pinion Charter Schools are Moving the Ball

While charter school advocates failed to pass their most ambitious legislative proposals in the 2012 session, they were able to get a surprising amount of support in elevating them into the dialogue – support that would have seemed far-fetched just a couple of years ago. For better or worse, it appears certain that Florida will be carrying out the educational reform debate sooner rather than later.

Opponents of charter schools hailed it a major victory when they were able to thwart the so-called "Parent Trigger Bill," which would have allowed parents of students attending a public school that received consecutive F grades from the state to petition the school district to implement a turn-around plan, which could have included converting the school to a charter.

The bill passed the Florida House and then stalled at a 20-20 tie in the Senate. Governor Rick Scott, a staunch supporter of charter schools, would have almost certainly signed the bill, meaning it was really only one vote away – again something all but unthinkable just a few years back.

Another proposed bill endorsed by Scott would have had each school board in the state share revenue generated by its capital outlay millage levy with charter schools. It didn't get out of committee in either chamber, but the fact that it made it to committee and received votes, is again a sign that the charter movement is gaining momentum among lawmakers.

A successful and persistent PR campaign toting the need for budget-strapped Florida to privatize as many of the state's operations as possible has undoubtedly helped fuel the movement. Remember, the sweeping prison privatization bill met a similar fate, falling to the same 20-20 Senate deadlock before getting to the House floor.

But it's not only the appetite for less government that has driven the fervor for charters. School districts have continued to be their own worst enemies, by and large failing to produce the results that would dampen the argument. In what seems to be a new era of public sector disdain, bloated administrations, often with compensation levels far out of step with their communities, have done themselves few favors in terms of inspiring confidence.

One can certainly (and effectively) argue that just like private prison facilities, charter schools have, on the whole, failed to demonstrate themselves as an effective alternative, but that doesn't necessarily matter. In Florida, if the big government version of something is producing less than acceptable results, a sizable swath of the electorate will always be open to the corporate approach, especially if someone can convince them (justifiably or not) that the same paltry results can be achieved with fewer of their tax dollars. The onus of proof seems to be on the public model, not vice versa.

The charter school movement is well organized and is aligned with powerful interests such as the American Legislative Exchange Council, who often creates the models for bills that would benefit charters and other privatization efforts. Florida school districts are fooling themselves if they believe the charter push is going away anytime soon, or without being soundly rebuked and then some.

10 years from now, we might well look at the charter school craze as an ill-fated fad that was rightfully avoided – or it could be the norm in Florida communities, having already replaced traditional districts and boards. It's impossible to know what happens next, but if I were in a public school district, I’d put less emphasis on explaining away the merits of such changes and more focusing on the kind of accountability that might offset the appetite for something different than we currently have. Charters being remembered as the perennial threat that finally led to badly-needed internal reforms within the traditional model might well be the best future result of all.

Dennis Maley is a featured columnist and editor for The Bradenton Times. His column appears every Thursday and Sunday on our site and in our free Weekly Recap and Sunday Edition (click here to subscribe). An archive of Dennis' columns is available here. He can be reached at dennis.maley@thebradentontimes.com. You can also follow Dennis on Facebook and Twitter by clicking the badges below.

Dennis Maley