Palmetto Christian School in Florida joins 7 former Catholic schools, turns charter for public money

[madfloridian]

They will get public taxpayer money to continue their schools as non-religious schools. Since they, like the 7 Catholic schools that now get public money, are keeping their faculty and personnel...I wonder just how secular they will be with that money from taxpayers.

Barry Lynn of American United wonders also.

"This is problematic particularly if you have the same personnel as when it was a private religious school," said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a Washington-based advocacy group. "One wonders if the people running the school will treat it as purely secular, purely a public institution?

I agree with Barry Lynn. That will make 8 religious schools that will claim to be former religious schools....getting taxpayer money.

AND since Arne Duncan has 4.3 billion for schools systems that expand their charters, will those districts be the recipient of his dollars as well?

More about the newest school that is stopping being religious and turning from private to non-private for our taxpayer money:

From the Herald Tribune:

Palmetto Christian to become public charter school

PALMETTO - Starting next school year, the Bibles, crosses and religious pictures will be removed from Palmetto Christian School.

In addition, the school will take on a new name and receive its funding from a new source: Florida taxpayers.

The K-8 school -- operating in the same building with most of the same leadership, staff and students it has now -- will become a charter school that could receive more than $1.7 million in state tax dollars.

The move was unanimously approved by the Manatee County School Board last week, despite contrary advice given by the board's own legal counsel. State law prohibits private schools, that fund themselves, from switching to charter schools that receive state money

Here is more about how 7 Catholic schools in Florida were rescued with public taxpayer money.

I am thinking the development of this charter school movement under our new Democratic administration is moving along perhaps too quickly. There are so many unasked and unanswered questions about turning over public taxpayer money to deregulated schools. It is reminding me now of a kind of runaway train that no one can stop. Yet no one really understands all the ramifications of what is happening.

Rescuing Catholic schools with public taxpayer money

And so, the Archdiocese of Miami will begin its experiment with charter schools this fall. What was intended as a pilot program at one parish – Corpus Christi in Wynwood – will become, for financial reasons, the norm at seven more. Charters also will open in August where five other Catholic schools closed this June: Sacred Heart, Our Lady of Divine Providence in Sweetwater, St. Francis Xavier in Overtown, St. Stephen in Miramar and St. Clement in Fort Lauderdale.

A seventh charter will open at St. Malachy in Tamarac, which opted to close its school before its financial situation deteriorated further. And an eighth charter will open in Miami Gardens, in the building used by St. Monica School until it closed in May 2008.

Charter schools are free, funded by public dollars, so religion cannot be taught during the school day. Unlike traditional public schools, however, charter schools operate independently of the local school board and have more leeway in managing day-to-day operations.

Here is more on the topic. It is happening elsewhere in other states. Info from DC.

Every morning, students at the Trinidad campus of Center City Public Charter Schools in Washington, D.C., line up on the pavement outside the school — girls in plaid jumpers, boys in navy slacks and white shirts. Hands on their chests, they recite the school’s mission:

"The Center City Public Charter Schools empower our children for success through a rigorous academic program and strong character education while challenging students to pursue personal excellence in character, conduct and scholarship in order to develop the skills necessary to both serve and lead others in the 21st century."

It’s not the Lord’s Prayer, but it will have to do. Decidedly devoid of godliness, the children’s chant is an attempt by the school to replace one element of the religious education it used to impart. Trinidad is one of seven financially-troubled Catholic schools in the District of Columbia that converted to charter schools last fall in order to save them from being permanently shuttered.

The price for losing its religion is complicated. On one hand, the charter structure brought with it several thousand dollars more per student than the Archdiocese of Washington was able to provide, and it offered a guaranteed place for Holy Name’s former students and teachers.

I fear we are seeing a new way of taking over the public schools by getting control of the resources that fund them.

I am gathering there has been no legal challenge to this yet.

[Ruby the Liberal]

1. Will they have to stop religious classes?

Will they be under any sort of standardized curriculum?

[madfloridian]

3. They are supposed to stop religious tendencies. Charters are not regulated...

so they can choose a curriculum....that is my understanding. They don't have the same regulations as regular public schools.

[Ruby the Liberal]

10. So what separation of church and state clause ensures tax money is being used

appropriately?

[madfloridian]

16. There is no way to make sure without being in the classroom.

That is what they are counting on.

That and apathy toward education policies. All is not well in the Democratic handling of public education...and the apathy grows.

[madfloridian]

7. More from Barry Lynn

"But critics like Lynn, the separation of church and state advocate, remain skeptical.

