A charter school report card: Which ones make the grade?
By EVA-MARIE AYALA
Star-Telegram staff writer
Monday, Jan 14, 2008
More than a decade since they arrived in Tarrant County, charter
schools are mastering some tough lessons.
They attract the most inexperienced teachers and battle higher
teacher turnover rates when compared with traditional public schools.
They tend to struggle academically and sometimes financially, a
Star-Telegram analysis of the county’s nearly 20 charter schools
found.
But many charter schools are helping students most at risk of failing
or dropping out of traditional public schools, said Clyde Steelman, a
deputy executive director at Region XI Education Service Center in
Fort Worth.
“Four or five years ago, I had a negative outlook on charter schools
because you just heard a lot of bad stuff about them,” Steelman said.
“And there’s some bad ones out there. … But there are definitely
good ones out there making a difference for students that truly need
it.”
About half of all Texas charters are designated as alternative
education schools, including Fort Worth Can! Academy, which serves
students at risk of dropping out, according to the Texas Center for
Educational Research, an independent organization in Austin.
Statewide, charter schools enroll larger proportions of
African-American and low-income students and fewer Anglo students
than traditional schools, the research group said in a March 2007
report.
The group compared charter schools with traditional schools serving
demographically similar students and found no significant differences
in 2006 Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills reading/English
language arts scores.
Low-performing students enrolled in charter schools earned higher
2006 TAKS math scores than comparable students enrolled in
traditional public schools.
In Tarrant County, the Star-Telegram found that the average charter
school teacher has spent less than five years in the classroom,
compared with nearly 11 years in traditional public schools in the
county. Additionally, teachers at most area charters have been there
less than two years on average.
Most charter schools can’t compete with the pay offered by
traditional public school districts. Starting pay in Tarrant County
is around $45,000, but at charter schools it is closer to the low
$30,000s.
Melissa Lotspeich teaches at Treetops School International, a charter
school in Euless, and has a master’s degree. She could earn about
$50,000 a year in a traditional public school district, well above
her current salary of $40,500.
“But the opportunities we give to the kids here are worth it,”
Lotspeich said. “A lot of parents seek us out because their kids have
fallen through the cracks at other schools.”
Finding success
Some charter leaders concede that they had no idea what they were
getting into when they opened their schools.
Arlington Classics Academy, for example, was started in 1999 by
parents who wanted to give their children a private school education
at a public school price, school Trustee Jimmy Turnbow said.
“We had no idea of numerous state requirements that it would have to
meet,” he said. “We ask the state if we can be ‘XYZ,’ and they say go
ahead. But then the state also says you got to be A through V too,
which contradicts some of what we wanted to do.”
Founders initially planned to start with kindergarten through fourth
grade and add grades from there. But enthusiastic parents pushed
leaders to add grade levels, and the school eventually opened with
kindergarten through eighth grade, adding ninth grade the next year.
Classes were spread between two rented campuses in Arlington and
Dalworthington Gardens.
In 2001, trustees cut the middle school, allowing school officials to
focus on the elementary program. The school now operates from a
building it owns with upgraded additions; it even has a student-run
radio program.
“That cut was absolutely the right decision, but it was the hardest
thing I’ve ever been a part of,” said Turnbow, who was board
president at the time. “In a business, when you decide to close a
location or not offer a product line, it’s a data-driven decision.
But our product was children.”
Other charter schools with a tightly focused mission are flourishing.
The Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts was founded as a charter through
the Texas Boys Choir. Students audition as part of the enrollment
process. The school has been rated recognized or exemplary, the
state’s highest mark, for four of the past five years.
The Harmony Science Academy of Fort Worth opened in southwest Fort
Worth last year and is one of 14 schools run by the nonprofit Cosmos
Foundation, based in Houston. The school’s heavy focus on science has
kindergartners preparing for science fairs. Professors from area
universities serve as school advisers.
Harmony’s first state rating was exemplary, according to data
released in August. The school serves mostly poor and minority
students.
Still struggling
But not all niche schools meet state and federal benchmarks.
Jean Massieu Academy in central Arlington opened in 1999 for deaf
students and children living with deaf relatives. The school, which
teaches kindergarten through 12th grade, has missed federal Adequate
Yearly Progress standards for three straight years because too many
students took the alternative special-education test instead of the
TAKS. Fewer than 30 percent of students passed all parts of the TAKS
from 2003 to 2007.
For deaf students, English is a second language, Jean Massieu
officials said. The nuances of reading and writing can take longer to
translate and learn, they said. And that makes state-mandated tests
more difficult.
