Monthly Archives: June 2016

Detroit: Lots of choice, but no good choice

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money-40603_1280The New York Times ran a story about Detroit.  The city is recovering from bankruptcy, but school choice has bankrupted its schools.  The story is told in human terms.  Your learn about a family trying to find a good fit for its four children.  They move from charter to charter, full of disappointment as hopes are dashed.  They are besieged by hype and gifts for recruiting, but the realities of too many schools from which to choose means that no school is very good.  This is a cautionary tale.  Detroit has the lowest achieving children in the nation.  Ten percent of its children graduate at ‘college ready’.

Michigan has less charter regulation than Florida.  Charters proliferate whether or not they succeed academically.  Eighty percent of its charters are run by for-profit companies. The fight with each other to get students.  By last winter, Detroit schools were bankrupt.  The legislature agreed to help, but it refused to support regulations to manage charter growth.

Teacher Bonuses Challenge Under Review

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justiceFlorida’s Best and Brightest teacher bonus program is under review by a federal agency.  The Florida Education Association filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last December.  In the complaint, the FEA argued that the program discriminated against teachers whose ACT or SAT tests, on which the bonuses are based, are unfairly excluded.  Teachers who sat the SAT or ACT before 1973 have no qualified scores.  These teachers are referred to DOE guidelines which seem to be strangely absent on the FDOE website.  According to the Naples News article today, a decision by the EEOC has not been reached, but the complaint is still under review.  If the EEOC finds reason to proceed with the complaint, the FEA will file a lawsuit.

 

It is Time to Talk about ESSA

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child speakingThere is the law, and then there are the regulations to implement the law.  Some say the new federal Department of Education proposed regulations for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) overstep the intention of the law.  They create more stringent rules about testing and accountability than the ESSA intended.  The Florida Department of Education has put out a call for your input about the regulations. You have until July 22, 2016 to respond.  Responding in a meaningful way takes some thought.

 

 

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Today the Value of Diversity Was Affirmed

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justiceAll the money pouring into school choice helps hire professionals to give a positive spin to a poor idea.  What can be wrong with giving parents choice and take state dollars with them to charter and private schools, spin masters say.

Some parents cannot resist the allure of a selective quasi ‘private education’ even if it is not high quality.  Today the Supreme Court provided a compelling ruling that can change the conversation.

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Alachua County Superintendent Resigns

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Dr__Owen_RobertsDr. Owen Roberts resigned as Alachua County Superintendent effective 20 weeks from now.  The problems have been building over the past year.  One can only hope that the truly exciting initiatives he has sponsored will not be lost.  The preschool center at Duval, the arts and music magnet transformation at Rawlings elementary, the incorporation of the System of Care to help at risk children and their families in seven schools, the Parent Academy to help parents build learning skills with their preschool children,  the robotics program, and the new community school at Howard Bishop all represent his priorities.  The list goes on.  Alachua County Schools have risen from a ‘C’ grade to an ‘A’.  The awards to programs across the county have received national attention.

So what happened to derail Dr. Robert’s administration?

 

 

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Florida SBE Delays Vote on Charter School Facility Funding Rules

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dollar-726881_1280For some reason, not published, the State Board of Education will not review the proposed rules for allocating capital outlay money to charter schools, according to the Tampa Bay Times.  The rule was to be considered at the June 22nd meeting at Palm Beach State College.

Provisions included in the proposed rule were:

 

 

 

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School Board Official ‘Bought’?

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money-40603_1280When is it a conflict of interest for a district school board member’s campaign to be financed by a charter school management company and its associates?

The Tampa Bay Times reports that one third of a Hillsborough school board member’s 2016 election campaign is financed by the charter sector.   Contributions to local school board candidates from charter advocacy groups is becoming a national strategy.  Is this democracy in action or something more sinister?  The issue is complicated by questions about the meaning of public education.

 

 

 

 

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