Teachers should vote for one interest, their own. Gillum is teacher's only choice for governor

Some teachers when talking about the upcoming election say, well I am not a single issue voter, when they explain why they are voting for DeSantis.

It's like pulling teeth having them explain what their other issues are, but it generally boils down to abortion, guns (quite the juxtaposition there) and some muddled scream about socialism.

The thing is it blows my mind that the republican are so against abortion when they are so anti children and how they are against gun regulations that would keep us all safer. They say it won't prevent criminals from getting guns, well if that is the case then it won't prevent them from getting guns either. So that leaves socialism.

If you think raising the corporate rate two percent to pay for a teacher raise is socialism, then you are to dumb to vote let alone be a teacher.

Now I get it there may be a ton of other reasons why somebody would vote republican, and if you are all about dumping pollution into our waterways, or have been making bank on charter schools, I get why you would vote for DesSantis but for me I am going to vote for one interest and that is my own.  

You see I need a raise. I don't need to be rich, I don't need to be upper middle class, but I do need to replace my tires and not worry that if I break a crown I won't be regulated to eating ramen noodles for a week and a half.

I would also like my job to not hang in the balance based on VAM scores, a ridiculously complicated formula created to measure reproductive rates in livestock, that doesn't take into account things like attendance and poverty. 

I would also like some autonomy back. My creativity and flexibility have been stripped away as I have been forced to teach to a test. 

Then I would also like to work in a state that appreciated what I did, rather than think of me as an easily replaceable cog, or that I could be replaced by a chimp who can hit play on a VCR. 


Out of the two candidates, one, Gillum wants to make things better for teachers and public education, while despite overwhelming evidence of their failure, DeSantis wants more privatization, choice.  

From WJCT,

The Democratic and Republican candidates for governor on Tuesday launched competing plans to improve Florida’s schools. 

In a news conference in Tallahassee, Democrat Andrew Gillum defended his proposal, first announced in January, to provide a minimum $50,000 starting salary for teachers by increasing the state corporate-income tax by $1 billion.

Republican Ron DeSantis released a detailed education plan, including a measure that would require 80 percent of school funding to be spent in classrooms and not on administration. He said the plan could help boost teacher pay.

In a clear difference with Gillum, DeSantis also said he would work to expand education “choice” programs, including the use of corporate tax credits that sent more than 108,000 students to private schools in the last year.

DeSantis credited the voucher-like programs for Florida’s recent success in national testing measures, including the National Assessment of Education Progress, and for its rising high school graduation rate.

Gillum vowed to end “the voucherizing of the education system” that began under former Republican Gov. Jeb Bush.

“We’ve got to begin to bring that to conclusion,” Gillum said. “It’s been 20 years of the underfunding, the defunding of the public (school) system, which still educates over 90 percent of our kids."

http://news.wjct.org/post/desantis-gillum-offer-sharply-different-school-plans

Hmm there is a big difference between would and could and a big difference between Florida will finally support public education and more of the same.

I am going to vote for what is best for me personally, but I am also glad that would also benefit millions of children, hundreds of thousands of teachers and school personnel, and the state as well.

Here is the thing, we can't just vote for Gillum, we have to vote representatives and senators who care about public education too.

Let them sleep, it's past time to change high school start times.

Last week tragedy hit DCPS as a West side High student was gunned down on the way to his bus stop at 6:15 in the morning. The quick thinking and actions of his bus driver, picking him up and rushing him to a fire station saved the young man's life. 

https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/local/data/crime/westside-high-student-boards-bus-after-being-shot-in-chest-while-walking-to-bus-stop/77-596122835 

There is a lot to cover there but this piece isn't about the senseless violence, instead it's about the time the young man was shot.

Why did we have this young man walking to a bus stop at 6:15 in the morning. When did this young man and thousands like him have to get up? 5:30, maybe 5:00? 

When I worked at Ed White most of us walked around in a haze until 9:00 or so and I meant to say most of us, teachers and students alike, victims of a system that keeps us chronically sleep deprived, which is bad for everyone but especially bad for teenagers. 

From UCLA Health,

Teens are so full of potential, so full of life, so...sleepy. Research shows that most teens do not get the sleep that they need on a daily basis. Each person has their own need for sleep. This need may vary from one person to another. Teens are at an important stage of their growth and development. Because of this, they need more sleep than adults. The average teen needs about nine hours of sleep each night to feel alert and well rested.

