Washington State Charter School Group Found To Have Underserved Students

I'm gonna say it - I told you so.

In an in-depth article by KUOW reporter Ann Dornfeld, it is revealed that one Washington State charter group - Impact Schools - was not providing ELL services to students despite claiming to do so. Impact Charter Schools is the largest charter provider in the state.

Dornfeld is writing a series on this group and the second one is equally troubling and is about holding back students to repeat a grade level again, despite parents being told by teachers that their children were doing well.

I will note here that these schools are being run by experienced staff like Jen Wickens who has been a fixture in Washington State charter schools since the law passed. As well, former Alliance for Education head, Sara Morris, was also involved in the opening of some Impact Schools.

From the ELL article:

Ogubamichael was drawn to Puget Sound Elementary, a charter school in Tukwila, because of its promise of instruction tailored to each student.

Ogubamichael’s family speaks Tigrinya at home, and her daughter, who is in second grade, is learning English. Five months into the 2021-22 school year, Ogubamichael realized that her daughter was barely making progress in English — and that she wasn’t getting services for English language learners, as had been promised, and which is a federal requirement. 

Meanwhile, records from the state schools office show Impact Public Schools has billed the state more than $857,000 in the last four years for funding for English language programming. But teachers told KUOW that English language instruction is essentially nonexistent. 

KUOW spoke with 50 parents and staff who voiced concerns about Impact’s treatment of its most vulnerable students — a pattern, they said, that has persisted since the first school opened in 2018.

The charter chain’s students are mostly children of color from low-income families. Black students make up the largest percentage, including many from East African immigrant and refugee families. Twenty-one percent of students are English language learners, state records show.

Impact’s network is set to expand next year with a new school opening in Renton. The network plans to double enrollment in the next four years, adding grade levels to each of its schools.

Impact says:

Impact called the allegations regarding lack of English language services “completely false,” and said it follows the law on that and special education. 

“Impact has no record of any students in 2019 not receiving their IEP services,” said spokesperson Rowena Yow.

But teachers?

Of those interviewed, 13 teachers said that Impact’s three schools also failed to provide specialized instruction for many students with disabilities, or those who are highly capable — even though that, too, is legally required. 

“There’s a child in my class who’s still in the silent stage. He knows words, pretty sure, but he’s not speaking yet,” midway through the school year, the teacher said. “I’m very concerned about this child.” 

A teacher at Puget Sound Elementary, in Tukwila, said students who speak no English “just sit there quietly.” That teacher also asked for anonymity. 

“[Teachers] basically let them do their own thing as long as they’re not interrupting the class,” the teacher said. “Some of them draw.” 

Ten current and former Impact staff members told KUOW that administrators avoid evaluating students for learning disabilities. Instead, they said, children who struggle to learn are often asked to repeat a grade, or they switch to a different school.

The ACLU weighs in:

Four percent of students at Impact schools receive special education, compared to 14% in nearby public elementary schools, state records show. That raises a red flag for Kendrick Washington with the ACLU of Washington. 

“I don't really see it as a realistic possibility that they have that low a percentage of students with disabilities,” Washington said.

For example:

At its largest school, Puget Sound Elementary, there is one certificated special education teacher for 600 students. In contrast, a nearby elementary school in the Highline School District has five certificated special education teachers for 500 students. 

Thirty percent of Impact staff have left its schools since the start of the school year, according to data the organization provided - an unusually high number given that school staff typically only change jobs between school years. (In comparison, 1% of instructional staff in the nearby Tukwila School District have resigned this school year, according to that district.) 

Families have been leaving the charter school chain, too — 13% of the approximately 1240 students enrolled this school year left midyear. In the surrounding districts, elementary school enrollment has been steady or risen in that time period.

 And those who should be overseeing charter schools? It's a quick draw to point fingers:

At the state schools office in Olympia, Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal said that his office knows only what Impact has told them about its services.

 “Most of what we do is ask districts to make attestations about their use of funds,” Reykdal said. “Periodically, the state auditor will do a deep dive on a performance audit. But that's very, very rare, especially for a new school.”

Reykdal said that if Impact is not meeting its obligations, as parents and staff allege, “that’s alarming.” 

The Washington State Charter School Commission is the primary agency overseeing charter schools. Executive Director Jessica de Barros said that to determine whether charters are meeting their legal obligations for special education and English learners, it relies on information from the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

 The state schools office, she said, has not uncovered any serious issues in those areas that would lead to commission intervention.

From the retention article:

Among several of the parents’ concerns: That Impact was attempting to hold students back so the schools would look good — not because it benefits students. 

Three teachers told KUOW that they've had up to one-third of their students on the "promotion in doubt" list. 

Impact said that its grade-retention practice is meant to ensure students master the material. Parents make the ultimate decision about whether to hold a child back, they said, and ultimately, only nine returning students – fewer than 3% — “chose to repeat a grade” in 2021. 

Although state law requires that parents — not schools — decide whether a student repeats the grade, she said parents were often made to feel it was not optional.

Why so many being held back?

But Baionne Coleman, a former Impact administrator, said its policy of sending grade-holdback letters was connected to funding.

Coleman said that Jen Davis Wickens, the co-founder and CEO of Impact, had been adamant that low-scoring students repeat the year.

Wickens was under pressure:

The tests are high-stakes: In 2021, Impact received a $10.1 million property loan from Equitable Facilities Fund, an organization focused on lending to charter schools. Loan documents include a covenant that students at Impact’s Tukwila school must outperform students in the surrounding school districts on the state math and reading tests.

That Equitable Facilities Fund? Opened by the Walton family who seem to think public education is their thing when they should just stick to running WalMart.

But holding back is not considered a good idea:

Some states, like Florida, require kids to repeat third grade if they don’t score high enough on standardized tests. (English learners and special education students can get exemptions.) But repeating a school year — or “grade retention” — is uncommon in Washington school districts.

Decades of research show that holding kids back a year can produce short-term academic gains, but long-term problems, including low self-esteem and a dramatically increased risk of high-school dropout.

The Washington State Charter School Commission formally approved of Impact holding students back.

And a BIG red flag for the information in the paragraph below because charter schools pick and choose what information to reveal about their student population and how it flexes over time. This is information that both taxpayers AND parents should be able to easily find.

State records show that nine is the largest number of students who’ve repeated a grade at any of Impact’s schools. But that does not reflect how many students were advised to stay back. Some parents said they ignored the recommendations and let their kids move up to the next grade. Others pulled their children from Impact and enrolled them elsewhere.