What is a "Failure Factory?"

When I was contacted yesterday afternoon by the PNJ to give my reaction to the news that the final challenge to the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship had been overcome--I immediately thought about an amazingly powerful article I read two years ago.  It was an outstanding piece of Journalism in the Tampa Bay Times that everyone in education should have read....  It had a simple title:

Failure Factories 

The story was familiar and not isolated to Pinellas County. Dozens and dozens of Failure Factories are found throughout the state of Florida (and nationwide, for that matter)....

So, what are "Failure Factories?"

Failure Factories are public schools in poor neighborhoods that underperform for decades, trapping their populations in mediocrity. Entire families pass through these schools as they do not have the resources to attend better schools.   Pressure is applied from all directions to keep student suspensions and referral numbers down at failure factories, which creates lawlessness and a loss of focus on academics.  Good students and good parents flee, exacerbating the issue.  Soon, teachers leave and such schools have complete staff turnovers every 2-3 years.  Money is dumped in by feckless administrators and other educrats for programs that never succeed long term, yet these schools do not improve or display sustained improvement despite huge sums of money being dumped into the mix.

Everyone wrings their hands collectively and nothing changes.

Then along came a statewide program that allowed students and parents stuck in such failing schools to receive a scholarship to attend a better performing school and break the cycle---and the establishment types freaked out.  Then they sued.  (This is when I took action and said enough!)

Yesterday, after a nearly three year battle, the entrenched special interests that fought so hard and sued to stop this program (ACLU, NAACP, NEA/FEA, FSBA) were handed a humbling defeat as the Florida Supreme Court declined to hear this case.

Now, nearly 100,000 students (primarily poor, minority students) who were stuck in failure factories will have a shot at a better education and better educational outcomes.  These students will be able to choose to go to a better performing school thanks to this scholarship program.  (Although this program does not utilize one dime of taxpayer money--establishment educrats still HATE this program.)

To the people (feckless educrats, Teacher Unions, and FSBA types) who HATE this program--- I say this:

Had you collectively done your jobs, this scholarship program probably never would have been established, as it would not have been needed.  If you are mad about this, look in the mirror and take your anger out on that person, that person in the mirror who had the power and ability to fix the problems that led to failure factories but that who did nothing.

Unusual Alliance: NAACP Joins Florida Establishment in Effort to Kill School Choice for African-American Students....

WatchdogArena.com has published a piece I wrote recently about the unusual alliance between Florida educational elitists and the NAACP—who together are working to kill a popular tax-credit scholarship that primarily benefits at-risk, African-American students…  from the article

“Why in the world is the NAACP working with these Florida establishment elites to kill a program that benefits tens of thousands of African-American students?”

"As we approach school choice week for 2015, the struggle for choice in education is heating up to a roiling boil in the state of Florida, with 70,000 students and their parents as the unwitting, unwilling pawns in this conflict.

In 2014, the Florida legislature broadly expanded the eligibility criteria for an established statewide education choice initiative that serves primarily poor, minority students.  This Florida tax-credit scholarship program is wildly popular among students and parents throughout the sunshine state, as many of these students and their parents have not fared well in their local public schools-and have instead found success using these scholarships to attend private schools.

Florida corporations like the program because the donations such entities make to the program result in a directly proportionate reduction it their state corporate taxes.

As one might expect, however, powerful special interests from the state capitol were not happy with this expansion.  Immediately upon the announcement of the expansion of this program-these entities linked arms and filed suit to have this worthwhile program scrapped.  The usual suspects were involved; The Statewide teachers unions, The Superintendent’s association, the School Boards’ Association-they all circled the wagons,  joining forces to attempt to fight these scholarships in court.

Their logic for initiating this litigation looks like a clinic on maintaining message discipline.  They decry the diversion of potential state revenue, loudly and often, re-stating their firm belief that if they just had ALL the taxpayer resources then they could “fix” ALL the schools. 

Astonishingly-this coalition against student and parent educational choice has now managed to gain the support of the Florida branch of the NAACP in their quest to kill school choice for poor Floridians.  (The ironic thing is that the primary recipients of these scholarships are poor minorities, chiefly African-American students!)"

Read the full article:   NAACP aligns with the Florida establishment in attempts to kill school choice