Puberty is a time when your body begins to go through many changes. It is the stage of life when you become physically able to reproduce sexually. There are many signs that show when this process is underway. Girls see their breasts develop and have their first menstrual period. Boys start to grow facial hair and hear their voices begin to deepen. Girls have always begun to enter the stage of puberty earlier than boys. Typically, this is between the ages of 10 and 11. Boys usually enter puberty a couple years later. Today, some girls begin to show signs of puberty as early as 7 or 8 years old.

One change in the body during puberty is closely related to how you sleep. There is a shift in the timing of your circadian rhythms. Before puberty, your body makes you sleepy around 8:00 or 9:00 pm. When puberty begins, this rhythm shifts a couple hours later. Now, your body tells you to go to sleep around 10:00 or 11:00 pm.

The natural shift in a teen's circadian rhythms is called "sleep phase delay." The need to sleep is delayed for about two hours. At first, teens may appear to be suffering from insomnia. They will have a hard time falling asleep at the usual time. While they begin going to sleep later, they still need an average of nine hours of sleep at night. Because most teens have to wake up early for school, it is important for them to go to bed on time. If they go to bed late, they will be unable to get the sleep that they need. This change is a normal part of growing up. With some extra care, teens will quickly adjust to the new sleep schedule of their bodies.

If teens resist or ignore this change, they will make this time of transition very hard on their bodies. They will only hurt themselves by staying up too late at night doing homework or talking with friends. Using a lot of caffeine or nicotine will also make it hard for a teen to get quality rest. At the end of the school week, many teens are worn out from all the sleep they missed. They think that sleeping in much later on the weekend will help them catch up. This only throws their body clocks off even more. It will be even harder for them to fall asleep and wake up on time when the new school week begins.

Research shows that most teens do not get the sleep that they need on a daily basis. ... Teens are at an important stage of their growth and development. Because of this, they need more sleep than adults. The average teen needs about nine hours of sleepeach night to feel alert and well rested.

https://www.uclahealth.org/sleepcenter/sleep-and-teens

If this is the case, if kids need more sleep and need to wake up later then why do we start them behind the 8 ball? How much productivity and potential are we wasting because we insist on doing things the way we did when we didn't know any better?

From Health Line,

Early start times can negatively impact the health of young students in several ways. So why aren’t more schools shifting their schedules?

Research on ideal school start times has been around for decades, with numerous studiesfinding a correlation between later school start times and better sleep, improved attendance, decreased tardiness, less falling asleep in class, better grades, and fewer motor vehicle crashes.

It’s not a matter of coddling kids who don’t want to wake up on time for school.

It’s about a quantifiable difference in health, school performance, and safety that later school start times have been shown to make.

In fact, the evidence is so compelling that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Sleep Association (ASA), the American Psychological Association (APA), and the American Medical Association (AMA) have all released statements encouraging districts to make the transition to later start times.

Most recommendations indicate that schools shouldn’t start any earlier than 8:30 a.m.

Yet, across the United States, many schools continue to ring that first bell at 7:30 a.m. and earlier.

So, if later start times are healthier for students, why aren’t more districts making the change?

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/early-school-start-times-bad-for-kids-health

Even the CDC says schools should start later,

Adolescents who do not get enough sleep are more likely to be overweight (1); not engage in daily physical activity (2); suffer from depressive symptoms (2); engage in unhealthy risk behaviors such as drinking, smoking tobacco, and using illicit drugs (2); and perform poorly in school (3). However, insufficient sleep is common among high school students, with less than one third of U.S. high school students sleeping at least 8 hours on school nights.

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6430a1.htm

The worst part of my job, I mean other than the pay, and the constant disrespect and devaluation of my profession by Tallahassee, okay the third worst part of my job is I get up at 5:30 every morning, I have been doing it for 8 years and I have never gotten used to it and I don't think I ever will. If it's hard on me it has to be even harder on my kids whose bodies are still growing and developing.  

It's doable to, at least Hillsborough county thinks so as their high school start time in 8:30.

It's time we caught up with the times and stopped sleep walking through the day.

Here are a couple more resources explaining why sleep for our students is so important.

https://www.startschoollater.net/wake-up-calls-fast-facts.html

https://www.startschoollater.net/whats-the-big-deal.html

https://www.businessinsider.com/school-start-times-are-finally-getting-pushed-back-2017-8

Florida ranked as one of the worst states for teachers

Who would have thought if you strip teachers of work protections, make it harder to become a teacher, force them to give up creativity and flexibility and teach to a test, tie their evaluations, pay and employment to a complicated math formula designed to measure the reproductive rates in live stock, blame them for many of the ills of society, giving them all the responsibility without any autonomy, while paying them less than a decade ago and severely limiting their earning capacity,  fewer and fewer people would want to become teachers or make teaching a career. Well it seems the state of Florida, that's who.

