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Thursday, May 31, 2018

It's porn

Days after the Parkland tragedy, republicans in Tallahassee debated about porn not assault weapons.

From the Miami Herald:


While Republicans blocked any discussion of assault weapons Tuesday, they did debate at length another bill that declares pornography to be a public health risk.
That bill (HB 157), a largely symbolic resolution, is sponsored by Spano, who chairs the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee, the first committee assigned to hear the assault weapons ban.
“Porn is more important,” Smith told reporters. “Has anyone had to bury their child because of pornography? He [Spano] has made that a priority above gun violence. He needs to own that.”
Sigh
Sadly this way of thinking is not exclusive to the fever dreams of Tallahassee as other politicians in other states blame porn for school gun violence as well.
From the Washington Post:
Diane Black, who is running for governor of Tennessee, made the comments while speaking to a group of ministers during a “listening session” recently, according to HuffPost, which reported the story and included audio of the remarks.
The comment about pornography came as Black wondered what was driving some children to such violent ends.
“What makes them do that?” she said. “Because as a nurse, I go back to root causes.”
She then listed a couple of these root causes, which included pornography, as well as “deterioration of the family” and violence in movies.
“Pornography, it’s available, it’s available on the shelf when you walk in the grocery store,” she said. “Yeah, you have to reach up to get it, but there’s pornography there. All of this is available without parental guidance. And I think that is a big part of the root cause.”
Sigh
Now republicans routinely blame just about everything under the sun for gun violence. I mean except guns that is. They blame violent movies and video games, mothers working heck in Santa Fe they even blamed doors.  
From the Washington Post:
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, an evangelical Christian and Republican former radio talk-show host who has been a strong proponent of expanding gun liberties in the state, spoke with a cadre of officials on Friday, pointing out that though Santa Fe High School had been given a safety award from the state and enjoyed the regular protection of two police officers, it still fell victim to horrific violence at the hands of an armed teenager.
So after recommending that parents lock their guns away, he identified a solution for what he framed as a central problem.
“We may have to look at the design of our schools moving forward and retrofitting schools that are already built. And what I mean by that is there are too many entrances and too many exits to our more than 8,000 campuses in Texas,” he said, citing security at office buildings and courthouses. “Had there been one single entrance possibly for every student, maybe he would have been stopped.”
Sigh
You know maybe we should start blaming porn for everything. Late for work, porn. Cat poops on the floor, porn. Get bad seats at the movies, porn. School shootings, where children are slaughtered, porn I mean it really works for everything right (sic)? Ugh, when did the country I love become a sad parody of itself?
Porn isn't the only thing being blamed.
From the San Antonio Current: 
Porn: Rep. Diane Black, R.-Tenn., who also happens to be running for governor of her state, recently told a group of pastors that porn is a key reason people keep shooting up schools. (Of course, that suggests she's aware of far kinkier smut than most of us have ever downloaded.) "It’s available on the shelf when you walk in the grocery store. Yeah, you have to reach up to get it, but there’s pornography there," she said. "All of this is available without parental guidance. I think that is a big part of the root cause."

Lack of Charter Schools: That's right, if parents could just pull their kids out of public schools, they wouldn't get shot! Or so seems to be the ass-backward logic behind a recent tweet by State Rep. Jonathan Strickland, R-Bedford, who said the state should give worried parents "as many different choices as possible" to keep their kids out of the firing line.

Video Games: "Psychologists and psychiatrists will tell you that students are desensitized to violence, have lost empathy for their victims by watching hours and hours of violent video games,” Patrick told ABC's George Stephanopoulos during a weekend media tour to make sure everyone knows guns aren't behind school shootings. Never mind that after years of research, there's no scientific consensus that video games have a substantive influence on real-life violence. 

Abortion: Yep. Good ol' Dan Patrick again. Ever eager to beat the culture-war drums like he's some kind of Bible-thumping John Bonham, Danny Boy used his recent appearances on TV talk shows to blame abortion for school shootings, saying it desensitizes young people to loss of life. "We have 50 million abortions..." CNN quotes him as saying. "And we stand here and we wonder why this happens to certain students." 

