A charter school in Florida may be forced to close because it opened a private school on its campus to remove low-scoring students before the state tests.
“Several days before the Florida Standards Assessments began near the end of the school year, 13 third-grade students suddenly transferred from the Palm Harbor Academy charter school to a newly created private school on the same school campus, run by Palm Harbor Academy governing board chairman the Rev. Gillard Glover.
“With one exception, all of those 13 students had one thing in common: They were at least one full grade behind grade level. Many of the children were multiple grades behind grade level. Another five students in other grades, all at least two grades behind grade level, were also transferred out of Palm Harbor and into the private school at around the same time.
“The students’ transfer to a private school meant that they didn’t take the state assessments required of public school students — and, therefore, didn’t drag down the school’s state scores and school grade. A failing school grade would have meant shuttering the school, School Board Attorney Kristin Gavin said, because the school got a D last year.
“The school district has portrayed the moving of the students as an attempt by Palm Harbor to skirt the school grade process, at a cost to the students: Those with disabilities who were moved were not being provided state-mandated support, district officials said, at the newly created private school, the Academy of Excellence.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Ahhhh . . . Florida, land of the Everglades, but a much bigger undrained swamp exists there.
Sure, just dump the undesireables to plump up your scores and then rejoice that privatized public services work miracles.
Who ARE these morons? Did they not think that even the most ignorant of the most ignorant would not figure them out and discover what is really going on?
Let there be lawsuits . . . . Do it now bfore your Trump and Trumpian governors start filling the courts with rogues and scoundrels as judges.
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sadly already a done deal
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Now we know what is meant by those dreadful “burdensome regulations” that are dragging down and slowing the growth of charters and vouchers and choice and the privatization of public education.
Anything that mandates even a smidgeon of transparency and decency.
And as can be sadly expected: look at the title in front of “Gillard Glover.”
Apparently no endeavor, profession, or idea can resist setting new lows in the shamelessly self-serving pursuit of $tudent $ucce$$.
But at least we are being treated—I use the phrase loosely—to a sneak peek into the playbook used by the corporate education reform crowd when they want to cook the books.
Ahhhh…so THIS is the spicy rheephorm sauce that Mr. Petrilli calls the “magic of competition.” Goes by various names. For example, during the Obama era some wit dubbed the RTTT “DashForTheCash.”
A race to the bottom, morally and ethically.
Really. Not Rheeally…
😎
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They are usually a lot more subtle about it. Charter schools start out with several advantages: students from unstable living situations are barred at the front when residence and lottery requirements start 8 or 9 months before the start of the school year, they are starting with a self selected group of families with the organization to prepare ahead and the resources to provide transportation and required volunteer hours, these are families that place a value on education, and if a child has special needs they can’t meet on their campus, those students are never admitted. Even with a loaded deck, they still can’t accomplish what most public schools have been able to. Yet, we want to pour more public money into private pockets. Once capital has been invested into these private companies, the land, buildings, and other resources purchased with public money transfer into the private hands and are gone forever.
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