Category Archives: Florida

Florida’s Fat Cats?

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yachtThe current New Yorker has a long article on Jeb Bush’s role in the development of school choice.  The outline of the story is nothing new.  Jeb Bush launched charter schools and vouchers for private schools in Florida.  He based charter school grades on individual student’s achievement gains rather than school level improvement.  This offered a way to pressure teachers, because achievement would be measured at the classroom level.

According to the New Yorker article, a Bush appointee stated that Bush saw an opportunity to break the teacher’s union because it was viewed as a stalwart of the Democratic Party.

Perhaps even Jeb Bush is surprised at the growth of the choice movement.  The real story, however, is behind the scenes.

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Charter Pilot School Districts?

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board-106588_1280Some ideas never really go away.  Here is one.  Representative Manny Diaz (R) Hialeah, has filed a bill to create charter school districts.  This idea surfaced at the beginning of the charter movement in Florida, but it died of inaction.  Here it comes again.  See the details…

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Come Dream With Me: A Glimpse into What Online Learning Could Be

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chrystal-542488_1280I had a glimpse into the future yesterday.  Such a contrast between what is and what could be!  Believe it or not, it was the Senate K12 Education Committee meeting on video.  It started off with a review of the districts’ technology plans.  This past year, the State of Florida administered 4 million tests online.  This year, they will do 5 million.  The infrastructure is there, more or less.

I did not realize that funding for technology was recently incorporated into the FEFP per student allocation.  Thus, the increase is ear marked.  Districts are spending on average, 53% of this technology money for infrastructure.  Thirty one percent goes for assessments, and six percent for professional development.  According to the DOE, this approach is working.

Now for what could be….

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Florida Tax Credit Scholarships Need The Light of Day

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business-257880_1280We will do a series of posts on educational issues likely to come up in the Florida legislative session.  We would like to hear from other states as well.  Let’s begin with the accountability of the Florida Tax Credit (FTC) scholarship program.

What are the children learning; where is the money going, and how is it spent?

Keeping track of the $86 million for 67, 142 students in over 1400 schools is no easy task.  Transparency issues in reporting have arisen in charter schools.   Senator Legg, Chair of the Education Committee indicated that remedies would be made.  How can he improve transparency in the private school sector for tax credit vouchers?

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EDUCATION COMMITTEE MEETING ON TESTING

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Florida capitolSenator Gaetz wants answers to a list of questions about testing. How much time do they take?  What happens if students do not take them.  Where are we on setting passing levels.  He wrote a letter to the Commissioner of Education, Pam Stewart.  She answers at the Senate Committee Meeting on Wednesday.  You can watch it.  Read on, more is happening.

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Helping Children, Not Test Scores

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team-150149_1280Florida’s DOE did a good thing for 3rd graders today.    We have been talking about NAEP results in Florida for fourth grade.  See Testing: Maybe we should require statistics.  I mentioned some published concerns about third grade retention policies that might skew fourth grade test results.  If students who fail FCAT are retained, then fourth grade NAEP scores should look better.  After all, the children who struggle the most are still in 3rd grade.  Guess what I found out today.  Children should do a happy dance.

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A Christmas Gift

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education-390764_1280A Leaguer knows that consistently sharing information has an impact.  Nevertheless, it is reassuring to find evidence that people are listening, reading, and thinking about issues we believe are important.  Today the Editor of the Gainesville Sun described his Education on School Reforms.  He cites his sources and includes our work.  See how he puts together the issues.

The New Year is approaching.  Make a resolution to regularly get the message out.  Some one will be listening who can help.

Collaboration or Conflict?

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District-charter school collaborations are the new buzz words.  Like many slogans, it sounds reasonable on the surface.  Twenty-one projects were launched by the U.S. Department of Education as an exemplary collaboration competition in 2012.  An interim report by a Washington state based research institute reported, however, that only four of the 21 projects had even limited success.  Now, the State of Florida is initiating its own project to entice high achieving charter management companies to collaborate with district schools in Florida.

In this post, we review the Center for Reinventing Public Education’s Interim Report District-Charter Collaboration Compact. What is supposed to be mutually beneficial?  What do high quality charter management firms have to offer school districts?

‘High quality’ charter management companies are those that Florida hopes will open schools in major cities.  Their approaches to teaching and learning are distinctive.  Demographic and student retention data from these companies must be closely studied.  We have found some interesting data.Continue reading→