When Deric Feacher left Winter Haven, Fla. in 1995 to study at Bethune-Cookman College, he never imagined that he’d end up walking in Mary McLeod Bethune’s footsteps . . . back in his own hometown. Yet, this fall, Feacher is helping launch a new charter school in Winter Haven that has a lot in common with the Daytona Educational and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls that Bethune started in 1904.
Like Bethune’s academy, New Beginnings High School targets a disadvantaged student population often left behind by the conventional school system. It seeks to help at-risk students acquire both higher learning and practical job skills. It tries to cultivate in its students a determination to overcome all obstacles, even if that means putting in an extra-long day.
And, sadly, it too has had to contend with naysayers.
Twice New Beginnings’ application was considered by the Polk County School Board’s Charter Review Committee. And twice the committee voted to deny New Beginnings’ application.
Apparently, some of the review committee’s unease stemmed from a concern about whether the charter school would reduce the “regular” school district’s student population (and its corresponding state funding). For example, in its response to New Beginnings’ application, the review committee asked:
- “Is the proposed school planning to recruit students who are currently in traditional PCSB schools?”; and
- “What % of the charter school’s total population is projected to come from currently enrolled students?”
While it is hard to imagine that these two questions would rank high on prospective parents’ list of concerns, Feacher and his colleagues painstakingly responded to these and other inquiries. In time, they managed to convince the Polk County School Board to overrule the charter school review committee and approve New Beginnings High’s application.
Still, the surprising difficulty that Feacher and his colleagues encountered in getting this charter school approved left at least some observers questioning why the review process for new charter applications is controlled by local school district offices that have a considerable stake in the outcome.
“To say that only school districts may issue charters is as anti-competitive as saying Publix can’t open a new store in a particular county unless the local Winn Dixie or Wal-Mart gives its permission,” notes Bob Sanchez, the Director of Public Policy at The James Madison Institute.
Feacher knows that success in opening a school is very different from success in running one. And while he and his colleagues appreciate the fact that New Beginnings has more money to work with than the $1.50 with which Bethune started, they have sought to be as resourceful as the legendary Daytona educator.
Just as Bethune secured major donations from wealthy benefactors like John D. Rockefeller, Feacher and his colleagues have secured a number of major donations to their school – including new computers and rent-free classroom space at a building owned by the local hospital.
The computers will prove especially important because New Beginnings’ innovative curriculum is digitally-based – allowing students to progress as they master new concepts, regardless of how much “seat time” it takes. Feacher believes this flexibility is one of the most important features of New Beginnings, especially since many of its students are playing “catch up” in the classroom.
Interestingly, New Beginnings’ school day is also structured to account for the diverse needs of its population. It has a morning session that runs from 7:30 to 12:30, and an afternoon session that runs from 12:30 to 5:30. Some students attend both sessions, facilitating more rapid advancement and credit recovery; others attend only one session, scheduling their schooling around jobs, day care, or other considerations.
In the end, Feacher knows New Beginnings High will be judged much like every other school – by the progress and proficiency its students demonstrate in the classroom. And, here, the track record of charter schools is decidedly mixed.
A recent study of New York City schools found that more than half of its charter schools delivered better outcomes in math than its conventional public schools. But other studies by Stanford’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes have shown that as many as a third of all charter schools have higher rates of student failure than traditional schools.
In other words, charter schools remind one of that familiar Mother Goose rhyme about the little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead: When they are good, they are very, very good; but when they are bad, they are horrid.
In many ways, these disparate outcomes are consistent with what one might expect from a group of experimental schools seeking to break the conventional public school mold – perhaps especially at the outset. Nevertheless, some “Education Establishment” figures, like the Florida Education Association’s Andy Ford, have been quick to taunt charter schools having start-up difficulties. “You can’t have it both ways,” Ford told The Orlando Sentinel. “You either claim that you can do it better, or you admit in reality that it takes time.”
To its credit, the Florida Legislature ignored the FEA’s objections and passed a 2011 measure that will remove barriers to charter school application approval, particularly for high-performing charter schools looking to expand. And in the wake of this bill’s passage, applications for new charter schools jumped significantly.
Deric Feacher and his colleagues are glad that New Beginnings High eventually made it through Polk County’s charter school approval process. And they hope New Beginnings will prove to be one of Florida’s very, very good charter schools. That certainly won’t be easy, given the challenges of working with students who have not tasted much success in the traditional classroom. But anyone familiar with the research on charter schools – or the legacy of Mary McLeod Bethune – knows that New Beginnings High has one of the most essential ingredients to school success: passionate leadership.
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