A Culture of Violence: Leave it to incoming NRA President and Iran-Contra bad boy Ollie North to come up with an ingeniously vague catch-all that covers everything else but the availability of guns to explain the recent carnage. "The problem that we’ve got is that we’re trying like the dickens to treat the symptom without treating the disease,” North told Fox News the Sunday after the shooting. "And the disease, in this case, isn’t the Second Amendment. The disease is youngsters who are steeped in a culture of violence."
Sigh.
If you think this blog sucked or was in bad taste, well porn.
If you want to see more things being blamed for gun violence in schools, I mean except guns that is, watch the video, you will laugh so much you will cry, or maybe you will just cry.


Jason Fischer and the republican members of the Duval delegation all gets Fs from the Florida Education Association

It has been a bad week for Jason Fischer and the other members of the Duval delegation, Senator Aaron Bean, and representatives, Byrd, Yarborough and Fant.

First Politifac excoriated their defense of their poor education funding by giving their defense a mostly false review.

http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2018/may/30/florida-house-majority/did-florida-students-see-increase-47-cents-or-it-m/

Then the Florida education association came out with their legislator grades and they all received Fs and Fischer received the lowest grade of all, a two year average of  3.85 out of 100.

https://feaactioncenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/FEA-Report-Card-HOUSE-17-18sessions.pdf

Jason Fischer works for the Voucher king Jason Kirtley and he recently steered 2 million tax payer dollars to one of his biggest donors all the while consistently voting against public education and starving it of resources. Friends it is time for him to go.

You may not like to hear it but if public education is important to you, if you think teachers should be treated like professionals, if you don't believe in crony capitalism or the rich buying politicians, and or if you care about tax payer money being spent responsibly, it's time to get rid of the republican party. Twenty years of their leadership has done enough damage.

We can and should be doing better than Fischer who has never represented the people of district 16 who has some of the best schools in the state, schools he consistently votes to harm.      

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

From 2008 to now Schools have $648 less per student in discretionary spending power

In 2008 Florida's base allocation, that's money districts can spend on things like teacher salaries, student programs, insurance, and other costs was $4079.74. This would be $4,852 in current dollars.

https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm

In 2018 Florida' base was $4,204.42 or just 47 cents more than last years, $4,203.95.

This means schools have $648 less per student in spending power and this is what Rick Scott has called historic spending and where he is obviously lying he isn't the only one.

Politifact gave speaker Richard Corcoran and his republican cohorts a mostly false when they tried to say they are adequately funding, nay over funding education.

A little over a week ago the house majority office released a video which said everyone, school boards, superintendents the media and your eyes, was lying but them as the sought to defend their indefensibly poor education spending. Politifact today said they were the ones that were lying. 

From Poltifact:


The Florida House Majority Office said that it’s "a myth" that per-student funding only rose by 47 cents this year.
The claim that per-student funding only rose by 47 cents definitely needs context. But calling it a myth goes too far, as does the Republicans’ claim that per-pupil spending is really closer to $100. Moreover, not every district will get that per-pupil amount.
An amount that high is only possible once you factor in all education-related spending. That includes a good chunk of money that has to be spent on specific purposes like school security and mental health. The increase in the base student allocation (47 cents) represents the amount of money left over for flexible spending, which districts can use for student programs, teacher salaries and other operational costs.
The office's statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate this claim Mostly False.
The republican's in Tallahassee are trying to starve and dismantle public education, and they are hoping their base gets caught up in words like liberal elite and union bosses and don't take the time to look at what they are actually doing. They lie as easily as I breathe.   
Friends we have to step up and say enough is enough before there is nothing left to fight for.

