Here is a low-income school in Tampa that put out a public appeal for books. It needs $3,000 for books.
The superintendent makes $263,000 a year.
Archives for category: Florida
Please join this important discussion about the corporate attempt to trick parents into handing their public schools over to private corporations:
The Parent Trigger from California to Florida
Sunday, May 26, 2013 from 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM Pacific Time
We will be hearing from Lori Yuan, a parent in Adelanto who fought the Parent Trigger at her school, and Parents Across America Founding Member Rita Solnet who, along with other organizations, defeated the Parent Trigger bill in the Florida State Senate on March 9, 2013.
To reserve your ticket, go to eventbrite.
This event is free.
This event is organized by Parents Across America.
A teacher in Miami asks these questions. Can you answer and help us understand?
“I am writing out of anxiety and fear .. I have been a bit down for a year, I realize I may have to switch careers or move to another state.
“I could be wrong but I feel the greatest school reformation in the US is occurring in Miami-Dade county public schools.
“Miami-Dade is the 4th largest district in the country (392 schools, 345,000 students and over 40,000 employees). Miami-Dade has a WEAK union (right to work state)… The union is so weak, it feels as if the union is part of the school system.
“Miami insights
– teachers contribute 3% of our salary for retirement
– salary tied to Testing
– VAM
– weak union
– Eli Broad award
– Common Core
– $1.2 new technology bond (My fear, Bill Gates’ cameras will soon be in the classroom.)
– charter schools/ virtual schools
– 11,000 new immigrant students a year, 68,000 esol .
– financially, it is difficult for teachers to make ends meet … Miami is an expensive city, I wonder if some teachers are on Food Stamps and or have lost their homes — our salary scale is shocking
http://salary.dadeschools.net/Schd_Teachers/
***( I have been teaching 14 years but I am on step 11 due to frozen salaries ($42,128) , I just advanced a step, $300, which the school system considered a raise ( it was a step)….. No cost of living expense was factored in)
– the school system pays for teachers health insurance but high out of pocket expenses (Dr visits, prescriptions are VERY high, I pay an additional $2,400 a year with dental & vision) .
What do you see happening in Miami Dade County public schools??
Are my fears a reality???”
A teacher in Miami asks these questions. Can you answer and help us understand?
“I am writing out of anxiety and fear .. I have been a bit down for a year, I realize I may have to switch careers or move to another state.
“I could be wrong but I feel the greatest school reformation in the US is occurring in Miami-Dade county public schools.
“Miami-Dade is the 4th largest district in the country (392 schools, 345,000 students and over 40,000 employees). Miami-Dade has a WEAK union (right to work state)… The union is so weak, it feels as if the union is part of the school system.
“Miami insights
– teachers contribute 3% of our salary for retirement
– salary tied to Testing
– VAM
– weak union
– Eli Broad award
– Common Core
– $1.2 new technology bond (My fear, Bill Gates’ cameras will soon be in the classroom.)
– charter schools/ virtual schools
– 11,000 new immigrant students a year, 68,000 esol .
– financially, it is difficult for teachers to make ends meet … Miami is an expensive city, I wonder if some teachers are on Food Stamps and or have lost their homes — our salary scale is shocking
http://salary.dadeschools.net/Schd_Teachers/
***( I have been teaching 14 years but I am on step 11 due to frozen salaries ($42,128) , I just advanced a step, $300, which the school system considered a raise ( it was a step)….. No cost of living expense was factored in)
– the school system pays for teachers health insurance but high out of pocket expenses (Dr visits, prescriptions are VERY high, I pay an additional $2,400 a year with dental & vision) .
What do you see happening in Miami Dade County public schools??
Are my fears a reality???”
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York released a study of Florida’s accountability system–the one that Jeb Bush brags about–and concludes that the system promotes behavior to game the system. Schools are assigning children to categories where they will not lower the school’s letter grade.
Here is a succinct summary of the paper:, from the Wall Street Journal blog:
“The way some schools are being held to account for student performance can corrupt how these institutions seek to achieve the standards, a new paper from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York warns.
