Pinellas Superintendent Recommends Closure of Charter School Belonging to Rick Scott Crony
Embattled Imagine Schools CEO Dennis Bakke got more bad news today as Pinellas Superintendent John Stewart recommended closure of his charter school in St. Petersburg. Writes Tampa Bay Times reporter Rebecca Catalenello in The Gradebook:
Pinellas Superintendent John Stewart this morning told board members he’d like to close struggling Imagine Charter School in St. Petersburg, which just earned its third F in four years.
This recommendation comes less than two months after the board voted 5-1 to extend the school’s contract per his recommendation. Though Imagine supporters made the case that they were improving, 2011-12 FCAT data released soon after showed the school was still struggling: 54 percent of its third graders, for example, scored a Level 1 in reading, the lowest possible score.
It was the worst third-grade reading performance of any school in the district except for Life Force