Monthly Archives: December 2020

Slippery Slope or Steady Course for a Better Future?

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President-elect Biden has kept his promise to hire an educator. He found a good one in Miguel Cordona. Cordona was Connecticut’s Principal of the Year in 2012. His career path has been meteoric. He went from being an assistant superintendent of a small school district to state superintendent within two years. Cordona has not entered the wars over the privatization of public schools. He is, however, a strong public school supporter. He has opposed tying teacher evaluations to test scores. He fits Biden’s image as one who governs from the middle. Where will this lead?

All we know now is that federal K12 education funding goes primarily to the Title I program to support underserved students. Biden has stated that this funding will increase substantially. How states must account for these funds has yet to be determined. This matters. Education policy has been driven by a focus on test scores. Turning children into numbers has not improved learning. It has prompted many educators to leave the classroom. It has also fueled ineffective charter and school voucher programs that divide people and resources.

Education has been asked to solve the problems of poverty and inequity. There are no easy answers, but how this issue is approached is the test for Biden’s administration. Will accountability for federal dollars prompt state leaders to think about where and how children learn best? Or, will it keep children glued to computer screens that the pandemic has shown to be problematic?

Who will replace Betsy DeVos?

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President-elect Biden has narrowed his choices for Secretary of Education. There are two finalists. Both are strong advocates for public education. One, Leslie Fenwick, has publically focused on the need to keep public schools public. You can help influence this choice. Read about the former dean of Howard University Leslie Fenwick. The other choice is Miguel Cordona, the Connecticut Secretary of Education. Take action:

Big Debate on Racial Disparity in Gainesville

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 I wrote this post for this blog in June of 2016.  When I took the data to the district staff, they confirmed that the gap was not limited to specific schools or grade levels.  It was a district-wide problem.  We did not have an explanation, but the income-gap may have been an indicator. Gainesville had the fifth highest income gap in the nation.

In 2018, the U.F. Bureau of Economic and Business Research published a study of racial inequity in Alachua County.  They reported that Alachua County African Americans fared worse than in other areas of the state and nation.  Specifically, they have lower economic well being, educational performance and attainment, and more involvement in the justice system.  These factors are correlated.  Children from low-income families struggle.

In 2016, many explained the achievement gap in Alachua County by pointing to the fact that Gainesville is a college town.  Its people value education.  The district has national awards in math, AP, and culinary arts among other areas.  How could there be a problem?  Yet, there are the same achievement gap problems in Alachua County schools as there are across the nation.  Some say that the problems are worse, and implicit racism in schools is the culprit.  There may be other explanations.

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Who IS Carlee Simon: Alachua County Acting Superintendent?

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The new majority on the Alachua County School Board acted quickly to change the Superintendent. Dr. Carlee Simon was named Interim Superintendent today. Karen Clarke has been replaced. Clarke has been called an excellent manager but not a visionary. The School Board will launch a search for a new Superintendent. Some speculate that they will search for someone they already know i.e. Carlee Simon.

Simon has been involved with the community activists associated with GNV4All’s education committee. The committee is chaired by Nathan Crabbe, the Opinion Editor of the Gainesville Sun. According to the Gainesville Sun, the signature project for GNV4All is to create a community health and social service center to be located at Metcalfe Elementary School in east Gainesville. The Center will provide prenatal care along with educational and wrap around services for families with children up to age four. The estimated cost is $350,000 a year.

Funding for the Metcalfe pre-school must come from the community and would need an organizational home. GNV4All has just filed as a nonprofit organization which could receive funds. One might suppose that it would submit a proposal to the Alachua County Children’s Trust for funds from the local tax initiative passed in 2018. Tina Certain, a member of the School Board who participates in GNV4All is also a member of the board of the Children’s Trust.

Carlee Simon faces a big challenge. She has background knowledge in educational policy but limited administrative experience. She was a classroom teacher for five years and earned a PhD in Educational Leadership from the University of Florida in 2010. She was Assistant Professor for eight years at the University of Cincinnati. She returned to Gainesville and is currently enrolled in a graduate program in Urban Planning. Simon is more than a student. She teaches a course as an Adjunct at the University of North Florida and manages her own real estate business.

Running the Alachua County Schools is a complex, challenging job. Simon will have a steep learning curve. Her priorities are clear. She has a vision for equity. Her skills at implementing that vision, however, will be tested. The school system budget is over $537,000,000 but shortfalls in funding are expected due to the pandemic. This is a time of conflicting educational and vocational program needs. We have major school construction projects and difficult school rezoning issues. Some schools are under enrolled and others over enrolled.

Simon will be walking a tight rope as she attempts to build a consensus on how to address the problems. If she falls, Alachua County will need yet another superintendent in June. The School Board will lose face, and GNV4All’s equity goals may be thwarted. We have to be hopeful and vigilant.