“The bank’s researchers took at look at what happened among some schools in Florida around the turn of the millennium. What they found was alarming.
“Analysts Rajashri Chakrabarti and Noah Schwartz found evidence some Sunshine State schools deliberately moved underperforming students into exempt categories in order to have those students not drag down the performance of the school as a whole.”
This, of course, has nothing to do with improving education or addressing the needs of the children. It is all about meeting a target.
Michael Weston shares the news from his school, where testing takes precedence over teaching.
He writes:
May 3, 2013. It actually happened at Freedom High School today. The Unthinkable. Beyond the Pale. This afternoon, 7th period, we had an AP Testing pep rally. Yes, a testing pep rally. I had heard rumors of such things, but had a hard time believing them. Today I saw.
Hillsborough County Florida is one of those districts that has stuffed AP classes full with any student who a) wants to take one, b) can be cajoled to take one, c) is involuntarily signed up for one, or d) is placed under extreme pressure to take one.
This is all in the name of increased rigor of course. Apparently “increased rigor” is “New English” for Superintendent bonus. Yes, the number of AP tests taken is in her contract as a bonus provision.
Students lose instructional time taking these tests.
Students lose instructional time when their teachers have to proctor these tests.
Students lose instructional time when classes are under half full because OTHER kids are taking tests.
The list goes on.
For the last 4 weeks we have been FCATing. Two weeks ago started Florida End of Course Exams (they continue for some weeks) and Monday begins AP testing season.
Now – students lose learning time to a TESTING PEP RALLY??? REALLY?
Florida teachers should file a class action law suit or union grievances that this level of attention to testing creates a hostile environment for teaching.
Parents should likewise take action, as this level of attention to testing creates a hostile environment to learning.
Imagine this: An elected official who fought the parent trigger in Florida and worked with parents and civil rights groups to beat it.
Governor Rick Scott has been an enemy of public education throughout his term. His poll numbers are now in the 30s.
We need more public officials like Nan Rich in every state!
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Just hours after the defeat of parent trigger legislation, some of its advocates moved key portions into another bill.
In this case, this provision was salvaged:
“A bill focused on charter schools (HB 7009) was amended Tuesday afternoon. It now requires that children in classes taught by teachers with an “unsatisfactory” or “needs improvement” ratings during the current school year could not be taught by similar teachers in the same subject next year.”
Sounds reasonable except that the state’s evaluation system is ineffective.
Never say die, especially if there is a chance at harassing public school teachers.
More of the “punish don’t support” theory.
Florida parents–especially the Determined Moms–beat the Parent Trigger again. The Senate voted 19-19. The tie vote was a repeat of last year’s vote.
Enough Florida Republicans voted Nay to block the bill.
Parent power beat corporate power!
Florida parent groups–the PTAs, Testing Is not Teaching, Fund Education Now, 50th No More, and others–stood firm against the charter lobby.
Florida has more than 600 charter schools, but not enough to satisfy the charter industry. It has for-profit charters and cyber charters, but not enough to satisfy the profiteers.
Who won? Public schools.
Who lost? Jeb Bush. Michelle Rhee. The charter industry.
Remember when charter advocates said they could do a better job of educating kids with less money? You probably don’t remember, it was years ago.
The charters have forgotten it too. In Florida, the charter lobby just got $91 million from the Legislature. This is money taken from the public schools’ facilities fund. Now, instead of the facilities belonging to the public, they will belong to the private sector organizations, for-profit and nonprofit, that own the charters. The entrepreneurs keep the public money. It is theirs.
Florida is well on its way to establishing a dual school system, one public, the other charter, both paid for with public funds. Florida has some of the nation’s most aggressive for-profit charter chains, which lobby, give money to candidates, and produce poor results for kids. One of those for-profit charter chains is Mavericks, run by Frank Biden, brother of our Vice President Joe Biden. It has a spotty record. But it will now get facilities funding, thanks to adroit lobbyists and a sympathetic governor and legislature. And public schools will get less.
Diane Ravitch's blog 