Chris Guerrieri's Education Matters

Ridiculous quote of the day, the power to tax is the power to destroy

2013-05-22T13:46:00.004-06:00

The power to tax is the power to destroy, was original said by Daniel Webster but it has also become the catch phrase of many “outraged” republicans as they criticize the practices of the IRS. I get it though, nobody likes taxes but you know what the power to tax really is? It is the power to build bridges and establish parks; it is the power to maintain national defense and to give our neighbors who have experienced disaster a helping hand. It is the power to send a man to the moon and to educate our children. It is the power to do collectively all the things that we can’t do individually and even though we don’t like them, the power to tax forms the glue that holds society together.

I dare say all of our lives would be a lot worse without taxes.

Perhaps feedback from parents and students and if not perhaps a rock a rock to the head will improve teacher evaluations.

2013-05-22T13:15:00.004-06:00

This former is one of the suggestions that a panel at UNF about teacher evaluations came up with. It’s similar to one of the suggestions that Bill Gates spent 50 million dollars to come up with. It was bad then and it is bad now.

Here is the thing. If teachers want to send home to parents or give their classes feedback forms them I think that’s great. The more information teachers have the better but only they should see it and under no circumstances should parent and especially student feedback be used in teacher observations.

Some kids today are to savvy not to use this little power to blackmail their teachers. Oh I can’t have an extension, extra credit assignments, what you expect me to study or do my work, well let’s just see whose evaluation suffers.

The entire notion is ludicrous.

Do you want to know how to have quality teacher evaluations and it doesn’t involve tying teachers to standardized tests either. It involves good leadership. It involves principals that are fair and knowledgeable, who have the pulse of the school and who knows how to motivate, develop and improve teachers.

Good principals more than feedback from students (a terrible idea) or standardized tests results (even worse) are what we need. They will know who is performing or not and they will know who can improve or not.

It’s not rocket science here people, let’s stop trying to make it so.

The silly things superintendents say

2013-05-22T13:13:00.000-06:00

When talking about teacher evaluations, Superintendent Vitti said, he was open to using student feedback on evaluations because “the student voice has been missing” from the system.

When I read above I wondered what kind of “voice” he allowed his kids to have when they want to hit up the cookie jar, surely they get some sort of say right? I imagine after the kids pled their case the super and or his wife weigh all the relevant factors, proximity to dinner, behavior, status of homework etc. and then distribute or don’t distribute the cookies as they see fit. That’s the way it is done. Kids have their say, adults make the decision. The reality however is what kids say doesn’t always factor into what adults decide.

The problem with using student input on teacher evaluations as related to cookies is somebody not in the house, somebody the kids most likely had limited contact with, and somebody who has a limited understanding of what the cookie dynamic is, if the kids deserved cookies or not, would be making the decision if the input was relevant or not. That or the kids could bribe or cajole their parents into giving them cookies by holding something over their head (evaluations) whether they deserved it or not.

Do you want other people to decide if your kids get cookies or do you want kids who have no business getting cookies, getting cookies?

Neither do I.

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2013-05-22/story/florida-teacher-evaluation-system-still-needs-tweaks-panel-decides#ixzz2U2YdG1Jb

Civics gets a fail in Duval County

2013-05-21T14:53:00.000-06:00

From a long time reader:

God Bless Duval County Public Schools: Civics (new to 7th grade) is taught as a year long class with some geography and some economics included. In fact, 80-85% of the course is "Civics" and rightfully so is coded as a Civics class and 7th grade students are given credit for taking Civics. So the EOC (end of course) exam written by DCPS is given and counts as 20% of the students grade. What do my students say about this test?? Wait for it... It was mostly economics. Yes, the county tests the kids mostly on what the course is NOT called, coded, or given credit as. The FLDOE published guide lines for EOC's, silly silly me for thinking Duval would adhere to standards, benchmarks, and guidelines. No, DCPS grades these students on their knowledge of Economics and gives them credit for taking Civics, fails them for Civics because they don't know economics.. Either way epic fail!

