Representatives of four high-profile charter school networks told a Florida House committee they are eyeing the state for future expansions. They also discussed the barriers that might keep them away.
When it comes to attracting top charter school operators, the Sunshine State has a lot going for it.
It's the third-largest state. Its population is growing — so much so that some districts are rolling out the welcome mat to charters that might help exert growth. Its 20-year-old charter school law is ninth-best in the nation, according to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. It has more than 650 charter schools and thriving school choice culture. But since charters enroll one in ten of its 2.8 million public school students, it isn't totally saturated.
Peter Bezanson, of BASIS charter schools, testifies before the Florida House Choice and Innovation Subcommittee.
And yet, the state has struggled to attract the kind operators that appeared before the House Choice and Innovation Subcommittee this week — organizations that draw national headlines for targeting the most disadvantaged students and pushing them toward college.
Each of the charter groups cited potential obstacles that, in one form or another, are on lawmakers' radar during the upcoming legislative session: Teacher certification rules, school facilities, equitable funding.
BASIS runs academically "hyper-accelerated" charter schools in Arizona, Texas and Washington. Its schools push ninth-graders to take precalculus and require their students to take at least six Advanced Placement exams. It's created elementary schools and extended school days to make its demanding academics accessible to low-income students.
CEO Peter Bezanson said Florida is one of the top four states where BASIS eyeing future growth.
"We wanted to be a great choice, a high-quality choice for every kid who is willing to work hard," he said.
BASIS schools like to hire "subject-expert teachers," Bezanson said. If teachers are well-trained in a subject like physics and have an ability to connect with students, he said, certification exams and other regulations become needlessly onerous. (more…)
The newest addition to Florida’s portfolio of learning options is part of a public boarding school network that 60 Minutes called "one of the most successful and innovative public schools in the country."
The SEED Foundation school in Miami, set to open this fall, is modeled after the college-prep SEED schools in Washington D.C. and Baltimore. According to the foundation, 90 percent of its graduates have enrolled in college and 60 percent have graduated or soon will graduate from college.
“We offer the gift of time, education and support, 24 hours a day, five days a week,” Kara Locke, who will become head of school in Miami, said in a phone interview with redefinED.
Business consultants Eric Adler and Rajiv Vinnakota established The SEED Foundation in 1997 after spotting an opportunity to provide better education options for at-risk students. "There's boarding schools for rich kids; why aren't there boarding schools for poor kids?" Vinnakota told 60 Minutes in 2010. "The intense academic environment, the 24-hour aspect and constant access to role models. Why wouldn't all of those things be just as important for poor kids as it would be for rich kids?"
SEED schools emphasize traditional academics, college preparation, self-confidence, discipline, responsibility, athletics and performing arts. Along with a safe place to live, play and study, students receive three meals a day and the opportunity to develop relationships with strong mentors and role models.
Tuition is free. The school receives public support for operating costs but raises private funds to support capital and start-up costs. Students live in a dormitory during the week. “It is a home” and “a nurturing place,” said Locke, who served as principal of the SEED school in D.C. from 2007 to 2013 and lived in the school’s dormitories for the last five years.