For the past 20 years though it's been on steroids for the last 8, Tallahassee has done all it can to injure the teaching profession and a recent study confirmed the most obvious thing in the world and that's Florida is one of the worst states in the nation for teachers.

From the Florida Phoenix,

An analysis released Monday ranks the Sunshine State 47 out of the 50 states and Washington D.C. based on school-related data, according to the personal finance web site WalletHub.

Florida’s overall score stems from myriad factors, including annual salaries, teacher turnover, pupil-teacher ratios and per-pupil spending, according to the study.

“Teaching can be a profoundly rewarding career, considering the critical role educators play in shaping young minds. But many teachers find themselves overworked and underpaid,” the analysis states.

Florida’s overall score took a nose dive for the most part because it fared worse – 46th — in the category of average salary for teachers, adjusted by cost of living, according to the WalletHub data.

Federal data from the National Center for Education Statistics puts Florida’s average teacher salary at about $49,400 in 2016-17.  That’s about $10,000 short of the national average of $58,950.

https://www.floridaphoenix.com/blog/new-study-on-best-worst-states-for-teachers-guess-where-florida-falls-it-isnt-good/

Here is a link to the study,

https://wallethub.com/edu/best-and-worst-states-for-teachers/7159/?

Friends, i don't think the teaching profession here in Florida can take much more before it collapses, i really don't. the state started 4,000 in the hole this year and these things have a way of picking up momentum.

This is what Rick Scott has created and Ron DeSantis would perpetuate if elected. their war on public education should not be rewarded. 

There is an election this fall and it's pivotal we vote for Andrew Gillum, the pro education and teacher candidate but it can't stop there as he will be powerless if he has a republican house and senate. If we want to see real change and progress, we have to vote them all out. The future of public education and the teaching profession here in Florida are on the line.

Nick Howland is very impressed by his endorsements, um where are the ones from parents and teachers?

On Facebook Nick Howland told me:

Nick Howland I’m endorsed by the Times-Union, the Chamber, NEFBA, NEFAR, both City Councilman in our district, and 2 Beaches mayors. They appreciate my military, business and civic background and my message of fiscal responsibility, school safety, great teachers and great educational options. My wife and I are products of public school and we have 2 kids in Duval public schools. I do not support privatization. Watch the JPEF video, or visit 

You know I don't live at the beach, but I guess that is pretty impressive list, though since they are basically the same people who supported Scott Shine who has been a disaster on the bard and who has basically quit his job though he continues to be paid on his home stretch, I think it is fair to question their knowledge on what a good candidate looks like.

You know who I don't see on the list though? Teachers and parents. if I was running for school board that is the people I would want. That's whose endorsements I would go after. Instead he goes after business groups and politicians, nether of which has been very friendly to pubic education.

I also love how at the end he adds, I do not support privatization, though he certainly will take their money and their endorsements.

In district 2 there is really only one option if you support public ed and that is Elizabeth Andersen, please consider giving her your support.

https://www.andersenforduvalschoolboard.com/meet-elizabeth

One quarter of voucher students regress, wasting lives and hundreds of millions of dollars

Gulp

For the 2018-2019 fiscal year $873,565,674 is the cap on what can be diverted from our schools to private schools that take vouchers. It joins billions more lost to the black hole that the voucher program is.

The problem with vouchers are legion. They can use certified teachers and teachers without degrees, they can teach junk science and history and most don't even have to report how they use the money. The over site on these schools is so low it is practically non existent. Well now we can add kids at a quarter of the schools regressed, REGRESSED, in math or reading skills. They actually lost knowledge.     

I am just going to get right to it.

From the Orlando Sentinel,

There are no consequences, however, for the students or schools when the studies show some schools leave children worse off academically. More than 70 schools, out of about 280 studied, showed declines in students’ math or reading skills, according to the most recent report.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/education/os-florida-school-voucher-investigation-1018-htmlstory.html

Now some of you might be saying well Chris aren't there nearly 3000 private schools that take vouchers? Yes there are but when people do polls they don't ask everyone the question they take a sample and 280 out of nearly 3000 is a pretty good sample.

Here is the thing, what if it is only 20 percent or 15 percent, though isn't it just as likely its 30 percent or higher, of kids that regress, isn't that too much? Public schools get slammed when the poorest of the poor, the most disadvantaged of the disadvantaged don't show a years worth of growth, let alone no growth or as in the case of these schools, reverse growth. 

Can you imagine what would happen to a public school where the kids lost knowledge in reading and math?

How is this permissible?

Oh wait that's right, its because the republican party is determined to dismantle public education and who cares if only a quarter of the kids regress, heck they don't even care that hundreds of millions of dollars are wasted in the pursuit.