Deaf students must be taught in American Sign Language, and the TAKS
isn’t written for them, business manager Bobby Dunivan said. Of Jean
Massieu’s 90 students, 52 percent are in special-education programs.
“If one or two students fail, it makes a huge difference in our
rates,” Dunivan said.
And with a starting salary of $27,000, Dunivan said he’s lost many
teachers to higher-paying districts where they teach American Sign
Language as an elective and don’t have to worry about the TAKS.
This year, the state appointed a monitor for the school after it was
rated academically unacceptable for two straight years. The monitor
reports to the Texas Education Agency on school activities.
Charter schools that continually receive unacceptable ratings can
face state sanctions, including the loss of their charter. About 10
charters have been closed by the TEA or by themselves because of poor
performance, according to state officials.
Dunivan said most of Jean Massieu’s students won’t be proficient in
reading and math by 2014, the stated goal of the federal No Child
Left Behind Act of 2001 because many come to the school after falling
behind in a traditional public school.
“I can tell you that’s not going to happen here,” Dunivan said. “It
takes years to improve, not just one year. If a deaf eighth-grade
student comes in at a third-grade level, he’s not going to make all
that up in one year.”
Leadership
Stable leadership is key to a successful charter school, experts say.
And that has been a hallmark of East Fort Worth Montessori Academy.
About 90 percent of the school’s students qualify for free or
reduced-price lunches, a population that often performs below other
groups on standardized tests. But East Fort Worth Montessori has been
rated as recognized, the second-highest rating on the state’s
four-tier scale, for the past two years.
Joyce Brown founded the academy as a preschool to give poor and
minority students access to the Montessori method of self-directed,
hands-on learning. She has since helped it grow into a self-supported
charter school that teaches through fifth grade.
“It’s easier if you are working with affluent families,” she said.
“But when you’re working with 90 percent free- and reduced-
students — and those are the students who really need to be in
high-quality programs — it’s expensive. And it’s challenging. And
it’s not easy to replicate.”
The school focuses on much more than classroom learning, Brown said.
Under her leadership, the school has built a peace labyrinth for
meditation and a wheelchair-accessible flower garden to share with
visiting senior citizens. It boasts many multicultural offerings,
such as Mexican ballet folklorico, African dancing and Japanese tea
time. Additionally, Brown formed a partnership with the Tarrant Area
Food Bank to provide nutritious meals to students while the bank
trains participants in its welfare-to-work program to be chefs using
the school’s cafeteria. Food bank staffers fill students’ backpacks
with nutritional groceries for the weekends.
Because many of the school’s families are Hispanic or Somali, the
school offers parents English and parenting classes with on-site
child care for parents and teachers.
Still, there is much more to do, Brown said. One student was recently
overheard at lunch saying he was going to go to high school, college,
then jail and prison because that’s where people learn to become a
man, Brown said. Soon after, Brown met with local black ministers and
pastors to develop a mentoring program for students.
“I just don’t know how you change that kind of mind-set that prison
is inevitable,” she said. “But we try. Whenever there is an issue we
see, we try to address it. I think that is why we are successful.”
Shaky ground
By contrast, Metro Academy of Math and Science in Arlington is
struggling to find academic and financial footing. It converted from
a private school operated by Mount Olive Baptist Church to a charter
school in 2000. Since then, it has had about a half-dozen principals
Last week, board members removed Principal Lasonia Russell, who had
been there 1 1/2 years. Russell said the parting was mutual.
In a three-year average of TAKS results, Metro Academy posted the
lowest average scores in Tarrant County in third-, fourth- and
fifth-grade math; the lowest in fourth-grade reading; the lowest in
fifth-grade science; and was near the bottom in all other areas. When
the school offered ninth grade last year, not one of the 21 freshmen
passed the TAKS.
“There is no question that most of our students come from traditional
schools where they fell behind, and they come here looking for smaller
classes or something different,” Metro board President Darryl Killen
said. “Some kids need more resources than we have to serve them, but
we can’t turn them away. We take them in and do the best we can.”
Money is an issue. Students are split among three locations, with
third through eighth grades at a newer $3 million campus with two
gyms and a cafetorium.
The upper-school library has only about $20,000 worth of books on a
few bookcases. Donations have helped, particularly to build a
computer lab. But the school has operated with a shortfall in recent
years.
This year has been made more difficult by a grant dispute that led to
Metro Academy returning nearly $1 million to the state. An independent
audit of finances in 2006 found that the school’s accounting was not
being done properly because of high turnover in key personnel,
according to state records.
