The Gradebook | School news from Tampa Bay, Florida

A weekend interview with plaintiffs and attorneys in the Florida high quality schools lawsuit

2009-11-21T11:59:00-05:00

On Wednesday, a group of parents and parents advocacy groups filed suit against the state, charging that it had not lived up to a constitutional mandate to provide high quality schools. On Tuesday, several members of the group and several of their attorneys met with the St. Petersburg Times editorial board. The following are excerpts from the interview.

The plaintiffs group included Kathleen Oropeza and Linda Kobert from the Orlando-based group Fund Education Now; Mark McGriff, executive director of the Gainesville-based Citizens for Strong Schools; co-counsel Jon Mills, a former Florida House speaker; and co-counsel Jodi Siegel and Neil Chonin, both with Southern Legal Counsel, a Gainesville public interest law firm. (Orlando Sentinel photo shows, from left, FEN co-founders Christine Bramuchi, Kobert and Oropeza.)

Jon Mills: The capsule is 10 years ago, the people of Florida passed a constitutional amendment with 71 percent that says we are entitled to a free, public school system that’s high quality and that’s a paramount duty of the state and a fundamental value of the state. There were two of us involved in introducing that amendment. Bobby Brochin, some of you may remember … is fired up about this too. He’s in Miami. We worked for years trying to figure out the best way to do this. And sort of the best way to do this came to us.

The citizens groups – Mark’s group in Gainesville had done some work already on local financial support for the school system. We talked to them. … And we talked to Fund Education Now. And they were enthusiastic about becoming part of this. And there really is a statewide reach to both of those organizations. And it is a citizen driven lawsuit.

The lawsuit is to enforce, through a declaratory judgment, Article IX of the Constitution. And it simply asks the question: Is the state meeting its obligation to provide a high-quality system of free public schools that are safe, secure and high quality – and whether they’re meeting the paramount duty. And one issue is we want to point out with paramount duty is, there’s been a trend in the last decade since this amendment was passed of what is the state level of support for public schools. Which has gone from ballpark 60 percent to ballpark 45 percent. Which essentially means that local government is footing the bill. And property tax payers and school boards are paying far more than they used to. And if it is in fact the paramount duty of the state, given our understanding of the word, the state is primarily responsible for funding the public school system.

There are also a lot of other measures that are in the complaint and the background documents that we’ve given you. There are problems with school safety that just objectively bother me as a parent. The graduation rate. The overall performance. Those are all numbers that are in there. But the interesting thing is what we’ve gotten with working with individual citizens. Everyday, real-life stories. They’re asking parents to fund pencils, pens, erasers [“Toilet paper!” one of the plaintiffs calls out]. Funding the basics is not what people had in mind when they voted for that constitutional amendment.

A threshold question is: Should the courts be handling it? And the answer has to be, if the constitution means anything, it doesn’t confer unlimited authority upon the Legislature and the state to ignore it.

Very specifically, there was a case in 1996 that you’re probably familiar with, the Coalition for Adequacy. And the Supreme Court rejected taking that case by a 3-1-3 thing … But the basic analysis is, the majority of the court really didn’t reject that case. Three of them rejected the case. Ben Overton said if you show me 30 percent illiteracy, we should take the case. Three of them said we should take the case now. So I would argue that even though that case rejected this litigation over a decade ago, it did not reject it for all time and did not reject it for all circumstances.

What happened after that was, the Florida Constitutional Revision Commission met, and it specifically addressed that case in its debate. … We said very specifically we meant for this amendment to overrule that case. And for courts to be able to make a judgment.

Kathleen Oropeza: Basically, what happened with us is, last year we were met with, in January, when we had cut up to $110 million out of little Orange County. Orange County’s a big county. We’re a donor county. But then by later on that month, we found out that we’d be cutting $240 million. And so that was basically 25 percent of the gross budget for Orange County was going to go away. That got down past the muscle and into the bone of what we provide as educators to our kids. No art. No music. No paras (paraprofessionals). The ticking off of the diminishing of the education experience was frightening. And that’s what got us going. And the first question we asked, amongst ourselves, was, ‘What is it we can do fix this?’ And it always came back to legal action.

And we were three moms. And we didn’t have the wherewithal to do much more than start a Web site, get talking and get going. But we always knew in the back of our mind that, in researching every other state that’s made significant strides in reforming their education and making it a more high quality standard – for instance, like Maryland – they had to be compelled. Even people who may have thought they should do it had to be compelled by the sharp stick of the court. So this is, in our view, a gift to the kids of the state and to the people of the state of Florida.

Jon Mills: The lawsuit is part of a larger mission. These guys are not going away. And neither is the mission. It’s part of it, not all of it. We know it’s going to take a long time and it’s part of it. It’s also non partisan. This is one of the first times in my life I haven’t asked what party they are, and I don’t know. I’m led to believe we have all parties.

Some of you from Tallahassee know Thom Rumberger. You saw in the complaint is one of the co-counsels. I’ve worked on a number of cases with Thom, and as you well know, Thom is a Republican.