"It's hard to see it as secular when the same people are teaching, the same books are being used," he said. "This becomes another clever way to stay in business and have the same people keep their jobs."

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20091102/ARTICLE/9...

[Ruby the Liberal]

11. Ah. I responded before I read the second post. Thanks for the link!

[madfloridian]

12. I would love to see AU get more involved in this.

It's clearly against Florida law, but there are 8 schools doing it now. That's just a rough count because info is hard to find.

[BrklynLiberal]

17. Mr. Lynn is far from alone in his skepticism...

I would go so far as to say they are lying thru their teeth just to get tax money.

[madfloridian]

19. Well, they appear to be getting away with getting our tax money.

They get to keep their staff, while many public school teachers are being laid off.

[BrklynLiberal]

21. and they do not have to abide by most of the rules that a public school must abide by..

Most public school have union employees...and charter schools do not. This means lower wages, among other things.

[jody]

2. Bush & Obama both support faith-based initiatives so what's surprising? n/t

[madfloridian]

4. State law prohibits it, but they are doing it anyway.

"The move was unanimously approved by the Manatee County School Board last week, despite contrary advice given by the board's own legal counsel. State law prohibits private schools, that fund themselves, from switching to charter schools that receive state money"

[bertman]

27. Sounds like ONE dedicated resident of that county could make a legal challenge and

slow down that runaway train since it's AGAINST STATE LAW.

Am I missing something?

[PSzymeczek]

29. Dammit! Public money

for PUBLIC SCHOOLS!!! Dammit!!

[dysfunctional press]

5. "Hands on their chests, they recite the school’s mission: "

"The Center City Public Charter Schools empower our children for success through a rigorous academic program and strong character education while challenging students to pursue personal excellence in character, conduct and scholarship in order to develop the skills necessary to both serve and lead others in the 21st century."

okay- that's just a little creepy.

[UtilityCurve]

13. Sounds like this, huh?

"{T}he {school}'s programs focus on nurturing the development of high-order intellectual and moral qualities among students and stress the connection between education and the highly trained leadership Americans need in general, especially for the work force of the 21st Century and beyond."

[dysfunctional press]

14. what's creepy is having little kids out there reciting it...

but then again, since their team name is "the fighting indoctrinates", it kinda makes some sense.

and when you think about it, it's no more creepy than having kids pledge their allegiance to a piece of cloth on a stick.

[PSzymeczek]

30. "Character education," huh?

You can have character and morals without being religious, you jerk!!

[dysfunctional press]

32. who are you calling jerk...?

i just think it's creepy to have the kids reciting that mission statement daily, like some kind of pledge of allegiance(which i also find kind of creepy, when you think about it)

[PSzymeczek]

37. I wasn't referring to you,

rather to the numbskull that wrote that mission statement. I'm sorry that I misphrased, causing the misunderstanding.

[madfloridian]

6. "Yet school officials say the law does not apply in this case..."

"State law prohibits private schools, that fund themselves, from switching to charter schools that receive state money.

Yet school officials say the law does not apply in this case since they are closing Palmetto Christian School over the summer and opening Palmetto Charter School at the start of the new school year.

The move has some questioning whether school officials are skirting state law and also violating the separation of church and state enshrined in the Constitution."

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20091102/ARTICLE/9...

I am wondering.

[BrklynLiberal]

18. DUH!!!! If there is any doubt, there is no doubt. This is such a scam that they should

be arrested!

"The move has some questioning whether school officials are skirting state law and also violating the separation of church and state enshrined in the Constitution."

[PSzymeczek]

31. Bet on it.

This is just an underhanded way for them to get tax money to fund religious indoctrination.

[asjr]

8. I see the money changers are still in the temple.

[madfloridian]

9. It appears to be so.

and the unrecs begin quickly.

[placton]

15. why worry?

we have Obama in charge - just drink a nice cuppa

[Nikki Stone1]

20. Once again, madfloridian spotlights the important!

K & R

[madfloridian]

22. Florida parochial/charter move is part of a national trend

"Many churches include provisions in property leases that forbid any activity that contravenes denominational teachings. Will instruction about reproductive issues or HIV prevention in health classes be based on sound scientific and medical research or will it be revised to conform to Catholic doctrine?

Ironically, some of the greatest concern about the Florida parochial/charter school conversions comes from Catholics who worry that Catholic education will be hurt by the switch to secular education.

The Florida parochial/charter move is part of a national trend. Similar transitions have taken place with Catholic schools in the District of Columbia, New York and Texas. Islamic, Jewish and fundamentalist Christian leaders in some communities are trying the same thing.

