by Glen Gilzean, Jr.
A struggle over an empty school building in Milwaukee speaks to the growing conflict between urban districts that are losing enrollment and school choice operators who are eager to take advantage. As a School Board member in St. Petersburg/Pinellas, Florida, I saw the same tensions.
Selling vacant property can generate much-needed capital for school districts and eliminate an unnecessary maintenance expense from the books. For example, Milwaukee was spending more than $1 million a year trying to maintain the vacant schools. But selling the building to charter entrepreneurs also can mean potentially losing students, and funding, to schools of choice.
St. Marcus Lutheran School, a high-achieving voucher school, and Milwaukee College Prep, a charter school, both sought to purchase the long vacant Malcolm X Academy building. But the Milwaukee Public School district refused the offers, prompting a Wisconsin legal institute to accuse officials of “playing shell games” and “skirting the law.” District officials have kept many buildings off the market claiming they still want to make use of them.
The plan for the Malcolm X property calls for the district to sell the vacant building to a local developer for $2.1 million. The developer will then remodel half the building into a community center and rent the other half back to the Milwaukee Public School District for a fee of $4.2 million. Without question, the proposed deal is controversial.
Milwaukee isn’t the only school district that seems to be using its control of real estate to halt the expansion of school choice. According to a recent Education Next report, blocking access to vacant buildings is a common tactic of urban school districts. It also happened here in my own back yard in the Tampa Bay region. (more…)
School choice. The Black Alliance for Educational Options draws 650 attendees from 20 states to Orlando for its annual symposium. Check out #SY2013 on Twitter for what's happening. Legendary school choice activist Howard Fuller says attendees shouldn't be knee-jerk about the participation of for-profit companies. Also check out this redefinED podcast with BAEO President Ken Campbell.
Charter schools. Jeanne Allen, president of the Center for Education Reform, tells SchoolZone Florida needs additional charter school authorizers and that the current system favors charter management companies over mom-and-pop charter schools. The House Appropriations Committee approves a charter schools bill that would tighten accountability and require school districts to share empty classroom space with charter schools, reports The Buzz.
Sequestration. Will take a bite out of already dwindling construction funds. The Florida Current. Gradebook.
Superintendents. The Hernando school board picks Lori Romano, the director of adult, community, secondary and virtual education programs for Martin County Public Schools. Gradebook.
Principals. More than 200 students and parents protest the apparent ouster of a high school principal in Broward. South Florida Sun Sentinel. (more…)
Editor’s note: Today, we introduce a new feature (even if we’re not sure the name will last) - an occasional compilation of bite-sized nuggets about school choice and education reform that are worth noting but may not be worth a post by themselves.
More anti-Muslim bigotry in school choice debates
It’s nearly impossible to go a month without hearing another example of anti-Muslim bigotry in a school choice debate.
The latest example: Louisiana state Rep. Valarie Hodges, who now says she wishes she had not voted for Gov. Bobby Jindal’s voucher bill because she fears it will promote Islam. “There are a thousand Muslim schools that have sprung up recently,” she said. “I do not support using public funds for teaching Islam anywhere here in Louisiana.”
The lawmaker’s comments echo Muslim bashing in school choice debates in Kansas, Alabama, Tennessee and other places in the past few months alone. Sadly, religious bigotry has long been a part of the school choice narrative. To repeat what we wrote in April:
The courts have ruled that vouchers and tax credit scholarships are constitutional. We live in a religiously diverse society and this pluralism is a source of pride and strength. We can’t pick and choose which religions are acceptable and unacceptable for school choice. And we should not tarnish whole groups of people because of the horrible actions of a few individuals. In the end, expanded school choice will serve the public good. It will increase the likelihood that more kids, whatever their religion, become the productive citizens we all want them to be.
Jeb Bush endorses pro-choice school board candidate
Jeb Bush doesn’t endorse local candidates often. But last week, he decided to back a Tampa Bay-area school board member who openly supports expanded school choice, including vouchers and tax credit scholarships.
Glen Gilzean, 30, is running against four other candidates to keep the Pinellas County School Board seat that Gov. Rick Scott appointed him to in January. The district in play includes much of the city of St. Petersburg and has more black voters than any other.
I don’t know how much Bush’s endorsement will help Gilzean. He's a black Republican in a district that leans Democratic (even if school board races in Florida are officially nonpartisan). But I do know this: Black students in Pinellas struggle more than black students in every major urban school district in Florida, and frustrated black residents are increasingly open to school choice alternatives. (more…)