St. Pete Times: Can I ask a strategic question of the attorneys? I’m familiar with cases regarding quality education around the country and they’re often around the distribution of resources – not necessarily that there needs to be resources, but the way resources are allocated is fundamentally unfair somewhat. I’m not that familiar with lawsuits that say the pie is not big enough. Can you talk a little about those cases out there?

Jodi Siegel: It isn’t just about funding. It’s about policies. It’s about how we go about education. But funding is important. It is part of it. And you’re right. Most of those cases out there are funded differently than Florida. And they are very disparate in many ways. And Florida, while it’s not perfect in how it’s distributed, but how the FEFP, the Florida Education Finance Program is distributed, is fairly uniform. … There are some cases out there, most of the cases are not like that. We’re taking a different approach. A declaratory action focusing more on getting the court for the first step to see that it’s not high quality, it doesn’t meet the constitution, and the funding question itself is not being asked. So it is different in that way. And then part of the relief is going to be one, is there sufficient amount of funding, and how do we figure that out. What are some of the policies. What are some of the other things in order to correct that.

Jon Mills: There are two different types of lawsuits nationally. One is uniformity. It’s if you have such disparate treatment of different school boards within you state, that’s a violation. This isn’t that lawsuit.

SPT: I just want to know what courts have done with performance lawsuits.

Neil Chonin: Well, it’s a mixed bag. I would say all of them have taken 10 years or more to come to any conclusions. I would say most of them, it’s about a 50-50. But none of them, if you were to rank constitutions and education and language, we would be what’s considered a 4 – which is the highest constitutional (something). There’s only one other state in the country that has the language we have in it. So we’re not bringing an equity suit. We’re bringing basically a deck action and how can we be ranked in all these different areas so low and so bad and that be high quality.

Jon Mills: I don’t think another state has that specific a language. The most recent case by the way is Colorado. There’s a Colorado case in the past two months that decided that their constitution was justiciable.

And you wonder about this ranking of 1 through 4. I mean some academic did at one point make it up. But the Florida courts have referred to it twice. …

And four is the highest, toughest mandate. And in Bush v. Holmes (the voucher case decided in 2006), the majority opinion of the Supreme Court of Florida said Florida is a 4, and it said Florida moved from a 1 to a 4.

If you look at the voucher case, there’s also some of the better language interpreting what this means. And that in fact that court thought it meant something.

SPT: So let’s say you have a declaratory judgment. And the Legislature is found not to be upholding the Florida Constitution. What’s the remedy? Do you have court supervision of funding, district by district? What happens?

Neil Chonin: A lot of things could happen. No. 1, the court can order the Legislature, as they did in New Jersey, to come back with a high quality plan as to how you’re going to do it. It might not be a bad idea to maybe take our standards and cost out what it costs to properly fund. You know, we’ve got these great standards and everything that some past politicians have spoken about, but the question is, how do you implement them? What type of education system do you need to comply with it? So, we’re not necessarily asking the court to devise an education system. We’re asking the court to declare the present education system unconstitutional and order the Legislature to come back with a constitutional educational system.

Linda Kobert: This is very similar to what happened in Maryland. We had a very similar situation in Maryland. And the courts compelled the Legislature to follow the constitution. They brought in two different groups – one from the Legislature, and an independent organization that they took the standards of Maryland, costed it out, then you find the revenue under your constitution and you deliver it. And your accountability becomes a measure of whether or not you deliver on the standards, as opposed to the way we do it in Florida. That may be one of the remedies. But that is part of the Legislature’s job, to come up with a remedy once we decide that our constitution is enforceable.

Jon Mills: There’s a book that just came out (Kids and Courts, by Michael Rebele) that talked about the usefulness of this type of legislation. And one of the elements that I particularly wanted to mention to you is, this is when you finally really find out what the statistics are. Right now, it’s just who gets the best press release. But if you’re going to put evidence in court, you’re going to find out. So, if a year from now, if we find out this is a high quality system, we’re done. But ultimately, what I think you’re talking about is, a negotiation. If you determine that this is not a high quality system, we have to figure out what is.

SPT: Some of this hinges on what is a paramount duty, right? And have the courts decided what that is?

Neil Chonin: No. They have not. That’s part of our job here. Part of our job is defining this. What does all this mean? One thing I know is, I sure don’t want to leave it up to the Legislature to tell me what it means.

Jon Mills: Let me make it clear: I love legislators, having been one. But the courts have a role.

SPT: What was your intent by saying paramount duty? I mean does it supersede every other duty?

Jon Mills: This is more information that you want to know. In 1868, the words were in the Constitution. It was, at one time, the paramount duty of the state. It was taken out. There had been some hypothesis that it was racially motivated. That you wanted to have unequal schools because you didn’t want to have education be the paramount duty of the state. So it was out for 120 years. And now it says a paramount duty of the state. … There’s only one article in the constitution that actually has a substantive heading: Education. There’s not a heading on social services, welfare, criminal justice, anything else. Just education. And it says education is a paramount duty of the state and it’s a fundamental value. I think we as a society accepted that it’s the state’s duty and probably it’s most important. That’s what paramount means. So has it been defined before? No.

