Before he died unexpectedly on Oct. 20, nationally known education researcher Gerald Bracey (bestower of the Rotten Apple awards) took fresh aim at President Obama's education agenda. In his 18th and final Bracey Report, he followed up on another researcher who suggested Obama should make the model of education he chose for his daughters -- at the Sidwell Friends private school -- a model for national reform.

In my opinion, the Obama/Duncan approach would only exacerbate the problems created by our industrial model -- national academic standards and a national test, merit pay for higher test scores, a longer school day, a longer school week, a longer school year and charter schools handed off to entrepreneurs. More math, more science. This is an industrial command-and-control model on steroids.

Sidwell, by contrast, encourages a rich interdisciplinary curriculum designed to stimulate inquiry; the expression of artistic abilities; reflection; "stewardship of the natural world"; service to others; scientific investigation; creative expression; group as well as individual learning; personalization of learning and education of the whole person ...

Bracey offered similar insights two weeks before he died, in an interview with the St. Petersburg Times.

The Times called to ask him about Jeb Bush's road tour, and -- surprise -- he wasn't impressed. But he went on to agree with other observers who said Jeb may be more influential in a political climate where Bracey didn't see much daylight between presidents Bush and Obama on education.

"In my paranoid moments, I see a bigger group behind this," Bracey also said. "I see a corporate agenda behind all this rather than a political agenda. I think there is an agenda to ultimately privatize virtually every aspect of public schools. ... We're up now to what? $600 billion a year in K-12 alone? That's an existing market. You don't have to invent an iPod or an iPhone. It's there."

And now, he said, it looks like Republicans and Democrats are backing the same agenda. "That's my fear," he said.

(Photo from thedailygreen.com)

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Say this for the fundamental school crowd: They're well connected.

St. Petersburg Mayor Elect Bill Foster (above left), Pinellas County Commissioners Ken Welch (above right) and Nancy Bostock, Dunedin Mayor Dave Eggers, Tarpon Springs Mayor Beverley Billiris and St. Petersburg City Councilmember Wengay Newton are all featured on a new handout that members of the Fundamental Schools Advocacy Network passed out at this morning's school board meeting - and all of them are saying they want more fundamental high schools in Pinellas.

"Additional fundamental high school programs will increase access, raise student achievement and give exciting choices to families," Foster is quoted as saying.

"Osceola (Fundamental High) had double the number of applications than openings and students from both northen and southern parts of the county would benefit from a fundamental school close to home," Eggers says.

About 20 FAN members attended the meeting, and several speakers urged the board to move now so additional fundamental high school seats can be in place by fall 2010.

The board will discuss the issue in more detail at next Tuesday's workshop. But this recent email from deputy superintendent Jim Madden to some fundamental supporters suggests timing is not on their side.

"When adding new programs at the high school level, all schools are impacted if the programs are to be open to all students in the county," Madden writes. "It would necessitate a total rezoning of all high school zones as we know them today. Rezoning is a process that needs extensive prior planning as program locations are determined over a longer period of time."

UPDATE: This presentation lays out FAN's case.

BROOKSVILLE — Central High School will soon have its next principal – and so will three other Hernando schools.

Joe Clifford, currently principal at J.D Floyd K-8 in Spring Hill, will take the empty seat at Central left by Dennis McGeehan, interim superintendent Sonya Jackson announced in an e-mail to district staffers Tuesday.

Jackson last month tapped McGeehan to lead the new, yet-to-be named high school north of Weeki Wachee set to open next fall.

Clifford, 58, is a veteran Hernando schools employee who started as a teacher in 1979. His selection created a chain reaction of administrative moves, also announced by Jackson on Tuesday.

Ray Pinder, in his first year as principal at Explorer K-8 in Spring Hill, will head to Floyd. And John Stratton, in his first year at the STAR Education Center in Brooksville, takes the empty seat at Explorer.

Jackson didn’t announce who would take over at STAR and didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday.

“I’m confident in the leadership abilities of these principals to ensure a smooth transition,” Jackson wrote in Tuesday’s e-mail.

Jackson’s options for Central were somewhat limited.

The high school west of Brooksville did not make enough gains last year to keep from moving up to the next tier in the state’s new differentiated accountability plan. The plan is meant to marry federal and state accountability systems and puts struggling schools in one of five tiers based on Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test scores. The higher the tier, the more intensive the strategies and requirements to help improve a school.

Central is on the “Correct II” tier. One of the strategies for schools on that level is to assign a principal that has, according to the state rubric, “a clear record of turning around a similar school.”

Clifford is among a handful of Hernando school administrators who have such a record.

Under his tenure as principal from 2002 to 2007, West Hernando Middle School improved from a C to an A, holding the highest grade for the last three years. Floyd, an A school when Clifford arrived last year, kept that grade and also made adequate learning gains under federal standards.

Clifford said Tuesday that he plans to end his career at Central. He is enrolled in the state’s deferred retirement program and will retire in three years.

“I have three years and my goal is to go out with Central on top,” Clifford said Tuesday. “I believe that I will succeed and I believe Central will succeed.”

McGeehan will start his new role on Jan. 4, so the other assignments will take effect then, too, Jackson wrote.

McGeehan has decided to take two of his assistant principals at Central -- Sue Lisk and Troy LaBarbara -- with him to the new school. Clifford says he is asking Jackson to allow him to form a committee of Central teachers and parents to provide input on who will fill at least one of the assistant principal vacancies.

--Tony Marrero, Times staff