The Obama administration is pressing hard for a proliferation of charter schools around America. This push should be accompanied by clear rules upholding the separation of church and state."

http://blog.au.org/2009/10/23/conversion-anxiety-paroch... /

If these school districts get part of the money that Arne is giving out to districts that allow more charters...I hope these are not included.

4.3 billion speaks very loudly

"DUNCAN: Right. We have unprecedented discretionary resources. Again, states can compete for them. And you talked about the $4.35 billion race to the top. We actually have, collectively, more than $10 billion in discretionary resources."

But only for those who stop the limits for charter schools.

[waiting for hope]

23. Bait and swtich ... instead of saying "voucher" and

choice, they are just taking the tax money - K&R. People need to wake up to what's going on, but sadly, as with many things in this country, it won't be until it's too late.

[madfloridian]

24. Just openly taking tax money...no one opposing.

We are all just accepting it so easily.

It is a bait and switch.

[waiting for hope]

25. I remember the word Voucher being spoken here

with venom and disdain - I'm sure Bush is applauding the DOE for being sooo clever ...

[KamaAina]

26. Actually, I'm amazed New Orleans hasn't tried this

So many charters they compete with each other for prospective parents, almost like military recruiters. And Catholic schools up the ying-yang.

[madfloridian]

28. It's called "disaster capitalism". It happened after Katrina.

And it is happening around the country and the world. This is an interesting article called Schooling in Disaster Capitalism.

Schooling in Disaster Capitalism

No Child Left Behind

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) sets schools up for failure by making impossible demands for continual improvement. When schools have not met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), they are subject to punitive action by the federal government, including the potential loss of formerly guaranteed federal funding and requirements for tutoring from a vast array of for-profit Special Educational Service providers. A number of authors have described how NCLB is a boon for the testing and tutoring companies while it doesn’t provide financial resources for the test score increases it demands. (6) Sending billions of dollars of support the way of the charter school movement, NCLB pushes schools that do not meet AYP to restructure in ways that encourage privatization, discourage unions, and avoid local regulations on crucial matters. One study has found that by 2013 nearly all of the public schools in the Great Lakes region of the U.S. will be declared failed public schools and subject to such reforms. (7) Clearly, NCLB is designed to accomplish the implementation of privatization and deregulation in ways that open action could not.

And about Katrina:

Hurricane Katrina

Likewise, following the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina in the U.S. Gulf Coast, a for-profit educational contractor from Alaska, named Akima, won a no-bid contract to build temporary portable classrooms in the Gulf Coast. But for-profit education’s big haul in the Big Easy was in the U.S. Department of Education imposing the largest ever school voucher experiment for the region and nation. Right wing think tanks had prepared papers advocating such an approach describing public school privatization as a “silver lining” and a “golden opportunity”. Six months after Hurricane Katrina, the destroyed New Orleans public schools sit slime-coated in mold, debris, and human feces, partially flooded and littered with such detritus as a two-ton air conditioner that had been on the roof and the carcasses of dead dogs.

All 124 New Orleans Public Schools were damaged in some way and only 20 have reopened with more than 10,000 students registered. There were 62,227 students enrolled in NOPS before the storm.

The devastation nearly defies description.

… Katrina roared in, severely damaging about a quarter of the schools: Roofs caved in. Fierce winds blew out walls and hurled desks through windows. Floodwaters drowned about 300 buses. Computers, furniture and books were buried in mud. Dead dogs and rotting food littered hallways.

Yet days after the disaster The Washington Times quoted longstanding advocate of school vouchers Clint Bolick of the Alliance for School Choice. Bolick used the tragedy to propose wide scale privatization of the New Orleans public schools in the form of a massive voucher scheme.

[DonCoquixote]

33. Does anyone here think

That is these schools were Jewish Yeshivas, or Muslim Schools, or Buddhist, that they would have a prayer to get one cent of this money?

Please never forget the main reason "Christians" want to destroy Public education: once they have control of the way children are educated, they will have control over who the winners and losers in society are. Just like W. the dumber kids will rise because they are such good Christians, while others will be behind, which of course, becomes the reason why people become Christian, or at least shut up and know their place.

God may start Religions, but the Devil takes over them in quick order.

[madfloridian]

34. Actually some already do get public money....or were going to get it.

need to look it up but I read it somewhere.

[soarsboard2]

35. This is an Outrage

Funding must be stopped.

[madfloridian]

36. Yes, it is an outrage.

Probably illegal as well.

I have been searching to see if anyone in the state or federal govt is reacting, but I see nothing.

[madfloridian]

38. Taxpayers bailing out religious schools.

and money being taken from public schools.

Not a good situation.