We need a change friends, this cannot be allowed to continue. 

Karen Nuland picks Joyce over Chauncey in district 6 school board race

Former president of the Duval County Council of PTAs and life long public school servant, Karen Nuland endorsed Charlotte Joyce over David Chauncey for the district 6 School Board seat today.

A tireless advocate for our schools Nuland believes Joyce is a much better choice than Chauncey who has taken tens of thousands of dollars from interests related to charter schools and vouchers. 

It couldn't have been lost on Nuland that Joyce is a life long resident of Jacksonville who not only gradated from DCPS schools but has been volunteering and working in them for nearly two decades, a trio of things Chauncey cannot come close to saying.

In District 6 people have two distinct choices, a woman who has dedicated her life to DCPS schools, and a man who recently moved to town with barely any education experience, backed by the privatization movement. If you care about our schools then Joyce is the only real choice.

Nuland joins Becki Couch the current district 6 school board member in endorsing Charlotte Joyce.

Please consider joining Karen Nuland and supporting Mrs. Joyce in the district 6 school board race.

http://votejoyce.com/meet-charlotte-joyce/

People are waking up to how corrupt the Florida Charter School system is

Jason Fischer a house rep out of Jacksonville inserted 2 million into the budget for his super donor, Gary Chartrand's charter school the KIPP school in Jacksonville. Does Gary Chartrand's name sound familiar? He is is also on the state board of education.

Here are some more random facts. Over 370 charter schools have taken public money and closed leaving communities and students in a lurch and most charter schools now open in affluent neighborhoods, the pretense of helping poor students trapped by zip codes all but abandoned.

A recent report outlined just how bad and corrupt the charter industry and Tallahassee have become.

From the Orlando Weekly

A new report from a Tallahassee-based research group raises questions about the growing role of charter schools in Florida, including citing the closure of 373 charter schools since 1998. 

Ben Wilcox, research director for the group Integrity Florida, said the closure of charter schools has averaged nearly 20 a year “and that comes with a cost to taxpayers.” 

“When a charter school closes, it is often difficult to get taxpayer funds back,” Wilcox said. “A closure can cause severe problems for a school district which must absorb the displaced students.” 

The report showed 160 charter schools failed between 2012 and 2017, with 35 closing in 2015-2016. 

“Some have failed because they faced financial pressure due to overestimated enrollment, others because of financial mismanagement and others for academic reasons,” the report said. 

Another trend cited in the report is the rise of for-profit companies that manage the schools and can also be involved in leasing school sites. As of 2017, the report showed 294, or 45 percent, of the schools were being managed by for-profit companies. The for-profit schools have nearly doubled since 2010-2011, when there were 150 charter schools operated by for-profit entities. 

Wilcox said “lax regulation of charter schools has created opportunities for corporate profiteering, financial mismanagement, fraud and criminal corruption.” 

“In regards to campaign finance, we found that charter school interests have given $13 million in Florida to candidates, committees and parties since 1998,” Ashwell said. Ashwell says that doesn’t include the cost of hiring lobbyists. “The lobbyist expenditures, we found they spent more than $8 million on legislative lobbyists in Florida between 2007 and 2017,” Ashwell said. “Spending has increased steadily overtime, with spikes in 2013 and 2015. During this period, 10 companies alone spent $5 million hiring 262 lobbyists.”

https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2018/09/18/new-report-says-florida-charter-school-close-too-often-rely-heavily-on-for-profit-funding

Ugh

From the report,

Efforts by the charter school industry to shape policies in their favor have been aided in recent years by officials in the Florida Legislature who stand to benefit directly from the expansion of this education model. A number of high-powered legislators have either worked for charter schools or charter companies or had immediate family members involved with charters. 

http://www.integrityflorida.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/charter-school-report-final.pdf

Despite all the advantages, despite the fact many pick who they take and keep, charter schools as a group perform worse than our public schools, but still the republican legislature treats our public schools like a red headed step child who drank the last diet coke.

From the Orlando Sentinel,

Yet when school grades were released this past week, not a single traditional school in Orange County received an F.

Five charter schools did.

Yes, every single “failing” school in Orange County was a charter school.

The numbers looked similar statewide. Less than 1 percent of traditional public schools earned F’s. But 3.4 percent of charter schools did.

That means charter schools were more than three times as likely to fail.

I don’t think either of these models should be classified a “failure.” But if one of them has a failure problem, it obviously isn’t traditional.

If facts matter, this should be a wake-up call.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/os-florida-charter-schools-failure-scott-maxwell-20170629-story.html 

Charter schools are an alluring concept. I get it, but the way Florida does it, they are nothing but an abomination.

