30 Years ago we spent barely anything on disabled children, where now it is about a fifth of our education budget.
We now spend hundreds of millions of dollars on high stakes testing much of which goes to corporations interested in the bottom line not our children. Politicians not educators thought up this ideal and George and Jeb Bush’s brother Neil benefited greatly from the FCAT and NCLB.
Technology isn't cheap. Some might argue all we need is a blackboard, chalk and books, but that does not prepare children for how the world works today.
In Florida the citizenry has twice advocated for smaller class sizes, the one reform with evidence that says it works (not merit pay, vouchers, charter and virtual schools) and smaller classes mean more teachers and classrooms that don’t just magically appear.
When we factor out poverty and a fifth of our kids live in it and another fifth just above it, our students zoom to the top of international rankings. Do we have a school problem or do we have a society problem when we think it's okay that a fifth of our kids live in poverty? Poverty by the way is the number one measurable factor for how kids do in school. Kids that live in poverty as a group do a lot worse than kids who don’t.
Also things are just more expensive in 2011 than they were in 1976.
Education has issues and I believe one of the main ones is we put every kid into a one size fits all track where everybody is going to go to college. That is just not the case and we should plan accordingly. We need to have multiple tracks that teach trades and skills and to and make education more relevant to the 21st century student.
Another issue is a meddling government that wants to privatize education and take away much needed resources and put that money in the hands of people who are interested in profit margin not our children and who also go with reforms (charter schools, merit pay etc.) that have been proven not to work but for some reason sound good to them.
Finally there are the people who wax poetically about education, complaining we are spending to much but they haven't been in schools, have no real information about what is going on and who are only capable of regurgitating talking points that back up their ignorant and preconceived notions.
Evidence and facts have no bearing on what they think; I hope it does on yours.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Florida parents sue over education cuts
My Suncoast.com
by Fallon Silcox
SARASOTA - It's stated in the Constitution that the State of Florida has a paramount duty to adequately fund a high quality education system. But does cut after cut equal high quality education? A group of parents is set to find out.
Fund Education Now is a group of parents who advocate on behalf of Florida's students, and they're taking on the state, filing a law suit over education. They say if you have children, grandchildren, or any sort of investment in your own future, then this is something you should care about, too.
The group met with lawmakers, talked to parents, and spoke at public sessions, and now, they mean business.
“We filed the lawsuit for enforcement of the Constitution. Article 9 Section 1 states that it is the paramount duty of the State of Florida to adequately fund a high quality education system, and right now, we're not seeing that high quality system,” says Christine Sket of Manatee County Fund Education Now.
Sket says the lawsuit is a last resort to be heard. “We have to look at our Constitution, and if the paramount duty was to insure health care, or it was to provide benefits for veterans, then it's the paramount duty, and we need to put the emphasis on what our Constitution is. And if we let our Constitution go, and if we just say you can do whatever you want with it, then it's a worthless piece of paper.”
Between the Manatee and Sarasota County School Districts, over $20,000,000 had to be cut for next school year. “In the county, there are schools that will be, they're skimping on art, they're doubling up classes or doing a class and a half with the non-core classes,” says Sket.
She says it's students who will suffer if the cuts keep coming. “Our children are the next generation. These are our future leaders, and our country is only as strong as our educational system.”
Sket says the lawsuit is moving forward. However, the state is arguing that it's not up to a judge to decide if the legislatures are doing their job upholding the Constitution.
http://www.mysuncoast.com/news/local/story/Parents-sue-state-over-education/AD-DtiJ54kC9XCSnqreoCQ.cspx
by Fallon Silcox
SARASOTA - It's stated in the Constitution that the State of Florida has a paramount duty to adequately fund a high quality education system. But does cut after cut equal high quality education? A group of parents is set to find out.
Fund Education Now is a group of parents who advocate on behalf of Florida's students, and they're taking on the state, filing a law suit over education. They say if you have children, grandchildren, or any sort of investment in your own future, then this is something you should care about, too.
The group met with lawmakers, talked to parents, and spoke at public sessions, and now, they mean business.
“We filed the lawsuit for enforcement of the Constitution. Article 9 Section 1 states that it is the paramount duty of the State of Florida to adequately fund a high quality education system, and right now, we're not seeing that high quality system,” says Christine Sket of Manatee County Fund Education Now.
Sket says the lawsuit is a last resort to be heard. “We have to look at our Constitution, and if the paramount duty was to insure health care, or it was to provide benefits for veterans, then it's the paramount duty, and we need to put the emphasis on what our Constitution is. And if we let our Constitution go, and if we just say you can do whatever you want with it, then it's a worthless piece of paper.”
Between the Manatee and Sarasota County School Districts, over $20,000,000 had to be cut for next school year. “In the county, there are schools that will be, they're skimping on art, they're doubling up classes or doing a class and a half with the non-core classes,” says Sket.
She says it's students who will suffer if the cuts keep coming. “Our children are the next generation. These are our future leaders, and our country is only as strong as our educational system.”
Sket says the lawsuit is moving forward. However, the state is arguing that it's not up to a judge to decide if the legislatures are doing their job upholding the Constitution.
http://www.mysuncoast.com/news/local/story/Parents-sue-state-over-education/AD-DtiJ54kC9XCSnqreoCQ.cspx
High Stakes testing helps corporate bottom line, not education
From Psychology Today
by Jim Taylor
Testing has become the end-all, be-all of the public education reform movement. The idea seems quite sensible, that holding students (and teachers) to certain objective standards incentivizes both of these stakeholders to work harder and achieve their goals. It also seems reasonable to use the results of those tests as measures of the quality of education at a school. Well, to all who believe that testing is the panacea for what ails public education in America today, it's time to wake up and smell the coffee.
A recent report conducted by a who's who of educators has been following the effectiveness of 15 testing-related programs in public schools. Contrary to the rather heated, ideological, and non-evidence-based rhetoric that typically leads attempts at reform, this blue-ribbon panel found the testing programs that are presently in vogue to be ineffective and potentially harmful to attempts to improve public education.
