The Tampa Bay Times received a Pulitizer Prize for its series on the South Pinellas schools that had been essentially abandoned by the district. This is a well deserved honor for many reasons.
Category Archives: Public Education
Indian River Charter Schools Sue District
Florida’s districts can ask voters to help fund schools through a local referendum. Charters in Indian River want a share. Five charters: Indian River Charter High School, Inc., Imagine Schools at South Vero, North County Charter School, Inc., Sebastian Charter Junior High, Inc., and St. Peter’s Academy, Inc., have filed a lawsuit. In 2012, voters approved a .6 mills increase in property taxes to fund their local public schools. Charters backed the referendum and want a pro-rata share.
Most districts do not and are not required to share funding from a local referendum with charters. Nevertheless, the competition for money goes on. The case was assigned to Administrative Law Judge Cathy M. Sellers.
Will a $25,000 Bonus Work in Pinellas?
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?
Will Pinellas Failure Factories Turn Around?
Pinellas is taking on its failing schools. This blog reported on the Tampa Bay Times series on south Pinellas schools that had essentially been abandoned when federal desegregation regulations were lifted in 2007. I remember Judge Reynolds’ statement a week ago in the Citizens for Strong Schools case. He said he could not believe that the Florida DOE had not intervened when schools received an ‘F’ grade four years in a row.
School Boards Divide Over the Road Ahead
Little things slip into legislation. The 2016 legislature is supporting a self described conservative group of school board members called the Florida Coalition of School Board Members (FCSBM). They do not want to pay their dues to the existing Florida School Boards Association (FSBA) that represents 65 of 67 county boards. The reason why is simple. Since majority rules in FSBA policy decisions, some want what one member called a ‘like minded association of their own’. It is the classic issue in a democracy. Majorities rule must protect the rights of minorities. How this is done is spelled out in law based on the constitution.
The FCSBM will have a legal right to redirect their dues if Governor Scott signs HB 7069, the School Choice bill. Rep. Kelli Stargel from Lakeland initially filed a bill that was later folded into the School Choice train bill. Rep. Erik Fresen requested a separate line item in the state budget that allocates $200,000 in training funds for the new group. Training already exists, but FCSB wants its own. Why the legislature should pay for this is subject to debate. The Florida constitution mandates that school boards be nonpartisan, but choice advocates argue that their policies are not political. They are, however, ideological.
Differences between the new FCSBM and the existing FSBA associations are clear. One supports school choice and the other supports choice within the traditional public school system. FCSBM opposed the lawsuit for Florida Tax Credit vouchers. The existing FSBA initially supported the lawsuit and then withdrew when Judge Reynolds dismissed the suit. FCSBM’s other 2016 legislative positions include supporting the use of test scores, value added model gain scores, and concordance scores. They also support raising Florida standards to NAEP proficiency levels and sharing capital outlay funds with charter schools.
Founding members include Rebecca Negron, the wife of incoming Senate President Joe Negron along with board members from Collier, Escambia, Indian River, Sarasota and Duval Counties. Fifty of the 356 locally elected school board members have now joined FSCBM. It appears the group has national aspirations. A web site called the American Coalition of School Board Members has been created. There is not much on it. They must be waiting for the funds from the 2016-17 budget to roll in.
The Florida Constitution requires the state to provide a “uniform, safe, efficient, and high quality system of free public schools”. Yet, there is a divide in the road ahead. We already know that what happens in schools mirrors what is happening in communities. Must our educational system splinter regardless of the cost? I hear echoes of the biblical phrase: ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand’.
When President Lincoln used that phrase, he also said that he did not expect the house to fail, but he did expect the house to cease to be divided. What is the people’s choice? We have fought through differences through out our history. Once again we are putting our nation to the test. There has to be a better road than the one we are on. It goes in too many directions to be ‘uniform, safe, secure and high quality’.
Citizens for Strong Schools Closing Arguments
The testimony and closing arguments have been made. Now both sides need to put their arguments in a particular format for the judge by April 25th. He then takes the arguments under consideration and will make a ruling. Win or lose, the decision is likely to be appealed.
When you listen to the two sides, a few points stand out:
Proving the Point: Two are not better than one
The Washington Post, posted a letter that tells it like it is in Washington D.C. I could feel the heart break. I will tell you about the data, but this is not about numbers. You can read the real story below.In 1965, there were 147,000 students in D.C. There were 46 schools with an average of 750 students per school. in 2014, the school population dropped to 85,000 in 213 schools with 329 students per school. You know what happened. Suburbs happened.
Choice in D.C. is not a cost effective system. Yet, it is the poster child for charter schools that work with poor and minority students. The test score gains are touted even if the scores themselves are still low. The description provided by a D.C. mother and published writer about culture indicates that there is a human cost that is neglected in the story about school reform in D.C.
Robbing Peter to Pay Paul
The defense (Florida) in Citizens for Strong Schools argues that districts have enough money or can get enough through discretionary millage assessment on property taxes. The problem they assert, is mismanagement and a reordering of priorities. Do they have a point? You can check out this claim in your local districts. We are looking into budget priorities in Alachua County. We have also looked at the state audits of the district in past years. The hard choices they suggest are destructive choices. They can rob the programs that the State brags about to help improve conditions for at risk kids. Some choices are just bad choices.
State Tried to Get Case Dismissed Today
The plaintiff completed its case today. The State’s attorneys said that the plantiff really had no case, and argued that the case should be dismissed. The judge did not agree. Calls for dismissal may be standard procedure in such trials, but it is a good way to not only see what the defense will argue and but also gives glimpses into what the judge is concerned about.
Tax Credit Voucher Appeal Set May 10
In spite of the mass rally by private school advocates in Tallahassee last January, the Florida Education Association and the League of Women Voters will have their day in court. The First District Court of Appeals will hear the case on May 10th.
Some arguments may include the following: