Momentum picks up to have Scott Shine removed from the Charter Review Commission

If we lived in a decent city whose leadership cared about the people and doing things the right way, then Shine and people like him wouldn't come anywhere close to influencing the city but we don't and here we are.

The thing about Shine is more and more people are realizing what kind of person he is and that may lead to the city council doing what they resist doing all the time and that's the right thing and removing him from the charter review commission where undoubtedly his chief goal is to blow up the governance of our schools. 

Vice chair of the council Tommy Hazouri commented in the Times Union.


At the bottom is a list of board meetings he missed and if he attended 96 percent then the board sure had a lot of meetings.

Two things I should point out. He was getting paid to miss all those workshops, paid by us and its at workshops where the real work occurs, though Shine has never been very concerned with being prepared.

Because of this, and the fact he cost the district over a hundred grand with his malicious remarks people have started to call for his removal.

This from former city council candidate Tracy Polson, via Facebook.

Please consider contacting your City Council Member and asking them to vote no on the appointment of Scott Shine to the Charter Revision Commission. From April 2017 to November 2018 former school board member Shine did not attend over 40 meetings and missed 21 votes. He did not attend required meetings by state statute, such as, setting the millage rate, adopting the tentative budget, the trim notice, and 3 regularly scheduled board meetings back to back. He did not attend Student Expulsion Hearings in which the board decided the consequences of students and their future. During his tenure the district was sued because Mr. Shine personally attacked an employee in the press and behind the scenes demanded the employee be fired. It cost the taxpayer over $100,000! I do NOT want someone like this to be appointed to the city charter review commission! This group will decide significant changes to our city’s charter like whether or not the school board should be 9 members, contain at large seats, or even appointed by the mayor. They can also make recommendations on issues like the future of JEA. I hope you will take the time to call, email or speak at the June 11th meeting. As taxpayers, we deserve someone who is committed to the citizens of Jacksonville and did not abandon their duties while serving.

Um friends, is he really one of the best candidates to review the charter? There is nobody in a city of 800 thousand better qualified? 

Shine was a terrible board member and the bottom line is he would be terrible on the charter review commission too.

Records Online at Duvalschools.org 
From April 2017 Missed meetings where votes were taken 
April 27 budget meeting Vote 
May 9 Budget meeting 
May 10 Student Expulsion Hearing Vote 
August 23 board development 
Sept 6 Board development 
Sept 6 Budget Board Meeting Vote 
October 2 Strategic plan 
October 11 Student Expulsion Hearing Vote 
October 30 Board Development/ Superintendent Search 
Nov. 8 Student Expulsion Hearing Vote 
Nov 15 Policy sub committee 
Nov. 21 Agenda review 
Dec 12 Draft agenda review 
Dec 13 Student Expulsion Hearing Vote
2018 
January 9 Workshop 
Jan. 17 Policy Sub-committee 
Feb 13 Superintendent Profile and Chapter 2 policy review 
Feb 20 Superintendent Search Services Vote 
Feb 28 Superintendent Search Firm Contract Vote 
March 15 Draft agenda 
April 11 Student expulsion Hearing Vote
April 23 budget meeting 
April 26 litigation shade Vote 
April 26 Focus group meetings Superintendent Search 
May 8 Audit Committee / workshop School Safety 
May 8 Superintendent Search Firm Contract Vote 
May 9 Student Expulsion Hearing Vote
May 14 Final Order Vote 
May 15 Agenda Review 
May 16 Superintendent Candidate Interview 
May 17 Superintendent Candidate Interview 
May 18 Superintendent Candidate Interview 
May 23 Policy Handbook Review 
June 11 Joint Planning with City Planning Commission Members 
June 12 Budget workshop 
June 19 Draft agenda 
July 10 Medical Marijuana Policy 
July 24 Draft agenda and Internal Auditor 
July 24 TRIM notice Hearing (State Statute required) Vote 
July 31 Tentative Millage and Budget (State Statute required) Vote 
*August 7 Regular Board Meeting Vote 
August 14 Workshop School Security 
August 15 Student Expulsion Hearing Vote 
August 21 Draft agenda and select Civil Service Board Vote 
*September 10 Regular Board Meeting Vote
September 11 Workshop financial dashboard 
September 12 Student Expulsion Hearing Vote
September 18 Board Workshop agenda review 
September 19 Policy Subcommittee 
*October 2 Regular Board Meeting Vote 
October 5 Strategic Plan / Board Retreat 
October 16 Draft Agenda 
November 13 Internal Auditor selection 
November 14 Policy Subcommittee 
November 19 Draft Agenda