The panel concluded that "adequate yearly progress," as measured by these tests, is minimal, below what is considered even statistically small improvement. And here's something that most people don't know; the testing, which is a proxy for No Child Left Behind accountability, is intended to assess school performance, not the performance of students. Which begs the question of who or what all of these efforts are for, the schools or the students. And the research indicates that testing has even less impact on student than school performance.
The current testing programs also encourage "gaming the system" up and down the educational food chain. Students study to pass the tests rather than acquire knowledge. Teachers, who these days take the brunt of the blame for underperforming students, feel pressure to "teach to the test," which may raise test scores, but do students no favors when it comes to actual learning. School, district, and state administrators know that test scores will determine funding and, potentially, their jobs. So what does everyone do? Anything they can do to raise test scores. Of course, not only are these efforts not in the best interests of the students, but the validity of the tests (and the often-forgotten criterion of tests being a measure of the effectiveness of learning) is compromised, thus rendering any value that testing might have had moot.
Also, though not discussed in the study, we can't forget that these testing programs are part of the "educational-industrial complex" that reaps billions of dollars a year in profits. Clearly, these so-called stakeholders are more concerned with their P & L statements than what is in the best interests of students. And, as with so many other powerful industries, the testing cabal has the ear and wallets of the politicians who set policy while those who actually know a few things about education, such as teachers, don't get a seat at the policy-making table.
The bottom line here is that enormous amounts of time and energy have been devoted to testing programs that have no empirical evidence to support their value. The result? Years of time and many billions of dollars wasted.
Don't get me wrong; I do believe that there's a place for testing in schools. In any environment that sets standards to be achieved, whether school, business, or sports, some form of evaluation is necessary to assess the effectiveness of the programs in place. But testing that works is testing that is a means to an end and not an end in itself. Testing that works is testing that measures what it's supposed to measure, namely, the quality of education that students receive at their schools. And testing that works is testing that has checks, balances, and incentives in place to ensure that the tests are used by all stakeholders for the purposes intended rather than as servants to the wrong masters
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-prime/201107/education-testing-in-schools-isnt-working
by Jim Taylor
Testing has become the end-all, be-all of the public education reform movement. The idea seems quite sensible, that holding students (and teachers) to certain objective standards incentivizes both of these stakeholders to work harder and achieve their goals. It also seems reasonable to use the results of those tests as measures of the quality of education at a school. Well, to all who believe that testing is the panacea for what ails public education in America today, it's time to wake up and smell the coffee.
A recent report conducted by a who's who of educators has been following the effectiveness of 15 testing-related programs in public schools. Contrary to the rather heated, ideological, and non-evidence-based rhetoric that typically leads attempts at reform, this blue-ribbon panel found the testing programs that are presently in vogue to be ineffective and potentially harmful to attempts to improve public education.
The panel concluded that "adequate yearly progress," as measured by these tests, is minimal, below what is considered even statistically small improvement. And here's something that most people don't know; the testing, which is a proxy for No Child Left Behind accountability, is intended to assess school performance, not the performance of students. Which begs the question of who or what all of these efforts are for, the schools or the students. And the research indicates that testing has even less impact on student than school performance.
The current testing programs also encourage "gaming the system" up and down the educational food chain. Students study to pass the tests rather than acquire knowledge. Teachers, who these days take the brunt of the blame for underperforming students, feel pressure to "teach to the test," which may raise test scores, but do students no favors when it comes to actual learning. School, district, and state administrators know that test scores will determine funding and, potentially, their jobs. So what does everyone do? Anything they can do to raise test scores. Of course, not only are these efforts not in the best interests of the students, but the validity of the tests (and the often-forgotten criterion of tests being a measure of the effectiveness of learning) is compromised, thus rendering any value that testing might have had moot.
Also, though not discussed in the study, we can't forget that these testing programs are part of the "educational-industrial complex" that reaps billions of dollars a year in profits. Clearly, these so-called stakeholders are more concerned with their P & L statements than what is in the best interests of students. And, as with so many other powerful industries, the testing cabal has the ear and wallets of the politicians who set policy while those who actually know a few things about education, such as teachers, don't get a seat at the policy-making table.
The bottom line here is that enormous amounts of time and energy have been devoted to testing programs that have no empirical evidence to support their value. The result? Years of time and many billions of dollars wasted.
Don't get me wrong; I do believe that there's a place for testing in schools. In any environment that sets standards to be achieved, whether school, business, or sports, some form of evaluation is necessary to assess the effectiveness of the programs in place. But testing that works is testing that is a means to an end and not an end in itself. Testing that works is testing that measures what it's supposed to measure, namely, the quality of education that students receive at their schools. And testing that works is testing that has checks, balances, and incentives in place to ensure that the tests are used by all stakeholders for the purposes intended rather than as servants to the wrong masters
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-prime/201107/education-testing-in-schools-isnt-working
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Just who is responsible for all the cheating scandals?
From the American Thinker
Ann Kane and M. Catharine Evans
Cheating scandals are multiplying as major school districts like Atlanta, Baltimore (see AT article) and Washington, DC (see AT article) are under the gun by corporate and non-profit school reformers like Eli Broad, Bill Gates and Arne Duncan to produce better grades for more dollars.
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal "released a report...that names 178 teachers and principals -- 82 of whom confessed -- in what's likely the biggest cheating scandal in US history.
The 55,000-student Atlanta public school system rose in national prominence during the 2000s, as test scores steadily rose and the district received notice and funding from the Broad Foundation and the Gates Foundation. But behind that rise, the state found, were teachers and principals in 44 schools erasing and changing test answers. [snip]
In one case, an administrator instructed employees to tell investigators to "go to hell." When teachers tried to alert authorities, they were labeled "disgruntled." One principal opened an ethics investigation against a whistle-blower.
The problems in these school districts point to systemic corruption in public schools across the board. The fraud begins at the top with the DOE and spreads far and wide into a complex network of Obama administration officials, private foundations and independent school reformers.
