We've recently discovered that students who leave private schools for public schools are disproportionately likely to choose charters. But the majority of new charter students are coming from other public schools, so it's also worth looking at what schools they tend to leave behind.
Officials at the state Department of Education recently asked that question for the 50 charter schools that opened in Florida this school year.
According to findings presented recently to state lawmakers, the approximately 10,000 students who enrolled in the state's new charter schools were less likely to come from schools that receive top ratings on the state's accountability system.
Students enrolling in Florida's new charter schools were less likely to come from A or B schools than public school students as a whole. Graph by Florida DOE.
On the other hand, new charter students were not especially likely to come from the lowest-rated schools.
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More than three dozen Florida charter schools have lost "high-performing" status since a new state law required them to have their designation reviewed annually.
The state allows charter schools with good grades and sound finances to be labeled high-performing, which entitles them to certain privileges under the law.
Legislation passed in 2013, which some charter school advocates say needs to be clarified, requires the state to review high-performing charter schools every year to see if they still qualify. In the two years since the change, 37 schools — including 16 after this summer's release of school grades — have lost their status as high-performing schools.
Losing that status can affect schools' budgets or expansion plans. High-performing charters pay lower administrative fees to school districts. They are allowed to enter 15-year charter contracts, and state law lets them to expand or replicate more easily.
Charters can only qualify for high-performing status if they receive two A's in 3 years and nothing less than a B. They also have to keep a clean bill of financial health.
Rod Sasse, a vice president with Imagine Schools, said the Imagine School at South Lake received a letter earlier this month announcing it had lost high-performing status. The state graded the school a C this year. But he said the school might have kept the designation if the law had not been changed last year. He pointed to this provision from the original high-performing charter law:
(4) A high-performing charter school may not increase enrollment or expand grade levels following any school year in which it receives a school grade of “C” or below. If the charter school receives a school grade of “C” or below in any 2 years during the term of the charter awarded under subsection (2), the term of the charter may be modified by the sponsor and the charter school loses its high-performing charter school status until it regains that status under subsection (1).
Sasse said that provision, which remains on the books, suggests a charter could remain high-performing unless it receives multiple grades of C or lower. Under last year's legislation, charter schools can only remain high-performing if they meet these standards each year:
(1) A charter school is a high-performing charter school if it:
(a) Received at least two school grades of “A” and no school grade below “B,” pursuant to s. 1008.34, during each of the previous 3 school years.
(b) Received an unqualified opinion on each annual financial audit required under s. 218.39 in the most recent 3 fiscal years for which such audits are available.
(c) Did not receive a financial audit that revealed one or more of the financial emergency conditions set forth in s. 218.503(1) in the most recent 3 fiscal years for which such audits are available. However, this requirement is deemed met for a charter school-in-the-workplace if there is a finding in an audit that the school has the monetary resources available to cover any reported deficiency or that the deficiency does not result in a deteriorating financial condition pursuant to s. 1002.345(1)(a)3.
State Rep. Janet Adkins, R-Fernandina Beach, heard concerns charter advocates' concerns about the potentially conflicting requirements during a recent task force meeting in Fort Lauderdale. She said it might make sense to clarify the rules so that once they earn the status initially, charters can remain high-performing if they maintain "all B's, all A's, or any combination thereof."
School districts can only keep 2 percent of high-performing charters' funding to cover their oversight costs, instead of the usual 5 percent. As a result, Sasse said some schools fearing an immediate hit to their budget might look for ways to stave off action by the state until the Legislature has a chance to clarify the rules.
There are currently a total of 148 high-performing charters in the state, including nine that achieved the status recently. Here are the 16 schools that lost high-performing status after this summer's release of school grades. In most cases, they either slipped from a B to a C, or they earned a B for the second year in a row. (more…)
The parents love the school, even though the state says it’s failing. So against all odds, they’re looking for options to stave off its closure.
Shining Star Academy of the Arts
Shining Star Academy of the Arts, a charter school in Columbia County, Fla., received F grades from the state in its first two years of operation. Under state law, it must lose its charter. But supporters say its music, drama and arts programs provide unique options to rural students in North Florida.
So they've come up with a plan. Over the next three months, while the current school winds down, they want to fast-track an application for a new, academically revitalized institution that could take over in the middle of the school year, serving the same children in the same location under new leadership.
That scenario would likely be unprecedented for a Florida charter school that faces closure under the state's "double-F" law. Getting the local school board to approve the plan may be a long shot. But there's nothing in state law that prevents supporters from trying. They say they plan to raise the idea at the board's meeting Tuesday, when it's scheduled to formally terminate the school's charter.
Shining Star's attributes, including its heavy focus on the arts, drew parents from surrounding rural counties, undeterred by its academic struggles. Sometimes, there's a big disconnect between what regulators and parents think is a good school.