Who is working in Duval County's charter schools?

The Palm Beach Post did an amazing piece about how the for profit charter school chain, Charter Schools USA routinely hired subs and temps to teach their classes putting the bottom line ahead of children. I thought what a great idea and I wanted to find out who worked in those schools up here and we have a bunch, so I asked the district and what I found out shocked me.  

https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/20190530/underpaid-undertrained-unlicensed-in-pbcs-largest-charter-school-chain-1-in-5-teachers-werent-certified-to-teach/1

Here is what the district told me:

Thank you for your patience. The school district’s Certification Office assists charter schools with determining eligibility for Florida certification and certificated hire. However, we do not maintain certification or employment records on charter school employees. Each individual charter school conducts their own hiring and recruiting and maintains those records. The best source of that information would be with the individual charter schools. Please let us know if you have additional questions.

WOW!!!!! The body in charge of running our public schools, and charter schools while crossing their fingers will say over and over again that charters are public schools, has no idea who is teaching in the district's charter schools.

Now I am not mad at the district, this is the system the state has set up. They have diluted the power of school boards nearly to the point or irrelevancy and that's not right and this is coming from a guy who has many issues with the board over the years. The thing is I recognize that having an elected board in charge of our schools is a better system than having people who give large campaign donations be so.

You know teachers in district schools who are out of field or who are needs improvement have letters sent to their students parents letting them know and they all have to have at least a temporary teaching certificate and more and more are required to have multiple certifications. Who lets the parents of charter school know about their kids teachers, their certifications and education? Apparently nobody is required to and not to segue to much into vouchers but those teachers don't have to have any certifications let alone a degree.

I was told I could ask the schools themselves but yeah I am not real optimistic about the response I would be given.

Tallahassee and the republicans there don't want our public schools to succeed and it would be hard for them to care less what charter schools do as long as the checks keep rolling in and its despicable.

Scott Shine was ridiculously bad while on the school board, why should we expect different with him being on the CRC?

Scott Shine was routinely called out by his fellow board members for not being prepared and one of the reason why was probably because he missed a lot of meetings, though now that I think about it, I guess we should be grateful. The bottom line is this guy shouldn't be anywhere near anything that might influence the city and the fact he is should show us show messed up the system is and how the powers-that-be don't care.