Dissent Magazine offers a full disclosure of the intermingling of foundation money with the DOE. The article is a must read. This excerpt describes the scene:
The Department [of Education] has truly embraced the foundation community by creating a position within the Office of the Secretary for the Director of Philanthropic Engagement. This dedicated role within the Secretary's Office signals to the philanthropic world that the Department is "open for business."
Within weeks, Duncan had integrated the DOE into the network of revolving-door job placement that includes the staffs of Gates, Broad, and all the thinks tanks, advocacy groups, school management organizations, training programs, and school districts that they fund.
The close relationship between the Broad Foundation and administration officials was made clear in their 2009/2010 Annual Report entitled Entrepreneurship for The Public Good in Education, Science, and the Arts.
The election of President Barack Obama and his appointment of Arne Duncan, former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, as the U.S. secretary of education, marked the pinnacle of hope for our work in education reform. In many ways, we feel the stars have finally aligned.
With an agenda that echoes our decade of investments-charter schools, performance pay for teachers, accountability, expanded learning time and national standards-the Obama administration is poised to cultivate and bring to fruition the seeds we and other reformers have planted.
Broad alumni and Gates' educational training outlets are across the country. The annual report boasts that four Broad residents have been placed at the Department of Education.
Also, in Atlanta there's Beverley Hall, the disgraced former superintendent who was a speaker in a 2003 Broad conference in Houston and Randolph Bynum, Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2007, who is Associate Superintendent for High Schools. And in Baltimore, a former superintendent assisted Broad in his first year of operating the Broad Superintendents Academy. Carmen Russo left the school system with a $58 million deficit and "her three years in Baltimore were uneven, marked by impressive gains in student test scores."
In DC former School Chancellor and Broad alumna Michelle Rhee presided over a district of 50,000 students and 144 schools of which 103 have been cited for possible cheating on standardized tests. A 2008 Aspen Institute bio states that "Rhee partnered with schools districts, state education agencies, nonprofit organizations" and "her work has resulted in widespread reform in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Miami, New York, Oakland and Philadelphia."
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's Race to the Top initiative approaches student underachievement with the same methods as George W Bush's No Child Left Behind but in a more creatively financed, high-stakes game for school districts. The $4.5 billion program entices cash-strapped localities to compete for federal monies by placing test scores, teachers, principals and superintendents in the crosshairs, tying student achievement to cash.
The DOE, foundations, and non-profits have worked together to create a cash flow among themselves, while allowing funds tied to draconian restrictions to trickle-down to schools. With overwhelming pressure to produce, some educators decided cheating was better than losing their job or becoming a whistleblower.
Broad's plan to transform education involves deception as well. Speaking about the Teach for America organization he stated, "Instead of it [TFA] being viewed as a movement, we have to make it look like an institution." "One of the ways you do that is an endowment like a college or university has." The venture philanthropist does not explain why he must "make it look" like something else to pass muster. Whatever the reason, he and others like Bill Gates have made major inroads into the American education system with their money. The venture philanthropists' most visible endeavors are their support of TFA, KIPP charter schools, and the Broad Center for Superintendents.
This cartel of billionaires and non-profits along with the federal government has been effecting dramatic changes in the power structure of the public education system for the last 20 years. From an online union magazine, LaborNotes:
The billionaires' agenda also includes a three-pronged strategy for gaining control of school governance: mayoral control, which has been devastating in both Chicago and New York City; funding school board takeovers, as in San Diego (now reversed); and funding fake parent groups.
"Parent Revolution" in California, for example, is funded by the Broad Foundation. It supposedly includes active parents in Compton, but is really run by a Beverly Hills lawyer with paid organizers.
Do we really want to hand over control of our education system to global power elites like Eli Broad who said, "We don't know anything about how to teach or reading curriculum or any of that. But what we do know about is management and governance."
An oligarchy of high-powered individuals has been hard at work changing our country's public schools. The elite financiers are inextricably linked to Duncan's DOE and may have to answer for their part in the cheating scandals sweeping across the nation.
Read more Ann Kane and M. Catharine Evans at Potter Williams Report
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/07/whos_responsible_for_the_government_schools_cheating_sandals.html#disqus_thread
Ann Kane and M. Catharine Evans
Cheating scandals are multiplying as major school districts like Atlanta, Baltimore (see AT article) and Washington, DC (see AT article) are under the gun by corporate and non-profit school reformers like Eli Broad, Bill Gates and Arne Duncan to produce better grades for more dollars.
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal "released a report...that names 178 teachers and principals -- 82 of whom confessed -- in what's likely the biggest cheating scandal in US history.
The 55,000-student Atlanta public school system rose in national prominence during the 2000s, as test scores steadily rose and the district received notice and funding from the Broad Foundation and the Gates Foundation. But behind that rise, the state found, were teachers and principals in 44 schools erasing and changing test answers. [snip]
In one case, an administrator instructed employees to tell investigators to "go to hell." When teachers tried to alert authorities, they were labeled "disgruntled." One principal opened an ethics investigation against a whistle-blower.
The problems in these school districts point to systemic corruption in public schools across the board. The fraud begins at the top with the DOE and spreads far and wide into a complex network of Obama administration officials, private foundations and independent school reformers.
Dissent Magazine offers a full disclosure of the intermingling of foundation money with the DOE. The article is a must read. This excerpt describes the scene:
The Department [of Education] has truly embraced the foundation community by creating a position within the Office of the Secretary for the Director of Philanthropic Engagement. This dedicated role within the Secretary's Office signals to the philanthropic world that the Department is "open for business."
Within weeks, Duncan had integrated the DOE into the network of revolving-door job placement that includes the staffs of Gates, Broad, and all the thinks tanks, advocacy groups, school management organizations, training programs, and school districts that they fund.
The close relationship between the Broad Foundation and administration officials was made clear in their 2009/2010 Annual Report entitled Entrepreneurship for The Public Good in Education, Science, and the Arts.
The election of President Barack Obama and his appointment of Arne Duncan, former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, as the U.S. secretary of education, marked the pinnacle of hope for our work in education reform. In many ways, we feel the stars have finally aligned.