Dear JPEF and UNF, its poverty stupid.

2013-05-21T13:03:00.001-06:00

The face book post from the Jacksonville Public Education Fund started innocently enough: We’re co-hosting with University of North Florida a Round table on Measuring Teacher Quality this afternoon at 5 p.m. this afternoon. Join us for live coverage on Twitter via #JaxTVAM — and submit your questions for the panel!

But the truth is this buys into the narrative that all it takes is a highly effective teacher for a child to learn and nothing could be further from the truth. You know what a highly effective teacher cannot overcome? If a kid has had enough to eat or not; if they are worried about violence in their house or neighborhood and/or if the students parents care about or discount education, along with dozens and dozens of other things and as long as we continue to ignore poverty then we can have these Round tables till we are blue in the face an nothing will happen, nothing will get accomplished. It’s despicable how the powers-that-be ignore poverty.

Dear JPEF and UNF, its poverty stupid. Now instead of wasting more time, why don’t you do something about it?

Charter schools counsel out poor performing students.

2013-05-19T14:24:00.000-06:00

Don't think for a second that the same thing doesn't happen here. -cpg

From WSMV.co by Dennis Ferrier
Leaders with Metro Nashville Public Schoolshave serious concerns about what is happening at some of the city's most popular charter schools.

Students are leaving in large numbers at a particularly important time of the school year, and the consequences may have an impact on test scores.

Charter schools are literally built on the idea that they will outperform public, zoned schools. They are popular because they promise and deliver results, but some new numbers are raising big questions about charter schools.

One of the first things a visitor sees when stepping into Kipp Academy is a graph that shows how Kipp is outperforming Metro schools in every subject.

However, Kipp Academy is also one of the leaders in another stat that is not something to crow about.

When it comes to the net loss of students this year, charter schools are the top eight losers of students.

In fact, the only schools that have net losses of 10 to 33 percent are charter schools.

"We look at that attrition. We keep an eye on it, and we actually think about how we can bring that back in line with where we've been historically," said Kipp Principal Randy Dowell.

Dowell said Kipp's 18 percent attrition is unacceptable.

MNPS feels it's unacceptable as well, because not only are they getting kids from charter schools, but they are also getting troubled kids and then getting them right before testing time.

"That's also a frustration for the zoned-school principals. They are getting clearly challenging kids back in their schools just prior to accountability testing," said MNPS Chief Operating Officer Fred Carr.

Nineteen of the last 20 children to leave Kipp Academy had multiple out-of-school suspensions. Eleven of the 19 are classified as special needs, and all of them took their TCAPs at Metro zoned schools, so their scores won't count against Kipp.

"We won't know how they perform until we receive results and we see. We would be happy to take their results, frankly. The goal is getting kids ready for college. The goal is not having shiny results for me or for anyone on the team," Dowell said.

Kipp Academy has started new counseling groups to try to retain children. MNPS said it constantly sees charters being held up as the model, but feels these numbers prove the two different types of schools play by different rules.

http://www.wsmv.com/story/22277105/charter-schools-losing-struggling-students-to-zoned-schools

Al Roker joins the anti-teacher bandwagon

2013-05-19T08:01:00.000-06:00

It's a slow news day and I just saw it again on TV. -cpg

NBC has those, The More You Know segments, Al Roker says what the country needs is more good teachers. I reject the epidemic of bad teachers narrative. The real problem with teachers is they don’t have a magic wand, or magic beans or fairy dust, because that is what it will take for many to be truly be successful as they are saddled with bad policies and a lack of resources, doing their best with children who don’t come from much. Instead of demonizing them for not being able to completely overcome the dehibilitating effects of poverty, we should get on our knees and thank them because their students would undoubtedly be much worse off with out them. Its poverty Al, not a lack of good teachers that is holding us back.