Taken from Facebook

Records Online at Duvalschools.org 
From April 2017 Missed meetings where votes were taken 
April 27 budget meeting Vote 
May 9 Budget meeting
May 10 Student Expulsion Hearing Vote 
August 23 board development
Sept 6 Board development 
Sept 6 Budget Board Meeting Vote 
October 2 Strategic plan 
October 11 Student Expulsion Hearing Vote 
October 30 Board Development/ Superintendent Search
Nov. 8 Student Expulsion Hearing Vote 
Nov 15 Policy sub committee 
Nov. 21 Agenda review 
Dec 12 Draft agenda review 
Dec 13 Student Expulsion Hearing Vote
2018
January 9 Workshop 
Jan. 17 Policy Sub-committee 
Feb 13 Superintendent Profile and Chapter 2 policy review 
Feb 20 Superintendent Search Services Vote 
Feb 28 Superintendent Search Firm Contract Vote 
March 15 Draft agenda
April 11 Student expulsion Hearing Vote
April 23 budget meeting 
April 26 litigation shade Vote 
April 26 Focus group meetings Superintendent Search 
May 8 Audit Committee / workshop School Safety 
May 8 Superintendent Search Firm Contract Vote 
May 9 Student Expulsion Hearing Vote
May 14 Final Order Vote 
May 15 Agenda Review 
May 16 Superintendent Candidate Interview 
May 17 Superintendent Candidate Interview 
May 18 Superintendent Candidate Interview 
May 23 Policy Handbook Review 
June 11 Joint Planning with City Planning Commission Members
June 12 Budget workshop 
June 19 Draft agenda 
July 10 Medical Marijuana Policy
July 24 Draft agenda and Internal Auditor 
July 24 TRIM notice Hearing (State Statute required) Vote 
July 31 Tentative Millage and Budget (State Statute required) Vote 
*August 7 Regular Board Meeting Vote 
August 14 Workshop School Security 
August 15 Student Expulsion Hearing Vote 
August 21 Draft agenda and select Civil Service Board Vote 
*September 10 Regular Board Meeting Vote
September 11 Workshop financial dashboard 
September 12 Student Expulsion Hearing Vote
September 18 Board Workshop agenda review 
September 19 Policy Subcommittee 
*October 2 Regular Board Meeting Vote 
October 5 Strategic Plan / Board Retreat 
October 16 Draft Agenda 
November 13 Internal Auditor selection 
November 14 Policy Subcommittee 
November 19 Draft Agenda

Meet our lords and masters the Civic Council

The civic council is overwhelmingly rich, republican, a few don't even live in the city and there is more diversity at the average clan meeting than there is in the group. So why are we letting them rule the city?

Jacksonville's business community has a stranglehold on our city.  The Civic Council, kind of the chambers chamber, made up of elite businessmen like control, and they don't represent our interests, they only represent their own.


Douglas Baer, Brooks Health System

John Baker, FRP Holding, Inc., Florida Rock and Tank Lines

Edward E. Burr, GreenPointe Holdings

Gary Chartrand, Acosta Sales and Marketing

Timothy Cost CHAIRMAN, Jacksonville University

Daniel Edelman, Dixon Hughes Goodman

Matt Kane, GreenShades Software

Kelly Madden, Wells Fargo

Eric Mann, YMCA of Florida's First Coast

Cindy Stover, TD Bank

Susan Wiles, Right Coast Strategies


Peter Rummell 


Wayne Weaver

Along with their businesses they also own a mayor several city council members and state representatives.

Do you think most of the people above have the same experiences and interests as most of us do, how about  desires? Do you think they are concerned about us?

There is nothing wrong with being rich, there is something terribly wrong with letting the rich rule us and finally ask yourself this question, how good of a job have then been doing? 

Jason Fischer goes after a reporter for supporting public education

Jason Fischer is without a doubt the worst of the worse. His disdain for public education is a combination of ignorance and campaign contributions as he hasn't met a charter operator he doesn't like. He is so caught up with the privatizers that in his day job he works for the Florida's voucher king John Kirtley and his only legislative accomplishment of note is the millions in extra tax payer money he has funneled to one of his super donors charter schools.

Well when Nate Monroe pointed out the absurdity of the Civic Council wanting the district to use questionable standards to build news schools, Jason Fischer went after him.

I had no idea Jason Fischer was anti-hurricane shelter, lets cross our fingers the big one doesn't come.
Jason Fischer references HB 7055 which among other things does lessen building requirements, but the bill also included a can of caveats which make the changes meaningless.

On a side note HB 2055 is what is called a train bill that the legislature uses to ran through unpopular legislation by attaching it to more popular ones and is representative of what is wrong in Tallahassee.
https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2018/7055/

Another thing that is wrong is Jason Fischer who only represents his donors and see the millions he has steered to his super donor Gary Chartrand's pet charter school the KIPP school as evidence of that.

Friends, my republican friends, he doesn't care about you, all he cares about is cashing those big checks.