Speaker Richard Corcoran caught lying about the education budget

In 2008 Florida's base allocation, that's money districts can spend on things like teacher salaries, student programs, insurance, and other costs was $4079.74. This would be $4,852 in current dollars.

https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm

In 2018 Florida' base was $4,204.42 or just 47 cents more than last years, $4,203.95.

This means schools have $648 less per student in spending power and this is what Rick Scott has called historic spending and where he is obviously lying he isn't the only one.

Politifact gave speaker Richard Corcoran and his republican cohorts a mostly false when they tried to say they are adequately funding, nay over funding education.

A little over a week ago the house majority office released a video which said everyone, school boards, superintendents the media and your eyes, was lying but them as the sought to defend their indefensibly poor education spending. Politifact today said they were the ones that were lying. 

From Poltifact:


The Florida House Majority Office said that it’s "a myth" that per-student funding only rose by 47 cents this year.
The claim that per-student funding only rose by 47 cents definitely needs context. But calling it a myth goes too far, as does the Republicans’ claim that per-pupil spending is really closer to $100. Moreover, not every district will get that per-pupil amount.
An amount that high is only possible once you factor in all education-related spending. That includes a good chunk of money that has to be spent on specific purposes like school security and mental health. The increase in the base student allocation (47 cents) represents the amount of money left over for flexible spending, which districts can use for student programs, teacher salaries and other operational costs.
The office's statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate this claim Mostly False.
The republican's in Tallahassee are trying to starve and dismantle public education, and they are hoping their base gets caught up in words like liberal elite and union bosses and don't take the time to look at what they are actually doing. They lie as easily as I breathe.   
Friends we have to step up and say enough is enough before there is nothing left to fight for.

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Board of Ed. Member Gary Chartrand creates multiple accounts to skirt campaign financial laws

Before you continue you should know I contacted the Duval Supervisor of elections to file a complaint and they directed me to the states ethics office who subsequently told me they don’t deal with campaign contributions. What BOE member Gary Chartrand is doing may not be illegal but it definitely violates the spirit of the law and is yet another example of how rich republican donors feel as if they can do whatever they want.

So here we go, Gary Chartrand created four different accounts so he could donate to his preferred candidate, David Chauncey in a Jacksonville school board race.

8
4/16/2018
Messenger of the Truth LLC
139 Ponte Vedra Blvd
Ponte Vedra, FL 32082
Business
Organization
Check
$1,000.00
9
4/16/2018
Chartair Holdings, LLC
139 Ponte Vedra Blvd
Ponte Vedra, FL 32082
Business
HoldingCompany
Check
$1,000.00
10
4/16/2018
Unreasonable Leadership Book LLC
139 Ponte Vedra Blvd
Ponte Vedra, FL 32082
Business
Company
Check
$1,000.00
11
4/16/2018
Gary Chartrand
139 Ponte Vedra Blvd
Ponte Vedra, FL 32082
Individual
CompanyExecutive
Check
$1,000.00


I tried to see if he had done this elsewhere as I have heard rumors but where I can navigate the Duval site pretty well that wasn’t the case and found others not very user friendly.

Here is the thing, I couldn’t donate to the same candidate from my checking, savings and Christmas account but then again I am not a multi-millionaire setting up LLC’s left and right either. Why can he donate over and over again while us normal folk can’t? How did the system get this broken? Oh that's right, it was set up to benefit people like Chartrand so they can buy influence and install their candidates.

You know maybe I wouldn’t care so much except for the fact Chartrand paired huge donations to Rick Scott into a position on the state board of education where he helps set education policy. Oh did I mention he is chairman of the KIPP charter school board as well. A charter school proponent setting public education policy, hmm that explains many of his anti-public education decisions.

In Duval Chartrand always supports a candidate in every race as he collects members like I used to collect baseball cards


but he hasn’t always been this blatant about it. He has contributed tens of thousands of dollars to local races in Jacksonville and even more to PACs but on the state level his contributions have been dizzying.


Friends, we aren’t being led, instead we are being ruled and that is not how it is supposed to be. If this is the example a member of the state board of education sets, it certainly is a poor one.