Shame on you Al Roker, you just pooped your pants again.

Teacher says, I quit!

2013-05-19T07:33:00.001-06:00

To All it May Concern:

I’m doing something I thought I would never do—something that will make me a statistic and a caricature of the times. Some will support me, some will shake their heads and smirk condescendingly—and others will try to convince me that I’m part of the problem. Perhaps they’re right, but I don’t think so. All I know is that I’ve hit a wall, and in order to preserve my sanity, my family, and the forward movement of our lives, I have no other choice.

Before I go too much into my choice, I must say that I have the advantages and disadvantages of differentiated experience under my belt. I have seen the other side, where the grass was greener, and I unknowingly jumped the fence to where the foliage is either so tangled and dense that I can’t make sense of it, or the grass is wilted and dying (with no true custodian of its health). Are you lost? I’m talking about public K-12 education in North Carolina. I’m talking about my history as a successful teacher and leader in two states before moving here out of desperation.

In New Mexico, I led a team of underpaid teachers who were passionate about their jobs and who did amazing things. We were happy because our students were well-behaved, our community was supportive, and our jobs afforded us the luxuries of time, respect, and visionary leadership. Our district was huge, but we got things done because we were a team. I moved to Oregon because I was offered a fantastic job with a higher salary, a great math program, and superior benefits for my family. Again, I was given the autonomy I dreamed of, and I used it to find new and risky ways to introduce technology into the math curriculum. My peers looked forward to learning from me, the community gave me a lot of money to get my projects off the ground, and my students were amazing.

Then, the bottom fell out. I don’t know who to blame for the budget crisis in Oregon, but I know it decimated the educational coffers. I lost my job only due to my lack of seniority. I was devastated. My students and their parents were angry and sad. I told myself I would hang in there, find a temporary job, and wait for the recall. Neither the temporary job nor the recall happened. I tried very hard to keep my family in Oregon—applying for jobs in every district, college, private school, and even Toys R Us. Nothing happened after over 300 applications and 2 interviews.

The Internet told me that the West Coast was not hiring teachers anymore, but the East Coast was the go-to place. Charlotte, North Carolina couldn’t keep up with the demand! I applied with three schools, got three phone interviews, and was even hired over the phone. My very supportive and adventurous family and I packed quickly and moved across the country, just so I could keep teaching.

I had come from two very successful and fun teaching jobs to a new state where everything was different. During my orientation, I noticed immediately that these people weren’t happy to see us; they were much more interested in making sure we knew their rules. It was a one-hour lecture about what happens when teachers mess up. I had a bad feeling about teaching here from the start; but, we were here and we had to make the best of it.

Union County seemed to be the answer to all of my problems. The rumors and the press made it sound like UCPS was the place to be progressive, risky, and happy. So I transferred from CMS to UCPS. They made me feel more welcome, but it was still a mistake to come here.

Let me cut to the chase: I quit. I am resigning my position as a teacher in the state of North Carolina—permanently. I am quitting without notice (taking advantage of the “at will” employment policies of this state). I am quitting without remorse and without second thoughts. I quit. I quit. I quit!

Why?

Because…

I refuse to be led by a top-down hierarchy that is completely detached from the classrooms for which it is supposed to be responsible.

I will not spend another day under the expectations that I prepare every student for the increasing numbers of meaningless tests.

I refuse to be an unpaid administrator of field tests that take advantage of children for the sake of profit.

I will not spend another day wishing I had some time to plan my fantastic lessons because administration comes up with new and inventive ways to steal that time, under the guise of PLC [Professional Learning Community] meetings or whatever. I’ve seen successful PLC development. It doesn’t look like this.

I will not spend another day wondering what menial, administrative task I will hear that I forgot to do next. I’m far enough behind in my own work.

I will not spend another day wondering how I can have classes that are full inclusion, and where 50% of my students have IEPs, yet I’m given no support.