With an agenda that echoes our decade of investments-charter schools, performance pay for teachers, accountability, expanded learning time and national standards-the Obama administration is poised to cultivate and bring to fruition the seeds we and other reformers have planted.
Broad alumni and Gates' educational training outlets are across the country. The annual report boasts that four Broad residents have been placed at the Department of Education.
Also, in Atlanta there's Beverley Hall, the disgraced former superintendent who was a speaker in a 2003 Broad conference in Houston and Randolph Bynum, Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2007, who is Associate Superintendent for High Schools. And in Baltimore, a former superintendent assisted Broad in his first year of operating the Broad Superintendents Academy. Carmen Russo left the school system with a $58 million deficit and "her three years in Baltimore were uneven, marked by impressive gains in student test scores."
In DC former School Chancellor and Broad alumna Michelle Rhee presided over a district of 50,000 students and 144 schools of which 103 have been cited for possible cheating on standardized tests. A 2008 Aspen Institute bio states that "Rhee partnered with schools districts, state education agencies, nonprofit organizations" and "her work has resulted in widespread reform in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Miami, New York, Oakland and Philadelphia."
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's Race to the Top initiative approaches student underachievement with the same methods as George W Bush's No Child Left Behind but in a more creatively financed, high-stakes game for school districts. The $4.5 billion program entices cash-strapped localities to compete for federal monies by placing test scores, teachers, principals and superintendents in the crosshairs, tying student achievement to cash.
The DOE, foundations, and non-profits have worked together to create a cash flow among themselves, while allowing funds tied to draconian restrictions to trickle-down to schools. With overwhelming pressure to produce, some educators decided cheating was better than losing their job or becoming a whistleblower.
Broad's plan to transform education involves deception as well. Speaking about the Teach for America organization he stated, "Instead of it [TFA] being viewed as a movement, we have to make it look like an institution." "One of the ways you do that is an endowment like a college or university has." The venture philanthropist does not explain why he must "make it look" like something else to pass muster. Whatever the reason, he and others like Bill Gates have made major inroads into the American education system with their money. The venture philanthropists' most visible endeavors are their support of TFA, KIPP charter schools, and the Broad Center for Superintendents.
This cartel of billionaires and non-profits along with the federal government has been effecting dramatic changes in the power structure of the public education system for the last 20 years. From an online union magazine, LaborNotes:
The billionaires' agenda also includes a three-pronged strategy for gaining control of school governance: mayoral control, which has been devastating in both Chicago and New York City; funding school board takeovers, as in San Diego (now reversed); and funding fake parent groups.
"Parent Revolution" in California, for example, is funded by the Broad Foundation. It supposedly includes active parents in Compton, but is really run by a Beverly Hills lawyer with paid organizers.
Do we really want to hand over control of our education system to global power elites like Eli Broad who said, "We don't know anything about how to teach or reading curriculum or any of that. But what we do know about is management and governance."
An oligarchy of high-powered individuals has been hard at work changing our country's public schools. The elite financiers are inextricably linked to Duncan's DOE and may have to answer for their part in the cheating scandals sweeping across the nation.
Read more Ann Kane and M. Catharine Evans at Potter Williams Report
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/07/whos_responsible_for_the_government_schools_cheating_sandals.html#disqus_thread
Friday, July 8, 2011
Lower taxes do not woo companies to Florida
From the St. Petersburg Times, editorial board
It's a modicum of good news that Florida's unemployment rate has declined to 10.6 percent, the lowest since August 2009. But it would be a mistake for Gov. Rick Scott and state lawmakers to seize upon these numbers to justify further reducing Florida's already low corporate income tax rate to woo new companies here. Contrary to the common mantra of the state's Republican leaders, tax cuts don't produce jobs. Good schools, strong infrastructure and a good quality of life seem to be far better inducements for corporate relocation.
Florida has the fifth lowest corporate income tax rate in the country at 5.5 percent, trailing only South Dakota, Alaska, Wyoming and Nevada — states hardly in Florida's league. Yet Florida's unemployment rate remains far higher than the 9.1 percent national average. Recently, both a Tax Foundation study and University of Central Florida economist Sean Snaith have argued that reducing taxes has no discernible impact on job growth.
It's not hard to find evidence to support such a view. Other states with much higher corporate tax rates — Connecticut, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey — all enjoy significantly lower jobless numbers, as well as hosting the corporate headquarters of many more Fortune 500 companies per capita.
And Snaith offers a refreshing view as a registered Republican who clearly hasn't bought into his party's pandering politics. Snaith argues that Florida cannot right its economic house on the cheap. Companies will invest their financial and human capital in states willing to make a commitment to education, employee training, a quality public transportation system and family-oriented recreational outlets — all far more important than a shaving off a few marginal points off the corporate income tax rate.
If a low corporate tax rate were the economic panacea Scott believes it to be, Florida long ago would have become a veritable and enviable Disney World of economic wonder. It's worth noting that Florida's longtime lack of an income tax — while wooing rich retirees — has also had little impact on persuading major U.S. corporations to move operations to the Sunshine State. Giving corporations a tax break isn't the answer to Florida's unemployment woes. Giving executives and their employees a reason to want to invest their lives in Florida is.
It's a modicum of good news that Florida's unemployment rate has declined to 10.6 percent, the lowest since August 2009. But it would be a mistake for Gov. Rick Scott and state lawmakers to seize upon these numbers to justify further reducing Florida's already low corporate income tax rate to woo new companies here. Contrary to the common mantra of the state's Republican leaders, tax cuts don't produce jobs. Good schools, strong infrastructure and a good quality of life seem to be far better inducements for corporate relocation.
Florida has the fifth lowest corporate income tax rate in the country at 5.5 percent, trailing only South Dakota, Alaska, Wyoming and Nevada — states hardly in Florida's league. Yet Florida's unemployment rate remains far higher than the 9.1 percent national average. Recently, both a Tax Foundation study and University of Central Florida economist Sean Snaith have argued that reducing taxes has no discernible impact on job growth.
