Cities, school turnarounds and charter school oversight debated in Florida

If a city’s schools are struggling, what power should it have to turn them around?

State Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, told his colleagues that right now, municipalities lack direct power to improve schools in their communities, which are run — or, in the case of charter schools, authorized — exclusively by countrywide school districts. He’s sponsoring a bill that would change that, allowing cities to sponsor their own charter schools.

He cited a series of investigative reports by the Tampa Bay Times, which won national acclaim for documenting years of academic strife in five South St. Petersburg elementary schools. The paper reported this week that the situation could rekindle a lawsuit by community groups arguing the schools have short-changed black students.

“I can just imagine being the mayor of that city, and wanting to effect real change in my community, but being unable to,” Brandes said while debating SB 808. “By this bill, that mayor could have a real impact. He can effect change, day one, if he gets in there and says, ‘No, we’re going to get a KIPP academy.'”

St. Petersburg lies in Pinellas County, which is home to one of lowest concentrations of charter schools among Florida’s urban districts. It is also the only large school district in Florida that was eligible for two rounds of state grants aimed at drawing KIPP-like charters to struggling urban areas, but never applied.

Brandes’ proposal received bipartisan backing from the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday, but it faces a tough legislative path. It still needs to clear three more committees in time for a floor vote, and a similar measure has yet to be heard in the House.

A legislative staff analysis points to an appellate court ruling that struck down a 2006 law allowing a statewide board to authorize charter schools. Judges noted Florida’s constitution gives school districts the exclusive power to oversee public schools.

Sen. Dwight Bullard, D-Miami, cast the lone “no” vote on the bill, noting that some cities already run municipal charter networks, but do so after getting the green light from their local school board. He said taking that power out of districts’ hands could add an “element of chaos” to charter school oversight.

“What the municipality understands is that they’re not in the business of creating, staffing, looking at educational curriculum,” he said. “It’s a little problematic when you now create a pathway for a small municipality to circumvent the process.”

Cities like New York, Chicago and Washington D.C. have placed their entire school systems under mayoral control, sometimes after fraught political battles.

Brandes said his proposal would allow more Florida cities to mimic successful municipal charters in places like Cape Coral. He said cities that create charter systems often see property values rise.

“The ability for a city to control its own destiny is a basic principle of home rule,” he said.