State board member threatens DCPS

Greene starts to speak to the state board of education, a board surprisingly free of educators at about the 2:05 mark. 

http://www.fldoe.org/policy/state-board-of-edu/meetings/2019/2019-05-22/meeting-archive.stml

Area businessman, charter school supporter and not an educator, Joe York speaks with about five minutes left where he over and over said when talking about the civic council, 

"you need to embrace that group and make sure they are part of it."

"you need to embrace that group, or what you will tank the referendum?

"and make sure they are part of it" or what don't unpack your bags?

In between those veiled threats York said the district should beg for more charter schools.

The civic council is composed of a bunch of rich old white guys, at least some of whom don't live in Jacksonville and they through their water carriers, like Curry and York, and Corcoran and Shellenberg, and they want to take control of our schools.  They think because they are rich they are better than you and me, and that gives them the right.  

They do not want our schools to succeed. They want them to fail and proof one is the coordinated attack to tank the referendum that everyone agrees we need.

Curry and the council’s specious reasons not to support the tax referendum.

Councilman Shellenberg said JEA would be glad to chip in, something I am sure nobody has told JEA about.

There are several reasons that Curry and a few council members have given for not supporting the special tax referendum designed to help our resource starved and crumbling schools and all of them are between terrible and disingenuous.  

The first one is that a special election in November would have a small turnout. Well friends if they really cared about turnout they wouldn’t have just had city elections so close to the midterms, when only about a quarter of the eligible voters did so. Curry who only got about 15 percent of the city’s vote and several council persons undoubtedly benefitted from a low turnout which makes them suddenly caring about a low turnout seem self-serving. I submit that everyone who cares about the tax referendum, one way or another, will vote.    

Curry and Bowman have complained about the cost of the special election which may be as much as a million dollars. Well friends DCPS has said they would cover the cost. Now it is true that is tax payer money but it’s just a fraction of what the district says it spends on additional maintenance each year. The district is spending 500k a month on maintenance which would be six million if the district was forced to wait another year, another year in which important projects would also go unfilled and our buildings would deteriorate even more. Wouldn’t it be smart to spend one million to save six million? I think so but Curry and others apparently don’t.

Next Curry says that there isn’t a fully formulated plan. Well friends I guess he should tell that to the plan that has been on the DCPS web-site for about two months now. Now is it the final plan? Probably not but it’s much farther along than they plan the city has presented for the landing, and there the city has already spent 15 million dollars. How can Curry with a straight face ask for a plan, ignore that they do have plan while after spending millions propose no plan for the landing. My grandmother would call that chutzpah but I call it hypocrisy.

Councilman Schellenberg has complained that the city hasn’t had enough input. I guess the dozen plus meetings, some of which he was invited to attend but couldn’t be bothered to do so, and dozen plus more than the city has had about the landing, and the survey that was on the DCPS web-site weren’t good enough for him. Though the truth is I don’t believe anything would be good enough. He is the guy who always finds and excuse even as you can see from above the excuses are made up.     

Then some including the Times Union’s editorial board, say DCPS should sell the school board building, which is paid for and costs them nothing, before they should get any additional money. I imagine at this point DCPS would love to sell it, but doing so at a loss which is what they would have to do would be irresponsible. Selling the DCPS building is a canard that people looking for excuses use that isn’t based in reality. Where is Shad Kahn, or Wayne Weaver, or Peter Rummel or Preston Haskel, how come none of them have stepped up? My bet is because they know there isn’t money to be made there.    

Since none of their reasons make sense, there is a tremendous need for additional revenue and I think we can all admit that both Tallahassee and city hall haven’t done what’s right, we should ask ourselves why there is such resistance from the powers-that be. I believe it’s because they want our public schools, where I will add most of our children go to, too struggle and fail.

