When FL charter schools close, taxpayer money remains in private hands.

[madfloridian]

It doesn't get returned to the public schools. There are so many inequities like that in this state.

The worst lately is the spin of oh goody they are giving more money to education this year....well, no, not public education.

From the Bradenton Herald:

Legislature's political game with public schools

Florida's Legislature and governor boast about blessing K-12 education with an additional $547.8 million in the coming fiscal year, bringing total spending on public schools to a record $18.9 billion.

On the surface, the infusion of a half billion dollars certainly looks like a banner year for public schools. Dig deeper, though, and another perspective comes to light. Two phrases -- truth in advertising and follow the money -- come into play.

.....The upshot of this year's education budget: The burden of paying for public schools is increasing for local property taxpayers, continuing a legislative shift that began in the 1990s with a pause during the recession as property values fell.

The article points out that the PR spin fails to tell us that for two long years public schools got no money for building and maintenance. None.

Yet $200 million was allocated for charter schools to be built and maintained.

There are 2.7 million public school students versus about 230,000 students in charters. Vastly unfair.

But one of the worst parts is that even though charter schools get the per pupil funding, there's a catch. If the student is sent back to public schools or if the charter school closes....the money stays with the charter school companies.

Charter schools, often operated by for-profit management and real estate development companies, spend far less money on instruction than public schools, and they expend large amounts on management fees and leases.

When charter schools close, those capital assets don't revert to the taxpaying public that paid those costs but remain in private hands -- expanding on the inequity.

[ancianita]

1. This is a legal carelessness that is legally indefensible. If those hands are not "schools," that

money is thereby embezzlement. That that money should be returned by law should be obvious to everyone who created charters from Tallahassee to local districts. Where are the Tallahassee and district lawyers who care about funding. One wonders whether or not they're on the take, as well. This is a legal carelessness that is legally indefensible.

But it's about the country's carelessness with its children, which is why money for them is so consistently stolen.

[skepticscott]

4. Carelessness? I think it's just the opposite

The whole push for charter schools and privatization of public education is expressly intended to channel public money into private hands, usually (and unsurprisingly) hands that have also greased the palms of the politicians legislating the programs. This is just another manifestation of that, and there is nothing careless or accidental about it.

[Thespian2]

8. Thumbs Up

Thanks for being so correct.

[ancianita]

12. You're absolutely right. But keeping the money without an operating school is still embezzlement.

[Stonepounder]

15. Not if that is the way the law is written.

It may be a corrupt law, passed by corrupt politicians, but if that is the way the law is written, then it is not embezzlement. At least until a judge rules the law unconstitutional. It is disgusting and immoral, but not illegal.

[ancianita]

16. That's why I think lawyers should be challenging this, forcing proper tax money stewardship back to

those in charge of authorizing charters.

[chervilant]

31. It IS a corrupt law,

passed by corrupt politicians, who treat us like recalcitrant children. They respond only to their corrupt corporate overlords, and ignore the mandates of the majority.

Dismantling public education is part of the bigger plan. They're not worried about our children (or THEIR future) -- it's all about the Almighty Dollar (our ACTUAL deity).

[Doctor_J]

30. got that right. private=no oversight

It is amazing how completely corrupt our country has become

[Enthusiast]

2. Nauseating.

[Jefferson23]

3. Question: How do these corrupt practices jive with the state's requirements to fulfill IDEA

for all students? I am left to wonder if there is a legitimate legal opening to
challenge before the courts.

The harm that comes to students from denying these funds to public schools can be measured...it
seems to me to be pure negligence...at the very least.

Despicable and corrupt.

K&R

[mopinko]

5. i think that is a specious conclusion.

what he is describing is NOT capital assets. leases and management fees are not solid, salable things. that is what a capital asset is.
as for how funding works, i think that only counting butts on the first day of schools is a disaster for all. we have a very transient population, and this bites all schools here in the butt.

and also, this speaks to a common claim of unfairness, but they seem to think that the only sort of fairness is - one for you, one for me.
but public schools come with real capital assets, buildings and grounds that are sometimes 100 years old. when a charter starts from scratch, it being a public school, it needs a building.
people hate when they take over old schools, people hate when they get facilities funding for new ones. but public schools get their needs met the same way- through capital budgets that are NEVER based on a per pupil formula.

there are NO charters in chicago that are run by real estate companies. the vast majority are run by non-profits, especially the university of chicago (which karen lewis, on video posted here, refers to as "an outfit connected to the mayor" and slams, slurring their acronym, asul, into "awful" )

i really wish you would stop with the broad brushes. you want to slam a particular company, individuals, fine. but it is no more fair to judge all charters by the worst of them than it is to judge all public schools by the snake pits with shooting in the halls.
parents see this differently. teachers would do well to listen a little more closely.