Killen said school leaders have tried to take on more than they can
handle with the school’s finances. This year, the board turned over
that responsibility to the Region XI Education Service Center, which
provides help to area schools.
Metro Academy was recently designated an alternative education school
because more than 75 percent of students qualify as at risk of
dropping out. Therefore, during the next round of state ratings, the
school will be judged on different standards that require fewer
students to pass the TAKS. But it can only be rated acceptable or
unacceptable, the lowest ranks. Killen said the school will only have
that status for one year.
Because the school was rated academically unacceptable in August, it
is going through an intervention process with the TEA, which
evaluates everything from finances to curriculum.
Wanda Strong said her two children are learning about character
development and getting the personalized attention they need at Metro
Academy.
“I believe the school is just going through a process,” Strong said.
“I like the small classroom sizes. The environment here is more
nurturing” than a traditional public school, she said.
CHARTER SCHOOL FACTS
Charter schools have been supported by state tax dollars since 1995.
Supporters hailed them as an alternative not subject to all the rules
and regulations of public schools.
Since passage of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, they
have become more accountable to state and federal requirements.
Statewide, there are 211 active charters run by nonprofits,
for-profits or sometimes a small group of elected parents.
CHOOSING A SCHOOL
Parents should find as much data available on specific charter
schools before enrolling their child said Robin Lake, executive
director of the National Charter School Research Project.
The Texas Education Agency collects testing, student and teacher data
for all public schools, including charter schools, in its Academic
Excellence Indicator System reports available online. Lake said
parents should consider:
Test scores and accountability information. Look at how a school has
improved, or not improved, over several years.
The school’s mission. Is it clear? Does it match your family’s goals
and values?
School leadership. Is it strong and stable? Teacher turnover rates
are higher at charter schools, but stable leadership can make up for
that.
Teacher quality. Do teachers work well together? Are they qualified?
Online: www.ncsrp.org
CHARTERS THAT DO WELL, AND THOSE THAT FACE CHALLENGES
Top ratings
The Tarrant County area has at least 20 charter schools, though a
precise number is difficult to determine because some are run by
operators in other counties. Five have received the TEA’s top two
ratings of exemplary and recognized.
Exemplary: Arlington Classics Academy and Harmony Science Academy of
Fort Worth
Recognized: East Fort Worth Montessori Academy, Fort Worth Academy of
Fine Arts and Westlake Academy have been rated as recognized for at
least the past two years.
Unacceptable ratings
Charter schools rated academically unacceptable for two straight
years may face state sanctions, including a review of their charters,
revised improvement plans or charter revocation. To date, about 10
charters have been closed by the state or by themselves because of
low performance.
Three Tarrant County charter schools — Theresa B. Lee Academy in
Fort Worth, Richard Milburn Academy in Fort Worth and Jean Massieu
Academy in Arlington — have been rated academically unacceptable at
least two years in a row.
Theresa B. Lee Academy
4327 E. Lancaster Ave., Fort Worth
A state conservator was appointed in September because of testing
irregularities on the 2005 TAKS. The conservator, whose role is
expanded because of low academic performance, can overrule decisions
by school officials. The school has missed federal accountability
standards for the past three years.
Jean Massieu Academy
823 N. Center St., Arlington
The school, which serves deaf students, their siblings or children of
deaf parents, has been rated unacceptable for two years and has missed
federal accountability standards three years in a row. School
officials said it is difficult for the academy to meet standards
established for schools that serve the general population because it
has a large percentage of special-education students. A state monitor
was appointed this school year.
Richard Milburn Academy
6785 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth
The west Fort Worth school aims to serve students who have fallen
behind or struggled in traditional classes. It, too, has a state
monitor assigned this school year to keep the TEA updated on its
activities. It has missed federal standards twice in the past three
years.
Source: Texas Education Agency
NEW SCHOOLS
Three charter schools opened in Tarrant County in 2007:
The Education Center International Academy, based in Garland, teaches
pre-kindergarten through eighth grade in Arlington.
The nonprofit charter management group Uplift Education converted the
former Country Day School of Arlington into Summit International
Preparatory. (The campus also offers a private Montessori preschool
through kindergarten.)
The Texas Boys Choir opened the North Texas Elementary School of the
Arts, a spinoff of its Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts charter
school.
NEW NAME
The Eagle Academy of Fort Worth is now Premier High School of Fort
Worth. The school is still part of the Eagle Academies of Texas,
which has campuses across Texas that serve students at risk of
dropping out. They are run by Responsive Education Solutions, a
nonprofit based in Lewisville.
Link: http://www.star-telegram.com/629/story/406907.html
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