St. Pete Times: Will the state argue though that they set the RLE, and therefore they’re deciding where those property tax dollars are going, so they are fulfilling that duty.

Jon Mills: Do I want to give you a good legal argument in response to that, I’m not sure.

Jodi Siegel: I don’t know that we really need to go into legal argument on that, anticipating motions and whatever. But yes, we do know they will argue that. We’ve heard that argument by legislators in news articles and whatever.

SPT: Even if things work out in your favor, an actual solution is probably years away. What sort of pressure do you hope to put on legislators in the hear and now, with the general session coming up early next year to start to fix this. You’ve got the class size amendment, back again. You’ve got stimulus money about to disappear. We all live in school districts where it’s just getting worse.

Neil Chonin: It’s hard to tell. The political process is very hard to predict and whether this is going to be an impetus or not. The important thing is, we’re going to develop a record. We’re going to once and for all – you know, it’s like going into a legislative subcommittee and talking to committee members. We’re going to have statistics. We’re going to have experts. We’re going to have a record so that there can e some objective evaluation of what that Article IX means to the citizens of Florida. So, it’s probably going to take a while.

Jodi Siegel: But it does need to be part of every session, and discussion at every session.

SPT: That’s sort of what I’m driving at. If an ultimate resolution is a decade away, that doesn’t help first graders.

Jodi Siegel: The ultimate resolution is political. So we go to court and we certainly have our legal objectives, we want the court to declare and so forth. But ultimately the court’s not going to be legislating.

Kathleen Oropeza: In the other lawsuits that have been successful, the courts stripped the politics out of it by having independent costing-out firms come in who are not in any way tied to the legislators. They took the politics, the political discussion away from it, and put it in black and white terms: Is this quality? Is this this budget? Are these kids achieving? These are fundamental, basic questions. Very much to the point, this legal action is just a leg in a stool. It’s up to all of us, everyone around this table, who know a child or loves a child, or who doesn’t want to be a victim of crime, to be engaged in this.

It’s my fault, certainly, for not being part of this before a year ago. But now I am. They’ve got my attention now. And we’re not going away. And even if we, in the best case scenario, get everything we wanted from the court, we’re still going to have to watchdog. We have term limits. We have short memories going on over there. So it’s clear that there’s a lot of work to be done. But the payoff is long term for our state. It’s economic growth. It’s a citizen that isn’t trying to leave. We’ve got a brain drain going on. So there are so many benefits to sinking our teeth into this. It is a marathon. It’s not a spring. But shying away from that fact doesn’t make us any closer to achieving what we want.

Mark McGriff: One of the things we have to solve immediately is the cuts. Mid year cuts. Mid year cuts are devastating. School systems across the state are canceling athletic teams left and right. In our county, we were able to pass a one-mil initiative locally. Our citizens voted for it overwhelmingly because they understand the danger that we’re in. We were able to save bands, music, art … magnet programs in all the high schools. We’ll have that for four years. But then we’ll have to go back and vote on it again. What we need to stop the cutting, now. And we actually think the lawsuit may provide a little bit of political cover.

SPT: Is there any experience with these lawsuits come about and you actually have a political leader with some power who steps forward to embrace it?

Neil Chonin: Dan Gelber. (laughter)

Jon Mills: I think there is an example – and I can’t remember which state – where somebody who was a defendant became a plaintiff. And that’s what you’re asking? So, there’s opportunity. And I also think there are a number of members of the Legislature will be fine with it.

SPT: Most of those are sitting in the back of the room. ... I don’t believe that you as speaker would have taken kindly to a lawsuit aimed at you …

Jon Mills: I never would have wanted to be sued. But as I recall, we were sued on corrections. And I think that some of us thought that we had a bad corrections system and we needed to do something. As a matter of fact, I remember being chair of the subcommittee that dealt with it, and somebody telling me, well, you better listen. It’s a federal judge. So there are people of both parties who would like to figure out how to do the right thing.

SPT: Money’s not the only thing, but it’s a big part of this.

Jon Mills: Part of why we’re trying to be as specific on this as we can is we want everybody to agree on what the facts are. Let’s agree that this system is failing.

SPT: What I was driving on was the tax structure of the state. The tax structure would ultimately have to change to provide the kind of money that …

Jodi Siegel: That may be a resolution. But that’s certainly not what we’re seeking.

Linda Kobert: They keep saying it’s not about money, it’s not about money. Some of it is about money. Because I don’t know how you teach the latest math and science without good equipment. And you can’t replace 10-year-old computers without money. We keep saying that you can’t bake the cake without the flour and the eggs. … But that’s not the main issue in this suit. That will be part of the solution. And that will be up to everyone to find the solution. And this is about compelling a solution to the problem.

