LWVeducation
For some reason, not published, the State Board of Education will not review the proposed rules for allocating capital outlay money to charter schools, according to the Tampa Bay Times. The rule was to be considered at the June 22nd meeting at Palm Beach State College.
Provisions included in the proposed rule were:
In Florida, a child does not have to pass the third grade Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) English Language Arts test to be promoted. So why call level three the ‘passing level’ when children earning a level two are promoted?
Performance evaluation are a tricky business. Arbitrary data systems based on student test scores turn excellent teachers into mediocre ones and vice versa. Individual judgments can also be wrong, but systems that have multiple components can be reasonably fair.
Some states are dropping student achievement gain scores and are returning to human judgment systems for teacher evaluations. Which are these forward thinking states?
In an Orlando Sentinel article, Scott Maxwell cites alarming state records. Forty percent of Florida’s new teachers leave within five years. This rate is 15 to 20% higher than the national average, he reported. I found a U.F. report about charter school teacher attrition. Something is going wrong. We know that. Will the legislature listen?
Florida is forever robbing Peter to Pay Paul. This year K12 received a modest budget increase. Where did the money come from?
In this repost from Diane Ravitch, one of the most troubling aspects of privatizing our schools is underscored…we do not know what is going on. The business practices on charter management companies have always been hidden in a cloak of secrecy. Why this is so in many states raises alarms. Incidences of charter fraud, waste and abuse have been documented across the country.
Now we learn that the federal government is complicit in hiding information that most public schools must disclose. Ravitch cites a report from the Center for Media and Democracy about disclosure protection for KIPP schools. Under an arrangement with the U.S. Department of Education, KIPP does not have to report its student attrition and graduation rates. Why not? Based on older reports, the data are too revealing. KIPP lost 40% of its students between middle school and high school graduation.
You can read more on KIPP in this blog. KIPP is one of the largest charter chains. A member of the Florida State Board of Education has brought two KIPP charters to Duval County.
Are KIPP Charters the Answer? Depends upon the question…
Florida’s educational system is on trial in Tallahassee. The charge? One million Florida students cannot read at grade level. Testimony about the plight of these children can break your heart. Thousands are homeless. Most are from poor families. In some rural counties children are too hungry to learn, and schools provide three meals a day. These children, the plaintiffs argue need much more than school districts can provide with current funding.
The Florida League of Women Voters recognizes that the solutions to these problems are complex, but applauds the attention the suit brings to the weaknesses in our educational system. What are the arguments and what is the defense? What do the witnesses say?
Remember when Susan Bowles, the kindergarten teacher in Gainesville said “NO” to the kindergarten readiness test? The kids could not reliably use the computer mouse. One thing for sure was that the children just beginning kindergarten were not computer ready!
The State put the test on hold last year. This year they tried an alternative test.
Does eliminating tenure makes any difference in the quality of the teacher workforce (as judged by achievement test score gains)? The Brookings Institute published an article that sheds some light on the impact prior to 2011. By comparing the departure rate of teachers with lower gain scores to those with higher gain scores, one would expect more lower rated teachers to leave.
Districts are digging for gold. They need money to help recruit and retain high quality teachers in struggling schools. Turnover in these schools tends to be high. Where are they finding the money?