[DhhD]

7. The point is, accountability to the student and what they bring to the future is the point

of education in the first place. Where is the accountability for a public education institution paying the bills for a private commerce institution? How is it right for parents/taxpayers to, let us say, pay the water and electric bill of a private building next door where SOME parent want to send their children to WORK in a private business? In my opinion, students away from public school are actually working for a private business and not receiving a Free Public Education. And student that are believed to not be doing well in any school situation, are then perceived to be in need of a Free Appropriate Public Education under IDEA and/or Section 504.

In my opinion, neither Free Appropriate or State Accountability have been fulfilled.

[mopinko]

10. the law here

first of all, the public schools here rent a lot of space. and will continue to do so, considering the cost of maintaining oodles of outdated facilities.
we certainly pay the electric bills for all the buildings to the same com ed. and in chicago, non-profits get free water.

but secondly, only charter schools need to have their charter approved by parents and community every 5 years. parents have almost zero ability to sanction bad schools. the local school councils get to approve principal contracts, but the district controls a lot of the process.

[DhhD]

26. Parents may take steps to remove the certification of educators. That is total parent control.

The resulting investigation then uncovers the accountability of the student to the public school or the work arrangement at the private business next door. Children have very few rights unless they are disabled.

[Starry Messenger]

6. k&r

[freebrew]

9. I smell a Bush...

wonder if any of this can be linked to Jeb and/or the BFEE in general. Sounds like their style.

[Octafish]

11. A contract is a contract.

The terms are sacroscanct. Except, of course, when it comes to the interests of the corporation versus that of the individual, and then the state today sides with the corporation.

[Ka hrnt]

13. Charters are just legalized money laundering...

The biotech nonprofit I used to work for did the same thing...tax money went in, then magically worked its way into the hands of the CEO and his wife (the VP). Driving on vacation? Now a business trip. They even set up a private company within the non-profit, so I'm certain that the biotech's scientists were unwittingly also the employees of this organization that they "insourced" all the biotech's work to. I agree that there's such a thing as too much regulation, but when it comes to charters (and non-profits), I'm all for more of it; it's needed to protect our tax dollars.

[malthaussen]

14. In Florida, isn't the rule that when the corporations get money, they get to keep it?

You know, like with the nuclear power plants they have to pay for even if they're not built.

-- Mal

[Turbineguy]

17. I thought that was the whole idea.

Transfer of public wealth into private hands. That's why we elect republicans.

[madfloridian]

18. My response elsewhere to someone who quoted part of FL law.

It sounds like they are required to return anything purchased or built with public funds, but the reality is that it is not happening. All too often funds are diverted elsewhere before the closing actually takes place.


I found a longer text of that...confusing.
And it looks like the rules are open to manipulation.

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=1000-1099/1002/Sections/1002.33.html

" (e)When a charter is not renewed or is terminated, the school shall be dissolved under the provisions of law under which the school was organized, and any unencumbered public funds, except for capital outlay funds and federal charter school program grant funds, from the charter school shall revert to the sponsor. Capital outlay funds provided pursuant to s. 1013.62 and federal charter school program grant funds that are unencumbered shall revert to the department to be redistributed among eligible charter schools. In the event a charter school is dissolved or is otherwise terminated, all district school board property and improvements, furnishings, and equipment purchased with public funds shall automatically revert to full ownership by the district school board, subject to complete satisfaction of any lawful liens or encumbrances. Any unencumbered public funds from the charter school, district school board property and improvements, furnishings, and equipment purchased with public funds, or financial or other records pertaining to the charter school, in the possession of any person, entity, or holding company, other than the charter school, shall be held in trust upon the district school board’s request, until any appeal status is resolved.

