FOCUS DC News Wire 7/25/13

 

 

District charter schools had fewer financial problems in fiscal 2012 compared to the year before, according to a report released Wednesday by two city agencies and the D.C. Public Charter School Board. The study, based on an examination of schools’ annual financial audits, is meant to help identify and address fiscal weaknesses before they mushroom into problems that force a school to shut its doors.

 

It flagged three charters for poor fiscal performance during the year ending June 30, 2012, down from 13 the year before. D.C. Bilingual, a Columbia Heights elementary school, had an operating deficit of more than $600,000, raising questions about its long-term viability, according to the charter board.

 

Myrna Peralta — president of CentroNia, the organization that operates D.C. Bilingual — said she is confident of the school’s continued viability. But she acknowledged that the operating deficit, driven in part by the expense of serving a growing number of high-needs special education students, is a problem. The school has reduced staffing costs by employing fewer adults in each classroom, she said, and is looking for ways to reduce the cost of special-education services without sacrificing quality.

 

“Our financials will be much better” in fiscal 2013, she said, estimating that the school will reduce its operating deficit by more than half. Scott Pearson, executive director of the charter board, agreed that the school’s financial position has improved enough in recent months to allay the board’s concerns.

 

Officials at National Collegiate Preparatory, a high school in Southeast Washington, also said they have improved their fiscal picture in 2013 after spending heavily in 2012 to establish an International Baccalaureate program. “We are a school that's going to be here for a long time to come,” said Executive Director Jennifer Ross. The school operated at a deficit in fiscal 2012 and had low liquidity, with enough cash on hand to cover only one day of operating expenses. The charter board recommends having at least 30 days of cash on hand; the median charter school in 2012 had 59 days of cash on hand.

 

Ideal Academy, an elementary and middle school in the Lamond-Riggs neighborhood in Northwest Washington, also had only one day’s cash on hand, and charter board officials expressed concern about the school’s long-term viability. A school employee said Tuesday that the principal was out of town and unavailable to comment on the report. The charter board decided to close Ideal’s high school campus in 2011 due to poor academic performance.

 

The city’s 53 charters in fiscal 2012 reported total revenues of $614 million, up 15 percent from the year before and up 27 percent since 2010. The new report — authored by the charter board, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education — includes a separate two-page financial snapshot of each charter school.

 

 

Yesterday the D.C. Public Charter School Board released the results of a required by law analysis of the financial health of the local charter school movement. The 2012 study was conducted by the PCSB, the Office of State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), and the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO). It demonstrated the huge public investment in these institutions that now educate 43 percent of all public school students. 53 charters were included in the review which received $408 million in operating funds and another $96 million for the per pupil facility allotment for a total of $504 million. Another $110 million was earned through fundraising and Federal grants.

 

Overall the financial picture for charters improved over 2011. The press release announcing the results states that "the median charter school now has sufficient cash on hand to cover 59 days of operating expenses, up from 41 days a year before." I once worked for a nonprofit that calculated the same indicator. The CEO called it the number of days in orbit, defined as how long the organization could keep operating if not another penny of contributions came in. His goal was 90 days.

 

The Washington Post's Emma Brown points to one charter facing severe financial difficulties. She says that Ideal Academy had only one day's cash on hand. The elementary and middle school's principal was unavailable to comment for Ms. Brown's story. She recalls that the PCSB closed Ideal's high school in 2011 for poor academic results.

 

There were four categories of schools that were flagged for "financial circumstances." However, the number of schools in each bucket decreased from last year. These include:

 

1. The number of charters with reportable audit findings. The schools include Arts and Technology Academy, Cesar Chavez Charter Schools for Public Policy, Hope Community, Integrated Design and Electronics Academy, Perry Street Preparatory, Seed of D.C., Shining Stars Montessori Academy, and Thurgood Marshall Academy and Subsidiary. The total number dropped from 18 in fiscal year 2011 to 8 in 2012.

 

2. The number of charters with unresolved reportable findings from the previous year. These include Perry Street Preparatory, Integrated Design and Electronics Academy, DC Bilingual, and Hope Community. The total number here deceased from 15 last year to 4 in 2012.

 

3. The charters with negative cash flow. The schools in this category are DC Bilingual, Integrated Design and Electronics Academy, Latin American Youth Center Youthbuild, and William E., Doar PCS for the Performing Arts. The total number of charters here went from 8 in 2011 to 4 in 2012.

 

4. Charters with negative net asset positions (total assets minus total liabilities) indicating the schools use borrowed money to finance operations. These include E.L. Haynes, Hope Community, and William E. Doar PCS for the Performing Arts. The total number in this group now is 3 compared to 7 last year.

 

When the notion of the Performance Management Framework was first brought up there was talk of including a financial health of the school component in this tool. I still think this would be an excellent addition. Based upon the 1996 school reform act the PCSB has the ability to close charters for "specified financial reasons."

 

 

As the political debate swirls in some statehouses over the Common Core math and reading standards, most state education officials responsible for implementing the new K-12 standards are confident that their states will stick with the program, according to a survey released Wednesday. The survey, by the nonpartisan Center for Education Policy at George Washington University, measured opinions of 40 of the 45 states and the District of Columbia that have fully adopted the standards, as well as Minnesota, which accepted the reading standards but not the math.

 

Written by governors and state education officials in both parties and largely funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Common Core standards are designed so that students from kindergarten through 12th grade acquire the same skills and knowledge in reading and math, regardless of where they live. Historically, academic standards vary widely among states, and that patchwork nature has been partly blamed for mediocre rankings of U.S. students in international comparisons.

 

The Common Core standards do not dictate curriculum, allowing states to decide what to teach. Participating states have been rolling out the standards at different paces but all are expected to have them in place by the 2014-2015 school year.

 

In recent months, the standards have been attacked by conservatives and tea party activists, who say they amount to a federal intrusion into local school systems. They are also under fire from some progressives, who don’t like standardized tests and are uncomfortable with the role of the Gates Foundation. And some academics have criticized the reading standards as too weak.

 

Some states, including Georgia and Oklahoma, have bristled at the costs of new tests linked to the Common Core standards and have announced that they will keep the standards but will write their own assessments. But as controversy continues, state officials surveyed between February and May said they were confident that their states will stay the course. Officials in 37 of the states surveyed said it was “unlikely” that their state would “reverse, limit or change its decision” to adopt the standards, according to the survey.

 

In only one state — not identified in the study — did officials say their state was “somewhat likely” to change its mind about Common Core. “We found that, while there might be resistance to the Common Core, it isn’t coming from state education agencies,” said CEP Executive Director Maria Ferguson. “State leaders are more focused on finding resources and guidance to carry out the demanding steps required for full implementation.”

 

While critics have argued that the Obama administration “coerced” states to adopt the Common Core standards by making that a prerequisite to compete for some federal grants, only two states said they did not want federal help with implementing the standards, according to the survey. At least 30 states said they would like federal help, including more money, to help them carry out the new standards.