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Florida’s Fat Cats?
The current New Yorker has a long article on Jeb Bush’s role in the development of school choice. The outline of the story is nothing new. Jeb Bush launched charter schools and vouchers for private schools in Florida. He based charter school grades on individual student’s achievement gains rather than school level improvement. This offered a way to pressure teachers, because achievement would be measured at the classroom level.
According to the New Yorker article, a Bush appointee stated that Bush saw an opportunity to break the teacher’s union because it was viewed as a stalwart of the Democratic Party.
Perhaps even Jeb Bush is surprised at the growth of the choice movement. The real story, however, is behind the scenes.
Charter Pilot School Districts?
Some ideas never really go away. Here is one. Representative Manny Diaz (R) Hialeah, has filed a bill to create charter school districts. This idea surfaced at the beginning of the charter movement in Florida, but it died of inaction. Here it comes again. See the details…
Come Dream With Me: A Glimpse into What Online Learning Could Be
I had a glimpse into the future yesterday. Such a contrast between what is and what could be! Believe it or not, it was the Senate K12 Education Committee meeting on video. It started off with a review of the districts’ technology plans. This past year, the State of Florida administered 4 million tests online. This year, they will do 5 million. The infrastructure is there, more or less.
I did not realize that funding for technology was recently incorporated into the FEFP per student allocation. Thus, the increase is ear marked. Districts are spending on average, 53% of this technology money for infrastructure. Thirty one percent goes for assessments, and six percent for professional development. According to the DOE, this approach is working.
Now for what could be….
New Testing Reduction Bill in Congress
Representatives Gibson and Sinema filed a bill to significantly change national testing policy. The provisions would roll back testing from 14 to 6 required standardized tests. The change is called ‘grade span’ testing. H.R. 4172 would mandate testing for math and English Language Arts once in grades 3-5; once in grades 6-9, and once in grades 10-12. This is the same requirement for science assessments.
This is a bipartisan bill sponsored by representatives from Arizona and New York. A similar option was proposed by Senator Lamar Alexander.
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- League Members visit the office of Senator Marco Rubio
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- League Members wait to see Senator Bill Nelson
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- Education Team at the Department of Education
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