Florida’s education problems start at the top

Too many people are blaming Florida’s teachers and their representatives for the problems in education. They have bought the propaganda about over paid teachers and their Cadillac benefits but I am here to tell you the problems in education don’t come originate in the classroom. On the contrary they start at the top.

I could go on and on about how the FCAT the crown jewel of former governors Bush’s education agenda has perverted education but I prefer to talk about how a few of our current leaders are attempting to make things even worse.

Did you know our University system is in a shambles and is a drain on the economy? Neither did I but according to Rick Scott and the current crop of republican leaders it must be. Much like how they dismantled, handicapped, spinned, folded and mutilated public education last year they have similar plans for our institutions of higher learning this year.

Not only is the cost of tuition gone up the last few years by nearly fifty percent with no end in sight but now the governor seeks to control what types of majors are offered as seen recently by his haphazard attack of the anthropology degree. He has likewise eliminated most funds for expansion and repair and seeks to do away with professor tenure, which will all but assure the best and brightest either won’t come here or won’t stay. One more ridiculous idea floating around involves student grading of their professors. I can see it now. Sorry sir what did I get on my mid tem again, well that is going to hurt you on your final evaluation. Shouldn’t the governor take a, if it isn’t broke don’t fix it approach.

Then think about the cuts to the Bright Futures scholarships. By passing the Bright Futures decreases and tuition increases, legislators were able to avoid a huge revenue shortfall. Translation the state is balancing its budget on the backs of families with kids in college and our children. Did Rick Scott really need an increase of four hundred million to the governor’s budget?

Then there is representative Will Weatherford who will be Florida’s next speaker in the house. He has proposed that parents should be able to opt out of the class size amendment and put their kids in larger classes. In a recent interview he said that many parents say they would not mind having their children in classes with certain teachers regardless of class size, and that many teachers have commented that they could handle larger classes too. Um just exactly what parents and what teachers has he been talking too? This is another one of those red herring ideas floated by education deformers. They all know a parent or a teacher who would be for this but they just can’t remember their names

Smaller class sizes by the way is the one reform that Florida employs and that was citizen driven, that has evidence that says it works. Not merit pay, not charter schools, not opportunity scholarships, and not vouchers, the fly by night solutions that have come out of Tallahassee. Sadly the class size amendment was recently gutted by a legislature willfully ignorant to the above facts.

Then there is state Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, who chairs a House education subcommittee and is a champion of charter schools. He wants to dramatically increase their funding but what you might not know is that his brother-in-law and sister work for Academica, a for-profit company that runs numerous charter schools in Florida. Sadly this type of graft is pretty common in Florida. Neil Bush, brother of you guessed it Jeb Bush, made a fortune off no child left behind and the FCAT.

Finally just for good measure there is the nefarious conduct of education testing giant Pearson (the Halliburton of education, they make, and grade the tests and then provide supplements to those that failed them), whom the citizens of Florida are on the hook to pay hundreds of millions to. Hmm imagine if that money went to the classrooms instead. Pearson has spent tens of thousands flying politicians all around the globe including former education commissioner Eric Smith and has also shoveled money into Jeb Bush’s education organization. It is a shame but conflict of interests proliferate Florida’s education leaders.

We have problems in education but before you blame the teachers or their representatives, face north, turn sharply to the left and send your anger to where it belongs, Tallahassee.