by Joan Brownstein
Support for early childhood goes across party lines. Raising standards and improving access to quality preschool are possible. Here is a source of information to help get the message across. You have to love a book about babies.
Author Archive: Sue Legg
Charters: Moving from Problems to Solutions
Fraud, waste and abuse in charter school management is well documented. Choosing effective strategies to encourage legislatures to address solutions is always a challenge.
Two groups, In The Public Interest and the Center for Popular Democracy, have taken a first step. The League will help; find out how.
Virtual or Vanishing Schools?
virtual school
The National Education Policy Center (NEPC) released its 2015 report on virtual schools. As usual there is some good news and some bad news. The “good news” is that students taking Algebra I and English courses do not do any worse than students in traditional public schools. What a curious turn of phrase. In the context of the full report, perhaps it is a warning sign.
One thing is clear. It is difficult to obtain the comprehensive, valid data that are needed to evaluate the quality of the online education sector.
Charters: Public, Private, Both: An Auditor’s View
Dave Yost
Can you make a cogent argument about which regulations are needed and which inhibit a flexible, innovative school system? It is not an esoteric topic. With the plethora of examples of charter school fraud, waste and abuse, we know something is not working right. What changes should be made?
Ohio’s Auditor of State, Dave Yost, has been doing some serious thinking. He is concerned about which aspects of charter school operations are subject to public entity law and which relate to laws governing private companies. It makes a difference in what information is subject to public disclosure. The criteria for ethical behavior differ as well. Charters are both public and private. Which set of rules apply?
This piece is not a polemic. It is a thoughtful article by a fiscal conservative who believes in small government. He is concerned about preserving the public interest when contracting with private entities for services like schools and prisons. It is a thorny problem we all need to ponder.
LWV Presentation to the Florida Senate Education Committee Workshop on Charter Schools
The Senate Education Committee held a workshop on March 11th on proposed bills for charter schools. The list of bills was organized by topic. Sue Legg, Chair of the League’s Education Committee, made a presentation to the committee. She focused on three of the Committee’s topics.
Here is an edited version of her remarks.
Florida Senate Education Committee Workshop on Charters
If you want to take the pulse of charter school legislative priorities, watch this video. It is yesterday’s Florida Senate Education Committee workshop on charters. They have a long list of proposed bills to consider, and they are looking for ways to combine bills in order to move forward.
The two most comprehensive bills were from Senator Montford and Senator Legg. Continue reading
Looking Beyond the Stereotypes: Many Black Males Graduate
Education Justice forwarded a report on black male high school graduation rates in states across the country. They may surprise you. The Schott Foundation for Public Education just released a report entitled: Black Lives Matter. It seems harsh to have to be reminded that lives matter, black or any other lives. When you see the data and read the report, you will understand the concern.
Large variations in high school graduation rates for black and Hispanic males are found across states. They differ more than you might think.
Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis
We all are struggling with ways to explain what is happening with our schools. Why would our country, of all countries, seem to encourage privatization of our schools?
There is an undercurrent in our political and social structure that seems counter to the American Dream. Do we know think of ‘our kids’ as ‘my kids’ and ‘those other kids over there’? If so, how does this view affect the choices we make? What prospects do children have?
There is a new book out that can inform our understanding.
Senate Appropriations Hearing: Did They Listen?
You may not have watched the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing this week. It was about charter school management reform. Or was it? The speakers were from the charter sector and from school districts.
It was not until the last minute of a two hour session that you found out what really was at stake. A major battle is forming.
Class Size: Skirting the Constitution
by Lucia Baez
In 2002, Florida voters passed a constitutional amendment to limit class size. They did not overturn it in 2010. How can we have classes with 45 students when the limit is 25? Is there some sleight of hand going on? Well yes. The Miami Herald reported that electives were exempt, and some classes like AP became electives. Classes that had been limited to twenty five students increased. With the severe funding cuts over several years, districts have had to somehow manage to do more with less. They looked at the flexibility given to charters and wanted some for themselves.
Charter schools could average class size across the school. So, some classes could be large and others small. With the help of the legislature in 2013, districts could do the same if they called their schools ‘schools of choice’. Now a bill has been filed to legitimize the practice. SB 818 was recently filed by Senator Garcia. It is curious that it is possible to circumvent the constitution when it is convenient.
A teacher and League member from Miami has written a letter. See what she has to say. Her tone is gentle; her message is strong.