(f)If a charter is not renewed or is terminated, the charter school is responsible for all debts of the charter school. The district may not assume the debt from any contract made between the governing body of the school and a third party, except for a debt that is previously detailed and agreed upon in writing by both the district and the governing body of the school and that may not reasonably be assumed to have been satisfied by the district."

Looks like there are some outs in there for those willing to take advantage of it. However, some of the charter school resources may have been diverted long before the closing. Here are a couple of examples I wrote about here earlier in which schools did not get their money back.

Examples of serious charter school problems in FL. More oversight needed.

One example from the post:

...Another, Ivy Academy, closed this month after accepting nearly $500,000 in taxpayers' money, leaving behind a trail of bad debts and a criminal investigation. The owner of Ivy Academy hasn't returned Local 10's calls for comment.

..."We never get the money back, so it's a loss to the kids that they're not being educated, it's a loss and misuse of taxpayers' dollars," said Osgood. "They just get away with just strong-arm robbery in a sense with what they're doing in the charter schools."

And also the Miami Herald series by Scott Hiaasen and Kathleen McGrory shows the great amount of financial manipulation going on.

Florida Charter Schools: A Go-Go Industry Awash in Tax Money and Little Oversight

“Cashing In On Kids” paints a portrait of a $400 million-a-year charter school system (in South Florida alone) that seems to have become, as things always seem to here in Florida, the wild west of education: schools making up rules as they go and monied interests — often local developers or management companies (many from out of state) — paying themselves exorbitant management fees and/or rent for land and buildings they already own. One Miami Gardens school, for example, spent 43 percent of its income on rent.

And because state lawmakers have been more concerned about promoting rather than regulating charter schools, bad charter schools operate with impunity. Lawmakers even disregarded their own findings from a 2008 study that urged greater accountability and the closing of several loopholes in the law.

[Jefferson23]

19. I had asked a question earlier in your thread as to the legality of these maneuvers.

Since you're from Florida, has there been any suggestion by those fighting this to
bring legal action against the state that you are aware of? This article of investigative journalism by FCIR
is quite damaging.

Since the legislative bodies have no interest in over sight, would be great to see them
challenged before the courts.

[madfloridian]

20. I know I read something about a challenge.

I can't find the reference now. I guess I am not using the right search terms? I will find it.

[Jefferson23]

21. Thank you. I can't help but wonder if a legal challenge is what many states may need to

do, madfloridian. It has become a run away train wreck and since these policies began with Duncan
I am not sure how else we fight them, if not on its constitutionality.

It is hard for me to envision a strong reversal of this failed education platform by the next Democratic
party nominee..it worries me how we'll get this turned around.

[madfloridian]

22. Here is one. Citizens for Strong Schools (CSS) v. Florida State Bd. of Educ

Looks like it is in limbo right now if I read this right. I am not good at all at legalese, so I may have missed something pertinent.

http://www.educationjustice.org/states/florida.html

Plaintiffs filed CSS v. Florida State Bd. of Educ. in 2009, alleging that the state’s funding system fails to “make adequate provision for education,” as the state constitution requires, because it relies too heavily on local funding and provides insufficient funding. Plaintiffs also allege that the funding system violates the constitution’s provision requiring a “uniform, efficient, safe, secure and high quality system of free public schools that allows students to obtain a high quality of education.” Plaintiffs ask the court to order defendants to establish a remedial plan to comply with the constitution.

In 2010, the trial court denied the state’s motion to dismiss plaintiffs’ claims. Denial of a motion to dismiss is not appealable in Florida, so this decision allowed the case to proceed to trial. The parties began discovery, but the state filed a writ of prohibition, which is similar to a motion to dismiss. The trial court denied the writ, and the supreme court denied the state’s motion for review of that decision. Nonetheless, the writ served to delay the case considerably.

Okay, found more. They may get to court this year?

http://schoolfunding.info/2011/10/school-funding-cases-in-florida/

On November 23, 2011, by a 8-7 majority, the First District Court of Appeal in Tallahasee, Florida refused to grant the defendants’ motion for a “writ of Prohibition” that would stop the lower court from proceeding with a trial in the pending adequacy case. Relying on strong constitutional language that mandates “a high quality education,” sets forth specific constitutional standards, and elevates education above other governmental functions, the plaintiffs allege that the state has failed to meet each of these requirements. See decision. The defendants appealed the dismissal of their motion, but on September 11, 2012, the Florida Supreme Court declined to consider the matter. The plaintiffs will now be able to argue their case at the trial which is expected to take place in the spring of 2014.