I will not spend another day in a district where my coworkers are both on autopilot and in survival mode. Misery loves company, but I will not be that company.

I refuse to subject students to every ridiculous standardized test that the state and/or district thinks is important. I refuse to have my higher-level and deep thinking lessons disrupted by meaningless assessments (like the EXPLORE test) that do little more than increase stress among children and teachers, and attempt to guide young adolescents into narrow choices.

I totally object and refuse to have my performance as an educator rely on “Standard 6.” It is unfair, biased, and does not reflect anything about the teaching practices of proven educators.

I refuse to hear again that it’s more important that I serve as a test administrator than a leader of my peers.

I refuse to watch my students being treated like prisoners. There are other ways. It’s a shame that we don’t have the vision to seek out those alternatives.

I refuse to watch my coworkers being treated like untrustworthy slackers through the overbearing policies of this state, although they are the hardest working and most overloaded people I know.

I refuse to watch my family struggle financially as I work in a job to which I have invested 6 long years of my life in preparation. I have a graduate degree and a track record of strong success, yet I’m paid less than many two-year degree holders. And forget benefits—they are effectively nonexistent for teachers in North Carolina.

I refuse to watch my district’s leadership tell us about the bad news and horrific changes coming towards us, then watch them shrug incompetently, and then tell us to work harder.

I refuse to listen to our highly regarded superintendent telling us that the charter school movement is at our doorstep (with a soon-to-be-elected governor in full support) and tell us not to worry about it, because we are applying for a grant from Race to the Top. There is no consistency here; there is no leadership here.

I refuse to watch my students slouch under the weight of a system that expects them to perform well on EOG [end of grade] tests, which do not measure their abilities other than memorization and application and therefore do not measure their readiness for the next grade level—much less life, career, or college.

I’m tired of watching my students produce amazing things, which show their true understanding of 21st century skills, only to see their looks of disappointment when they don’t meet the arbitrary expectations of low-level state and district tests that do not assess their skills.

I refuse to hear any more about how important it is to differentiate our instruction as we prepare our kids for tests that are anything but differentiated. This negates our hard work and makes us look bad.

I am tired of hearing about the miracles my peers are expected to perform, and watching the districts do next to nothing to support or develop them. I haven’t seen real professional development in either district since I got here. The development sessions I have seen are sloppy, shallow, and have no real means of evaluation or accountability.

I’m tired of my increasing and troublesome physical symptoms that come from all this frustration, stress, and sadness.

Finally, I’m tired of watching parents being tricked into believing that their children are being prepared for the complex world ahead, especially since their children’s teachers are being cowed into meeting expectations and standards that are not conducive to their children’s futures.

I’m truly angry that parents put so much stress, fear, and anticipation into their kids’ heads in preparation for the EOG tests and the new MSLs—neither of which are consequential to their future needs. As a parent of a high school student in Union County, I’m dismayed at the education that my child receives, as her teachers frantically prepare her for more tests. My toddler will not attend a North Carolina public school. I will do whatever it takes to keep that from happening.

I quit because I’m tired [of] being part of the problem. It’s killing me and it’s not doing anyone else any good. Farewell.

CC: Dr. Mary Ellis

Dr. June Atkinson

Superintendent Vitti changes his tune on the teacher academy; goes from mandatory to if you miss it there won’t be retribution.

2013-05-17T17:40:00.003-06:00

The first letter to teachers read: All of this, and more, will be shared with you in detail at the 2013-2014 Teacher Academy this summer. You will have a choice of attending one of two weeks: the week of July 29^th, or the week of August 5^th. For those who miss both weeks, you will be expected to make-up the 5 days during the first semester of school by participating in five Saturday sessions.

A few hours later after I am sure a few inquiries from the union we got this: As a follow up to the email below, please be advised that attendance at the Teacher Academy is strongly encouraged, but not required. Participation, or lack thereof, will not be factored into your evaluation. We strongly encourage you to attend one of the sessions and look forward to seeing you there.

