 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Charter school district reports mixed results
By MELANIE AVE
© St. Petersburg Times, TAMPA -- The Hillsborough County public school system's status as a charter district is toddling along at the one-year mark. But what does the much-touted distinction that frees the school system from some state bureaucracy really mean? Has it had an effect? And more important, has it improved student achievement as promised? According to the first-year report on the charter district status, presented to the School Board on Tuesday, Hillsborough's inaugural charter year has been a mixed bag. Because many of the 20 waivers from state regulations the district has requested are administrative rather than academic, many of the changes are invisible to parents, students and teachers. "We consciously decided not to do everything at once," said assistant superintendent Donnie Evans. "We said, 'Let's take it slow because we're not entirely sure of what we're getting into.' We didn't want to take on the world of state waivers." The district has met many of its goals, such as improving some reading scores and increasing its graduation rate. But it has many others to achieve, such as boosting ACT and SAT scores and getting 75 percent of the schools to earn an A or B under the state's grading system, instead of 41 percent. It is those items that are most important. The success or failure of a district's charter status hangs on improved academic performance, said Diane Cossin McCain, director of the state Department of Education's Choice office. "Overall they are enjoying the increased flexibility," she said. "That flexibility is enabling them to improve student achievement." Hillsborough's first year was essentially a testing ground, Evans said, and more than anything it has made administrators and teachers think more creatively. As a charter district, Hillsborough can buy textbooks that aren't on state-approved lists; bypass rules about covering walkways connecting portable classrooms; and more freely hire teachers without proper credentials to help ease teacher shortages. And some students, like those at Blake High School, can now receive a physical education credit for participating in dance programs. Evans said officials have realized that many of the changes they want to make don't even require waivers. "Being a charter district allowed us to think out of the box much more frequently," he said. The goal of charter districts, created under a 1999 law and similar in concept to charter schools, is to improve education by removing some of the red tape that binds districts. School districts sign a contract with the state and receive requested exemptions. In exchange they agree to more accountability. When Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet approved Hillsborough as the state's second charter district, after Volusia County on Central Florida's east coast, it became the largest charter district in the nation. Now other districts considering the status, such as those in Orange and Palm Beach counties, are looking to Hillsborough and Volusia. Assistant superintendent Jack Davis said he has appreciated the freedom from state regulations such as one that lets Hillsborough decide how many students should fit in schools based on the use of classrooms instead of the state's formula. That means additional classrooms are being built at the Lopez and Dover exceptional centers and those schools won't be penalized for having smaller classrooms of special education students. "There's a lot of latitude, but there's a lot of accountability to this," Davis said. "It's not all a honeymoon." -- Melanie Ave can be reached at (813) 226-3400 or melanie@sptimes.com.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
|