"My kids had never been able to learn music," said Takeya Cray, who said she planned to keep her fifth grader and eighth grader enrolled as long as the school stayed open. "Now, one of them plays the guitar, one of them plays the cello. I like that."
Tony Buzzella, the founder and current principal, opened the Shining Star more than two years ago, not long after the death of his friend and mentor, the prominent Lake City musician and educator Alfonso Levy. The two men envisioned a K-8 school where children could learn to play instruments and cultivate a love for the arts. Buzzella said the school had realized key parts of that vision – as he put it, "More arts, no bullies."
What was lacking, especially in the early going, was academics. Particularly math.
In the 2012-13 school year, one out of four fourth graders scored a 3 or higher on the FCAT math tests. In other grades, the numbers were worse. Buzzella made changes. He replaced a math teacher and extended the school day. Test scores rose in some areas in the second year, but remained among the lowest in the county, and the school still got an F.
Buzzella said the school had shown improvement, and one more year would be enough to right its course.
Many parents – some of whom had previously eschewed the public school system – were in his corner.
School choice. In an editorial, the Florida Times-Union criticizes the way school choice legislation passed this year, but also argues school districts should offer students more options. The Pinellas school board agrees to expand its magnet offerings but shelves a plan to add more fundamental schools. Tampa Bay Times. A federal grant could help the district diversify its offerings. Tampa Tribune.
Charter schools. Students at an Alachua County charter school are headed back to school. Gainesville Sun.
Common Core. Glenn Beck leads a national event mobilizing people against the standards. Sunshine State News.
Safety. A lawsuit contends an inflatable sumo match gone wrong led to child's brain injury at a Miami-Dade charter school. Miami Herald.
School grades. Parents rally around an IB program despite the school's grade falling to a D. Miami Herald.
Funding. Polk Schools see a slight funding boost. Lakeland Ledger. Manatee schools project a surplus. Bradenton Herald. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Minority students. Duval schools support a national effort to close the achievement gap. Florida Times-Union.
School grades. This year's elementary and middle grades, the last to be based on FCAT scores, brought more A's, more F's, and an even more pronounced trend among charter schools. Tampa Tribune. Miami Herald. Tampa Bay Times. Sun-Sentinel. Palm Beach Post. Florida Times-Union. Orlando Sentinel. Florida Today. Bradenton Herald. redefinED. More than 300 schools - three times more than last year - will be required to provide an extra hour of reading instruction. Tampa Bay Times. Sentinel School Zone. Fort Myers News-Press.
Charter schools. WJXT profiles an administrator focused on turning around struggling charter schools in Jacksonville. The Palm Beach school district says it will give charters one more year of transportation services. Palm Beach Post. A new Alachua school will have a year-round schedule. Gainesville Sun.
Special needs. A district review finds problems with Broward's special education programs. Sun-Sentinel. A charter school for children with autism continues its switch to a private school. Tampa Tribune.
Campaigns. Gov. Rick Scott and Charlie Crist keep assailing each other's education records, but "neither candidate has released anything approaching a detailed education plan." Orlando Sentinel. The Northwest Florida Daily News reports on the expense of running for Okaloosa County School Board, and the Tampa Bay Times does the same in Hillsborough.
Digital learning. Pinellas schools prepare major technology upgrades. Tampa Tribune.
Florida's charter schools received a bigger proportion of both A and F grades than their district-run counterparts for the 2013-14 school year.
It's a pattern that's held for the past few years, and it's no different in the the elementary and middle school grades released this morning by the state Department of Education.
More than 41 percent of the state's charter schools earned preliminary A's for the 2013-14 school year, compared to about 34 percent of district schools.
Of the 420 charter schools that were graded, 42, or 10 percent, received F's. Less than 6 percent of the more than 2,300 district schools received the lowest possible letter grade.
Overall, the state accountability report, the last for middle and elementary schools before the state moves to a new grading formula, presents a mixed bag for Florida's public schools. Across the board, they earned A's and F's in larger proportions this year than a year ago.
Juan Copa, the states deputy education commissioner in charge of accountability, said schools' ratings rose on average, meaning compared to a year ago, "more students are performing on grade level or better - including our most struggling students."
Next year, the grading formula will be simplified as the state prepares to replace the FCAT with new assessments tied to the Florida Standards. The grades released today are considered preliminary because the calculations can be appealed to the state. Grades for high schools will be released later this year.
For charter schools across the state, this year's results carry some good news, and some bad.
KIPP Impact Middle School in Jacksonville, where more than 70 percent of students qualify for free and reduced-price lunches and 99 percent are minorities, improved its grade from a C to a B. Five schools, including two charters - the bilingual BridgePrep Academy Interamerican Campus in Miami-Dade and Orlando's Renaissance Charter School at Chickasaw Trail - climbed all the way from F's to B's.
On the other hand, eight charter schools face closure after receiving F's for two consecutive years.
