LWVeducation
The final version of SB 7029, the charter school bill, took awhile to locate. Here it is! There is along list of provisions, some minor and some major. The highlights follow. They are easy to scan. Most do little damage. Some good things happened. Considering what could have been, we can put our energies toward making good things happen next year.
by Paula Dockery
Paula is a syndicated columnist and member of the Florida LWV Board. She wrote a column summarizing the Florida legislative session. I extracted her description of the process in developing education policy this year. I personally thought of it as a ping pong match. She uses the analogy of a train. This train kept criss crossing the tracks. Enjoy her description.
Superintendent Vitti’s testimony was a straight forward account of the demographic makeup of the county schools. The district is 44% African American and 36% white and 11% Hispanic. Nearly half of the students qualify for free and reduced lunch (FRL). About 56% of FRL students were below grade level, and their graduation rate was 67%.
How the needs of students are met was the subject of his testimony. Are districts funded adequately to meet these needs?
I watched the trial yesterday and again this morning.
MONDAY
The witnesses yesterday spoke to the relative funding support for education in Florida vs. other states. While Florida’s funding is very low, the defendants argued that cost comparisons are not indicative of quality. They cited the Florida NAEP fourth grade reading scores that are slightly above the national average. What was not mentioned in the testimony is that about 12 states retain third graders based on their states’ assessment scores. Florida is one of those states. Thus, Florida’s fourth grade NAEP scores are likely to be elevated compared to other states. Florida retains approximately 20% of third graders. In addition, Florida has one of the highest percentage of students with tax credit scholarships whose scores are not included in the NAEP assessment. These FTC scholarships are need based and would include a high percentage of low scoring students from public schools.
The second witness discussed the academic deficiencies of homeless students. The percentage of homeless in Florida is increasing, and these students do less well than students from low income families who have homes.
TUESDAY
This morning, Professor Smith from UCF discussed the Florida DOE comparisons of traditional and charter schools. The DOE reported raw results in which charter students tended to score higher than traditional public school students. When scores were adjusted statistically for the percentages of free and reduced lunch and minority students, based on school scores, charter school students scored somewhat lower than public school students. This comparison also revealed that charter schools had relatively fewer students with FRL and minority status which accounts for the decrease in adjusted scores for charters. Bottom line, charter schools do not out perform traditional public schools.
I had to sign off when the cross examination began. More later
We know a long train of education proposals passed this legislative session. What did the Florida legislature NOT pass? The Tampa Bay Times produced a quick summary.
We will review what DID pass tomorrow.
The Citizens for Strong Schools trial can be viewed online.
Is this the first day of the rest of our lives? The Citizens for Strong Schools trial begins in Tallahassee today.
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Publicity for the Florida Citizens for Strong Schools trial has begun. The actual trial starts March 14th. Here’s an extensive report with pictures: Florida Education on Trial. Take a look.
The arguments are outlined. The people are identified. When the actual trial starts, we will be sending out daily snippets on highlights. Much depends on this trial. Hope you tune in.
SB 524 has the same improved charter school management provisions embedded in HB 7029. See line 1447 in HB 7029.
HB 7043 relates to performance standards for higher education, and it includes the Best and Brightest program.
The Senate is meeting this morning. 7029 was put on temporary postponement at about 11am.
The LWVF supports the improvement in charter school management in these bills.
