Over the weekend, the Tampa Bay Times took an in-depth look at a battle between the Hillsborough County School Board and Kids Community College, a charter school it authorizes.
The article raises a number of interesting issues about charter school politics and practices in Florida, but one, raised by Jenna Hodgens, the district’s charter school director deserves extra attention.
Basically, the school charges students for certain items and also seeks “suggested donations” from parents. The school says these extra contributions are voluntary, and notes many district schools charge activity fees. But when it comes to low-income parents’ perceptions of the school, that may be beside the point.
Hodgens said it’s clear that poor families perceive Kid’s Community as costly — not a private school, yet not a true public school either.
“And see, that’s what bothers me, I guess, as a person,” she said. “Because I’m thinking, if I’m a poor kid and I tell my mom I want to go to Kid’s Community College and then my mom finds out you have to pay a $500 enhancement fee and $280 in consumables, my mom says to me, ‘You’re going to stay at Gibsonton.’ I don’t even have a choice.”
So, as a charter school, she said, “you can select your kids without selecting your kids if you do certain things.”
In other words, while charter schools are public schools and state law limits their ability to charge additional fees, parents may perceive this charter school as an exclusive option that might cost them more money out of pocket.
This sounds like an opportunity for the district and charter schools to collaborate.
The Hillsborough school district already has a fairly sophisticated school choice portal that helps parents weigh their options among district-operated schools. And unlike some other districts, it specifically lists charter schools as options for them to consider. But parents still have to seek out individual charter schools and apply on their own, at which point concerns about fees or exclusivity — real or imagined — may dissuade them from even trying.
Imagine if the district’s choice portal included application information for individual charter schools, and also helped parents understand their rights (i.e. the school generally cannot charge mandatory fees, nor bar students from enrolling)?
Ensuring charter schools serve disadvantaged groups — such as students with special needs — is one of the main issues that has prompted district-charter collaborations in other cities, like Denver and Indianapolis. If districts and charters can also agree to participate in common school application systems, or to share transportation infrastructure, they can help lower the barriers to school choice.
The district might fear this sort of arrangement would assist its supposed competitors. Charter schools, for their part, might fear that these kind of arrangements would impinge on their autonomy.
But on the other hand, the district would ensure it does not become a “provider of last resort” that serves only those students who cannot find other options. And collaboration may help charter schools, now going into their 20th year in Florida, further cement their status as an integral part of the public education system, entitled to all the benefits that entails (such as truly equitable funding).
Most importantly, though, a charter school collaboration like the ones initiated in some of the country’s leading school choice cities could help the district and the charter schools it oversees serve students better.
