1

K-12 PRIVATIZATION, AN
INDEPENDENT INQUIRY

Everyone Should Have Two Educations

one

to teach us
how to make a
living

and

the other
how to live.

James Truslow Adams, historian popularized

the term American Dream

Serving The Unmet Need LWV

Low Income, Reading, Innovation

3rd Grade Free & Reduced

Lunch (FRL)

Florida % Not Passing 3rd

Grade Reading Levels
2014
2013

43%
43%

2011

State

44%

2012

43%

M-D Traditional
M-D Charter

IT DOESNT COST THE SAME TO

EDUCATE EACH CHILD!

65%
80%
56%

Strategically Aligning Resources With Need

Special
Needs
Students

(Relative
Proportion)

Source: Finnish Lessons

LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS (LWV) Study

on School Choice: Consensus on Charter Schools

..initiated to better understand

oversight of public moneys that are

allocated to charter schools & other
private educational institutions.

Public (Inclusive) or Private (Exclusive) ?

Public: Magnets, Career

Academies, Neighborhood/
Community Schools

Privatized: Charters &

Vouchers

CHOICE

Responsibility
Information

Market Driven

Wants vs Needs

Privatization of K-12 Education

Charter Schools: While privately owned and managed, are

Charter
Schools

FOR PROFIT CORP

School
Board

NOT-FOR-PROFIT

GOVERNMENT

under contract to public school districts, funded by the public

and accountable to the public LWV Definition

Mgmt.
Company

-$ Black Hole
-Land
Developers
-Powerful
Stakeholder

Charters Cherry Picking Students

Selected Admissions/Dismissals Questioned

Practices Observed;

Miami-Dade Public Schools have 67%

Kindergarten Readiness, while Charters have 76%

Charter Lower Free & Reduced Lunch & ESE

Charters Marketing to Lowest Cost Kids

M-DCPS Expenditures

Traditional

Charter

Source: M-DCPS School Board Workshop 4/17/2012

LWV Charter School Report

10

For Profit Management Companies

Three

Control 27%
of Florida
Charter
Schools

Imagine 14
9%
Charter USA 44
30%

Academica 91
61%

11

LWV Conflict of Interest Concerns

Senator John Legg, Chair of Senate Education Committee

Senator Kelli Stargel, Orange County

House Budget Chairman Seth Mckeel

Future House Speaker Richard Corcoran

Senator Anitere Flores

House Education Appropriations Sub-Committee Chair Erik Fresen

House Representative Manny Diaz Jr.

Miami-Dade Legislators
Patricia & George Levesque

12

13

K-12 Privatization Legislation

PASSED:

SB 850 HB 7167 (2014) Vouchers

Expansion
HB 5101 (2012) Facilities
HB 7195 (2011) High Performing
Charters
SB 1620 (2011) Virtual
Charters

FAILED:

HB 875 (2014) Fiscal

Accountability ROI
HB 7083 (2014) Charter
Application & Contract
HB1191 (2013) Parent Trigger

Student Achievement
No Consistent Difference!
Reading
19%

Math

Charter
Schools
vs
Traditional
Schools

25%

56%

Better

No Difference

14

Worse

31%

29%

40%
Better

No Difference

Worse

Florida Not on Top Performing Charter School List

Source: National Charter School Study CREDO Stanford University Report

Florida Charter Experience

15

Only 27% Rated High Performing (FY 2012/13)

50% of all F Rated Schools in 2011
20% Charter Closure Rate Statewide
2013 State Audit Report - 315 instances of
weak internal control

Resegregation

16

Florida: 1/8 Charters are 90% single race;

1/12 public schools are 90% single race

Miami-Dade 25 charters with 90%

Hispanic, public schools 65% Hispanic

Florida Tax Credit (FTC) Vouchers

17

59,822 Vouchers in FY 2013-14 totaling $274 million

No FCAT and No School Grades
Requirements Less Stringent Than Public School
81% of FTC Students Attend Religious Schools

Florida Education Funding

18

Source: Tougher Choices, Shaping Florida Future, 2/2014

Leroy Collins Institute, University of Florida Bureau of Economic and Business Research

Improvement Rates

Had all students throughout the country made the average

gains as those in the four leading states, the United States
would have been making progress roughly comparable to
Germany and the United Kingdom, bringing the United States
reasonably close to the top-performing countries in the
world.
Source: Endangering Prosperity, A Global View of the American School
Erik A. Hanushek, Paul E Peterson, & Ludger Woessmann, Brooking Institute Press

19

#1 Maryland; #2 Florida; #3 Delaware; #4 Massachusetts

Disparity of Results: Large Districts

20

Strategically Align Resources With Need Better

#1 Maryland Over 63%

Student in Top 100
Largest School Districts
#2 Florida Over 70%
Student in Top 100
Largest School Districts

Large Districts = Economies of Scale

21

Risk Losing Florida Taxpayer Economic Advantage

Dollars Available To
Address Educational Needs

Strategically Better Align

Resources with the Need
Kids Do Better When Their Needs
Are Met (Finnish Lessons)
Best Improvement Rates
Best Return on Investment
Reduces Tax Payer Burden

Significant Improvement & Awards

22

FLORIDA #2 FOR IMPROVEMENT RATES

M-DCPS:
Graduation Rates up 43%
2012 Broad Prize for Urban Education (Lowering Achievement Gap)
86% of senior highs rated A or B (2013)
69% Approval Rating for $1.2B GOB Referendum (2012)
National & Florida Superintendent of the Year
5 out of 6 Floridas High-Risk School Tax Watch Elite Principal Award (Jan 2014)

LWV Position on School Choice &

Consensus Report on Charters

23

CHARTERS TO SERVE UNMET NEEDS

OVERSIGHT LOCALLY ELECTED SCHOOL BOARDS
CHARTER SCHOOL MANAGEMENT INDEPENDENT
TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
CHARTER SCHOOL FACILITIES AND FUNDING

Be Informed & Get Involved

Read LWV Report on Choice and Consensus Report on

Charter Schools

Join the LWV

24

Ask Legislators to Adopt LWV Positions

Ask For Continued Independent Research to Build on Floridas

Strengths & Improvements, That Focuses on Serving Unmet
Needs of Children as a Long Term Taxpayer Investment; Not
Privatization of K-12 Thru Charters & Vouchers

www.lwvmiamidade.org