Jon Mills: Unless we get an answer to the first question, we can’t proceed.

SPT: Let’s say you get an answer, and the state courts say it’s non-justiciable. Do you then try a new constitutional amendment – one that says specifically …

Jon Mills: (Loud sigh). Oh, make me really, really tired. Well, yeah. I mean, I guess. (He laughs).

Kathleen Oropeza: There are many elements at play here. There’s the court of public opinion. There’s the fact that the fair districting thing is going to come up. So, hopefully we’ll start to have more yin and yang in our districts, and more hearty democratic discussion. There is the fact that this is not sustainable. We as an organization have spent a lot of time building a case about the economic impact of the state not making high quality, globally competitive education a priority here. We’ll never attract any of those STEM, science technology engineering math type businesses here, if we cannot prove that our K-12 portion of education is going to be able to compete with a kid in Bombay …

SPT: We totally agree with you. And the Florida Chamber of Commerce sits in this room every single year and they say the exact same thing. And they go up to the state Legislature and they lobby against increased taxes. So is there any way, if you want to go the public opinion route or the lobby route, have you tried to enlist some of the most powerful elements of the state in your efforts. Have they joined you?

Linda Kobert: The suit does not stop the other efforts that we’re making in the areas of advocacy. And we’re going around the state in talking to business leaders, political leaders, parents, teaches, administrators, everyone – everyone has to be part of the solution.

SPT: You mention this was one leg of the stool.

Linda Kobert: We travel around the state. County by county. Talking to mostly parent organizations. There is no more dangerous animal than a mother bear. And our children are being shortchanged. So we go county by county and people are relieved to find someone standing up for the children. You know, there are lobbies for every special interest imaginable up in Tallahassee. There is no paid lobbyist who works just on behalf of children. So that’s what we’re doing. We’re going around the state. County by county. Getting the parent organizations organized. And they say, tell us what to do. And we say you know what? Start by getting your people together. Start by making appointments with your legislators. Tell them what you want. Oftentimes we’ll hear from legislators, ‘Oh well, I didn’t know. I didn’t know about all these unfunded mandates. I didn’t know what your specific school was going to have a $5 million cut. To Boone High School? Oh my gosh, what are you going to do? These are the specific stories they need to hear. So we teach the parents, county by county, how to be advocates. Because it’s something a lot of them have never done. We’ve also traveled to Tallahassee to visit with our representatives up there. We go to their offices in our district. We travel around the state to talk to anyone who will listen.

SPT: You’ve got language in here, “the current accountability policy in Florida is an obstacle to a high quality education,” high stakes testing is a problem. You’re going to have Jeb Bush reared up. Whether it’s a non partisan issue or not, it’s going to look like a partisan issue.

Linda Kobert: As far as Mr. Bush, there are many things we can agree on. And he’s also working for quality in education. However, we may or may not agree on the route to get there. But we can all agree that high quality education in the state of Florida is a priority. It is what everybody wants.

Florida education news: Career academies, practical jokes, student records and more

2009-11-21T06:24:06-05:00

WHO SAYS CAREER ACADEMIES ARE NEW? The Veterinary Sciences Academy at Tarpon Springs High has been around since 1995, this year serving 220 students. (Times photo, Demorris Lee)

CONGRATS: Parrott Middle School ESE paraprofessional Yvette Hart is Hernando's school-related employee of the year.

FREE DEGREE: UF offers some Pinellas math and science teachers a free master's degree in exchange for making a five-year commitment to their schools.

A GRUELING BATTLE: The latest lawsuit against Florida's schooling system will take a long time to get through, and shouldn't be the only effort to improve the system, the Times editorializes.

HECK NO, WE WON'T GO: A St. Lucie charter school files suit against the school district to stay open, the Port St. Lucie Tribune reports.

DELAYED: The court case of ousted Broward board member Beverly Gallagher is postponed to give her time to cut a deal, the Miami Herald reports.

PRANKSTER IN CHIEF: The principal of Duval's Lee High loves a good practical joke as much as the next person, the Florida Times-Union reports.

ON THE MOVE: Some Merritt Island students are getting a real-life education as they walk to Tallahassee, 10 miles at a time, Florida Today reports.

EVEN TEACHERS MUST FOLLOW FERPA: Some Polk educators are in hot water for inappropriately accessing student records, the Lakeland Ledger reports.

LABOR NEWS: A Pinellas lawyer is telling Monroe teachers that their district doesn't respect their rights, the Keynoter reports.

Visit the Gradebook at noon for an interview with the plaintiffs and lawyers in the latest lawsuit over Florida's school adequacy.

Fourth candidate enters race to replace Starkey on Pasco School Board

2009-11-20T16:31:00-05:00

When psychologist Steven Kanakis had trouble finding child care for his son with autism, he pushed for a seat on the Pasco-Hernando Early Learning Coalition to help improve the choices for families like his.