Another change was point’s teachers would get for attending. The union initially said: No, you will not get your daily rate because this is not mandatory. No points will be offered.

But the latest e-mail form the super said: You will earn Master Plan points for participating in the Academy, and while participation is not required, it is strongly encouraged.

If your head is now spinning yours isn’t the only one.

Welcome to Duval County

School Board member Becki Couch late to the party again!

2013-05-17T17:28:00.002-06:00

The super announced he wants to get rid of grade recovery. For years I have been writing about how some students game the system and making it available to all of them regardless of behavior and effort has handicapped student accountability.

I thought the best plan was to reserve grade recovery for these students who legitimately missed a lot of classes or for students who came consistently, behaved and tried hard but just needed a little more. To be honest though I am not so worried about the later group because teachers have a way of making sure those students have the opportunity to pass.

This is where Mrs. Couch comes in. She said in a Times Union article, “This has been a complaint for a very long time, even back when I was [teaching] in the classroom,”

Um, Mrs. Couch you have been on the board going on three years now. If you knew it was a problem, even from way back when you were in the classroom (3 years ago) maybe you could have done or said something. Maybe you could have fought for a change. I am confused what are we paying you for? Were there any other problems, like discipline, administrators acting like bullies, a one size fits all curriculum, that maybe we should address? SHEESH!

I was very optimistic when Couch was elected but the truth is she has been hit or miss.

Duval County asks its teachers to take it on the chin

2013-05-15T12:03:00.003-06:00

Here are the facts. Once again members of the school board received a 2800 dollar raise. They went from making what a first year teacher makes to making what a 9th year teacher makes. Also a teacher would have to work 20 years to see that kind of raise.

Next the super wants to pay teachers a stipend well below their normal hourly rate to attend a week long teacher’s academy.

Finally the board wants to sit on 3 times the reserves it is required to or an additional 50 million dollars.

My question is why are teachers most of whom already spend a lot of their own money on their students and classrooms and who when compared to teachers nationally are grossly underpaid supposed to take it on the chin?

This is absolutely disrespectful.

Is Superintendent Vitti trying to pull a fast one on the district’s teachers?

2013-05-15T11:05:00.004-06:00

This is part of a note we got from the superintendent about the summer teacher academy:

All of this, and more, will be shared with you in detail at the 2013-2014 Teacher Academy this summer. You will have a choice of attending one of two weeks: the week of July 29th, or the week of August 5th. For those who miss both weeks, you will be expected to make-up the 5 days during the first semester of school by participating in five Saturday sessions.

Nowhere does it say the academy is optional in fact it says, skip only if you are willing to give up 5 Saturdays in the fall. Nowhere does it say you have the choice of not attending.

Now it does say we will get paid a stipend, 75 dollars a day but if a teacher works a full day that is far below their rate.

The union however says the academy is optional: No, you will not get your daily rate because this is not mandatory. No points will be offered.

Points are what teachers use to recertify and we get them through trainings and or taking classes.

The district is trying to get away with training on the cheap. If you aren’t going to pay me my rate give me some points. If you aren’t going to give me some points pay me my rate but either way don’t present what is optional or mandatory. That’s insulting; it says teachers aren’t smart enough to tell the difference.

As you can imagine this was quite the topic around the water cooler. One teacher who has been through more rounds of training than she can count said, and the really sad thing is whatever they “teach” us will be out the window in a few months or a year or two at most, just like every other training they have given us.

Since the district at best is trying to train its teachers on the cheap or at worse trying to pull a fast one, I couldn’t really disagree with her.

Duval County sells out its teachers and students

2013-05-15T11:04:00.003-06:00

Next year Duval County will continue its partnership with Teach for America despite the fact everybody admits this is the wrong thing to do. Trey Czar who will manage 11 million dollars to help train the TFA recruits said on the radio two weeks ago that first and second year teachers struggle and the districts own study said we have a disproportionate amount of rookie teachers in our struggling schools. Well TFA assure that we have a constant rotation of struggling, neophyte teachers in our struggling schools!

