LWVeducation
How can you make a difference in Florida’s education policy? Get involved in the discussion! The ESSA federal law returns control to states on the use of state assessment scores to measure student progress and rate teachers and schools. Or, does it?
There 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.
All 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.
Dr. 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?
For 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:
The fall out from the school funding train wreck bill in the last legislative session continues. The Florida State Board of Education will consider newly drafted rules to make charter facility funding easier.
When 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.
Palm Beach County Schools say ‘NO’ to Charter Schools USA (CSUSA) and duplicative, inefficient school choice. This is more than an anti charter complaint. It is a call to enforce the original legislative purpose for charter schools in Florida.
Time to escape the nonsense. I am taking a trip!
The Tampa Bay Times 
reports that the Manatee Superintendent will promote third graders after all who would otherwise qualify even though they do not have a FSA test score. Superintendent Green was clearly vexed. She cited telephone conversations and emails with the Florida Department of Education which clearly indicated students must have appropriate test scores in order to be promoted.
Today, the story changed. Now, students can demonstrate mastery by developing a portfolio in a reading camp or by taking the Stanford Achievement test. It is not clear that parents will accept these alternatives when their children have demonstrated good reading skills in their classroom performance and report cards. Stay tuned. This has gone past politics and logical reasoning.
The Superintendent is between a rock and a hard place. She opposed the FSA last year, but she felt she had to follow Department of Education edicts. Unfortunately for her, the story from the DOE changed between Friday and Tuesday. Testing, Florida style.