His son now attends third grade at Longleaf Elementary School, and Kanakis has seen things in the special education system he thinks need fixing. So he's cast his name into the increasingly crowded field for Pasco School Board District 4.

"I feel like disabled kids need a voice on the School Board," Kanakis, 46, said.

Kanakis would run against pastor John Tracy, retired court reporter Billie Kaleel and medical supplies firm owner Christopher Cooley for the seat, which Kathryn Starkey plans to resign in July in order to run for State House District 45. The nonpartisan race would take place in fall 2010 unless Starkey changes direction; the seat otherwise is not slated to come open until 2012.

Pasco principal files surprise retirement

2009-11-20T15:00:00-05:00

John Shafchuk, who first joined the Pasco County school district in 1975, is about to serve his final day here.

Shafchuk, principal of Deer Park Elementary on Trouble Creek Road since 2003, caught folks off guard this past week by filing his retirement papers. He leaves at the end of the semester (officially, Jan. 6).

"I have enjoyed all the years I have been in education with the Pasco County school system," he said in his letter. "I will also miss all the excellent professionals I have worked with over the years."

Superintendent Heather Fiorentino said she expected to have a new leader for Deer Park for the new semester. She plans to advertise the position for interested applicants.

"He will be missed," Fiorentino said.

Florida "pretty much last in the nation for science"

2009-11-20T14:59:49-05:00

If the new high-quality-schools lawsuit hinged on Florida science scores alone, it'd probably be a slam dunk.

"Florida students are pretty much last in the nation for science," says a power point presentation that Todd Clark, the Department of Education bureau chief for curriculum and instruction, gave to a statewide education group meeting in Lake Mary this week. (Hat tip to Orlando Sentinel School Zone blog.)

FSU physics professor Paul Cottle, who is a blogging beast when it comes to science instruction in Florida, has already highlighted the sad stats in that power point (go to page 30). But they bear repeating.

* In 2008, Florida students were 49th in average ACT science scores

* In 2008, they ranked 47th in the percentage passing AP science exams

* In 2005, Florida eighth graders ranked 36th on the National Assessment of Educational Progress science test

* In 2009, only 2 percent of fifth graders, 2 percent percent of eighth graders and 1 percent of eleventh graders scored at the highest level on the FCAT science exam

(Image from blogs.discovermagazine.org)

Poll: Funding lawsuit

2009-11-20T13:37:00-05:00

Who's that kid?

2009-11-20T11:15:00-05:00

A Panama City high schooler decided he didn't want to attend his regular school, Mosley High, on Tuesday. But apparently he didn't want to miss out on the experience, either.

So he took a seat in nearby Bay High instead.

Transfers like this aren't allowed, it turns out. So the boy, whose name hasn't been released, got a very different type of education than the usual curriculum — he was arrested for trespassing, the Panama City News Herald reports.

At least he wasn't on the streets selling or using.

Pinellas names outstanding educator finalists

2009-11-20T10:44:52-05:00

The list has been whittled from 22 to 14. Read the names here. Winners will be announced Jan. 20.

Hillsborough teachers react to the Gates grant

2009-11-20T09:15:00-05:00

The $100 million, seven-year grant that Hillsborough schools received from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Thursday has the potential to significantly alter the teaching landscape, both in Hillsborough County and nationally.

Its focus on reforming pay structures, evaluation procedures and other matters related to teaching promises to bring change to a culture where change is not always welcomed. And if the teachers don't buy in, it's possible that the best of intentions here could run aground.

That in mind, we interviewed some educators to gauge their views of the new direction. We found a range of reactions to the plans, from wariness to full-fledged support. Read on for a sampling.

Dawn Perez, a language arts teacher at Martinez Middle School in Lutz, backed the idea of performance pay, saying the new systems are much less subjective than the old ways, when being friendly with the principal mattered as much as classroom results. She also liked the idea of having peer evaluators, suggesting that it will lead to improved teaching as methods are shared.

"I work very hard at my job," said Martinez, a ninth-year educator who has participated in Hillsborough's performance pay program for two years. "I like for people to notice that I am ... and to be paid for how hard I am working."

Magda Mixon, a National Board-certified math teacher at Martinez Middle, shared in the enthusiasm.

"A lot of people may see it as a threat," said Mixon, who also trains new teachers for the school district. "I feel like there is a need for accountability. We need to be looking at how kids are doing in the classrooms and are they actually learning."

Jackie Reinhart, a first grade teacher at Citrus Park Elementary, looked to the grant as providing opportunities for educators who don't want to move into administration.

"I do want to stay in the classroom, but I do want to increase my salary while doing that," said Reinhart, who's in her 18th year of teaching. She figured the mentor and peer evaluator positions on the career ladder could be "fun and interesting" possibilities.

Citrus Park Elementary fifth grade teacher Danielle Earle expressed some leeriness at the increasing use of test scores to evaluate teacher performance.