So what does Duval do? Read that first sentence again, it continues with its plans to employ these hobbyists who will be work with our most vulnerable children.

Oh and it gets worse, despite the fact Duval has a hard time retaining teachers it doubles down on a program where it knows that the vast majority of will leave after their two year commitment. Less than 25% of the first three classes have stayed to year 3.

How does any of this make sense? We should be cutting back not expanding. It’s ridiculous and it’s also offensive to veteran teachers who have made teaching a career rather than an extended summer job which is what it is to the vast amount of TFA recruits.

It also wastes money as many will get training on the districts dime that they will never use. Then their mere presence has pay, cost of benefits and pension ramifications for teachers.

How can we reach our potential when we insist of staffing our classes with rookie teachers who won’t stay long enough to get better instead of teachers who may become lifelong educators? The answer we can’t but that hasn’t stopped the powers that be from moving ahead.

Why is the Duval County School Board insisting we keep triple the amount in reserves?

2013-05-15T11:03:00.002-06:00

First let me remind you that several school board members received a 2800 dollar raise. A teacher would have to work 20 years before they got a raise approaching that much.

From the Times Union: After asking for revisions on capital dollars and charter school money, board members then decided they wanted to see the rough draft with 9 percent of the general revenue placed in the district’s reserve fund.

State law requires that the school district tuck away 3 percent in the reserve fund, which would mean $24.7 million for 2013-14. At 9 percent, that number is around $75 million.

Why are we leaving 50 million on the sidelines again? How about throwing some of that to the district’s teachers and staff who haven’t received raises in years? If huge raises are okay for the school board shouldn’t at least little raises be okay for the teachers and staff too?

The reality is there are lots of needs in the district that are going unmet. Last I counted there were just 12 social workers for all 123,000 kids, many teachers have to pay for their own supplies and should we really have 50 kids in art classes or 60 or more in P.E.?

The school board seems to think so.

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2013-05-14/story/duval-schools-budget-workshop-confused-board-members#ixzz2TNY4A3Nf

Despite 91 million dollars charter school advocates plead poverty.

2013-05-15T11:01:00.000-06:00

In a recent piece on ReDefinedEd Sherri Ackerman, who has never met a charter school that performed poorly or a public school that didn’t, complained about the lack of resources that charter schools have. She mentioned that many lacked gyms and kitchens and computer labs and so much more but she never mentioned that many are profit centers for hedge fund managers and corporations. Hmm, I wonder if they would have those things if instead of fattening executive’s bank accounts they invested that money into the schools. So much for it being all about the children right?

I for one am tired of the pleas of poverty and their demands for a continuing revenue stream. They got 91 million dollars this year and 50-something million last year. That money would have been better served in schools with gyms and kitchens and computer labs and proper facilities, let alone certified teachers and a curriculum.

Then nobody forces corporations to open charter schools. Nobody holds a gun to their heads and demands it. It’s all voluntary and if these people don’t know what they are getting into then they shouldn’t be getting into it. That should be alarming too.

This is just one more attempt to divert the public’s money away from where it is desperately needed and it is appalling

. http://www.redefinedonline.org/2013/05/charter-schools-dont-look-like-the-taj-mahal/

House members say yes to cheap health insurance — for themselves.

2013-05-14T20:24:00.002-06:00

What does this have to do with education? Well these are the same legislators who are voting for vouchers, charter schools, merit pay, odious evaluations, erosion of teachers rights and an expansion of high stakes testing. Then they vote to turn down healthcare for the poor while charging themselves less than 9 bucks a month. These people don't care about anything but their own private interests and many are trying to make a buck off education and save a buck, lots of bucks off of health care. -cpg

From the Tampa Times by Tia Mitchel

Florida House Republicans last month loudly and proudly rejected billions of dollars in federal money that would have provided health insurance to 1 million poor Floridians.