Curry is on record saying he prefers charter schools over public schools and his actions while in office, siphoning public money to his super donor Gary Chartrand’s charter school by changing the rules at the Jacksonville Children’s Commission, and vetoing a referendum passed by the city council asking the state board of education not to raise algebra cut scores. Combine that with council president Bowman appointing several pro charter school members to charter commission review commission, and we have the leadership of the city actively working against our public schools which I find reprehensible.     

The long and short of it is many republicans especially those in the political class would like to replace public schools with for profit charters (many of those owners donate to those same politicians) and schools that take vouchers, both of which generally have a revolving door of uncertified teachers. It doesn’t matter to them that the public would be investing in privately owned properties, that they have little or no oversight or there is no real evidence that says they do better. They just won’t admit this to the public because they know it would be unpopular and hard to defend. Which makes them cowards as well as disingenuous.    

Our schools have serious issues that we need to be addressed and if Tallahassee and city hall aren’t going to do what is right then at the very least the citizens of Jacksonville should be given the opportunity to do so.

City Councilman Matt Schellenberg represents all that is wrong in Jacksonville politics (rough draft)

City Councilman Matt Schellenberg represents all that is wrong in Jacksonville politics, amoral, ignorant and mean.

When talking about the half cent sales tax to help Duval County's resourced starved schools he said,  the School Board should withdraw its request for a referendum and demonstrate it is fiscally responsible by reducing bureaucracy and selling its downtown headquarters property on the riverfront. He said the district also must show it “has the backbone and leadership” to consolidate schools.

Schellenberg said the city could find a “fair-minded solution” that shares some of the annual contribution the JEA gives each year to city government, but the case hasn’t been made for sales tax increase.

“Quite frankly, they had a disastrous roll-out because they didn’t engage the public,” Schellenberg said. “Basically, they dismissed that, and I think that’s appalling.”

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190601/sales-tax-referendum-might-slide-to-2020

First fiscal responsibility by reducing bureaucracy and by selling its downtown riverfront headquarters are nothing but two canards that are thrown out to distract. Who does he want to get rid of? What position does he think we have to many of? I bet if pressed he wouldn't be able to name a single person or position. This is what ignorant people say because they heard other ignorant people say it. As for the school board building, it is completely paid for and nobody is offering what it would take to replace it elsewhere. Selling it would be a colossal mistake.

Then he calls for a fair minded solution from a city that has never been fair minded to education, saying perhaps JEA which does not pay property tax could be made to pay some of its city contribution to the district. This is ironic because I couldn't see Curry ever allowing that money to be touched and JEA just said they may have to both increase rates and scale back the contribution and Schellenberg has to know that. 

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190528/jta-considers-fare-hikes-as-june-public-meetings-set

Then he talks about the disastrous roll out and I think it could have been done better. Months ago at one of the many meetings that Schellenberg could not be bothered to attend, I could see what they were doing and asked it it was going to be a sales tax or millage increase and was kind of blown off. It would have been a lot better had they just admitted that was their plan then. That being said there have literally been about 20 meetings all over town and they solicited input on-line for over a month. Did Schellenberg want them to go door to door? What's appalling is his complete lack of facts and up to now interest.  

Then do you know what Schellenberg has done during his term in office to help public schools? ... crickets... nothing, which means while turning his back on public education, he has the nerve to complain when the district finally decided to do something. He should shut his pie hole and allow the people of Jacksonville to decide.

There is absolutely nothing the district could have done that would have satisfied Schellenberg because like Curry and more than a few others in City Hall, I believe he wants our schools to fail.  

This guy, ignorant, mean and amoral represents all that is wrong in Jacksonville. 

  

Florida is starving its public schools is by design

This year Florida increase its discretionary school spending by about 75 bucks per child, or you know about a thousand dollars less than what schools received in 2005.

From the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,

Some states still provide much less K-12 funding per student than in the 2008 school year, when the Great Recession hit, according to new Census Bureau data and state budget documents.