People getting rich off some of our children while cutting public schools to the bone. Dubious innovation and unfair regulations are the name of the game

It's time Florida woke up and said enough.  

Remember that one time Jason Fischer gave 2 million in tax payer dollars to his donors pet charter school?

I sure hope you do!

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. 

https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/sponsoredbills.aspx?MemberId=4639&SessionId=86

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.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/fabiola-santiago/article151418277.html

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.

Jason Fischer has been an ardent foe of public education it's time he was replaced before he does any more damage.

Ken Organes should receive your support. https://www.kenorganes.com/meet-ken/

Casey Ayers explains why he is endorsing Elizabeth Andersen for school board

Five people ran to replace Scott Shine on the school board. After the very competitive primary, former teacher and current mental health counselor Elizabeth Andersen and businessman Nick Howland advanced.

The three that didn't Shannon Beckham, Sam Hall and Casey Ayers have all since endorsed Elizabeth Andersen, and here Ayers explains why. 

Running for Duval County School Board in District 2 as a first-time candidate, I didn’t know exactly what to expect from the process, or from my four opponents. I ran to share a message about how our schools can better serve our students by recommitting to career and vocational education, especially in cases where certification programs could add value to our students’ diplomas and unlock badly needed bonus funding from the state.

Over the course of many forums and public events featuring all five candidates, I had the opportunity to share this message, but also to listen to others driven to serve their community.

Given Scott Shine’s abrupt departure from a reelection campaign that at one point seemed forgone, and given how much focus other races are receiving in this election cycle, it was amazing to see firsthand the rich diversity of perspective, experience, and passion the District 2 candidates brought to this race. And while losing an election after months of work may be painful, I was at peace knowing Elizabeth Andersen would be advancing to the general election.

As a former teacher at two Duval County high schools, she understands the challenges our educators and students face, and how to best allocate resources to help them succeed. Thanks to her work as a mental health professional, she has unmatched insight into the greatest challenge of our time: ensuring our schools are safe and constructive environments for our children to learn and grow. As a successful business owner, Elizabeth understands how to wisely allocate resources and can help our school system navigate its budgetary challenges effectively.

I’m delighted to endorse such a qualified and passionate candidate, and am glad that District 2 candidates Sam Hall and Shannon Beckham have done so, as well. I’m confident that Elizabeth will be tireless in her service as a member of the Duval County School Board, ensuring our schools are safe, our teachers are empowered to succeed, and every one of our students has access to high-quality educational options, preparing them to carry our community to new heights.

https://caseyayers.com/our-schools-our-future/

I thought Ayers had a great message while running and I hope we see him again.

Mrs. Andersen is also a lifelong resident of Duval and graduate of DCPS schools something Howland can't say. He also can't say he hasn't taken tons of money from charter schools and voucher interests.

If you are a supporter of public education Elizabeth Andersen is really your only choice. Please consider supporting her.  https://www.andersenforduvalschoolboard.com/

Cynthia Smith candidate school board district 4 is better than her opponent Darryl Willie and let me explain why

I had a Facebook conversation with an irate Darryl Willie supporter yesterday. They accused me of smearing Willie and of having a hidden agenda.

I replied, by smearing do you mean pointing out the things he has said or done? And I let him know that I definitely have an agenda and I hope its not hidden, I want the best person for the job on the school board who is going to appreciate and respect the teaching profession. 

We went back and forth and they were dismissive of the importance of the race, saying its just a school board race, well friends the 7 school board members control a budget, more real estate and employ more people than the mayor and city council does, and money doesn't matter. Friends do you think money doesn't matter in elections?

They were unswayed by all the things Willie has said and done and by all his dubious connections but then they said something really interesting, it's not like I think Cynthia Smith would be bad on the school board I just think Darryl Willie would be better.

Now I think Willie would be a disaster on the board and serve the people who pay his substantial salary rather than the people in district 4 but I wondered if other people thought the same way.

Well friends, if you are the fence and think both would be acceptable, shouldn't the tie go to the lifelong resident of Duval, Cynthia Smith not Willie who has been here for 7 years and is running for the school board for the second time?

Shouldn't the tie go to somebody who graduated from DCPS schools like Smith did, who has a better understand of what its like to be a student in Duval?

Shouldn't the tie go to somebody who actually worked in DCPS schools like Smith did for 16 years rising from book keeper to assistant principal, rather than Willie who only taught for three years over a decade ago in Arkansas? Isn't her experience a lot more relevant and extensive than his?