Monday, May 28, 2018

The Hypocrisy of Adam Putnam the anti-education candidate for governor

The Chutzpah on this guy is truly amazing. He has been part of the establishment that has been in charge of education for over twenty years, yet he blames the liberal elite for the problems in education.

From Florida Politics

Republican gubernatorial candidate Adam Putnam put out a new ad Thursday promising to strengthen vocational education in the Sunshine State and bashing so-called “liberal elites” who don’t respect trade workers.

“As a fifth generation Florida farmer, I know what it’s like to sweat for your paycheck,” Putnam said in the 30-second ad, which features shots of him walking through a factory and shaking hands with workers.
“Today, liberal elites look down on people who work with their hands, pressuring too many kids into student loan debt, leaving them with degrees they can’t use and bills they can’t pay. We need to get back to honoring and respecting experts of a trade,” he said in the ad. “I’ll make vocational training a top priority. Our kids should be career-ready, not debt ridden. College is not the only path to success, and it’s okay to say it.”
You know who gutted the teaching of trades and skills in our schools? The republican party, that is who. Do you know who put everyone regardless of aptitude or desire on a go to college track? The republican party, that is who. The liberal elite has never been in charge of education in Florida, but Putnam thinks if he says those two words his base will salivate like Pavlov’s dogs.
The truth is Putnam has not been a friend of skills training as evident from his votes while in congress.
In November 2005, Putnam Voted for an Appropriations Bill That Cut $67 Million from Job Training Grants. [HR 3010, Vote #598,

In June 2005, Putnam Voted Against a Motion to Invest $738 Million in Job Training.. . [HR3010, Vote #320,

In March 2005, Putnam Voted Against Providing Job Training for Veterans Returning from Iraq and Workers Whose Jobs Were Moved Offshore.  [HR 27, Vote #47,

In 2001 Putnam Voted Against Rural Improvement Grants.  Vote #369,

In October 2007, Putnam Voted For Reducing Help For Workers Hurt By Trade Agreements.  Vote #1024,

In December 2005, Putnam Voted to Repeal a Law Helping Local Employers Harmed By Trade. Vote #670,

In May 2010, Putnam Voted Against the America Competes Act, an $85.6 Billion Authorization for Scientific Research and Education.  Vote #332,

In August 2007, Putnam Voted Against the America COMPETES Act, Which Would Improve Funding for STEM Education and National Innovation.  Vote #802,

For a lot more information click the link

Now some of you might be noticing this is a democrat party source and I can see people, especially my republican friends being skeptical as I would be shown something in reverse. All I can say is they are sourced, and I believe that gives them credibility. 

We expect a certain bit of hypocrisy and chutzpah from our candidates, but Putnam really takes the case. Not only was he part of the establishment that curtailed the teaching of trades and skills, something he never supported until I am sure a focus group said it played well, but then he has the audacity to blame, liberal elites who have been regulated to the wilderness for over twenty years.

I would urge people to find a true pro education candidate because they will have a history of supporting the trades and skills too. Not a candidate like Putnam who just says what he thinks his base will like, hoping they won't take the time to look up his record. 

Sunday, May 27, 2018

School Choice has run amok in Florida

This is the batsh*t crazy story about how a charter school created a private school to send kids they new would fail the FSA to, all in an effort to make money and avoid accountability.

Let me give you the lowdown on school choice in Florida. 

Florida is the land of  for profit charter schools that offer little if any in the way of innovation and private schools that don't have to have a recognized curricula and their teachers don't have to be certified or have degrees, and did I mention they can and do hire felons as well. Throw in numerous members of the state legislature benefiting off of legislation that promotes school choice and kneecaps public education and there we have school choice in Florida in a nutshell. 

Hooboy, anyhoo let me get to it:

From the Palm Coast Observer:

The charter school had transferred many of its lowest-performing students to a private school on the same campus immediately before state assessments, preventing those students from taking them and affecting the school's grade, according to district office.