It's not hard to find evidence to support such a view. Other states with much higher corporate tax rates — Connecticut, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey — all enjoy significantly lower jobless numbers, as well as hosting the corporate headquarters of many more Fortune 500 companies per capita.
And Snaith offers a refreshing view as a registered Republican who clearly hasn't bought into his party's pandering politics. Snaith argues that Florida cannot right its economic house on the cheap. Companies will invest their financial and human capital in states willing to make a commitment to education, employee training, a quality public transportation system and family-oriented recreational outlets — all far more important than a shaving off a few marginal points off the corporate income tax rate.
If a low corporate tax rate were the economic panacea Scott believes it to be, Florida long ago would have become a veritable and enviable Disney World of economic wonder. It's worth noting that Florida's longtime lack of an income tax — while wooing rich retirees — has also had little impact on persuading major U.S. corporations to move operations to the Sunshine State. Giving corporations a tax break isn't the answer to Florida's unemployment woes. Giving executives and their employees a reason to want to invest their lives in Florida is.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Florida Charter schools fail at an alarming rate
From miamicbslocal.com
MIAMI (CBS4) – When Governor Rick Scott visited Florida International Academy – a charter school - in Opa Locka in January, he brought his special advisor on education, Michell Rhee, with him.
Rhee, the controversial former superintendent of the Washington DC school system, is a big believer in spending public money on privately-operated charter schools.
“Who are we to deny a child, a low income child, who has the opportunity to take the same dollars and actually get a better education?” Rhee asked.
The answer may in fact be that kids in charter schools aren’t getting a better education.
Need Help?When it comes to the failure rate, charter Schools – operated at public expense by private companies – tanked on the 2011 FCAT. And an explanation provided by a major charter school booster does not appear to make the grade.
The numbers, first reported by CBS4 News Tuesday, are striking:
Of Florida’s 2,280 public elementary and middle schools, only 17 scored an “F” on the FCAT. Of the state’s 270 Charter elementary and middle schools, 15 flunked.
Charter schools had a failure rate 740% higher than that of public schools.
Charter school boosters were working damage control Wednesday.
“Traditionally, they (the charters that failed) were in failing school neighborhoods,” said Representative Erik Fresen, a Miami Republican who sits on several education committees and is a strong supporter of charter schools.
Fresen said that a rule that requires charter schools to give the FCAT in their first year of operation accounts for most of the failure rate.
“They started as an “F” because they inherited, essentially, “F” performing students,” Fresen said.
Fresen’s defense, however, does not appear to wash.
CBS4′s analysis of the 15 charter schools that failed show at least nine have administered the test for at least two years. Some saw their grades plunge from an “A” to an “F.” At least two had back-to-back “F” grades, including Broward Community Charter Middle School and Lawrence Academy Elementary Charter School in Miami-Dade.
Fresen, whose sister and brother-in-law own a charter school management company, Academica, said he sees no conflict between that and his leadership role in education in the legislature.
“It certainly provides me a different perspective…that others perhaps don’t have,” Fresen said. “But it certainly doesn’t influence the politics one way or the other.”
At least five companies involved in charter school management contributed the maximum allowable donation to Fresen’s most recent election campaign.
Democratic state lawmakers say the explosion of publicly-funded, privately-operated schools is a growing drain on the public education system.
“People need to get out of the business of profiting from public education,” said Rep. Dwight Bullard of Miami.
Rep. Luis Garcia, a Little Havana Democrat, agreed.
“The present policies that….state government is taking seem to be attacking public education in favor of for-profit – to the extreme,” Garcia said.
CBS4 News Producer Jeremy Jacobson contributed to this report.
http://miami.cbslocal.com/2011/07/06/i-team-lawmakers-react-to-charter-school-fcat-failures/#.ThXtRGxZXdk.facebook
MIAMI (CBS4) – When Governor Rick Scott visited Florida International Academy – a charter school - in Opa Locka in January, he brought his special advisor on education, Michell Rhee, with him.
Rhee, the controversial former superintendent of the Washington DC school system, is a big believer in spending public money on privately-operated charter schools.
“Who are we to deny a child, a low income child, who has the opportunity to take the same dollars and actually get a better education?” Rhee asked.
The answer may in fact be that kids in charter schools aren’t getting a better education.
Need Help?When it comes to the failure rate, charter Schools – operated at public expense by private companies – tanked on the 2011 FCAT. And an explanation provided by a major charter school booster does not appear to make the grade.
The numbers, first reported by CBS4 News Tuesday, are striking:
Of Florida’s 2,280 public elementary and middle schools, only 17 scored an “F” on the FCAT. Of the state’s 270 Charter elementary and middle schools, 15 flunked.
Charter schools had a failure rate 740% higher than that of public schools.
Charter school boosters were working damage control Wednesday.
“Traditionally, they (the charters that failed) were in failing school neighborhoods,” said Representative Erik Fresen, a Miami Republican who sits on several education committees and is a strong supporter of charter schools.
Fresen said that a rule that requires charter schools to give the FCAT in their first year of operation accounts for most of the failure rate.
“They started as an “F” because they inherited, essentially, “F” performing students,” Fresen said.
Fresen’s defense, however, does not appear to wash.
CBS4′s analysis of the 15 charter schools that failed show at least nine have administered the test for at least two years. Some saw their grades plunge from an “A” to an “F.” At least two had back-to-back “F” grades, including Broward Community Charter Middle School and Lawrence Academy Elementary Charter School in Miami-Dade.
Fresen, whose sister and brother-in-law own a charter school management company, Academica, said he sees no conflict between that and his leadership role in education in the legislature.
“It certainly provides me a different perspective…that others perhaps don’t have,” Fresen said. “But it certainly doesn’t influence the politics one way or the other.”
At least five companies involved in charter school management contributed the maximum allowable donation to Fresen’s most recent election campaign.
Democratic state lawmakers say the explosion of publicly-funded, privately-operated schools is a growing drain on the public education system.
“People need to get out of the business of profiting from public education,” said Rep. Dwight Bullard of Miami.
Rep. Luis Garcia, a Little Havana Democrat, agreed.
