Enrollment in charter schools rises in Manatee

MANATEE — The yellow and gray magnet Diana Craig slapped onto the back of her black four-door Mazda draws lots of attention.

“Imagine School at Lakewood Ranch,” reads the small slogan inside a print that includes the sun and a shark, the school’s mascot.

“People stop me all the time and say, ‘Oh, do you like it? Tell me about it.’” said the Bradenton mom, whose two children attend the charter school in East Manatee. “Oh, yeah, I brag about the school.”

Whether it’s better marketing or something else, more students this year are attending charter schools in Manatee County and indications show state and national numbers are up, too.

Enrollment at the county’s eight charter schools is up 16.3 percent or 426 students from last year for a total 2,615 children, according to statistics released from the district last week.

School officials in Manatee attributed the increase to better marketing, improvements in academic performance by charters and one of the county’s charter schools adding more grade levels this year.

Enrollment numbers for state and national charter schools are not yet available for the 2009-2010 year, but during the last school year, the nation’s charter student population grew 11 percent and the number of schools grew 8 percent from the 2007-08 school year.

In Florida during the 2008-2009 school year, 117,602 students attended 389 charter schools — up from the previous year when 105,239 students attended 358 schools across the state. That’s an almost 12 percent increase in student enrollment statewide.

Those numbers will continue to climb, as the state anticipates about 400 charters this school year, said Mike Kooi, executive director for the state’s office of Independent Education and Parental Choice.

“So we will definitely have more students,” Kooi said. “I think parents are just taking advantage of options and the opportunities that might fit their children better than the school they are assigned to.”

Charter schools are getting better academically, he said, and each year many are expanding opportunities for students, including sports — something a lot of them don’t offer or have not always offered.

Charter schools are tuition-free public schools created through an agreement or “charter” between the school and the local school board or a state university. They are governed privately and like traditional public schools must demonstrate success, or they will lose their charter. Charter schools can be managed by municipalities, private companies or individuals.

Since 1996, Florida charter schools have increased parental options in public education and provided innovative learning opportunities for students, according to the state Department of Education.

Florida ranks fourth in the nation both in the number of charter schools and in charter school enrollment, according to the DOE.