Several days before the Florida Standards Assessments began near the end of the school year, 13 third-grade students suddenly transferred from the Palm Harbor Academy charter school to a newly created private school on the same school campus, run by Palm Harbor Academy governing board chairman the Rev. Gillard Glover. 

With one exception, all of those 13 students had one thing in common: They were at least one full grade behind grade level. Many of the children were multiple grades behind grade level. Another five students in other grades, all at least two grades behind grade level, were also transferred out of Palm Harbor and into the private school at around the same time. 

The students’ transfer to a private school meant that they didn’t take the state assessments required of public school students — and, therefore, didn’t drag down the school’s state scores and school grade. A failing school grade would have meant shuttering the school, School Board Attorney Kristin Gavin said, because the school got a D last year. 

https://www.palmcoastobserver.com/article/flagler-schools-prepares-for-possible-shutdown-of-palm-harbor-academy

Um, what, um.

What?!?

Is this what school choice is supposed to be about?

Is this what we are starving our public schools and kneecapping the teaching profession for?

And for those of you who are thinking this is an isolated incident, not so fast.

From Slate:

While it’s widely known that private schools convert to charter status to take advantage of public dollars, more schools are now heading in the opposite direction. As voucher programs across the country proliferate, shuttered charter schools like the Orange Park Performance Arts Academy have begun to privatize in order to stay open with state assistance.

http://www.slate.com/articles/business/education/2017/09/how_failing_charter_schools_are_reincarnating_as_private_schools.html

Oh and less you forget over 330 charter schools have taken public money in Florida and closed, how the beep are they still a thing?

https://www.floridaschoolchoice.org/information/charter_schools/directory/default.aspx

Ugh!

Republican Representative gives his donor's pet charter school two million in tax payer dollars

Jason Fischer district 16 has some explaining to do.

These are irrefutable facts.

Gary Chartrand is responsible for bringing the KIPP charter school to Jacksonville.


Over the years Chartrand (and his friends and family) have given thousands of dollars to Fischer.


Fischer had a two million dollar grant given to the KIPP charter school.


 https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2018/5001/BillText/er/PDF

Line 111

Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) Jacksonville (HB 2851) (Senate Form 1756).......................... 2,000,000 

KIPP is not in Fischer's district.

He voted for a budget that gave our school district just an extra 47 cents per pupil in discretionary spending. 

Those are all irrefutable facts.

This wasn't a bill either which most likely would have failed. No he just had the money inserted into the budget because that is how broken Tallahassee has become after twenty years of republican rule. 


Now some of you might be thinking why should I care what a representative in Jacksonville does, well there are a couple reasons, first that is two million in Tax Payer dollars, that came from all of us and second, his donor, Gary Chartrand is also on the state board of education, and let that sink in.

Chartrand the founder and benefactor of the KIPP charter school gave Fischer thousands of dollars and Fischer rewarded him with two million for his charter school.

Where outrageous it is just standard operating procedure from the republicans in Tallahassee who operate as if they are above the law.

Speaker Richard Corcoran’s wife is a charter school magnet and he joins a half dozen other legislators who either they benefit or their families benefit from public school kneecapping legislation.


The republican party is not leading us, they are lording over us as they enrich themselves and their donors and they do so at the expense of the teaching profession and public education and enough is enough.

Enough

Friday, May 25, 2018

The Human Face of the Republican Party’s disastrous education budget.

The Human Face of the Republican Party’s disastrous education budget.

Forty-seven cents, just forty-seven cents extra in discretionary spending, less than the cost of a stamp is all the republican’s in Tallahassee and Rick Scott allocated to education.

Callously, Tallahassee said districts can drop salaries of teachers who are already, when you factor in cost of living, are already the lowest paid in the nation, if they wanted to or they can eliminate staff.
Then when given a chance to rectify their grievous error and have a special session to adequately address education funding, overwhelmingly the republican legislators in the state said no.


Well friends now we can see the human cost of their cruel decision, as teachers all across the state are being surplussed.