Shouldn't the tie go to the candidate, Smith, that the League of Women Voters doesn't have concerns about? The #$%^ing League of Women Voters think people should be wary of Willie, that should say a lot.

Shouldn't the tie go to the candidate who is really making a difference by running a preschool, Smith, rather than the candidate who is hurting our children by making sure they have an ever revolving door of novice teachers, the exact opposite of what research says they need.

Shouldn't the tie go to the candidate who thinks school teachers are professionals, Smith, rather than the candidate, Willie, who thinks anybody can be a teacher and who doesn't respect experience?

Shouldn't the tie go to the candidate, Smith, the current school board member, Paula Wright, is backing?

Shouldn't the tie go to the candidate, Smith, who hasn't taken huge sums of money from charter schools and the privatization movement?

How is this race even close? Oh that's right, money, as in all the money the privatization side has thrown into the race behind Willie. Though like his supporter you might not think money in politics matters.

I think Smith is by far the better candidate, but if you are on the fence I hope I have given you some things to think about.

I also hope you will consider supporting Cynthia Smith, http://votecynthiasmith.com/  

Willie SB candidate district 4 contradicts himself at nearly every turn

A few weeks back Willie was pretty hard on the charter school movement despite taking a lot of money from them.

http://jaxkidsmatter.blogspot.com/2018/08/darryl-willie-tells-people-what-they.html

Willie also presents himself as a democrat, but he has no problem taking all that sweet, sweet republican money.

http://jaxkidsmatter.blogspot.com/2018/08/kimberly-daniels-and-darryl-willie.html

This disturbing patern continued in a recent article in the Times Union about the pervasive influence of public school privatization money working its way into the school board races.

From the Times Union:

Willie said his donors know and trust he’ll represent his community. “A check or a donation is not going to drive how I make decisions,” he said. “Most folks said they believe in me as a person, they believe in my being able to make sound decisions about what my constituents want.”

He also said,

Willie said many of his donors know him from his times teaching in California and the Mississippi Delta region before coming to Jacksonville. He also has family and friends out of state.

“I’m a military kid: I’m from all over,” he said.

http://www.jacksonville.com/news/20180914/big-gaps-in-campaign-money-in-all-3-duval-school-board-races

So many of his donors know him from elsewhere and he has lots of friends and family from out of state. Um what? How do they know he'll represent district 4? Because he tells them he will? Well if his track record is any example his word isn't worth much.

He might have well as said, if it wasn't for Teach for America and Charters I wouldn't have a nickle, vote for me because I can do the KiKi challenge, that at least would be honest.

You know what gets me? It's not that he has bad ideas and supports bad policy, it's that he doesn't have a moral center. He will tell you whatever he thinks you want to hear, if he thinks there is a chance he will get your vote. 

If you care about public education and the teaching profession, then in District 4 Cynthia Smith is your only choice.

 Cynthia Smith in 4, http://votecynthiasmith.com/

Andersen, Smith and Joyce, lifetime residnets all went to and worked in DCPS schools, Howland and Willie didn't. Don't experience and ties matter?

There are some remarkable differences between the school board candidates.

Andersen, Smith and Joyce are supported by parents and teachers, while Howaland, Chauncey and Willie are supported by the charter school industry and the privatization movement.

Andersen (Terry Parker), Smith (Jackson) and Joyce (Ed White) all went to DCPS schools while  Howaland, Chauncey and Willie did not.

Andersen, Smith and Joyce all worked in DCPS schools while Willie and Howland didn't. Chauncey did for two years leaving the moment his two year Teach for America commitment was up.

Andersen, Smith and Joyce are life long Jacksonville residents while Howland has been here 14 years and Willie and Chauncey 7ish and 5ish respectively

How are these races close again?

It goes back to money and the fact the privatization crowd, those that support charters and vouchers and who don't think teachers are professionals support Howland, Chauncey and Willie.

Friends we have to choose who represents our schools, life long residents, current and former teachers and graduates of our schools or people who quite frankly have no business being anywhere near the board.

Please consider giving these ladies your support.

Elizabeth Andersen in 2, https://www.andersenforduvalschoolboard.com/meet-elizabeth

Cynthia Smith in 4, http://votecynthiasmith.com/

Charlotte Joyce in 6, http://votejoyce.com/meet-charlotte-joyce/ 

District 2 Candidates say why they are endorsing Elizabeth Andersen for school board

Five people ran for the district 2 spot, and after the primary the three who did not advance all decided to support Elizabeth Andersen who as a former teacher and current mental health counselor has the particular skills and back ground that this board needs.

Below are excepts from a press release due to released soon.