In seven states, combined state and local school funding in the 2017 school year was at least 10 percent below pre-recession levels in inflation-adjusted terms, Census data show. Florida, the deepest-cutting state, was down 22.7 percent; Arizona, 22.6 percent; and Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Alabama, all over 10 percent (see graph). In all, 22 states plus the District of Columbia remained below pre-recession levels.

While some of the deepest-cutting states have increased funding somewhat since 2017, often after teacher protests, they haven’t fully restored the cuts, the evidence shows. For example, as of the current (2019) school year, Oklahoma cut “formula” funding — its main form of state support for elementary and secondary schools — by 15 percent per student over the last decade, our analysis of state budget documents finds. In two other teacher-protest states, Arizona and North Carolina, formula funding is still 6 percent and 7 percent below pre-recession levels, respectively.

Nationally, combined state and local school funding per student has finally recovered from the recession. In the 2017 school year, it was $267 above the 2008 level, after adjusting for inflation — a modest 2 percent increase. But state funding was still $32 per student below pre-recession levels, while local funding was up $299.

This shift from state to local funding can worsen funding inequities among school districts. Local funding relies heavily on local property taxes, so school districts in neighborhoods with high property values can more easily raise adequate revenue. States can offset local inequities using funding formulas that provide significantly more to lower-income districts, but only about 11 states did as of the 2015 school year, according to an analysis by the Education Law Center and Rutgers University’s Graduate School of Education. Since children of color are likelier than white children to attend high-poverty schools, largely due to historical racism and ongoing discrimination and bias, most states’ failure to better fund high-poverty schools perpetuates racial inequities.

Steep K-12 funding cuts impede reforms that improve student outcomes, like upgrading teacher quality, reducing class sizes, and extending learning time. States imposing these deep cuts weaken our shared future.

https://www.cbpp.org/blog/k-12-funding-still-lagging-in-many-states?fbclid=IwAR1LgIMQKgq77FA4IztPTCqffEf-m9HAeQJGJsZB0pnusWb-lqvgejx2NvU

Florida is taking in more tax money than ever and its budget is bigger than ever , yet still education funding is lower than 2005 levels? 

Why would Florida intentionally starve our public schools, well friends it’s because the powers that be want to replace them with a hodge podge of charters and private schools that take vouchers and end teaching as a profession while they do so. They want to do it so a handful of people can get super rich, though sadly more than a few think they will too, and they don’t care about the millions and millions they hurt along the way.

The notion Education Commissioner Corcoran cares about poor and mostly minority children pr any children for that matter is laughable.

When responding to an article about Bernie Sanders wanting to clamp down on the for profit charter school industry, Corcoran was involved in the following Tweet exchange.

Ugh, despicable, and the truth is if Corcoran really cared about kids, all kids, then he would be working to improve and properly fund public education instead, where most kids including poor and minority one go to, of bludgeoning it into pieces which is what he is currently doing.  

Here are some of the for profit charter school scandals from just the past week alone.

Charters hiring temps and subs rather than teachers

https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/20190530/underpaid-undertrained-unlicensed-in-pbcs-largest-charter-school-chain-1-in-5-teachers-werent-certified-to- 

Charter school in complete disarray stiffing teachers

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2019/05/29/nashville-charter-school-knowledge-academies-ceo-

Charter school accused of stealing 50 million form California

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/charter-schools-charged-with-stealing-50m-from-california/2019/05/29/fe32f01e-8257-11e9-b585-e36b16a531aa_story.html?utm_term=.7d17ba352f43

Charter principal loses his license

https://www.bradenton.com/news/local/education/article230957328.html

I could have gone on and on and on and this is the industry that Corcoran has thrown his hat in with and it has nothing to do with helping children and everything to do with the dollar signs Corcoran, whose wife already runs charter schools, apparently sees them floating around.

If we lived in a decent and moral state, this man would not be allowed near anything to do with education but as you can see we don’t and children and tax payers will pay a steep price because of it.

To read more about this truly despicable industry click the link: https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/19/federal-government-has-poured-millions-failing-charter-schools-louisiana