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Tallahassee Fast-Tracking Autism School

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Tallahassee Fast-Tracking Autism School

By MARILYN BROWN The Tampa Tribune

Published: Jan 2, 2007

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TAMPA - A for-profit Nashville company is on the fast track - with state help - to manage a charter school for children with autism, serving six counties.

The Florida Autism Center of Excellence would be governed by a local board but run by Educational Services of America, which bills itself as "the nation's leading provider of special and alternative educational programs for children."

Armed with $700,000 in state seed money and assurances that it's in line to become a new state commission's first charter, the company represents a new era of charter school expansion in Florida.

"What they attempt to do for students in Hillsborough, the following year they could do in ville, then the next year in Miami," , chairman of the Florida Schools of Excellence Commission, said Thursday. Each school could serve several counties and potentially get more state money than charter schools now receive, he said.

Parents of autistic children testify to the need.

"It's an epidemic," said Housam Moursi, a physician and president of Concerned Parents of Autistic Children, an informal group of about 100 in the area. "There isn't any ideal place for the kids. They are not doing well in the traditional public schools."

The proposed Hillsborough school is the perfect start for the state's new commission formed to sanction and sponsor charter schools, said. Until Gov. Jeb Bush signed a bill in June creating the commission, individual school districts approved and monitored charter schools.

Charter schools are public schools funded by taxpayers but operated by private individuals, organizations or other public entities. They're free from government regulations other than testing, health and safety requirements.

Florida started with five charters in 1996. With strong support from Bush, Florida is now third in the nation, with more than 330 charter schools. Hillsborough has 24, with four more slated for 2007-08.

Ready To Be First

Educational Services of America operates 105 programs in 16 states, said Mark Claypool, president and chief operating officer. They provide services through private pay, contracts with school districts and a charter contract in Arizona. The 38 programs in Florida, including two Tampa schools, Bishop-Eton and the Broach School, do not include any charter schools.

said his commission did not plan to approve any charters opening before 2008, but that Claypool's company is ready: "They've already been vetted.

"This is one time we don't want to put it off for a year," he said. "I've assured Mr. Claypool that I'll do everything possible so we can get that school up and running."

Hillsborough wants the Florida Autism Center of Excellence, said Connie Milito, the district's chief of government relations. If the center wanted to charter through the district instead of the state commission, the district could waive its October deadline to help the school open in August, she said.

"Our whole goal is to get additional programs and services for kids with autism," Milito said. "I'm confident they've never done anything like this before in the state. It would be a one of a kind."

Autism is a condition that may affect as many as one in every 166 Americans age 21 or younger. There are only theories of causes, but the broad spectrum of symptoms range from Asperger syndrome - marked by high intelligence, obsessiveness and social isolation - to nonresponsiveness.

Families can spend up to $60,000 a year for the education and care of their children with autism, said Marguerite Kirst Colston, director of communications for the Autism Society of America in Bethesda, Md.

The parent of a daughter with autism, Colston said, "Some of the most interesting programs we see are coming from the private sector. There are plenty of people who want to work with these children. There just isn't the funding."

More Money For Cause

Last week, President Bush approved nearly $1 billion in federal money for autism-related research over the next five years. Earlier this year his brother, Gov. Bush, approved the $700,000 to help establish the Florida Autism Center of Excellence for Hillsborough.

"I had to specifically plead with Jeb," said state Rep. Trey Traviesa, R-, who wrote the initiative. "He signed it; he let it happen."

Traviesa said a group of parents, including Moursi, lobbied him in Tallahassee during his first 2005 term. He visited a charter school in New York City for children with autism and started working on legislation.

He needed buy-in from fellow legislators, so "I made it more of a regional opportunity." Organizers plan satellite schools in Pasco, Pinellas, Sarasota, Manatee and Polk counties so the school can serve up to 1,000 children, he said.

"They're struggling with the flood of these kids. It's alarming," he said.

The school could become a model for the state, combining public and private dollars, Traviesa said. Even with federal startup money and the state student allocation, private donations and more money from the Department of Education may be needed, he said.

This year's $700,000 seed money through DOE for a charter is unusual. Florida charters typically get up to $300,000 in federal startup money plus the state's per-pupil allotment. For a child with a severe form of autism, that could top $20,000 a year.

Similar Situation

There are parallels between Educational Services of America and another recent charter school expansion in Florida by an Ohio for-profit company.

White Hat Management, run by L. Brennan, a politically powerful businessman who helped pass Ohio's charter school and voucher laws, has targeted Florida with his Life Skills Centers to help dropouts earn high school diplomas. Some are charter schools, others have contracts with school districts to run their programs.

Brennan and White Hat donated more than $100,000 to Florida candidates and campaigns, and its lobbyist helped to draft laws to benefit charter schools, including the one establishing the commission that now heads.

Florida Schools of Excellence Commission was touted as an avenue to innovative collaborations with municipalities, state universities and community colleges to co-sponsor charter schools. That is still the plan, said.

Educational Services of America has donated money to the political campaigns of a number of Republicans, including Traviesa, who got $1,000. It gave the Republican Party of Florida $20,000 in 2006 and $10,000 to the Committee for Florida Justice Reform.

Traviesa said he did not have the company in mind when he worked on the legislation.

Jim Horne, former Florida education commissioner, is a registered lobbyist for Educational Services of America. , a former legislator, said he was considering other options for children the district struggles to serve when Horne connected him to Educational Services.

Other political forces are at work. On Dec. 15, the Florida School Boards Association filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the law that permits the Florida Schools of Excellence Commission to approve charter schools.

"I was served Christmas Eve," said. Even so, he said, he plans to spend the next year getting the Florida Autism Center of Excellence off the ground. "We've got to begin to pay attention to these types of students."

Reporter Marilyn Brown can be reached at mbrown@... or .