She said she expected that having peer teachers in classrooms reviewing teachers would balance the view. End results cannot be the whole picture, she said. If done well, Earle said, the initiative could reignite the spark in teachers who came to the job to help children and not to fret over whether students will meet arbitrary testing goals.

"I think there's some trepidation," Earle said. "But from what I've read, I'm definitely positive."

Dianne Rossi, a third-grade teacher at Bryant Elementary in Westchase, agreed that some teachers are wary of people coming into their classrooms, "if they don't trust them." She said she hoped the addition of mentors will help all teachers.

"It can be isolating being a classroom teacher," said Rossi, a 20-year veteran. "When you're brand new, if you don't have a supportive team, you might start looking elsewhere. This type of program is really going to support them."

Bryant fifth-grade teacher Pam Ankrum, a 23-year educator, said even long-timers like herself could benefit from mentoring. "If you've taught a long time, people think you have everything," said Ankrum, who has helped many teachers succeed. "For me to participate and have a mentor would be wonderful."

She acknowledged that there might be the chance to lose performance pay, or a fear of evaluations. But over time, she said, "that fear might go away because we're receiving the support."

Many teachers already assist their peers, modeling lessons and offering support, said Cheryl Kloehn, a Bryant kindergarten teacher. The grant should provide this backing at all schools, she said, and financially benefit those who are already doing the work.

Bryant third-grade teacher Nancy Fink said she liked having the Gates name attached to the district. "That's one of the most exciting pieces," Fink said. "It will probably bring us technology that we do not already have in our hands."

And that, if nothing else, will help energize teachers and students alike, she said.

Florida education news: Teacher quality, FCAT prep, school boundaries and more

2009-11-20T05:53:37-05:00

IMPROVING TEACHER QUALITY: Hillsborough celebrates winning a $100 million grant to reform teacher evaluations, pay, preparation and other aspects of the job from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (Times photo, Edmund Fountain)

SPEAKING OF TEACHER QUALITY: Someone has to prepare them, and the Florida Department of Education has decided to rate Florida's teacher preparation programs.

NINE CANDIDATES: Hernando has pared its list of superintendent hopefuls to nine, with interviews to come in January.

TEMPEST, WITH A TWIST: Dunedin High's production of the Shakespeare classic includes puppets, computer graphics and all sorts of different effect.

TOP SUPERINTENDENT: Broward's Jim Notter wins superintendent of the year honors from the state's coalition of education foundations, the Miami Herald reports.

FCAT REWARDS: Osceola schools will give prizes to students who log in to FCAT Explorer over the winter break, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

TEACHING CONTRACEPTION: Collier revamps its sex education curriculum to be clear about the consequences and how to prevent them, the Naples Daily News reports.

COLLEGE COMMITMENT: The first group of students completing Duval's AVID program see the value in pursuing higher education, the Florida Times-Union reports.

CITIES CONCERNED: Broward city leaders want to prevent major school boundary changes that could affect their residents, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

JUST FOR SCHOOLS: Seminole considers going solo in its request for a local sales tax after the County Commission signals its unwillingness to join the effort, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

PARTY ALL THE TIME: UF president Bernie Machen says the school has room to add rigor after a survey shows students feel like they party more than they study, the Gainesville Sun reports.

FSU speeds up search for new president

2009-11-19T15:19:09-05:00

FSU's presidential search committee just released a timeline for choosing longtime President T.K. Wetherell's successor, with the aim of sending a list of finalists to the Board of Trustees by early December.

The search consultant, John Hicks of Academic Search Inc., said the schedule is "expedited" because several other universities nationwide are also looking for presidents, and because open records laws usually prompt top candidates to wait until the end of the search deadline to apply. Wetherell has said he wants to leave FSU for retirement by early 2010.

“The search must move forward in a timely manner while top candidates are available," Hicks said.

Info is posted on the university’s Presidential Search Web site. Here's the schedule:

Nov. 24: Search committee members begin individual review of candidate files posted at the Academic Search, Inc., Web site. These files will also be accessible to the public.

Dec. 1: Committee meets at 2 p.m. at the Florida State Alumni Center Grand Ballroom, 1030 W Tennessee St., Tallahassee, to review applications and identify and invite candidates for on-campus interviews.

Dec. 2-4: Committee conducts interviews on campus in Tallahassee (schedule, locations TBA) with selected candidates. Constituency groups also have opportunities to interview candidates (schedule, locations TBA).

The committee will meet after the conclusion of the final interview to prepare their comments on candidates for forwarding to the Board of Trustees.

Hillsborough wins $100 million Gates grant

2009-11-19T13:52:43-05:00

It's official: the Hillsborough County School District has won a $100 million teacher effectiveness grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The news, announced in a midday press release Thursday, caps a 9-month application effort by the district, and puts it squarely on the cutting edge of national education reform. (See a summary of the plan on the foundation Web site).

For more details, see Tom Marshall's full report and check back later for more details.

