Rick Patrick: Greene Publishing, Inc.
This is the seventh in a series of weekly articles about the challenges facing our school district, and the measures proposed to meet those challenges.
Currently there are 77,000 students in the State of Florida who are in schools that have consistently received “D” or “F” grades. In some districts in the state, there are schools that have been failing for as many as 12 years. In order to address this challenge, the state legislature, which is now in session in Tallahassee, is considering various pieces of legislation that could become state law. For school districts with consistently failing schools, there is a piece of legislation that could have a significant impact on those districts. That is House Bill 5105.
According to a summary and analysis of the bill, the bill “streamlines early warning system requirements and alleviates school improvement planning requirements by requiring a school improvement plan only for schools with a grade of ‘D’ or ‘F.’ The bill also streamlines the school improvement plan by:
Requiring the same level of intensive interventions and support strategies for ‘D’ and ‘F’ schools;
Requiring the school district to provide the State Board of Education (SBE) a district-managed turnaround plan by Sept. 1 after a school earns a ‘D’ or ‘F;’
Requiring the selection of another turnaround option after the school receives a third consecutive grade below a ‘C’ unless the school is deemed likely to improve to a ‘C’ and receives an additional year; and
Requiring another turnaround option be implemented after two years implementing the first plan unless the school is deemed likely to improve to a ‘C.’
The bill provides that an educational emergency exists in a school district when a school earns a ‘D’ or ‘F’ and requires the district to execute a memorandum of understanding with the collective bargaining agent concerning the selection, placement, and expectations of instructional personnel and school administrators at the school. The memorandum must also be submitted to the SBE by Sept. 1 after a school earns a ‘D’ or ‘F.’
The bill authorizes the establishment of ‘schools of success’ and designation of ‘success operators’ to provide students in areas of persistently low-performing schools with a high-quality education option designed to close the opportunity gap and increase student achievement. The bill:
Defines persistently low-performing schools as those subject to differentiated accountability for more than three years or closed as a result of school improvement requirements;
Authorizes the SBE to identify and designate success operators who meet specified criteria;
Remove barriers to success operators by creating a new notice and agreement process that is exempt from the current charter law and state procurement laws. The process allows a success operator to submit a notice of intent to establish a school of success in a school district with one or more persistently low-performing schools; requires the school district to enter into a performance-based agreement with the success operator which must include specified provisions;
Provides a school of success with specified exemptions from current law;
Provides provisions for facilities and funding for schools of success;
Establishes a grant program to cover specified operational expenses; and
Establishes the Schools of Success Revolving Loan Program to help schools of success cover school building construction and start-up costs.
What this bill means for Madison County is simply that if it is passed and becomes law, students at Madison County Central School (MCCS) and Greenville Elementary School (GES) could have an option to attend a charter “School of Success” that would be operated by an operator that has been approved by the SBE and has a proven track record of success in low income areas. If this is to be avoided, these two schools must receive a grade of “C” or better.
In discussing this bill, some State Representatives have made the argument that some schools have been failing year after year with little to no improvement. This bill attempts to try something new in order help those students who are in failing schools. Opponents say the $200 million that would be spent on these charter schools would be better spent in improving the current schools by providing computers, paying teachers to stay after school helping students, etc. A video of the debate over the bill can be viewed at www.myfloridahouse.gov/VideoPlayer.
Rep. Halsey Beshears' office can be reached at: 1305 W. Washington St., Monticello, Fl. 32344-1130. You may call his office at (850) 342-0016.