“The present policies that….state government is taking seem to be attacking public education in favor of for-profit – to the extreme,” Garcia said.
CBS4 News Producer Jeremy Jacobson contributed to this report.
http://miami.cbslocal.com/2011/07/06/i-team-lawmakers-react-to-charter-school-fcat-failures/#.ThXtRGxZXdk.facebook
It is official, Census says Florida cares about kids the least
From TBO.com
by Lindsay Peterson
As school districts across the state plan for teacher layoffs and other changes to deal with severe education cuts, a new Census Bureau report shows Floridians have the lowest school tax burden of any state in the country.
The tax money that went to the schools in 2008-09, the most recent data available, averaged less than $32 for every $1,000 of personal income statewide, says the report, released Wednesday.
Only the District of Columbia, which has no state school revenue, spent less, with about $18 of every $1,000 in income going to the public schools. Residents of Alaska, who spent the most, contributed twice as much as Floridians relative to their income.
"Shame, shame, shame," said Hillsborough School Board chairwoman Doretha Edgecomb. "It's dismal. It's disappointing, but I don't think it's surprising."
The figures for the upcoming school year are likely to be worse, she said, since state lawmakers slashed $1.35 billion from the state education budget.
Hillsborough must cut about $100 million from its budget. It's avoiding layoffs, but hundreds of teachers in Pasco and Pinellas are losing their jobs.
Responding to the report with a statement to the Tribune, Gov. Rick Scott highlighted Florida's educational success in recent years.
Education Week's 2010 Quality Counts Report ranked the state fifth in the country this year, up from eighth place last year and 31st in 2007.
"This census report is further evidence that per-student spending, while important, is not the most significant factor determining success in education," Scott said in the statement.
The head of the Hillsborough County's teachers union agreed that Florida had made great progress. But she questioned whether the state can sustain the high marks of the Education Week report, which were based largely on data from 2009.
For many years Florida has been at the bottom of the Census Bureau's list showing school expenditures as a portion of personal income. But it was moving up.
By 2006-07, public school spending had risen to nearly $34 per $1,000 in income, then it began to slide and in 2008-09 it was down to $31.14.
"Education in Florida has never been given the value it should or could have," Clements said. "Neither the citizens nor the elected officials have made it a priority."
She attributes this to the state's unique character.
"We're a strange mix of folks from all over the world and the country, with lots of different backgrounds. A lot of people come here to escape the taxes and financial obligations they have elsewhere."
It's not that they don't care about children, Clements said.
It's that in many cases, their loyalty is with the school district in their hometown, not in Florida.
Edgecomb said it seemed to her that when the economy turned down, people turned their anger toward government institutions like the public schools.
"They started being more critical of public education and in many cases not willing to support it."
So many of the people with wealth in Florida "don't have any connection to the public school system," she said.
"They don't feel they have an obligation to support it."
SPENDING ON SCHOOLS
Figures represent amount per $1,000 of annual personal income.
United States: $41.29
Top 5
Alaska: $66.30
Vermont: $56.93
New York: $53.71
New Jersey: $51.97
West Virginia: $51.10
Bottom 5
Washington: $34.46
Arizona: $34.21
South Dakota: $34.13
Colorado: $33.02
Florida: $31.14
Source: U.S. Census, 2009 data
by Lindsay Peterson
As school districts across the state plan for teacher layoffs and other changes to deal with severe education cuts, a new Census Bureau report shows Floridians have the lowest school tax burden of any state in the country.
The tax money that went to the schools in 2008-09, the most recent data available, averaged less than $32 for every $1,000 of personal income statewide, says the report, released Wednesday.
Only the District of Columbia, which has no state school revenue, spent less, with about $18 of every $1,000 in income going to the public schools. Residents of Alaska, who spent the most, contributed twice as much as Floridians relative to their income.
"Shame, shame, shame," said Hillsborough School Board chairwoman Doretha Edgecomb. "It's dismal. It's disappointing, but I don't think it's surprising."
The figures for the upcoming school year are likely to be worse, she said, since state lawmakers slashed $1.35 billion from the state education budget.
Hillsborough must cut about $100 million from its budget. It's avoiding layoffs, but hundreds of teachers in Pasco and Pinellas are losing their jobs.
Responding to the report with a statement to the Tribune, Gov. Rick Scott highlighted Florida's educational success in recent years.
Education Week's 2010 Quality Counts Report ranked the state fifth in the country this year, up from eighth place last year and 31st in 2007.
"This census report is further evidence that per-student spending, while important, is not the most significant factor determining success in education," Scott said in the statement.
The head of the Hillsborough County's teachers union agreed that Florida had made great progress. But she questioned whether the state can sustain the high marks of the Education Week report, which were based largely on data from 2009.
For many years Florida has been at the bottom of the Census Bureau's list showing school expenditures as a portion of personal income. But it was moving up.
By 2006-07, public school spending had risen to nearly $34 per $1,000 in income, then it began to slide and in 2008-09 it was down to $31.14.
"Education in Florida has never been given the value it should or could have," Clements said. "Neither the citizens nor the elected officials have made it a priority."
She attributes this to the state's unique character.
"We're a strange mix of folks from all over the world and the country, with lots of different backgrounds. A lot of people come here to escape the taxes and financial obligations they have elsewhere."
It's not that they don't care about children, Clements said.
It's that in many cases, their loyalty is with the school district in their hometown, not in Florida.
Edgecomb said it seemed to her that when the economy turned down, people turned their anger toward government institutions like the public schools.
"They started being more critical of public education and in many cases not willing to support it."
So many of the people with wealth in Florida "don't have any connection to the public school system," she said.
"They don't feel they have an obligation to support it."
SPENDING ON SCHOOLS
Figures represent amount per $1,000 of annual personal income.
