EDUCATION

Vitti blasts 'schools of hope' plan now under Senate consideration

Tia Mitchell
Kathrina Reeves and her son Marcel, 11, talk with Javaro Giles, assistant principal at Matthew Gilbert Middle School while student Deonta Barnes, 14, operates a roller coaster model built in the school’s S.T.E.M. Lab. Gilbert is among 10 Duval County schools the Florida House has identified as being eligible to be converted to “schools of hope.” (Bob Mack/Florida Times-Union)

TALLAHASSEE | On the same day the Florida Senate began discussion about a controversial House proposal to convert low-performing schools into charters, Duval Superintendent Nikolai Vitti circulated a missive blasting the plan.

“The bill seemingly attempts to address the authentic need to improve educational outcomes in schools serving students facing higher concentration of poverty but does so without a research-based, data driven, realistic, or sustainable solution,” Vitti wrote in his Monday letter to senators.

The House has already approved HB 5105 along party lines. The “schools of hope” plan identifies chronically low-performing schools and requires that they be taken over by charter school companies with a record of raising student achievement. Critics have said the plan is unproven and funnels scarce taxpayer dollars to charter schools, and ultimately for-profit companies that help operate them.

The House has circulated a list of 115 schools that have received D or F grades for more than three years. Ten of them are in Duval: Lake Forest Elementary, Hyde Park Elementary, Matthew Gilbert Middle, S.P. Livingston Elementary, Northwestern Middle, Oak Hill Elementary, Ribault Middle, Hyde Grove Elementary, Jefferson Davis Middle, and Highlands Middle schools. Putnam County’s William Moseley Elementary School is also on the list.

Vitti made several key points in his critique of the proposal:

  • There aren’t enough charter school companies willing to take over Florida schools that earn Ds or Fs and become eligible for the House’s “schools of hope” program.
  • Charter schools that currently serve high-needs populations do not outperform traditional public schools with similar students.
  • The “schools of hope” plan repeats past mistakes for turning around struggling schools while taking control away from local school board.
  • Florida law already gives parents plenty of choices.

The “schools of hope” plan has not been introduced in the Senate, but it may be soon.

Sen. Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, drafted an amendment to Senate Bill 796 that mirrored the “schools of hope” plan, but he withdrew it prior to Monday’s Education Committee meeting. He said Tuesday that he is still working with Senate leaders to figure out how the House plan aligns with his bill, which in its current form eases regulations for new charter schools in critical areas.

“It’s the one of the few bills that lines up with the ‘schools of hope,’” Bean said. “So we have looked at amending the ‘schools of hope’ language onto our bill. We haven’t been ready yet.”

Vitti’s letter to senators includes a passage critiquing the performance of KIPP charter schools in Jacksonville. Corcoran has said that KIPP is the type of organization he envisions as leading “schools of hope.”

Jacksonville’s KIPP Impact Middle School earned a “C” grade in 2016, up from a “D” in 2015. In its first year with a letter grade, KIPP Voice Elementary is a “D.”

“Even ‘Schools of Hope’ such as Jacksonville’s KIPP have faced ‘D’ and ‘F’ school grades,” Vitti wrote. “More importantly, KIPP is not outperforming the district’s Title I average for reading and math proficiency.”

Tia Mitchell: (850) 933-1321