the theories of action behind school choice. New options benefit some students, and also spur school districts to create new and better options of their own. As a result, the whole system gets better.

In the coming months, as state test scores are released, and the coming years, as the changes at Butler have more time to take hold, it will be worth keeping an eye on student achievement in Northwest Jacksonville.