From Action News Jax:

Action News Jax is hearing from angry local teachers who say their jobs are being cut so the district can save money.
Duval County Schools is looking at a $62 million budget shortfall next school year and is facing tough decisions on how to fill that gap.
Action News Jax's Courtney Cole spoke to a teacher who said not only does it impact their livelihood, it affects the quality of education.
"All of the sudden, my principal calls me in — and I’m thinking it’s to talk to me about how we’re going to do things next year … and she goes, ‘You're one of the ones cut’. The last thing I expected to hear,” Leisha Cowart told Cole.
She’s been teaching for more than a decade, but right now she teaches ninth and 10th grade honors English at Frank H. Peterson Academies of Technology Magnet High School.

Cowart joins hundreds of teachers in Duval and thousands of teachers across the state who suddenly have no job security and who have had their lives uprooted and all because of some pathological hatred of public schools by the vast majority of the republican lawmakers in Tallahassee.  They however aren’t the only ones who will pay a price because even more children will too.

These surpluses will undoubtedly lead to some kids being in larger classes and having fewer academic options but do the republican lawmakers in Tallahassee care? No, because those children don’t attend charter schools of which over 330 have taken public money and closed or voucher schools that don’t have to have certified let alone degreed teachers or any recognized curriculum.  

Did you hear that? It was a yawn from the republicans in Tallahassee and it is unconscionable.

Thousands of teachers, staff and their families having their lives thrown into chaos and even more students kneecapped, this is the cost of people voting republican in Florida.    

Mrs. Cowart I hope things work out for you, it’s just too bad that your republican representative in Tallahassee could care less about you and your family.

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Jason Fischer votes against funding public education

Sadly he was not alone as locally he was joined by Senator Aaron Bean and representatives, Byrd, Yarborough and Fant , which are all the republican members of the Duval delegation.  

Now you might be thinking didn't they already do this and the answer would sadly be yes but they were recently give a chance to rectify their terrible mistake. 

From Florida Politics:

 Two South Florida state lawmakers plan to ask the Legislature to increase the public education budget, which they say was insufficiently funded during the 2018 Legislative Session and anticipate a budget shortfall exacerbated by mandates passed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act.

 Schools, the lawmakers claim, were blindsided by provisions in SB 7026, the school safety bill passed in the wake of the Feb. 14 massacre in Parkland.

The sweeping package appropriated $67 million to a program designed to arm non-teacher personnel in schools, resulting in an estimated $101.5 per-student increase to education funding. But the program is optional, and some of Florida’s largest school districts have already opted out of it. That’s led some to claim that the actual increase in base allocation per pupil is closer to 47 cents. 
Superintendents, as reported by the News Service of Florida, said in March that they would not be able to staff at least one armed person at each school, another provision included in SB 7026. The Times/Herald bureau reported earlier this month that nearly all of 23 school districts sampled in a survey indicated they anticipate a shortfall in funding.

“School Districts across the state are hurting,” Jones said in a prepared statement. “They are asking us to rectify this egregious oversight. We will not stand idly by as we see the integrity of Florida’s educational institutions crumble because our leadership fails to provide us a proper foundation to build Florida’s future.”

Instead of voting to rectify his mistake, instead of listening to the pleas of the superintendent and school board, and instead of standing up for his constituents, Fischer and the other republican members of the Duval delegation voted to continue to under fund education.


Hey parents, what do you think about that but before you answer remember he put two million dollars into the state budget for his mega donor, Gary Chartrand's charter school. The KIPP school is not in his district and it's doubtful many of any of the families that send their children there live in his district either.
Friends Jason Fischer does not represent the people of district 16, which has some of the best schools in the state which he consistently votes to starve, and never has. Isn't it time we replaced him and the other republican members of the Duval Delegation with representatives who are going to stand up for their constituents and pubic education? Isn't it?

To read more, click the link: http://floridapolitics.com/archives/264424-special-session-on-school-funding-appears-dead