Quietly, they kept their own health insurance premiums staggeringly low. House members will pay just $8.34 a month for state-subsidized health care next year, or $30 a month to cover their entire family.

House Republicans, including Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, would not say why the House did not raise its premiums to match the Senate. The premium increase was also part of Gov. Rick Scott's proposed budget.It's also less than the $25 a month House Republicans wanted to charge poor Floridians for basic coverage such as a limited number of doctor visits or preventive care.

In a statement Monday, Weatherford said: "We are aware of the differences in what House members pay compared to other state employees for health insurance and are looking forward to addressing it next session."

The discrepancy, even if it's addressed, doesn't diminish the awkwardness of House lawmakers accepting cheap, subsidized health insurance for themselves while effectively saying no to health care for others.

"I don't think there is a defense of that. I think its pretty unconscionable," said Karen Woodall, executive director of the left-leaning Florida Center for Economic and Fiscal Policy. "And then to turn around and the leadership to say the reason 1 million people aren't accessing taxpayer-funded health care is they don't want to use taxpayer dollars is very disingenuous."

Eleven of Tampa Bay's 13 Republicans voted against accepting federal Medicaid money and are receiving state-subsidized health care. Rep. Jimmie Smith, R-Inverness, voted against taking federal money but does not participate in the state health care plan. Rep. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, has the state health care plan but wanted the state to take the federal money. The area's House Democrats receive subsidized health care but voted to accept federal money.

The topic of Medicaid expansion — or what Florida should do as an alternative — took center stage throughout the legislative session. But there was hardly any focus on what lawmakers pay for their own coverage.

The state heavily subsidizes the costs of providing insurance to all full-time employees.

But 24,000 supervisors and managers, including lawmakers, get the best deal.

While the House remains in that category, senators in 2012 agreed to increase their premiums to match the bulk of the state workforce.

Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, insisted on the change, saying it wasn't fair for senators to pay less than low-level state workers. Senators now pay $50 a month for health insurance, or $180 a month for their families.

"I think the public expects the state Senate to be treated the same as our fellow co-workers in state government and not be given preferential status," Negron said Monday.

House members, who earn $29,697 a year for what is considered part-time work, get the same coverage as other state workers, just at a lower up-front cost.

The state health plan has several options, including a standard Blue Cross and Blue Shield policy or HMOs that vary by county.

Taxpayers pay nearly $600 a month to cover each individual House member, according to the state. With the HMO, members have no deductible and pay $20 to see a doctor or $40 for a speciality.

Contrast that with what House members proposed for parents and disabled adults, who made less than $11,490 a year. In addition to a $25 a month premium, the state would contribute $2,000 each year.

The combined $2,300 could be used for whatever coverage someone could afford, most likely short-term policies with high deductibles and limited coverage.

"They would pay three times as much and not even get something that is one-third as good," said Rep. Jim Waldman, D-Coconut Creek, who argued on the House floor that the inequity was hypocritical.

All but 12 House members take advantage of the state health insurance plan. Waldman says members have defended it as part of the benefits package for a demanding job.

That may be true, he said, but "you can't take that compensation and turn a blind eye to the 1 million who are uninsured in the state of Florida."

Rep. Richard Corcoran, R-Land O'Lakes, and the architect of the House plan, said the amount House members pay each month should not be the focus of the discussion. Calls to other local Republicans, including Reps. Kathleen Peters, Ross Spano and Dana Young, were not returned.

"I think the entire state health care system is broken, and what we tried to do is try to fix it," Corcoran said, noting that conservatives have called his proposal a national model. "When you do that, everybody is going to be treated equally and fairly."

Contact Tia Mitchell at tmitchell@tampabay.com.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/health/house-members-say-yes-to-cheap-health-insurance-8212-for-themselves/2120758

The nation's highest paid public employees.

