LWVeducation
Representative Fresen refused to accept most parts of Senator Gaetz’s education funding plan. Now, the talks will escalate to the House and Senate Appropriations committees. It will be up to Chairmen Lee and Corcoran to hammer out a deal. According to news reports, the only agreement between the two was to avoid increasing local property taxes to support new education funding.
Senator Gaetz and Representative Fresen are meeting this weekend to hammer out the education budget. I received a list of Representative Fresen’s proposals. It shifts $430 million in projected funding increases from local property taxes to the State. The new per student amount would be $7,178.49 and tops the 2007 level by about $52 per student. This is long overdue.
There are increases in specific areas and as much total funding as reported earlier.
There is a better way than the test and punish approach to achieving equity in our educational system. School grades, student retention, student achievement gain scores for teacher evaluations have narrowed the curriculum and resulted in test driven instruction. They do not improve student achievement.
What are the alternatives? Many analysts report that solutions must be community based. Educational, economic, and social factors are intertwined. Improving schools takes the support of the entire community. How this can be accomplished is beginning to emerge.
The two new bills heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee today were not really new. Senator Gaetz collapsed a number of existing bills into two omnibus bills. The recess bill did not get included. The limit on capital outlay for public school facilities was included.
The second bill relates to early childhood education, open enrollment, dual enrollment, private school sports participation, and charter school accountability.
These bills move on next week. A lot of negotiation will happen between the House and the Senate. The specifics follow:
Have you seen the latest headlines: Florida is the only state meeting NAEP standards? You might think we have the highest standards in the country.
What it really means is that Florida is the only state which reports five levels on its state assessment that correspond to the five levels of NAEP. This is a good thing.
It is not enough.
Sometimes the sun shines, and sometimes it rains. I guess it is climate change?? It rained on St Lucie and Indian River’s school boards. They had voted to reject three Somerset charter schools. There were the usual complaints that the charters offered little new and also disrupted district desegregation efforts. These new charters were proposed under the High Achieving Charter law that allows charters to locate in other counties if they have a charter school with at least two A’s and a B somewhere else.
School grades being school grades, high performing means little. We all have schools that change from an ‘A’ to a ‘C’ depending upon how zone lines change. Charters can maintain grades by strategic choice of location, students, and dismissal policies.
Some education bills will die. Senator Legg, Chair of the Education Committee, will not convene his committee unless specifically directed to do so by the Leadership. Without the committee hearing, bills die. Some are still active.
I asked Debbie, our League lobbyist, had Brandes’ municipal charter bill died? I could not find it last night. I know it is hard to hope, but today it is much easier. When major legislators acknowledge the problem, change will happen. It may take some time, so keep on keeping on.
Read her response:
Senator Gaetz is thinking about what is right. He and Rep. Fresen (HB 873) are squaring off over charter school funding for facilities. Both bills would reduce the amount of capital outlay dollars public schools can assess through local property taxes. According to the Miami Herald, Senator Gaetz’s bill would also crack down on ‘private enrichment’ schemes that charter management firms use to build and lease facilities for which they charge exorbitant rates.
For years, some legislators have tried to get part of the local districts’ school facility money. Now, they are trying again. In an effort led by Representative Erik Fresen, HB 873 has a new substitute version that would: