Tag:

charter schools and low-income students

Report: Florida charter school students outperforming district school peers

Ron Matus March 7, 2013

Florida charter school students are out-scoring and out-gaining their traditional public school counterparts in more than 150 comparisons on the state’s standardized tests, according to a state-mandated report released by the Florida Department of Education Thursday.

In 156 of 177 comparisons, charter school students scored higher, made bigger gains and had smaller achievement gaps.

The department compared the two sectors by looking at students overall, and by comparing white, black, Hispanic, high-poverty and disabled students, as well as English language learners. It broke down results into elementary, middle and high school categories.

The state based its analysis on more than three million scores from last year’s reading, math and science FCAT tests and Algebra I end-of-course exam. Only students who attended traditional public schools or charter schools for the entire year were included. The report did not break down results by district.

Charters did particularly well with low-income middle schoolers. In reading, 55.6 percent of FRL kids in charter middle schools scored at grade level or above, compared to 45.8 percent for their traditional school peers. In math, the corresponding percentages were 54.8 and 44.5.

DOE press release here. Initial coverage from Gradebook and South Florida Sun Sentinel.

March 7, 2013 16 comments

Charter Schools Funding Parental Choice School Choice

Lots to talk about at the Florida Charter School Conference

Sherri Ackerman November 13, 2012

Sherri Ackerman

Kenny

The two-day Florida Charter School Conference officially opens Thursday with keynote speaker Deborah Kenny, founder and chief executive officer of the successful New York charter schools, Harlem Village Academies.

But a pre-conference schedule the day before offers sessions on starting a charter school and networking for principals, along with a three-hour town hall meeting featuring school leaders and legislators scheduled to talk about the future of charters in Florida.

No confirmations, yet, on the roster for that meeting. But look for discussions about charter school funding, especially calls for more oversight in light of the recent discovery of an Orlando charter school that paid its principal $800,000 last school year before the school shut down.

There might also be discussions on PECO funds – Public Education Capital Outlay dollars dedicated to school construction costs. Last year, lawmakers designated $55 million for charter schools and none for traditional public schools.

The rationale? Traditional schools can levy property taxes to build and maintain schools; charters don’t have that luxury. With 574 charter schools in 44 districts and more anticipated, expect debate about the public dollars in 2013.

Although the conference features a separate breakout session Friday on the Charter School Growth Fund, lawmakers might offer some details during the town hall meeting on how that money is used. The fund is made up of $20 million in Race To The Top dollars and $10 million in private donations.

November 13, 2012 0 comment

Achievement Gap Charter Schools Parental Choice School Choice

Florida charter school leader moves on to new venture

Ron Matus November 12, 2012

Ron Matus

Cheri Shannon

The head of one of Florida’s two statewide charter school support groups is stepping down to lead a more targeted effort. Cheri Shannon, president and CEO of the Florida Charter School Alliance, is leaving at the end of the month to lead University Prep, a new charter network she says will focus exclusively on low-income students. To some extent, she’ll be coming full circle, having once run a charter school in Kansas City, Mo., that served students who were predominantly black and high poverty.

“This is my passion, my mission. … I felt called, for lack of a better word, to come back in and do that work,” Shannon told redefinED. “This is where I want to end my career, making a difference in the lives of kids who deserve a difference.”

Shannon joined the alliance in April 2011 as its founding CEO. A former associate superintendent in the Kansas City school district, she has years of experience in both traditional school districts and the charter sector.

Her new venture already has four charter school proposals in the pipeline, including one scheduled to go before the Pinellas County School Board on Tuesday. The school boards in Broward and Palm Beach counties have already signed off on the University Prep applications in their districts. The application in Hillsborough is scheduled to go before that district’s board next month, Shannon said.

The Pinellas proposal is for a K-8 school in St. Petersburg with a projected, first-year enrollment of 694 students. The plan is to open next fall. (To read more about the application, go to page 318 of the school board agenda packet.)

The proposal stands before an interesting legal backdrop – a 2010 settlement from a class-action lawsuit that accused the Pinellas district of failing to educate black students in violation of the state constitution. Under its terms, the Pinellas school board set an aspirational goal of having at least 500 spaces in charter schools available for black students.

November 12, 2012 0 comment

Blog Administration Charter Schools School Choice Unionism

Parents and charter schools have shaken up the old order

Special to redefinED October 31, 2012

Special to redefinED

“It is this parents movement that has shifted the tectonic plates of education reform.”

by Gloria Romero

Even while Gov. Jerry Brown and the California Teachers Association barnstormed the state, urging voters to raise taxes with Proposition 30 to support public education and predicting doomsday if the measure fails, a fascinating report from the California Charter Schools Association was released on the growth of charter schools in the Golden State.

Data from the report clearly reveal that change has come to California’s public education system.

Charter schools are public schools. They are publicly funded but operate with greater independence, autonomy and flexibility from the burdensome state Education Code which micromanages even the minutia of education practices. Charter schools are typically nonunion, although they can be unionized if teachers vote for a union.

Charter schools were first established in the nation two decades ago, with California becoming the second state to authorize them. Hailed as opportunities for innovation and reform, charter schools began to grow.

Even beyond becoming recognized as “petri dishes for educational reform,” the underlying philosophy of parental choice in public education began to take root. In a system where ZIP code is the sole criteria of school assignment, charters began to become a sort of “promised land” for high-poverty, minority families whose children were too often assigned to chronically under performing schools.

One-hundred nine new charters opened in California just this academic year, bringing the number of charter schools to 1,065, the most in the nation. Still, there are still 70,000 pupils on waiting lists.

October 31, 2012 0 comment