IDEA Schools Drawing Students, Funding from Other Districts (TX)
May 10, 2011
In 11 short years, IDEA Public Schools has grown from one hastily arranged campus in an old Donna church house to filling nearly 20 state-rated “exemplary” schools with more than 6,800 students.
With 14,000 other students on a waiting list and plans to operate 38 total sites by 2015 — not all of which will be in the Rio Grande Valley — CEO and founder Tom Torkelson has added another item to his charter district’s ambitious to-do list: helping public school districts turn around their under-performing campuses.
“We just don’t have the capacity right now,” Torkelson said in an interview recently. “But it’s truly something that we are exploring with several large districts around Texas.
“And I would say that would be an opportunity for districts in the RGV to explore, too,” he said.
Without disclosing names, Torkelson said he and a handful of Valley superintendents have already discussed the idea, which has won support in places like Denver and New York City.
And “more forward-looking” educators in the Valley should jump on board, he added.
“If I were a district, and I were having a tough time turning around a school that was not successful, I would say, ‘Gosh, who is doing the best in the business?’” he said. “I would like our surrounding districts to really see us as a partner instead of just a competitor.”
That may be unlikely for now, though, since IDEA’s swift expansion has left districts’ heads spinning as their students flock to the charter district.
And in a time of drastic state budget cuts, each student — and the per-pupil funding leaving with them — pinches yet another nerve for local education leaders.
“Charter schools are creating a two-tiered system of widening inequality where the public schools are left with disproportionate numbers of (disinterested) parents,” said Debbie Crane Aliseda, McAllen school board candidate and vocal critic of IDEA.
McAllen has lost 684 students to IDEA, though Aliseda questions whether that exodus happened on fair terms.
“They’re not doing what they were intended to,” she said, “and it goes to the core of charters’ purpose.”
AT-RISK STUDENTS
“Schools of choice” first gained momentum in 1988, when Albert Shanker, president of the American Federation of Teachers, rallied support behind the creation of experimental campuses for at-risk students.
Since then, Aliseda said that mission has devolved, allowing charters like IDEA and Houston-based KIPP to instead attract the more determined students and families.
“The waiting list isn’t kids signing up. It’s parents,” she said. “They’re taking the highest-achieving and –motivated students.
“My main problem with IDEA is they’re supposed to take the at-risk kids,” Aliseda added.
Compared with McAllen’s 65.3 percent at-risk student population, IDEA had an at-risk rate of only 40.5 percent, according to the most recent data compiled by the Texas Education Agency.
And that’s far below the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo school district’s rate, which had a 73.7 percent at-risk student population and lost the most students to IDEA in the past decade.
“People think the reason we get better results is because we get better kids,” To rkelson said. “We do an analysis of kids who come to IDEA (and) they’re slightly more likely to have failed the state test.
“Basically … they’re complaining that we’re, a) taking students, and b) that we’re not taking the students they don’t want,” he said.
Torkelson also noted that McAllen offers its own free, open enrollment to out-of-district transfers, a paradox Aliseda could not quickly digest.
“I’ve never thought of it that way,” she admitted. “That would be a good question to consider.”
Still, “McAllen needs to do a thorough study, look at every one of those 600 families and find out why they left,” Aliseda said. “And if something is wrong, we need to fix it.”
THE ‘CHOICE’ PHENOMENON
Until that happens, Aliseda did hope McAllen school officials find common ground with IDEA, especially considering the latter’s promise to keep growing.
She hoped the charter would share whatever secrets, if any, it has to help at-risk and bilingual students, removing the competitive barrier that has already dissolved in PSJA.
“You can’t waste a lot of time thinking, ‘Well, IDEA shouldn’t exist,’ or, ‘This isn’t fair,’” PSJA Superintendent Daniel King said. “You take whatever challenges that are there, and you look at how to make the best of life with it.
“How can I use the fact that IDEA is here to help provide a better education?” he asked.
Despite losing 1,328 PSJA students to the charter school — perhaps a reflection of the district’s tri-city boundaries — King has turned IDEA’s presence into a priceless leverage.
The two districts, partnered with Teach for America, became the only Texas applicant and one of 49 winners for a nationally competitive, multimillion-dollar federal teacher- and principal-training grant.
“In some sense, we’re apples and oranges,” King said. “We’re in the same business but our business models are different … so, we’ve had staff visit IDEA, and they visit us.
“We owe it to the community to share ideas,” he said. “You should not be afraid of competition.”
The PSJA superintendent applauded IDEA’s success in getting 100 percent of its students into colleges and said he wants to see the same success in his own district.
And he said all districts need to work together to foster a better transition phase for high school students heading to university, to make sure they stay there until graduation.
“We are in the business of learning and improving and sharing,” King added. “Ultimately it’s the parents and students who need to decide what’s the right fit for them.
“You’re going to see more and more of the ‘choice’ phenomenon happening around the state and all the around the country really … so embrace it.”