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Detroit: Lots of choice, but no good choice

Posted on June 28, 2016June 28, 2016 by Sue Legg

The New York Times ran a story about Detroit. The city is recovering from bankruptcy, but school choice has bankrupted its schools. The story is told in human terms. Your learn about a family trying to find a good fit for its four children. They move from charter to charter, full of disappointment as hopes are dashed. They are besieged by hype and gifts for recruiting, but the realities of too many schools from which to choose means that no school is very good. This is a cautionary tale. Detroit has the lowest achieving children in the nation. Ten percent of its children graduate at ‘college ready’.

Michigan has less charter regulation than Florida. Charters proliferate whether or not they succeed academically. Eighty percent of its charters are run by for-profit companies. The fight with each other to get students. By last winter, Detroit schools were bankrupt. The legislature agreed to help, but it refused to support regulations to manage charter growth.

Teacher Bonuses Challenge Under Review

Posted on June 27, 2016June 27, 2016 by Sue Legg

Florida’s Best and Brightest teacher bonus program is under review by a federal agency. The Florida Education Association filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last December. In the complaint, the FEA argued that the program discriminated against teachers whose ACT or SAT tests, on which the bonuses are based, are unfairly excluded. Teachers who sat the SAT or ACT before 1973 have no qualified scores. These teachers are referred to DOE guidelines which seem to be strangely absent on the FDOE website. According to the Naples News article today, a decision by the EEOC has not been reached, but the complaint is still under review. If the EEOC finds reason to proceed with the complaint, the FEA will file a lawsuit.

ESSA Regulation Input: Make Your Voices Heard

Posted on June 26, 2016June 26, 2016 by Sue Legg

How can you make a difference in Florida’s education policy? Get involved in the discussion! The ESSA federal law returns control to states on the use of state assessment scores to measure student progress and rate teachers and schools. Or, does it?

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It is Time to Talk about ESSA

Posted on June 25, 2016June 25, 2016 by Sue Legg

There is the law, and then there are the regulations to implement the law. Some say the new federal Department of Education proposed regulations for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) overstep the intention of the law. They create more stringent rules about testing and accountability than the ESSA intended. The Florida Department of Education has put out a call for your input about the regulations. You have until July 22, 2016 to respond. Responding in a meaningful way takes some thought.