If Pickett were a charter school, it'd be closed by now

"Whenever people talk glibly of a need to achieve educational "excellence," I think of what an improvement it would be if our public schools could just achieve mediocrity."  ~  Thomas Sowell

Toledo Public School's Pickett Academy has been in
academic emergency or failing for more than a decade.

I recently came across this quote and thought it was perfect to explain what is going on at Pickett Academy, formerly known as Pickett Elementary, in Toledo, Ohio.

But it's also a good quote to explain what's going on in Ohio in general as the legislature considers new rules for charter schools.

Let's start with Pickett.

Pickett used to be kindergarten through sixth grade, but was recently changed, as part of an overall restructuring of the Toledo Public Schools. It now goes to eighth grade.

For more than 12 years, Pickett has been failing. It was in academic emergency under the old state grading system and has had a failing grade since the new school report cards have been issued.

In 2011-12, the school met none of the performance indicators and did not meet the "adequate yearly progress" indicator.

In 2012-13, under the new letter grades, the school received a D on its Performance Index (which measures the test results of every student) and an F on Indicators Met (which tells how many students passed the state tests at a minimum level).

In order to "meet" an indicator, at least 75% of students must pass the test.

The school met zero - none - of the 14 indicators during the 2012-13 school year.

It also scored an F for Gap Closing, which tells if every student is succeeding regardless of income, race, culture or disability. The state set an Annual Measurable Objective of 83.4% in math and 78.5% in reading. Pickett's overall score in reading was 53.3% and was 36.4% in math.

So what happened in the 2013-14 school year?  More of the same.

Another D on the Performance Index. Another F on Indicators Met with, again, none of the 14 indicators achieved. And another F in Gap Closing.

You would think, with scores and grades like these over more than a decade, that students who would attend Pickett would be taking advantage of the Ohio EdChoice Scholarship.

The EdChoice Scholarships give options to kids who are, or would be attending, an underperforming school.  Parents can use the scholarship to send their child to participating private schools.

So how many students who would have been stuck in this particular failing school have opted for a better education?

That's a good question. According to a spokesman at the Ohio Department of Education, data on the number of EdChoice Scholarships issued by underperforming school is available. As soon as they email the information, it will be included in this blog post.

Regardless of the number of students leaving, it is certain that not all students at Pickett are doing poorly, just that a vast majority of them are.

Which brings us back to the quote - and the Ohio General Assembly.

There are a lot of people up in arms about the performance of charter schools - which are also public schools - especially after a pretty negative report from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

Fordham was the first non-profit agency to be approved by the Ohio Department of Education as a sponsor of community schools. Fordham's report, released in December, said that "too often Ohio's charters have produced mediocre results" and that, on average, charter school students "make less academic progress than their district counterparts."

Fordham made several recommendations for improvement and some are included in House Bill 2 and as part of Gov. John Kasich's budget recommendations.

Certainly, poorly performing schools should not be allowed to continue to crank out poorly educated students. And an examination of public charter schools is not only valid, but necessary.  Parents need this information - and information on traditional public schools - so they can make good decisions for their children and find a school that best fits them.

But among all the angst and hand-wringing over charter schools that don't do well after three years, a lot of politicians, teachers unions, special interest groups and lobbyists are ignoring schools like Pickett that have been failing students for more than a decade.

In fact, if Pickett had been held to the same standard as existing charter schools, it would have closed quite some time ago.

For instance, in the 2013-14 school year, charter schools serving up to third grade would automatically be closed if, for two of the last three years, the school had been in Academic Emergency. While Pickett now serves up to eighth grade, it's been in Academic Emergency for over a decade.

The problem isn't that so many kids are stuck in failing schools without options, or that charter schools aren't doing as well as other public schools, or that parents cannot afford a private school education - though all these are, indeed, problems parents and communities face.

The bigger problem is that the various school options are not held to similar, much less the same, standards.

According to a December 2011 report from the Center for Education Reform, between 1997 and 2011, nearly 100 (99 to be exact) charters were closed for failing to meet their obligations. A January 12 Columbus Dispatch article noted that closings are now over 150.

There are 233 schools on the current List of Designated Public Schools, the schools that are underperforming and have been failing for at least two of the last three years.  Students who attend, or would be slated to attend, those schools are the ones eligible for EdChoice Scholarships.

Interestingly, the List has a "Closing" column, which identifies schools that are in the process of being closed.