Sam Hall, 

“I am supporting Elizabeth Andersen for the Duval County Public School Board. Andersen has experience that is directly related to children and education. If elected, I am confident Elizabeth will make decisions that will be in the best interest of children.”

Shannon Beckham, 

“I am pleased to endorse Elizabeth Andersen, because as  a former DCPS teacher she is the only candidate in the race that has spent quality time in our schools. In a time when many of our children are in crisis, her work in the mental health field would be an asset to DCPS. District 2 would be lucky to have someone represent us who is a true champion for public education and isn’t backed by special interest groups.”

Casey Ayers,

“Elizabeth brings a wealth of mental health knowledge and experience working with children to the race, and is eminently qualified to represent our district. 

Andersen is running against Nick Howland the darling of the privatization crowd. He is literally a clone of Scott Shine who has been a disaster on the board and who has pretty much stopped showing up despite the fact he is still being paid.

District 2 you have a real choice, Andersen who has the knowledge and the back ground the board needs or Howland who would be more of the same ans who has dubious allegiances.

If you care about our public schools, students and teachers please consider supporting Elizabeth Anderson.

https://www.andersenforduvalschoolboard.com/

Developing Story: Shannon Beckham, Casey Ayers and Sam Hall support Elizabeth Andersen in district 2 race

District 2 had five candidates, Shannon Beckham, Casey Ayers, Sam Hall, Elizabeth Andersen and Nick Howland. In a very competitive race Anderson and Howland advanced out of the primary to the general election.

Now every candidate who didn't, representing 47.05 percent of the electorate has endorsed Elizabeth Andersen joining the 22.01 percent of the vote she received.

Howland who has proven wiling to say and do anything to get elected is still formidable. In the primary he raised more than the other candidates combined taking in thousands from charter schools, voucher schools and people who lived outside the district.     

That being said its a great sign that all the other candidates recognize that Elizabeth Andersen and her unique background as a former DCPS teacher and current mental health counselor would make a far better school member than Howland who has both questionable judgement and ties.

District 2, you have the opportunity to make a real difference, an opportunity to put somebody who knows our schools and children on the board, or sadly an opportunity to do more of the same, which hasn't exactly worked out for you. 

If you care about our schools and students, please consider supporting Elizabeth Andersen.

https://www.andersenforduvalschoolboard.com/meet-elizabeth 

Rick Scott touts his education policies in new ad. What the $#@^

Rick Scott and his colleagues in the Florida congress have done all they can do harm both public education and the teaching profession. If he were to tout these as an accomplishment, I would have to shrug my shoulders and as respectfully as I could be disagree. That's however not what he did in a new TV spot. 




Did anybody else just spit out their milk? If so I apologize.

In effect Rick Scott is asking people not believe what he has said and done and to give him credit for somethings, public education and the teaching profession that he was not able to completely dismantle and have succeeded in spite of him. Here is a head scratcher, if he thinks pubic ed is so great why did he push policies that sent billions to voucher and charter schools? Could it be that is where many of his donors come from? 

Among other lies, half truths and cherry picked statements Scott touts his education funding.

From Florida Politics

A new spot from Scott, per the campaign, “highlights how Florida’s incredible economic turnaround under Governor Scott has led to unprecedented achievement and funding for education in Florida.”

Scott links that to “our highest education funding ever,” which is a claim that doesn’t necessarily hold true in terms of real dollars.”

http://floridapolitics.com/archives/274412-rick-scott-touts-education-accomplishments-in-new-ad

Julie Delegal via Facebook debunked the rest of the ad.

FIRST, as AG Gancarski notes, the governor's claim of "record spending" has been debunked by Politifact Florida. In terms of real dollars, we've gone backwards in education funding in Florida.

SECOND, "Florida's children rank 40th in the nation when it comes to their health, education and economic well-being, new data suggests, and close to a million of them are living in poverty — a number that dipped slightly from a year earlier." (from Orlando Sentinel, Florida Kids Count data/ Annie E. Casey Foundation Report, 2017)

THIRD, in terms of places teachers want to work, only three
states rank lower than Florida does. (Wallethub)

FOURTH, under Gov. Scott, the state has excelled at issuing unfunded mandates, including the new "guardian program" that would arm "security assistants" in our schools. Duval's will cost $600K more than state funding provides. The Joint Budget Committee won't address it Friday. (The Florida PTA is pushing to have an item added to the agenda that would free up $58 million for this use.)

FIFTH, thanks to our lawmakers, our schools are unable to reap the benefit of steadily rebounding property values. Instead, lawmakers are actually DECREASING millage rates to keep school taxes depressed, as @damosreporter reported in today's print edition of @jaxdotcom.

