Skepticism Abounds as House Debates 'Schools of Hope' Plan to Turn Around Failure Factories

Florida lawmakers aren't totally certain a plan to "bring hope" back to children enrolled in failing schools will be successful, strongly objecting to the GOP-led measure debated in the House Wednesday afternoon. 

Dubbed the “Schools of Hope” bill, HB 5105, sponsored by Reps. Chris Latvala, R-Clearwater, and Mike Bileca, R-Miami, would speed up the time for school districts to turn around failing schools in Florida. 

The proposal would also set aside $200 million in startup costs to attract new charter schools for students attending failing schools statewide. The allotted funds would pay for teacher recruitment and extending school days.

Under current law, Florida schools are given three years to turn around failing schools, but HB 5105 would slash a year off that timeline and give districts only two years to fix “failure factories.”

If passed, the legislation would affect 77,000 Florida students stuck in 115 “D” and “F” schools statewide. 

All 115 schools targeted in the legislation have been failing for at least three years, while one school in Jacksonville has received a failing grade for over 10 years. 

The charter schools, called “hope operators” would operate under a performance-based agreement, receiving a yearly letter grade similar to public schools. If a school fails to meet the agreement, school districts could put the kibosh on the charters and shut them down early. 

Critics are skeptical the proposal will actually work. Lawmakers, especially Democrats, questioned how funneling money into a new system would solve the looming problem of failing public schools.

“Taking $200 million to fund a charter school system is not the answer,” said Rep. Shevrin Jones, D-West Park, at a press conference slamming the bill earlier that day. “Taking $200 million to give to a separate entity to say that they can do it better than our public school teachers who are working tirelessly every day in the classroom is not a step in the right direction.”

Jones, an outspoken critic of the legislation, said Common Core and Florida’s curriculum were partly to blame for why some Florida schools were falling behind. 

“Our public school teachers in our state have been dealt a bad hand,” Jones said. "There’s no reason we can’t create a better system with higher standards, better resources and better access than currently exists in the public school system.”

Skepticism continued to run rampant during Wednesday’s debate on the House floor.

"If we are going to put $200 million into this operation...what guarantees do we have that [schools] are going to succeed?" asked Rep. Robert Asencio, D-Miami.

Latvala dismissed the criticisms outright, saying the fear of the unknown could also go the opposite way -- and schools could succeed.

“We keep talking about what happens if [these schools] fail, but what happens if they succeed?" he asked. “What harm is it to try something new if what we have tried for year after year after year hasn't worked?" 

Latvala said part of the performance-based agreement for charter schools would require schools to be graded like all other public schools statewide. 

HB 5105 is a relatively new bill in the state legislature. State lawmakers worked on the proposal for weeks before finally unveiling the “Schools of Hope” bill at the end of March, but legislators wasted no time sending it to the House floor at warp speed. 

A top priority for House Speaker Richard Corcoran, the bill floored through two committees before being heard on the House floor this week. 

“We should bring in those entities and those schools who have a widely successful program of turning around failure factories,” said Corcoran. “We are bringing in the Michael Jordans and Lebron James of public schools who turn around programs that have been historically failing for up to five years.”

Corcoran wants nonprofit organizations with histories of success to head to Florida and make success stories out of failing schools, but it appears it might not be that easy.

A POLITICO article found many of the organizations Corcoran has mentioned to put failure factories on the path to improvement have no plans to open up schools in Florida at this time.

The bill will now be rolled over for a third and final reading before receiving a full vote.

Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.