Angie Sullivan teaches first- and second-grade students in a Title 1 school in Carson County, Nevada. She sends her email reports to legislators and journalists. She is the conscience of Nevada.
She writes:
Attached is a report I put together in an attempt to review what data I could find on Nevada Connections Academy.
I did include some research on the parent corporation also for background which may or may not give you insight into the Nevada Connections Academy.
Opened in 2007 – Nevada Connections has never been successful.
Ten years later the Nevada Charter Authority is attempting to shut down this charter because of poor graduation rates.
Ten years.
I have been studying this information for months and have yet to see any accountability by Nevada Charters. Claims that they can be closed are not backed by real evidence. Nevada Charters close due to bankruptcy and fraud. They do not close due to severe and consistent academic under-performance.
As you review the data – you will notice that in most years and most grade levels half or more of the students are failing.
Graduation rates have been abysmal.
If I am reading the hard to understand reports correctly, in 2016 Nevada most likely paid $6,000 X 2400 = $14,400,000 to Nevada Connections Academy for High School Seniors and 40% or 914 graduated.
Total enrollment in Nevada Connections Academy was report at 2,851. Overall the Nevada Tax Payer spend $17,106,000 for less than half its students to be proficient.
The school also has a swinging door with half its students turning over. Due to lack of regulation and oversight – plus the “missing” students every year at testing time – I have to ask if the Nevada Tax Payer is paying for students not even in the program any longer.
Understandably parents and students do not want their charter school to close.
Parent and students do not want my public school to close either. Yet, I am held accountable. My school can be turned around or taken over by the Achievement School District. This failing charter has been doing poorly for 10 years and what has happened?
Nothing.
Parent and students base their “choice” of school on things other than standardized testing and numbers. I understand this very well. And they will protest if this school is closed. However, I am using this an example which is fairly similar to half of Nevada’s Charters which are on the lowest performing list.
Half of Nevada’s charters are on the lowest performing list. The worst graduation rates in the state are in the State Public Charter School System.
This charter is one of many in Nevada not doing well.
Half of Nevada’s charters are on the lowest performing list.
Parents need access to charter information at the same level public schools are required to give information to parents. In an annual report published on-line. Charters which spend on marketing to produce enrollment numbers need to be giving their data and graduation rate information to student prior to enrollment. No one should have to dig around in the Nevada Report Card for a month to try to determine if a school is academically achieving. If these charters are actually serving students not expected to graduate – if they are alternative schools – they should tell parents up-front the likelihood of graduating from these schools.
Charters need to be audited. Public schools have the SAGE Commission. Charters should have a similiar body which looks at return on investment and other financial measures.
I just attempted to watch an audit or something like an audit on-line from the charter authority.
https://manage.lifesizecloud.com/#/publicvideo/975a6334-1f01-4734-9678-cc6042d30f29?vcpubtoken=2021a45f-3957-40df-97a4-8cc8d9196bdb
Besides cheerleading for charters – I’m not sure the audit produced much information. It certainly did not expose anything I have discovered in the last few months. Watch the video for yourself and ask yourself if the Nevada Charter Authority is able to hold any of Nevada’s Charters accountable with the information presented.
Due process is the reason charters are not closing?
Perhaps there is simply zero political appetite to close a perpetually failing charter?
While charters may protest accountability in the name of freedom and choice. . . this needs to be balanced by accountability to the tax payer who pays the bills.
It is not fair to have a strict accountability system for public systems while charters are allowed to run amuck in the state of Nevada.
The unfairness of a legislated system that turns public schools into charters but does nothing about all the failing charters spending million in tax payer money in the state – is foul.
The Nevada Charter System is a failing school system in the state. That is clear according the data.
If Nevada Connections cannot be closed after 10 years of failure, which charter will ever be held accountable?
Angie
See the whole report here.