United States: $41.29
Top 5
Alaska: $66.30
Vermont: $56.93
New York: $53.71
New Jersey: $51.97
West Virginia: $51.10
Bottom 5
Washington: $34.46
Arizona: $34.21
South Dakota: $34.13
Colorado: $33.02
Florida: $31.14
Source: U.S. Census, 2009 data
In Florida, most education reforms do more harm than good
Jacksonville’s KIPP Charter School received a lot of local press when it received its F but they are not the only charter school to struggle, at the same time 15 of 270 charter schools also flunked. Since statewide only 17 of 2280 public elementary and middle schools received a grade of F, this means kids that attended charter schools were 740 percent more likely to be attending a failing school.
The state legislature and Rick Scott with their recent round of reforms has deceived the public. Every merit pay study says it doesn’t work, quality of instruction and cheating charges follow virtual schools, McKay scholarships are wrought with fraud, kids on opportunity scholarships by and large do not improve at their new schools and charter schools are not the magic bullets the Florida Legislature led the citizens of Florida to believe. Then at the same time the legislature kneecaps the one reform that has proven to work, because it costs money, smaller classes. Cutting the education budget by billions of dollars is only one of the problems that Tallahassee has sent to the local school districts,
A friend said to me, follow the money; well most of these reforms follow the money out of our schools and into the hands of hedge fund managers and corporate CEOs who are only concerned with their bottom line and profit margins, not our children.
You want to know why our schools are struggling? Look to Tallahassee it’s their meddling in education that is setting our children, schools and state back.
The state legislature and Rick Scott with their recent round of reforms has deceived the public. Every merit pay study says it doesn’t work, quality of instruction and cheating charges follow virtual schools, McKay scholarships are wrought with fraud, kids on opportunity scholarships by and large do not improve at their new schools and charter schools are not the magic bullets the Florida Legislature led the citizens of Florida to believe. Then at the same time the legislature kneecaps the one reform that has proven to work, because it costs money, smaller classes. Cutting the education budget by billions of dollars is only one of the problems that Tallahassee has sent to the local school districts,
A friend said to me, follow the money; well most of these reforms follow the money out of our schools and into the hands of hedge fund managers and corporate CEOs who are only concerned with their bottom line and profit margins, not our children.
You want to know why our schools are struggling? Look to Tallahassee it’s their meddling in education that is setting our children, schools and state back.
In Florida, Charter Schools had a Failure Rate 740% Higher than Public Schools
From Scathing Purple Musings
by Bob Sikes
Five days after a sharp-eyed parent called it to my attention, Florida’s mainstream media is reporting the abysmal performance of the state’s charter schools. Miami CBS4 doesn’t pull any punches in its report released last evening and the numbers couldn’t be any worse for Rick Scott:
When it comes to the failure rate, charter Schools – operated at public expense by private companies – tanked on the 2011 FCAT. And an explanation provided by a major charter school booster does not appear to make the grade.
The numbers, first reported by CBS4 News Tuesday, are striking:
Of Florida’s 2,280 public elementary and middle schools, only 17 scored an “F” on the FCAT. Of the state’s 270 Charter elementary and middle schools, 15 flunked.
Charter schools had a failure rate 740% higher than that of public schools
Naturally, the state’s republicans are spinning, but CBS4 Miami won’t have any of it.
Charter school boosters were working damage control Wednesday.
“Traditionally, they (the charters that failed) were in failing school neighborhoods,” said Representative Erik Fresen, a Miami Republican who sits on several education committees and is a strong supporter of charter schools.
Fresen said that a rule that requires charter schools to give the FCAT in their first year of operation accounts for most of the failure rate.
“They started as an “F” because they inherited, essentially, “F” performing students,” Fresen said
Fresen’s defense, however, does not appear to wash.
CBS4′s analysis of the 15 charter schools that failed show at least nine have administered the test for at least two years. Some saw their grades plunge from an “A” to an “F.” At least two had back-to-back “F” grades, including Broward Community Charter Middle School and Lawrence Academy Elementary Charter School in Miami-Dade.
Rick Scott signed legislation last week that strengthens the ability of charter schools to operate in Florida. One mechanism involves failing public school grades. Scott and likely Fresen never considered what will happen if their charter schools would fail.
Still, the episode further illustrates lack of foresight and unfettered zeal with which Florida’s republicans have implemented their plans to change the state’s education system. While establishing strident accountability guidelines for public school, they neither desired nor implemented any for charter schools. Their much ballyhooed school grade system - that they have made the final arbiter - reveal as much.
http://bobsidlethoughtsandmusings.wordpress.com/2011/07/07/in-florida-charter-schools-had-a-failure-rate-740-higher-than-public-schools/
by Bob Sikes
Five days after a sharp-eyed parent called it to my attention, Florida’s mainstream media is reporting the abysmal performance of the state’s charter schools. Miami CBS4 doesn’t pull any punches in its report released last evening and the numbers couldn’t be any worse for Rick Scott:
When it comes to the failure rate, charter Schools – operated at public expense by private companies – tanked on the 2011 FCAT. And an explanation provided by a major charter school booster does not appear to make the grade.
The numbers, first reported by CBS4 News Tuesday, are striking:
Of Florida’s 2,280 public elementary and middle schools, only 17 scored an “F” on the FCAT. Of the state’s 270 Charter elementary and middle schools, 15 flunked.
Charter schools had a failure rate 740% higher than that of public schools
Naturally, the state’s republicans are spinning, but CBS4 Miami won’t have any of it.
Charter school boosters were working damage control Wednesday.
“Traditionally, they (the charters that failed) were in failing school neighborhoods,” said Representative Erik Fresen, a Miami Republican who sits on several education committees and is a strong supporter of charter schools.
Fresen said that a rule that requires charter schools to give the FCAT in their first year of operation accounts for most of the failure rate.
“They started as an “F” because they inherited, essentially, “F” performing students,” Fresen said
Fresen’s defense, however, does not appear to wash.
CBS4′s analysis of the 15 charter schools that failed show at least nine have administered the test for at least two years. Some saw their grades plunge from an “A” to an “F.” At least two had back-to-back “F” grades, including Broward Community Charter Middle School and Lawrence Academy Elementary Charter School in Miami-Dade.
