Alachua County Superintendent Quits DOE Testing Committee

Dr__Owen_RobertsSuperintendent Owen Roberts resigned from DOE Pam Stewart’s blue ribbon panel Keep Florida Learning .  The committee was supposed to review measures to improve student achievement by increasing parental involvement, recommending instructional materials, and  reviewing the implementation of the Florida Standards Assessment.

Dr. Roberts gave up hope and resigned.  Read the story in the Gainesville Sun.  Just a side note.  Dr. Roberts is not only a long time educator, he earned his Ph.D. in research, measurement and evaluation at the University of Miami.  In other words, he knows testing and evaluation and does not like what is happening in Florida.

Two New Charter School Bills for 2016: Florida

Legislation

Legislation

Some of the bills that were shelved in the 2015 legislative session are reappearing in an amended form.  The first bill, SB 140 was filed by Senator Ring.  It has some good provisions to improve charter school management.

The second bill, HB 287 is a reworking of the pilot principal autonomy bill filed last year.  This is one to watch carefully, it is a stealth version of a charter district bill.

Continue reading

Blow Up the System or Think Ahead? Someone Is.

critical-thinking (2)Once in awhile good accidents happen.  A school reformer actually stops and thinks.  A panel discussion sponsored by the American Federation for Children was reported in Curmudgucation.  The discussion was predictable and too irritating to repeat–until the end.

Panelist Andy Smarick, a long time reform advocate with an impressive resume, was asked a question:  What lives and what dies in a system of choice schools?  More importantly, why should anything live” in the transition to a disperse governance driven by parental choice?. ”  

Smarick’s response is thoughtful, and gives a glimmer of hope that reason is not totally lost.  I include the summary from the Curmudgucation blog below.  My comments are in parentheses.  This post made me think!

Continue reading

Buying Elections New Orleans Style. Is This the Future?

musicians-651293_1280 (1)Did you know that New Orleans was once the most integrated city in the U.S.?  Now it is one of the most racially and economically segregated cities and a school reform target.  After all, how can you not help struggling students whose  homes were ravaged by floods?  The Broad and Walton foundations are pouring in money.  They also are funding elections to make the reforms stick.  Is this the future of American education?

Continue reading

Arne Duncan to Resign in December

John King Jr.

John King Jr.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will resign at the end of the year.  His replacement will be Deputy Secretary John King Jr.  Mr. King was Commissioner of Education in New York prior to going to D.C.  in January 2015.

A NY Times article about King’s departure from New York stated that King was the center of a contentious debate about testing, teacher evaluation and training and charter schools.  He oversaw the first administration of the Common Core tests in New York and was firm in his commitment to the test and evaluation system.  He was named in a lawsuit filed by a teacher’s union and parents over a property tax cap that they argued would further the funding gap between wealthy and poor districts.  The NY State United Teachers Union gave King a vote of no confidence last spring lobbied against his appointment.