And so it begins – Malloy’s Plan to Shift Public Funds to Charter Schools

Feb 06

jonpeltoAchievement First/ConnCAN, Charter Schools, Education Reform, State Budget, Stefan Pryor , , , 6 Comments

Governor Malloy and Commissioner of Education Stephan Pryor have announced a plan to give charter schools more public funds including money that will be shifted from helping Connecticut’s poorest urban districts.  The primary beneficiary of this move will likely be Achievement First, the large charter school management company that has nine schools in Connecticut.  An Ironic development considering the fact that Stefan Pryor helped create Achievement First and has served as one of its Directors until he resigned to accept Malloy’s invitation to become Connecticut’s Education Commissioner.

Governor Malloy has decided to side with the charter schools in begin the “money follows the child” system in which dollars used to help pay for education in existing school districts would be transferred to the charter schools.

Governor Malloy calls for an increase in per-pupil funding for charter schools from $9,400 to $11,000 and that an additional $1,000 per-pupil would be a transferred directly for the resource poor urban districts to the big-time donor supported charter schools that have recruited students from their area.

Malloy’s plan will increase funding for charters by $21.6 million

School districts would now be required to shift money from their regular programs to Charters.  The CT Post newspapers notes that “for districts like Bridgeport, which sends about 1,400 students to charter school, the cost would be $1.4 million annually.”

The loss of nearly a million and a half dollars would be a major blow to the Bridgeport Public School System but it is not the first time local school districts have been transferring funds to charters .

For example, the City of Hartford allocated $1.5 million to help renovate the old school building that Achievement First – The Hartford Academy moved into.   In addition, Hartford pays Achievement First $500 annually for each Hartford student who attends Achievement First – Hartford Academy (and that is on top of the grant Achievement First gets from the state of Connecticut).   Furthermore, the City of Hartford provided Achievement First with a “one-time payment” of $400,000 to “cover costs associated with the operation of the school”.

As Achievement First has expanded, the cost to the City of Hartford has also gone up.  According to one estimate, Hartford now provides Achievement First with $2.35 million a year, money that could be helping Hartford overcome the existing challenges facing its traditional public schools.

While Achievement First cries poverty, they seem to skip over the fact that the state of Connecticut gave Achievement First $24 million to help build the permanent home of the Amistad Academy.  It was the first grant of its kind to a charter school in Connecticut and will end up costing Connecticut taxpayers well over $35 million to pay back the bonds and interest.

Apparently Governor Malloy’s new plan dismisses these existing taxpayer-funded subsidies as calls for significant increases in funding to be given to Achievement First and other charter schools.

Under the Governor’s plan the number of charter schools allowed in the state would increase from 17 to 22 including some type of incentive that would reward local school districts to set up separate charter schools within their district.

Of course, that overlooks the problem of how does a publicly elected municipal board of education legally allow a charter school to be set up that does not, itself, include an elected board.

Achievement First also claims they need and deserve exactly the same amount of money as local public schools.  However, they do not have unionized faculty and staff so they can pay less…and yet these same teachers are put into the state’s teacher retirement system which will cost Connecticut taxpayers extra tens of millions of dollars more in the years to come.

UPDATE:  Malloy’s plan appears to include a proposal to address the criticism that charter schools are “creaming off” the best students, while leaving those who need extra help back in the district schools.

Readers of this blog will recall that I’ve raised serious concerns about how charter schools, especially those run by Achievement First, have managed to “cream off” the best students which has helped explain their “better performance”.  Poorer students, non-English speaking students, students who go home to a household where English is not the primary language and students with special education needs show up far less often in charter schools.

The Governor’s new proposal seems to recognize that critical issue or at least alludes to it developing a proposal to address it.  We’ll explore in the coming days but the Governor’s press release seems to imply that these new requirements would only apply to new charter school

His press release includes the following text:

Compel specific requirements when creating new charter schools:

  • Adopt legislation requiring any new charter schools to be created only in high-need districts
  • Require the State Board of Education to give new charter school application preferences to schools that:
    • Propose educational programs designed specifically to serve priority student populations, including students with histories of low academic performance, students with histories of behavioral/social problems, special education students, and others
    • Demonstrate strong strategies to attract, enroll, and retain priority student populations
    • Propose an education program designed to serve English language learner students; or propose a location in a neighborhood with a high percentage of English language learner students, while demonstrating capacity to provide high-quality educational services to this population
    • Specialize in turnarounds of low-achieving schools

Focus recruiting on priority student populations:

  • Require all applicants for the establishment of new charters to submit a recruitment and retention plan detailing plans to recruit, enroll, and retain priority student populations
  • Enable charter schools to propose modifications to their lottery procedures to
    give preference to priority student populations
  •  Hold charter schools accountable for the success of their documented recruitment and retention practices for priority student populations when the State Board of Education considers schools for charter renewal

For more information on the breaking story see CTNewjunkie: http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/ctnj.php/archives/entry/malloy_to_give_charter_schools_a_boost/

 

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  • http://www.ctparentsunion.org Gwen S.

    From a parent of children in CT’s PUBLIC school system (traditional), this debate should not be about what is best for the adults but what are the needs of ALL children to ensure their academic and ultimately life success! 1. We all know CT’s current educational system chooses to effectively educate some children over other children(which is unconstitutional ), at the Taxpayers expense. 2. Our current education system does not give Ct access to the qualified workforce needed to jump start our economy – at the Taxpayers expense. 3. Our current education system is as transparent as a “swamp mud” – at the tax payers expense 4.Our current education system turns a blind eye regarding accountability, people get paid whether they perform well or not- at Tax payers expense.Let us get on the same page, monopoly of the education system by certain groups is no longer viable or economically sustainable. The bottom line is CT needs options. Certain groups will put children first when options are available because choice stimulates one to do better because they have to earn the consumers trust. Parents will no longer solely leave the fate of our children in the hands of others. We must demand shared and consistent accountability. Not selective accountability!

    • jonpelto

      Excellent comments Gwen – I wish every one of our elected officials would be REQUIRED to read them….

  • http://www.facebook.com/SheilaMc7 Sheila McCreven

    Yes, important points you are making Gwen! And so I wonder: who holds Achievement First accountable along these lines? I would love to know how their current Charter Schools are doing on the very criteria being proposed by the Governor (for new charter schools, anyway):
    * Require… charters to submit a recruitment and retention plan detailing plans to recruit, enroll, and retain priority student populations
    * Enable charter schools to propose modifications to their lottery procedures to give preference to priority student populations
    * Hold charter schools accountable for the success of their documented recruitment and retention practices for priority student populations when the State Board of Education considers schools for charter renewal

    Where can parents get this information? Does Achievement First make it available to parents?

  • THREEFIFTHS

    How about adding this on like they are trying to do in New York.

    The Charter Schools Act.

    1. STUDENT RIGHTS – Charter schools MUST be required to retain Special Ed and ELL students. No longer push out, counsel out or expel them out of the school.
    2. PARENT RIGHTS – Every charter school board MUST have a parent board member who is the President of the school’s independent parent association.
    3. BILL OF RIGHTS – There MUST be a universal Parents Bill of Rights and Students Bill of Rights for charter schools.
    4. INDEPENDENT PARENTS ASSOCIATION – Every charter school MUST be required to have an independent parents association.
    5. CO-LOCATIONS – The state MUST develop a better process in determining co-locations in public school buildings in New York City because it is pitting parents against each other.
    6. ACCOUNTABILITY & TRANSPARENCY – Charter school board members and employees MUST be held to rigorous financial disclosure requirements and conflict of interest prohibitions as all other organizations receiving public money. There MUST be more oversight of Founding Boards. Board members MUST NOT be allowed to be permanent trustees. All employees (principals, directors, staff) MUST not be allowed to serve on the board. All schools must be audited by the State Comptroller.
    7. CHARTER CONTRACT & BY-LAWS – Every charter school MUST be required to post their charter and by-laws online to increase accountability and transparency in charter schools and their governing boards. Every board meeting MUST be held at the school.
    8. STATE RECEIVERSHIP – The state MUST have the authority to take over a charter school and re-constitute the board of trustees.
    9. MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONS – For Profit Management organizations MUST NOT be allowed to manage charters. Public money should be spent on public students.
    10. COMPLAINT & GRIEVANCE PROCESS – The state MUST develop a formal complaint and grievance process that includes tracking and resolving issues within 30 days.
    11. TEACHER RIGHTS & PROTECTIONS – Teachers in charter schools MUST be provided with whistleblower and job protections when exposing corruption, financial mismanagement and corporate chicanery in charters. No teacher should be fired for standing up for their students. E.g. East New York Prep Charter School.
    12. CHARTER AUTHORIZATION – Authorization MUST only be granted by the Board of Regents. show more show less.

  • KMUHAMMAD

    As an AF Parent for the past 12 years it has been my pleasure to hold a position on the Board of Directors. In addition, worked my way from secretary, VP to President of the Parent Leadership Council. It is empowering, fun and inspiring to work with parents black, white and hispanic. We have them all, we are TEAM AND FAMILY. We want and demand what is best for our students and are partners with AF to see that our children are successful. Working on the PLC, parents are able to have their children see that their education is very important. Working really hard to show that they can take school seriously but it will take lots of hard work . They also know that they have their parents support and all of the parents in the network. We have the parent piece in order and believe that equal education for all children is the key to success. We will continue to push for more schools wherever they are needed and give our stories so that all children will believe that the mission for them to be educated is a vision that is not yet manifested.

  • jane

    There is somethings that many fail to take into consideration…..1 that AF is a choice school meaning that without the parent making the innitiative the child would not be entered into a school. I live in the northend and know alot of parents who live in AF zone who do not choose to put in any effort into their child’s education they don’t want them to go to school longer or have more discipline or more homework so they will never fill out the application and the child will not have a chance….Is that fair of course not but we cannot fault a choice school for who chooses to apply…. the same can be said of many special education students if the parents don’t ask for the admitance due to satifaction at the specialty program they are in…It has been years that programs were set up for special ed students and the more special the needs the more likely they were not in their district school….who is yelling about that or is that okay because the “traditional school is doing that” 2. Many public school have partnered up with outside companies like The Pheonix, The hartford, etc for extra services for their students…..are they getting less money because of it? of course not and how is that different from AF getting donations? We want to call them the bad guys why because unions, and local school systems couldn’t do what charter schools in Hartford have been doing for years???? 3 Lets be real clear if the traditional system were healthy people would not be looking for choice. As for equitable funding yes it is needed As for money following the child …..WHY WOULD THE DISTRICT NEED IT IF THE STUDENT IS NO LONGER THERE….AND I HAVE YET TO HEAR THAT THE STATE MONEY TO THE DISTRICT IS DISAPPEARING ALL TOGETHER…..