nEwS + viEwS
BouquETS + brickbats ™
S C U T T L E B U T T 12 C O M M E N TA R Y 13 B L A K E 14
heroes + zeroes
C L A N CY 15
knowledge is power
“The Hope Factory”
a senior at Lusher Charter School, spent last summer performing a research internship in astronomy at Boston University. Her research was used in a scientific paper by Vanderbilt University graduate student Saurav Dhital, and the paper was published last month in the Astronomical Journal with Massey listed as a co-author — a remarkable feat for a high school student.
By Lisa Rab
New Times Broward-Palm Beach
Karen Parker run by for-profit companies. A photorendering “The problem, as I see it, is that of Mavericks High policymakers and legislators School of South have not put in place the right Pinellas County incentives, funding mechanisms in St. Petersburg, and safeguards to ensure that Fla., as presented these companies serve the public on the Mavericks good,” Miron says. website (www. Mavericks’ academic failures are glaringly apparent, despite the maverickshigh.com). It opened in August upbeat assurances of company 2011 on the site of managers. When asked about the an old Eckerd Drugs. schools’ graduation rates, Mavericks manager Lauren Hollander declined to provide a hard figure. She says the numbers fluctuate when students transfer back to their home high schools. “Our actual percentages are very, very nice,” she says. “But it’s also unique to each school. We’re doing a good job.” Biden agrees, saying, “We just graduated almost 200 people in one location.” But figures from the Florida Department of Education paint a different picture, showing that Mavericks schools have a poorer graduation rate than traditional public schools in Florida. They show Mavericks’ best school, in Kissimmee, graduated just 43 percent of the eligible kids in June 2011. Other Mavericks page 8
c’est
pleaded guilty Jan. 17 to one federal count of misprision of a felony. Parker, the ex-wife of former Jefferson Parish president Aaron Broussard, had been charged with Broussard and former parish attorney Tom Wilkinson in a 33-count payroll fraud indictment. Parker had been paid as a paralegal supervisor though she did not hold the qualifications for that job. Parker, who will be sentenced in July, is expected to help the feds in the case against her ex-husband.
Ed Blakely,
the Hurricane Katrina “recovery czar” under former Mayor Ray Nagin, published a memoir full of unfounded braggadocio — as is his style. Blakely claims to have rebuilt the city’s economy and launched “hundreds” of redevelopment projects. Among the errors, the book claims Tina Turner as part of the city’s musical legacy. Most insulting, though, is the book’s title: My Storm: Managing the Recovery of New Orleans in the Wake of Katrina.
?
The murder rate in New Orleans went up in 2011. What do you think it will do in 2012?
Vote on “C’est What?” at www.bestofneworleans.com
66%
Go up
22%
Hold steady
12%
Go down
THiS wEEK’S question:
Is your street safer or more dangerous than it was a year ago?
Gambit > bestofneworleans.com > january 24 > 2012
w
i th the vice president’s brother stumping for Mavericks, the charter school company this year began winning over wary district officials throughout Florida. It joined a booming business. This year, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools reported there were 462 publicly funded, privately run charters in Florida. And 348 more have applied to open next year, according to the Florida Department of Education. Many of these schools are designed to earn money. Only Michigan has more charter schools run by for-profit companies than Florida, according to a 2010 study published by the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado. Last year, there were 145 schools in Florida run by companies such as Mavericks. Plenty of government grants help charters grow. Reports submitted to the state by Mavericks show their schools each receive about $250,000 a year in federal grants. And schools that use online curricula are about to get a windfall. This spring, the Florida Legislature, with the enthusiastic support of Gov. Rick Scott, passed a “Digital Learning Now” bill that establishes virtual charter schools and encourages charters to combine traditional classroom instruction with virtual courses, as Mavericks already does. There’s even a state grant available for charters to start an “online learning community.” But opening a charter school is far easier than sustaining one. In Florida, at least 192 charters have merged or shut down since 1996. Kids at one charter school in Miami were taught in a tool shed; another school turned into a nightclub after hours. A recent Miami Herald investigation found many schools have high rents and management fees designed to pad the pockets of their owners. Often these schools struggle academically or financially, yet their management companies are allowed to keep opening new campuses. Gary Miron, a charter school expert and education professor at Western Michigan University, says these problems are worst in states like Florida, with a large number of charters
are holding “Electric Boogaloo,” a benefit to stomp out cystic fibrosis, at the Sugar Mill Jan. 27. The all-male dance krewe of “ordinary men with extraordinary moves,” founded in 2009, has been active in raising money for local charities. The group also performed in last year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. For more information on the event, call (504) 455-5194.
Angela Massey,
Part 2 of an investigation into a chain of for-profit charter schools.
In Part 1: Mavericks is a Florida chain of publicly funded, tuition-free, for-profit charter schools with eight locations — and more are in the works. Its president is Frank Biden, the brother of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, and its vice president is Frank Attkisson, a former Florida state representative. Last week’s story examined Mavericks’ troubled beginnings and legal battles. This week: School performance and graduation rates.
The 610 Stompers
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