Test scores are low at an elementary school in Tampa.
The state ordered that every one of its teachers be fired.
Even first-year teachers will go.
The school has been plagued by high staff turnover in the past.
The state’s answer to the problem of churn is simple: Make it 100%.
State officials are unable or unwilling to provide support.
They refuse any accountability.
The entire Florida State Department of Education should be fired, in hopes of turning around the department and bringing in educators who know how to help the schools for which they are responsible.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Makes me think we are testing the wrong subjects. It’s the FDE that needs firing.
i thought new teachers were the answer; fire all us experienced teachers and replace us with new. hasn’t this been the reformers motto?
This is most likely a situation where students need more than test prep. Many schools that allow teachers to help with policy have improve. But sometimes policy makers refuse to see that social issues need to be addressed as strongly as academic ones. This is a school where students need time to grow and mature, And they need to be nurtured socially and emotionally before they can begin to make academic gains. And most of all, school should be a haven for students, …A place where they want to be creative and explore…and develop a love of learning. When kinder children are being stressed out, how is it possible for the rest of the school to survive. Play time and centers have been substituted with work books. The stress level on the teachers is also evident due to the high turnover. I don’t think we should be testing these kids so young.
Perfect! Time to start turning the tables on the source of real educational ineptitude.
Wow, and I thought NY State Ed. was a mess……….How do these pawns of Pearson sleep at night?
How do we get people to wake up? I send information emails where I pick a topic about common core and give them facts. Some are reacting.. but so many are silent.. they only start to wake up when it affects their child. The administration is just looking at there here and now and not fully understanding the scope of this issue… the.. what’s really coming issue!!!! it’s super frustrating!! We have so much evidence from so many that are ahead of us in implementation… I have taken to educating our Florida legislature committee by sending them morsels of information.. how can we find out who in the legislature believes in what? so that we can start being more targeted when we write them? Any thoughts??
“They’ve had high turnover and trouble staffing the school.” Wow!! What do you think it will be like once people know they will fire an entire staff? Who would apply? Forget it.
How many years of firing teachers and closing schools before they stop the insanity!
As someone put it, Florida keeps moving the goal posts, they don’t want us to succeed. I teach in a blue collar, working class school. These people have lost all hope since the economic crash. Some of my kids are just happy to get breakfast and have a safe place to spend the day. Their test scores are going nowhere for awhile.
Let’s not forget that the head of FDOE was run out of one state and gov Scott welcomed him with open arms, and is paying him $500,000 per year to dismantle public ed.
I want to fight these people and let the public/parents know what is going on. Any ideas? Please share.
On the other hand, maybe we should just give it to them. If they can feed them, bus them, educate them, counsel them, disciplin them better and cheaper than we can, let them do it. Remember, these people are elites, they have no clue what public ed in America is about.
Bruce,
Join the Network for Public Education.