Rick Scott signed legislation last week that strengthens the ability of charter schools to operate in Florida. One mechanism involves failing public school grades. Scott and likely Fresen never considered what will happen if their charter schools would fail.
Still, the episode further illustrates lack of foresight and unfettered zeal with which Florida’s republicans have implemented their plans to change the state’s education system. While establishing strident accountability guidelines for public school, they neither desired nor implemented any for charter schools. Their much ballyhooed school grade system - that they have made the final arbiter - reveal as much.
http://bobsidlethoughtsandmusings.wordpress.com/2011/07/07/in-florida-charter-schools-had-a-failure-rate-740-higher-than-public-schools/
Florida government plays politics with people's lives
from the Orlando Sentinels editorial board
Democrats were in charge last year when Congress passed President Obama's health-care overhaul. Republican legislators in Florida have been waging a partisan war on it ever since, not caring about the collateral damage.
The latest victims are senior citizens and people with disabilities in Florida who are covered under Medicaid, the state and federally funded health-care program.
Last month a joint legislative panel turned down a $2.1 million federal grant that would have made Florida eligible for an additional $35 million from Washington to move Medicaid patients from nursing homes into assisted living facilities or their own homes. A majority on the panel, all Republicans, wanted nothing to do with the money because it was provided under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — what critics call Obamacare.
Florida has taken the lead among 26 states in a lawsuit challenging the act as unconstitutional. A federal judge ruled in favor of the states in January but turned down their request to suspend the law. His ruling has been appealed, and other federal judges have found the act constitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court will almost certainly have the last word.
But Florida legislators already have left on the table at least $54 million — by rejecting grants, returning them, or not applying for them — simply because the programs are part of the Affordable Care Act.
Florida is in no position to be turning down health-care help. More than one in five state residents is without insurance, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. And legislators cut funding for Medicaid and other health-care programs by more than $1 billion in the budget they approved in May.
The federal funds that legislators have shunned would have gone to a wide range of worthy causes. Wellness programs for people with chronic diseases. Construction of community health centers. Help on Medicare premiums and prescription-drug costs for low-income seniors. Hospice care for children.
State Rep. Denise Grimsley, the Sebring Republican who co-chairs the Legislature's interim budget panel, argued the federally funded effort to move patients out of nursing homes would be "redundant" with state programs. But Florida's nursing-home diversion program has a waiting list of more than 11,000 people, according to the state Department of Elder Affairs.
And the federal program, while funded in the Affordable Care Act, actually began in 2005 under then-President George W. Bush. It's not just a compassionate policy; it's also fiscally responsible. Every senior on Medicaid served by the program yields a big savings for taxpayers, because care in a nursing home typically costs more than double what care in an assisted living facility costs, and nearly double what care at home costs.
The federal health money that Florida rejected was made available to other states. It wasn't used to cut federal taxes or reduce the deficit. States that have accepted grants to help move seniors from nursing homes include Wisconsin and Indiana, even though both joined Florida in its suit against the Affordable Care Act.
There's nothing hypocritical about those states taking the money. The lawsuit led by Florida took aim at the Affordable Care Act's requirements that individuals buy health insurance and states expand their Medicaid programs. The suit didn't challenge all federal aid to states for health care.
Florida's GOP legislators need to call a truce in their ideological battle against anything that's even indirectly related to health-care reform. They owe it to the state's most vulnerable residents.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/os-ed-health-reform-money-070711-20110706,0,6605193.story
Democrats were in charge last year when Congress passed President Obama's health-care overhaul. Republican legislators in Florida have been waging a partisan war on it ever since, not caring about the collateral damage.
The latest victims are senior citizens and people with disabilities in Florida who are covered under Medicaid, the state and federally funded health-care program.
Last month a joint legislative panel turned down a $2.1 million federal grant that would have made Florida eligible for an additional $35 million from Washington to move Medicaid patients from nursing homes into assisted living facilities or their own homes. A majority on the panel, all Republicans, wanted nothing to do with the money because it was provided under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — what critics call Obamacare.
Florida has taken the lead among 26 states in a lawsuit challenging the act as unconstitutional. A federal judge ruled in favor of the states in January but turned down their request to suspend the law. His ruling has been appealed, and other federal judges have found the act constitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court will almost certainly have the last word.
But Florida legislators already have left on the table at least $54 million — by rejecting grants, returning them, or not applying for them — simply because the programs are part of the Affordable Care Act.
Florida is in no position to be turning down health-care help. More than one in five state residents is without insurance, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. And legislators cut funding for Medicaid and other health-care programs by more than $1 billion in the budget they approved in May.
The federal funds that legislators have shunned would have gone to a wide range of worthy causes. Wellness programs for people with chronic diseases. Construction of community health centers. Help on Medicare premiums and prescription-drug costs for low-income seniors. Hospice care for children.
State Rep. Denise Grimsley, the Sebring Republican who co-chairs the Legislature's interim budget panel, argued the federally funded effort to move patients out of nursing homes would be "redundant" with state programs. But Florida's nursing-home diversion program has a waiting list of more than 11,000 people, according to the state Department of Elder Affairs.
And the federal program, while funded in the Affordable Care Act, actually began in 2005 under then-President George W. Bush. It's not just a compassionate policy; it's also fiscally responsible. Every senior on Medicaid served by the program yields a big savings for taxpayers, because care in a nursing home typically costs more than double what care in an assisted living facility costs, and nearly double what care at home costs.
The federal health money that Florida rejected was made available to other states. It wasn't used to cut federal taxes or reduce the deficit. States that have accepted grants to help move seniors from nursing homes include Wisconsin and Indiana, even though both joined Florida in its suit against the Affordable Care Act.
There's nothing hypocritical about those states taking the money. The lawsuit led by Florida took aim at the Affordable Care Act's requirements that individuals buy health insurance and states expand their Medicaid programs. The suit didn't challenge all federal aid to states for health care.
Florida's GOP legislators need to call a truce in their ideological battle against anything that's even indirectly related to health-care reform. They owe it to the state's most vulnerable residents.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/os-ed-health-reform-money-070711-20110706,0,6605193.story
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