As expected, K12, Inc. received a grade of incomplete for its statewide program. But five Florida Virtual Academies it operates did receive grades. Three received D's. One, in Duval, received a C and the fifth, in Osceola, received an F. None of the virtual charters had received letter grades previously.
Copa noted that 2013 legislation lowered the minimum number of tested students a school would need to receive a grade. He said that may help explain the increased number of F schools in a year when schools raised their average scores. More than two dozen charters that did not receive a letter grade last year did receive one this year.
"There are now more schools graded this year, and many of those are high-performing schools but some of those are low-performing schools," Copa said.
Coverage elsewhere:
Charter schools. A veteran Pasco County teacher prepares to open a charter school to realize her vision for what education should look like. Tampa Bay Times. A South Florida city commission considers zoning changes after rejecting a charter school application. Tamarac Talk.
School grades. They're coming out today for middle and elementary schools. The Times offers a sneak peak of Tampa Bay-area results.
Top teachers. A Central Florida art teacher is named Teacher of the Year. Associated Press. Lakerland Ledger.
Common Core. Hillsborough schools officials plan public meetings on the Florida Standards. Tampa Bay Times.
Testing. Collier County teachers face consequences for helping students on exams. Naples Daily News,
Administration. Top Manatee County administrators say under a new superintendent, their district is overcoming years of past problems. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Campaigns. Collier school board candidates talk special needs and other issues at a candidate forum. Naples Daily News.
STEM. A Collier high school student excels at a Google science fair. Fort Myers News-Press.
Charter schools. A Miami charter school is under new management and getting a new landlord. Miami Herald. Pasco families fight to keep open a school for children with autism. Tampa Bay Times.
Tax credit scholarships. Don't blame poor science instruction on choice, Michael McShane of the American Enterprise Institute writes. Tallahassee Democrat. An Orlando Weekly article rails against the program. The debate over its effect on ESOL students continues.
Facilities. Polk County schools officials claim they lose out in the latest deal over capital projects. Lakeland Ledger. Leon County schools officials are accused of steering no-bid contracts to political supporters. Tallahassee Democrat.
School grades. Accountability transition legislation is poised to pass the House. News Service of Florida.
Special needs. The death of a special needs student casts a long shadow over Hillsborough County schools. Tampa Tribune.
Teacher conduct. A Pinellas teacher will retire after facing allegations of inappropriate conduct with female students. Tampa Tribune.
At-risk students. Pinellas schools give out college scholarships. Tampa Tribune.
Charter schools. Legislation is on the move. Palm Beach Post. Florida Current.
Tax-credit scholarships. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Nan Rich opposes the program, while primary favorite Charlie Crist does not take a firm stance on legislation that would expand it. Sunshine State News. Politico mentions Florida's program in a broadside about public money going to religious schools. Responses from Eduwonk and the National Review.
Open enrollment. The move could give Duval schools officials more breathing room under state class-size rules. Florida Times-Union.
School grades. An overhaul heads to the House floor. News Service of Florida. Gradebook.
Testing. New end-of-course exam requirements prompt Orange County schools officials to cut electives. Orlando Sentinel. Common Core opponents' claims rate Half True. PolitiFact.
Parent involvement. Members of Pinellas County's "parent leadership cadre" are happy with their district. Gradebook.
Labor news. Pinellas County Schools prepares to cut teacher positions. Gradebook. Walton County teachers resume pay negotiations. Northwest Florida Daily News.
Student activities. It's hard work becoming a spelling bee champion. Florida Today. Tallahassee's Chiles High School wins its second-straight Brain Bowl title. Tallahassee Democrat.
Public-school choice. Duval County's superintendent wants to allow parents to enroll their children in any district-run school they choose, creating the first "open enrollment" policy among Florida's major urban districts, the Florida Times-Union reports. More from First Coast News, WOKV.
Military charter schools. It's not clear what effect a bill provision, soon to become law, will have on efforts at MacDill Air Force Base, Hillsborough Schools Superintendent MaryEllen Elia tells the Tampa Bay Times.
Digital learning. How much will it cost for school districts to reach the state's technology goals? WFSU asks.
School grades. House and Senate panels advance legislation to overhaul school grades, and avoid holding school districts to consequences during the first year of new standards. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Florida Current. WCTV.
School boards. Candidates for the Palm Beach County School Board are already raking in the dough. Extra Credit. State officials consider the Manatee County School Board's request for an investigation. Bradenton Herald.
School safety. A House bill that would allow at least one designated school employee to carry a gun on campus clears the House education committee. Orlando Sentinel. Associated Press. Miami-Dade officials oppose the plan. Miami Herald.
Testing. Does it matter if teachers don't know yet what will replace the FCAT? StateImpact Florida.
Special-needs students. A Washington Post blogger continues the drumbeat against the state's testing policy for students with disabilities, relaying a video by the Florida Education Association.
School lunch. Grants expand push for organic food, breakfast and dinner in Orange County Schools. Orlando Sentinel.