Last updated: August 2013

Well this is spring of 2014, and this is about all I can find. If someone is good at searching legal sites, maybe they can find more.

[Jefferson23]

23. Omg, I love this..thank you. I will try and catch any updates I can find.

So far the cases have been slow to move forward, but they are alive...excellent.

[madfloridian]

24. Let me know if you find more.

This sounds like there should be some kind of ruling soon.

[U4ikLefty]

25. OMG, a useful and productive exchange in GD!!!!

Thank you

[madfloridian]

28. They are good to have.

But it's not easy sometimes.

[Jefferson23]

27. Yes, I will do that. So far, I have been reading a little bit about the back story that may

help other lawsuits down the line? The fact that Florida, despite all the
decline in public education that has taken place, has an excellent foundation in terms
of what is expected for students:

snip*Voters approved an amendment to the state constitution in the November 1998 election and dramatically strengthened the education clause. The new language makes Florida's education clause one of the most strongly worded in the nation:

The education of children is a fundamental value of the people of the State of Florida. It is, therefore, a paramount duty of the state to make adequate provision for the education of all children residing within its borders. Adequate provision shall be made by law for a uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high quality system of free public schools that allows students to obtain a high quality education...

http://www.schoolfunding.info/states/fl/lit_fl.php3

I am encouraged, and if one state can make a good case against these policies and tactics, we
have a better chance of seeing the lawmakers dump them...I hope.

[madfloridian]

29. Here are the K-12 education bills passed this year in FL. Mixture good and bad.

PreK-12 education

SCHOOL GRADES (PASSED): Simplifies school grading formula. (SB 1642)

CONSTRUCTION (PASSED): Shifts a portion of the sales tax on energy into the Public Education Capital Outlay trust fund, which supports school maintenance and construction. (HB 5601)

VOUCHERS (PASSED): Expands the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program by creating partial scholarships for children from higher-income families and removing some barriers to participation. (SB 850)

SAVINGS ACCOUNTS (PASSED): Establishes "personal learning scholarship accounts" which can be used to reimburse the parents of special-needs students for education expenses. (SB 850)

CHARTER SCHOOLS (FAILED): Changes the way school districts enter into contracts with charter schools, requires school districts to share unused facilities with charter schools. (HB 7083/SB 1528)

BIOMETRICS (PASSED): Prohibits schools from collecting the biometric data of students or parents. (SB 188)

ACCELERATED LEARNING (PASSED): Requires school districts and state colleges to create a program for high school students to earn a year of college credits by graduation. (SB 850)

COMMON CORE (FAILED): Blocks Florida from moving forward with the Common Core State Standards. (HB 25/SB 1316)

TEXTBOOKS (PASSED): Creates a process for parents to contest textbooks. (SB 864)

EARLY LEARNING (PASSED): Creates new health and safety requirements for school readiness and Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten programs. (HB 7069)

MIDDLE SCHOOLS (PASSED): Requires public schools to identify middle school students at risk of dropping out, expands anti-hazing provisions to the middle grades. (SB 850)

SINGLE GENDER (PASSED): Creates new accountability and teacher training requirements for gender-specific classrooms. (HB 313)

SPORTS (FAILED): Allows students in homeschool programs, charter schools and magnet schools to participate in athletic and extracurricular programs at the public school of their choosing. (HB 533/SB 284)

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/gubernatorial/florida-legislature-2014-what-passed-and-what-failed/2178190

[Jefferson23]

33. Very interesting, thanks for the info.

I will be watching with deep interest how these lawsuits play out..even if they lose, we
will learn how best to tackle these policies going forward.

I like the mission statement, so to speak, that I posted earlier, it is a pretty high bar
of expectations for the state to provide, which is a good thing in a lawsuit.

[chervilant]

32. Sounds like a Confederacy of Dunces...

Are we surprised by this idiocy?

I think not.

Our system of public education has been systematically dismantled and subverted by the corporate megalomaniacs (who've usurped our media, our politics, AND our global economy). For the past sixty years, we've been taught (primarily) to be complacent and compliant -- just as all good factory fodder and service industry drones should be.

At this point, we must hope the Sheeple will wake up and take the necessary revolutionary steps to recover our nation.