SIXTH, what is this AP enrollment figure the governor cites? So what if we have more kids taking more AP tests? Here's the real scoop on the ranking that matters, i.e., which state's STUDENTS ACHIEVE best on AP tests. (It's not Florida. It's Massachusetts.) See Twitter for link.

In short, Gov. Scott's education claims don't hold water. We need new leadership altogether in Tallahassee, especially Andrew Gillum for Governor. We also need to deny Gov. Scott the opportunity to do more damage in DC. Vote to re-elect Senator Bill Nelson.

Scott has been terrible, it's time we put him out to pasture where he can spend the ill gotten loot he plundered from his health care business.

Becki Couch endorses Charlotte Joyce in the district 6 school board race.

If you thought Mrs. Couch did a good job representing district 6 on the school board, and I surely did, then it would be a travesty to vote for Dave Chauncey. He pretty much represents the exact opposite of what she did.

Via Facebook:

If you live in my district, I ask that you vote for Charlotte Austin Joyce to represent the school board seat I am vacating. She is a seasoned educator who will put the needs of students first. She has grown up on the Westside and attended Stilwell and Ed White. She is an experienced educator with school aged children so she understands the needs of our students and community on the Westside.

Nick Howland and Dave Chauncey's bad judgement on display

When asked about amendment 8, both Howland and Chauncey said they were undecided. Howland even commented about the part of the amendment which limited school board members to two terms, which seems inexplicable since Duval school board members are already term limited to two terms.

More likely the two supporters of privatization were hedging their bets because their financial backers, mostly made up of charter school and voucher interests were overwhelmingly for it, while most public school supporters recognized the amendment for what it was, a poison pill bill meant to undermine local control of schools to benefit charter schools.

Well today the Florida supreme court put the issue to bed and struck it from the ballet.

From the Tampa Times:

... the Florida Supreme Court on Friday ruled Amendment 8 should remain off the ballot. It upheld the order of Leon County Judge John Cooper, who found the measure's title and summary misleading.

The court's ruling on the three-pronged initiative is final. Elections supervisors across Florida are slated to complete their Nov. 6 ballots almost immediately, to have them ready for overseas voting.

http://www.tampabay.com/article/20180907/ARTICLE/309079603/1071

The bill was misleading and undermined local control of education and Howland and Chauncey not being able to say they were against it speaks volumes about their motives and priorities.

Neither men are interested in serving locals or maintaining the sanctity of public education and instead were all about serving the charter school interest who are funding their campaigns and if they say different they are being deceptive.  

District's six and two have great candidates who support our public schools and will fight for them.

Joyce Charlotte in six http://votejoyce.com/my-platform/  and Elizabeth Andersen in two, https://www.facebook.com/andersen4dcps/  deserve your support.

Florida starves public schools while it wastes billions on vouchers for private schools

I want to say, you know there are some good private schools that take vouchers who do it right and the bad ones who teach junk science and history, hire teachers with felonies or without a degrees give them a bad name. I would like to say that but the truth is we don't know, there is so little over site on voucher schools that they might all be crap. 

A recent study does however say kids that attend private schools don't receive any gains.

From UVAToday

A new study from the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education finds that low-income children or children enrolled in urban schools do not benefit more from enrolling in private school between kindergarten and ninth grade.

“Despite the arguments in favor of the use of vouchers or other mechanisms to support enrollment in private schools, ostensibly as a way to help vulnerable children and families access a quality education, this study finds no evidence that private schools, exclusive of family background or income, are more effective for promoting student success,” said Robert C. Pianta, dean of the Curry School of Education and co-author of the study.

Although children with a history of enrollment in private schools performed better overall, the advantages of private school education were not present for low-income students or those enrolled in urban schools.

This study contradicts the rationale behind U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ efforts to promote greater access to private schools, primarily through the administration’s earmark of more than $1 billion in the federal budget for private school vouchers and other school choice plans.

“The assumption that private schools are more effective in educating students and producing higher levels of achievement behavior is demonstrably ineffective and potentially harmful,” Pianta said. “In order to enable more low-income students to succeed and close achievement gaps, we must support comprehensive education reform of our public school system.”

https://news.virginia.edu/content/new-study-finds-low-income-students-do-not-benefit-private-schooling

Our public schools are being starved of resources as the powers that be pump a billion dollars into voucher schools that don't have to have any over site.

These schools don't have to have a recognized curriculum. 

These schools don't have to have certified teachers.

Most of these schools don't even have to report how the money is spent.

Friends at the very least shouldn't we know if this money is well spent? Why do we make any demands of our public schools and let this abomination go unchallenged?