While Circuit Court Judge Reynolds denied a request for a summary judgment to halt the voucher and tax credit scholarship programs, the Citizens for Strong Schools case continues. The judge ruled that the attorneys for the case did not show harm to the defendants due to vouchers and tax credit scholarships for private schools, but argument could be made when the case comes to trial in March, 2016.
Category Archives: Public Education
Florida Voucher Issue Rejected by Circuit Court
The Florida Educational Association lawsuit was thrown out of court recently, as you know.
Another case, Citizens for Strong Schools, is working through the courts. It hit a bump in the road. In a December 7th article reported by the Associated Press, Judge Reynolds rejected a portion of the Citizen’s for Strong Schools lawsuit dealing with vouchers. The issue was lack of legal standing. What does this mean? What happens next?
Congress Passes New Federal ESEA Bill
We posted several analyses of the updated Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Current legislation, called the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), is on its way to the President’s desk. No Child Left Behind Act and Race to the Top are gone. What remains are annual testing requirements and support for charter schools. Responsibility for most education accountability reverts to the states. Thus, each state can determine how test scores are used for teacher evaluation, school grades and the Common Core.
States are required to identify schools with under performing students and help fix them. What this means is unclear. For a good analysis, see Education Week. Many provisions are subject to different interpretations. One thing is clear, citizens need to turn to their state legislatures to make reasonable, valid decisions about how test scores are used. Continued policies that force districts and teachers to focus instruction on ‘passing the test’ can be changed, if the voters insist.
Making Informed Decisions About Charters: Apples are not oranges
Comparisons between traditional public and charter schools have little meaning. In an article entitled: Making School Choice Easier in today’s New York Times, charter school operators made concrete proposals to improve charter school achievement data.
Representatives of New Visions for Public Schools offer four ways to help parents make more informed decisions about the effectiveness of charter schools. New Visions are charter schools located in New York. They are non-profit.
Failure Factories: Some Children are Treated Differently
Charter schools are not the only schools that try to correct one problem and create several others. Sometimes traditional public schools forget that all children deserve access to a quality education. When some students are systematically treated differently, it is time to ask why.
The Tampa Bay Times has been following a tragic example of schools that appear to have been forgotten and children who have been ignored.
New Florida Bill: District Home Rule
Representative Taylor from Daytona Beach wants flexibility for public schools. His bill, 0829, would exempt districts from certain laws in Florida statutes Chapters 1000-1013 governing public schools. What is interesting is what is not exempted: assessment, school grading. students with disabilities, student health and safety, and various public records laws, personnel salary schedules and performance evaluations.
The purpose of the bill is to expand local control as currently authorized for charter schools to public schools in order to initiate innovation and implement financial efficiencies. So what is gained in this bill? It appears that facilities regulations would disappear and public schools would have flexibility in how they spend lottery money.
Will these changes help students? Maybe not. It could just be a way to legalize what is already happening with the class size regulations. Public schools could adjust class sizes as long as they met the average class size at the school level. This is the standard charters must meet. Once more it is all about the money, not the children.
LWV New Mexico Focuses on Strategies for Academic Success
by Meredith Machen, LWV New Mexico
Meredith Machen, President of the New Mexico League, has just won The New Mexican 10 Who Made a Difference award for 2015. She sends us their LWVNM positions and strategies to support public education.
This could not be more timely. Here in Florida, we are working on a similar statement. It is easier to criticize the many shortcomings of current education policy than it is to formulate workable strategies, but New Mexico has set a high standard. They address many current problems in constructive ways.
The LWV-Florida is compiling strategies from other state leagues as well. Send us yours.
Duval Schools Under Civil Rights Investigation
School choice is supposed to close the achievement gap, but it does not. According to the U.S. Department of Education, it does result in increased segregation. Racial and economic segregation in urban schools is nothing new. The investigation in Duval County is compiling data on teacher salaries, qualifications, principal assignments and principal evaluations. The complaint will review differences in resources and staff associated with low income schools in Duval’s north and west side areas.
The basic question is whether students who live in locales with concentrated poverty have equal access to a high quality education. At least there are serious questions being asked about improving equity. These are concerns in most districts.
Out of Control Enrollment? What Next?
Senator Benacquisto has filed SB 0886 to establish a teacher transfer process for parents and extend school choice options to CAPE certificates.
The phrase ‘controlled open enrollment’ is deleted. This phrase is defined by the Florida Department of Education as follows:
Each school board may offer controlled open enrollment within the public schools in addition to existing choice programs such as magnet schools, alternative schools, special programs, advanced placement and dual enrollment. Controlled open enrollment emphasizes the value of the opportunity for families to choose among existing public schools instead of being assigned to a public school by a school district based on attendance zones.
Does the elimination of ‘controlled open enrollment’ mean that enrollment would now be chaotic? Sometimes one wonders what people are thinking or if they are.
http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2016/0886
Florida Legislators Target School Districts
Legislation
Boy, did I fail to read the fine print on SB 830. This is an anti local school district bill that would authorize the State Board of Education to grant charters instead of local school boards. In an earlier post, I commended Senator Stargel for not allowing charters to discriminate in admissions against students with poor academic records. Further down in the bill, I see why she did so. This is a major attack.
There is also a Principals Autonomy bill listed below that should be watched.
I am also listing current bills in the blog under the LEGISLATION section of the banner that runs across the top. It is green!