USF near bottom in state analysis of teacher preparation programs

2009-11-19T12:15:41-05:00

The Florida Department of Education is looking at FCAT scores to help gauge the effectiveness of the state’s teacher preparation programs. And according to its first analysis, the University of South Florida College of Education doesn’t look so good by comparison.

A draft report obtained by the Gradebook shows how rookie teachers from different programs – be they university colleges of education, community college programs or district alternative certification programs – fared in 2007-08, based on how well their students performed on the math and reading FCAT.

The DOE determined what percentage of rookies from each institution had 50 percent or more of their students making learning gains. And then, using “value tables” – which you can read more about here – it determined what percentage were “high performing.”

USF – a huge pipeline for teachers in the Tampa Bay area – had 76 percent of its graduates in the first category, which puts it ninth among the 10 state university programs. Florida International was tops at 85 percent. The University of West Florida was last at 70 percent.

USF had 15 percent of its graduates in the second category, putting it at No. 6. Again, FIU led the pack, with 23 percent. Florida A&M University was last with 7 percent.

For now, we should probably take the results with a grain of salt. This kind of analysis is new, so it’s unclear how much the numbers may change from year to year. The DOE is crunching 2008-09 numbers and we’re told that should be available soon.

Lawsuit: Pinellas school buses hit me, twice

2009-11-19T10:35:15-05:00

A Largo man who says he was struck by Pinellas school buses in two separate incidents three months apart is suing the Pinellas County School Board.

Matthew Magness, 24, was a passenger in a car in Clearwater when it was struck by a bus in October 2008, says a lawsuit filed in Circuit Court last week. Then, in January, he was driving a Kia in Pinellas Park when it was struck by another bus, the lawsuit says. Court records show both bus drivers were cited for accidents at those times and places.

In the first accident, Magness suffered injuries to his shoulder, neck, back, right leg and right knee, the suit says. In the second, he suffered injuries to his ribs, lungs, chest, neck and back, according to the lawsuit.

Florida may ask for $1 billion in Race to the Top funds

2009-11-19T08:29:59-05:00

Florida's application for a share of the $4.35 billion federal Race to the Top fund could become a $1 billion request, Florida Education Commissioner Eric J. Smith told reporters in a conference call yesterday. Federal guidelines say big states like Florida should aim for changes in the $350 million to $700 range, but they also say states can shoot for more if they want.

In a related development, the state issued this summary of its still-developing application, which offers the most clues yet about where the state wants to go. There are a few dozen proposals here, in a wide range of areas, but it's not clear how far-ranging many of them might be. The application is due by Jan. 19.

Florida education news: Teach-In, texting ban, ethics training and more

2009-11-19T06:03:04-05:00

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE? Gator hunters, soldiers, financial planners and a host of professionals talk to students all around the Tampa area for the Great American Teach-In. More story, plus a photo gallery. (Times photo, Atoyia Deans)

GETTING DAD INVOLVED: Brooker Elementary in Brandon makes sure fathers have a role at the school, too.

CHOICE WORDS: Pasco School Board member Kathryn Starkey speaks her mind, and draws some gasps with her phrasing.

IT'S A MYSTERY: No one is quite sure how Pasco Middle's 1,700-pound football sled disappeared.

AND THE CHAIRMAN IS ... Pat Fagan gets a surprise nomination to lead the Hernando School Board. The board then rejects a deal with a teacher who had been suspended for drug use.

TOP OF THE CLASS: Oldest school in Pasco County celebrates 125th in 1880s manner

NO TEXTING ALLOWED: Miami-Dade becomes one of the few districts in the country to ban texting by school bus drivers, School Transportation News reports.

FUNDING LAWSUIT: Parents from Duval County who joined the "adequate funding" lawsuit against Florida government leaders speak about their concerns with the Florida Times-Union. The Orlando parents involved in the suit talk with the Orlando Sentinel. [Note: The Pasco parents haven't called us back.]

WORKING THE CONTRACT: Palm Beach teachers threaten to do no more than required in their contract while they fight the district's curriculum, the Palm Beach Post reports. Some critics say many fear to speak against the superintendent because of possible retaliation, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

LEARN SOME ETHICS: Miami-Dade mandates ethics training for all district employees, the Miami Herald reports.

COPING WITH CRIME: FAMU and Florida State see spikes in violent crimes, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.

LABOR NEWS: Citrus teachers reach a tentative contract deal, the Citrus County Chronicle reports. • Charlotte teachers see their health benefits costs rise, the Herald-Tribune reports.

Hernando superintendent field narrowed to nine

2009-11-18T20:50:19-05:00

BROOKSVILLE -- A short list of superintendent candidates is now headed for the Hernando County School Board.

A search committee Wednesday night trimmed a list of 15 candidates down to nine. Among them are the two internal hopefuls, current interim superintendent Sonya Jackson and Ken Pritz, a former executive director of school services for the Hernando district who is currently principal at Hernando High.

The other seven candidates:

* Gregory K. Adkins, chief human resources officer for the Lee County School District in Fort Myers;

* Bryan A. Blavatt, former superintendent of Boone County Schools in Kentucky;

* I.V. Foster, Jr., current superintendent for Prairie Hills School District 144 in Markham, Ill.;

* John R. Phillips, a former executive director of school reform for Atlanta Public Schools;

* Rose Terri McSweeney, current deputy superintendent of Shoreham Wading River Central School District in New York;

* S. Jayne Risen Morgenthal, current superintendent of the Elizabethtown Independent School District in Kentucky;

* Arnold Spadafora, former associate superintendent of Schenectady City Schools in New York.

The School Board had asked the committee comprised of school employees, union representatives and community members to submit a list of five to 10 candidates in no particular order.

The board is slated to meet in a workshop Dec. 8 to decide which of the candidates – if not all – to call in for an interview. The district hopes to hire someone by February and in place by July 1.

--Tony Marrero, Times Staff Writer

Florida education commissioner: lawsuit "diminishes" student progress

2009-11-18T17:55:52-05:00

Florida Education Commissioner Eric J. Smith, a defendant in the education lawsuit filed this morning, tonight issued this statement in response:

“It’s unfortunate that this lawsuit diminishes the significant progress that has been made by our children over the last decade and simply ignores the performance of a state that is clearly outpacing the nation. Our African-American and Hispanic students have experienced unprecedented academic improvements and have significantly narrowed the achievement gap in Florida, our graduation rate has steadily improved, and state and national assessments all show tremendous progress. I believe Florida’s education system has achieved incredible results that clearly speak for themselves and are not represented in this complaint.”

Patricia Levesque, executive director of Jeb Bush's Foundation for Florida's Future, also issued a statement a short while ago:

“This lawsuit is based on myths perpetuated by critics of reform who care more about protecting the status quo for adults than improving the quality of education for students. This is the same old cast of characters who have opposed bold, outcome-based reforms for a decade – and continue to stand in the way of progress.

“They can’t win at the ballot box, or in the court of public opinion, so they are taking their losing, misguided battle to the judicial system."

Taking one more run at the class size amendment

2009-11-18T14:10:19-05:00

The way state Sen. Mike Bennett sees Florida's class-size reduction amendment, it's a good idea in theory but not in practice.

"All of the studies show it's not working out the way we thought it would," Bennett, a Bradenton Republican, told the Gradebook. "The costs are out of control. The schools are begging for relief. We didn't give them enough flexibility in it."

There's just not enough lipstick to put on this pig, Bennett suggested. The time has come, he concluded, to "repeal it and start over."

Bennett filed legislation this week to do just that.

He figures that, based on conversations with colleagues, the bill might eke through the Senate, though politics might prevent a two-thirds vote from emerging. "We're certainly going to take a run at it."

Expect the repeal idea, which Senate Education Appropriations chairman Steve Wise deemed a "rogue bill," to have competition.

Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, plans to file joint legislation with state Rep. Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, to stop the amendment at school averages rather than let it progress to classroom counts, as mandated for next year.

Gaetz expected a complete repeal would be more difficult to achieve with voters than a freeze. But he welcomed Bennett to the debate.

"This session will be our last chance to put some common sense into the class size issue before we all go into an inflexible per-class cap that will hamstring schools and dramatically decrease the amount of money that is available for curriculum and extracurricular activities," Gaetz said.

Lawmakers can talk all they want, he observed. But voters will have the final say. Changing the amendment would require a 60 percent vote.

Democrats cheer education lawsuit

2009-11-18T12:26:13-05:00

Florida Democrats can't get enough of the new lawsuit.

From House Democratic Leader Franklin Sands: "Not only are Florida schools inadequately funded, but the state's school accountability system is in need of serious repair. It's high time for Florida's education accountability system to be updated so that it no longer focuses so much on how students perform on a single day's standardized test. Hopefully, this lawsuit will help us achieve the necessary changes for Florida to truly have the world-class education system that our children deserve."

From state Sen. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach: "I am hopeful that this lawsuit will shake some sense into a Legislature that has failed to adequately fund public education. The fact is you pay for a cheap education forever, and until that truth is accepted by lawmakers, we will continue to shortchange our kids."

From U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Miami: “Education was a priority in Florida under Governors Bob Graham and Lawton Chiles, but our children’s access to a quality, public education has eroded over a decade under Republican rule. Instead of investing in education by funding the citizen-led class size initiative, paying our teachers the salaries they deserve, and increasing the number of top-notch educators in our schools, Republican leadership in Tallahassee has chosen to pit these necessary aspects of an effective education policy against each other in order to save money for their priorities like tax breaks for the wealthy."

Gelber, who's running for attorney general, also takes a swipe at Attorney General Bill McCollum for not filing a similar suit himself. And his press release includes an interesting excerpt from the Sept. 15 Board of Education meeting, in which board member Roberto Martinez -- a Republican first appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush -- says the BOE's recommended education budget falls short of constitutional requirements.