Guess how many of those 233 failing schools are closing.

None.

THAT is the problem. Traditional public schools which are failing students are allowed to remain open while the other public education option - charter schools - must close when they fail.

Now, if the traditional public schools weren't failing overall, or just failing to meet the needs of specific students, there wouldn't been a "need" for other options, though there would still exist a "want."

No school can be all things for all students, which is why school choice is so important to parents and students.

But if we're not going to open the doors so wide that ALL students can have a choice, then the least we can do is ensure that traditional public schools are treated the same as charter public schools and close down the ones that are continually failing to meet even the most basic of standards - like Pickett.

After all - it's "for the children."

Public charter schools save tax dollars, study shows

The Buckeye Institute has released a study showing public charter schools provide a great value to Ohio's K-12 education system. Report co-authors Matthew Carr and Beth Lear found closing existing public charter schools will result in reduced per pupil spending levels in each of the "Big 8" city school systems. Significant property tax increases would be required to maintain current per student funding levels.

The report examined the financial impact of public charter schools on the finances of nearby traditional public schools. Specifically, it analyzed the implications for taxpayers in each of Ohio's "Big 8" city school systems if the charter school program were discontinued and all students returned to their residentially assigned traditional public schools.

"The public relations war against educational choice by Ohio's government school bureaucracy has often focused on how alternative schools are financed," report co-author Matthew Carr said. "Our research carefully examined claims made regarding public charter school finance and its financial impact on nearby traditional public school districts."

"Public charter schools are not funded by local property tax dollars," co-author Beth Lear added. "This fact is often overlooked by school choice opponents. Our findings should help inform the ongoing educational choice debate."

Perhaps Toledo City Council should read this report prior to making any decisions about the increased zoning requirements they are contemplating. Their proposed regulations claim to provide students with certain amenities like playgrounds and gyms, but in reality make it impossible for such schools to locate in unused existing buildings without extensive and costly renovations. Charter school advocates say this is just another way to inhibit the establishment of such schools, as the local zoning rules are more extensive than state requirements.

Some key points from the study:

The report's major findings include:

* Ohio's public charter schools do not, in any instance, receive funds raised by school district property taxes.

* Public charter schools operate with substantially less revenue per student in each of the "Big 8" city school systems. The largest difference is in Youngstown, where charter schools operate with an average of $7,126 less per student. The smallest difference is in Canton, where charter schools operate with an average of $1,809 less per student.

* Every "Big 8" city school system receives a net gain in revenue, on average, for each student choosing to attend a charter school. The largest gains are in Cincinnati, where each student departing for a charter school provides the district an increase of $4,030. The smallest gains are in Canton, where each student departing for a charter school provides the district an increase of $918.

* The return of public charter students to each "Big 8" city school district would result in a net per pupil loss of revenues for the district. As a result, these districts would face either lower per pupil spending levels or significant property tax increases to maintain current spending levels. The largest tax increase would be required in Youngstown (roughly $3,200 per $100,000 of home valuation). The smallest increase would be required in Akron (roughly $300 per $100,000 of home valuation).

("Big 8" refers to Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown city schools.)

COSI as a charter school?

That's the idea of Jack Ford, a COSI board member and newly elected (to fill the seat he was appointed to) Toledo School Board member.

According to today's paper, Ford suggested to Mayor Carty Finkbeiner and COSI board president David Waterman that TPS could take over the building and make it into a charter-type school focusing on science and math during the day while leaving it open to the public for visits and exhibitions during the afternoon, evenings and weekends.

I think the idea of a charter school focusing on math and science is a great idea. And it would make sense if we don't already have one in the Toledo/Lucas County area.

But ....

One of the biggest problems COSI faces is the HVAC costs because of the design of the building. If TPS is going to invest taxpayer dollars for a math/science charter school, the COSI building is certainly NOT the most economical nor efficient building to select, even if they were able to get $1 million in other tax money from the city, the state or the federal government.

Besides, this really has nothing to do with the need or the offering of a charter school - this is all about how to save COSI, which the voters have said - TWICE - they don't want their tax dollars used to save.

And it doesn't matter which tax dollars they use for this building - school, city, state or federal - they're all still tax dollars and the voters have said NO.

Just what part of NO do they not understand?

(prediction: The Blade will jump all over this idea as a good solution to saving COSI and the downtown.)