Three charter schools want to open in St. John’s County in Florida, which is the state’s highest ranking county.
Some of the state legislators, including one of the state senate’s most avid supporters of charters, are surprised. They thought that charters were supposed to rescue students in failing schools, but St. John’s County is known for its excellent public schools.
If approved, the charters will siphon almost $13 million out of the public school budget, requiring at least 200 teacher layoffs. School officials are alarmed. The excellent public schools of St. John’s County won’t be quite so excellent in the future. This is the kind of competition that Jeb Bush put into place, which he wants to replicate across the nation.
Two of the charters would be run by a for-profit charter chain that is already collecting $158 million in revenues from South Florida charters, which includes an annual profit to the firm of $9 million. It’s a very good business indeed.
A reader who runs a charter school wrote a week or so ago and insisted that charters are not deregulated; he asked for examples of state laws and regulations that charters are not required to meet. Here are some that apply in Florida, according to this article:
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Surprise….Montford warned that the charter schools would have a detrimental effect on St. Johns County schools.
I guess these are the unintended consequences no one thought about in the rush to privatize.Too bad he doesn’t feel this way about the charters in Miami, in shopping centers, and elsewhere.
LikeLike
Montford might actually be on to something when,
“‘Surprised, dismayed’
He said it was important for people to have a choice in areas where schools were “truly failing.”
Montford, a former Leon County school superintendent, agrees.
“A charter school is supposed to provide an option in those districts where they have struggling schools. … I’m quite surprised and a little dismayed they would come to St. Johns County. It causes me not only concern but a little confusion as well,” Montford said, noting he’s been a supporter of charter schools as a “viable option” since he was a principal.
He warned the impact to the high-performing district could be significant, including “fewer teachers, fewer support personnel, etc., that will have a detrimental effect on school and students.”
The only reason for the charter schools coming would be “profit, and I hope that we realize that profit should not be the primary goal of an alternative school. There’s nothing wrong with making a profit but you sure wouldn’t want profit at the expense of public schools, especially in a district that is high performing.”
He said charter schools and traditional public schools did need to be on a “level playing field” with both being tied to the same standards and the same set of rules. Currently, charters receive some exceptions not given to public schools.
LikeLike
“Two of the charters would be run by a for-profit charter chain that is already collecting $158 million in revenues from South Florida charters, which includes an annual profit to the firm of $9 million. It’s a very good business indeed.”
5.6% profit is hardly resoundingly “good business.” It’s actually fairly anemic given the amount of capital they put at risk. For comparison Apple’s profits are nearly 25% at $6B.
LikeLike
Schooling should not be a for-profit business. The for-profit charters take no risk–unlike Apple or other businesses that roll out new products that may bomb. All their revenues are government guaranteed. It is a great cash flow. And every penny of profit is a taxpayer’s contribution that was collected to go to the classroom, not to investors.
LikeLike
Would a charter school run as a non-profit be acceptable?
LikeLike
Most school districts don’t have enough money to meet all the needs of the schools they have. Siphoning off scarce public resources makes little sense.
LikeLike
Is that a no? That is do you think the proft/nonprofit status of a charter is irrelevant?
LikeLike