The Trend Lies in Favor of Charter Schools

BRADENTON – Manatee County’s district administrators and school board members ”tried something new“ by holding a workshop to review annual reports from representatives of charter schools and allowed them to reestablish their mission and vision with the new school board members today during a workshop. Normally three to four charter schools would do this during a regularly scheduled board meeting.

”Let me just say this,“ said Board Member Harry Kinnan, ”4.7 percent of our students were in charters schools. It's conceivable that next year over 10 percent of our children will be in charter schools. We are moving almost exponentially in that direction. It's a reality that this is a program that is growing.“

Almost 4,500 Manatee County students now attend charter schools. There are ten currently operating in Manatee County. At least two of them were schools aimed toward ”at risk“ students, those in danger of dropping out.

”The accusation nationally, against charter schools, is that they take the cream of the crop and only the most academically gifted, etc. But when you look at all the educational offerings we are providing, the charter schools of Manatee County, services the children that are at both ends of that bell curve,“ said board member Karen Carpenter.

During the workshop, the charter schools were given time for a 10-minute presentation to engage in questions and answers with each charter school representative. Most of the board members were concerned with falling grades.

But Dr. Verdya Bradley , associate director of Innovative Programs and Parental Options, gave the Charter Schools an earful after most schools did not submit the appropriate documents, or meet standards compliant to those mandated by the district. The organization meets with each charter school at the beginning of every school year. They are provided a list of items required by statute, which they are held accountable for in order to meet requirements. Most of the schools were beyond deadline, which she claimed violated their school board contract .

”These were due prior to this meeting this afternoon. So I will say unto you that these are true indications that sometimes when it comes to charter schools, they aren't as responsive as they need to be,“ said Bradley. ”These items are statute driven and when they don't comply they are breaking the charter. We could just shake hands and be done, we could break the contract – but we don't do that.“

Barbra Harvey said that she would be in favor of breaching the contract in the future if charter schools continued non-compliance, especially when it comes to them not carrying the necessary insurance.

”We are not micromanaging, we just need a legal paper trail,“ said Bradley.

Charter schools are between private and public schools. They are funded with public money (except for their facilities) and they are an alternative to regular public school systems. Currently, charter schools receive waivers from public school districts in exchange for promising better academic results. Charters are usually given for 3-5 years, where an eye is kept on academic performance. If academic performance lags behind comparable public schools, then the ”charter“ is pulled and the school is closed.

Educators throughout the state are awaiting Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s proposed budget so see what part charter schools will play in his plans for education reform. Most of his reform proposals thus far have leaned in favor of more privatization in the school system by offering vouchers to parents that can be used toward private schools.