2013-05-12T19:25:00.002-06:00

Things could be worse, we could be Michigan

2013-05-12T18:56:00.001-06:00

From People's World, by John Rummel
DETROIT - Double teachers' salaries, hold teachers in high esteem as other leading industrial nations do and insure quality pre-school education for all. Those were some of the high-sounding suggestions U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder made during a meeting with the staff and students of the Brenda Scott Academy in Detroit.
Only one big problem: there is a Grand Canyon-size disconnect between those suggestions to improve education and what is happening on the ground in Michigan.

Respect teachers? The Republican-dominated Michigan legislature has done the exact opposite. It views teachers, their unions and the collective bargaining process as the primary reason for poor student performance. It has responded with a slew of bills to cuts wages, benefits, and union dues deduction and push private, for-profit schools that rely on online teachers, not teachers in the classroom.

The Brenda Scott Academy is part of Educational Achievement Authority (EAA), a state-created school district that has taken 15 "underperforming" Detroit public schools and placed them under state control. Republicans in the state legislature now plan to expand the EAA into a statewide district, eliminating collective bargaining and seniority in the process. Educators rightfully view it as a dismantling of public education.

Secretary Duncan acknowledged that only three out of every 10 children have access to quality pre-school education and far too many children come into to kindergarten already one to two years behind their peers. That initial disadvantage follows them a lifetime, he said.

Sixteen-year former Michigan State Board of Education member Marianne McGuire said Duncan's comments reveal "the problem is poverty, not teachers."

Kids coming from well-to-do homes where there are magazines and books, and where children are read nightly, start school a "step ahead," McGuire said. While Duncan and Snyder might recognize the problem, "they don't put money into it," she noted.

A case in point is the fact that state House Republicans will soon vote on a plan diverting $800 million from schools each year to pay for road repairs and construction.

if you want to do something to help schools don't take $800 million away, McGuire said. Use that money to have "smaller class sizes, new equipment, and fixing up crumbling buildings," she said.

She also countered Duncan's claim that the EAA is the "right direction" to go in.

"If we feel the schools are in bad shape, we should be doing something to fix the schools, not set up a whole new district," she said.

Also worrying educators was the "secret" plan to get education on the cheap being discussed by Snyder, people associated with information technology companies and the Mackinac Center, a right-wing think tank based in Michigan. The plan, recently exposed by the Detroit News, entailed using vouchers to pay for schools with a heavy emphasis on using online courses.

Michigan Education Association President Steve Cook criticized the project as "a scheme that takes funding from kids to divert more taxpayer dollars into the pockets of rich CEOs."

McGuire noted that those leading the so-called school reform movement are "not educators and have never been in a classroom."

http://www.pww.org/those-pushing-school-reform-have-never-been-in-a-classroom/

Superintendent Vitti, let data decide if Teach for America expands or not!

2013-05-12T17:00:00.001-06:00

This is the response I gave to Superintendent Vitti about Teach for America, -cpg

First thanks for getting back to me as ever you have a rationale well thought out position and I completely agree with you that TFA does have a role to play, I think where we differ is what place in line they should be.

You are right the teaching profession has greatly changed over the last ten years or so, fewer and fewer people enter the field with plans of being there a life time. I also think if the powers-that-be continues their campaign against teachers, getting rid of tenure, attacks on the pension, merit pay, evaluations based on high stakes tests etc. then we are going to need a lot more than the hundred or so TFA recruits that the district plans to bring in annually.

However I know you are a data driven decider so I would like you to think about these numbers, numbers I got from the district last year.

Only 4 of the first group of 51 TFA teachers stayed for 4 years, that’s 8%.

Then only 10 of the next group of 41 stayed 3 years. That is less than 25%.

Of the fist 91 teach for America teachers to come to Jacksonville only 14 stayed past their two year commitment. That’s about 16%

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/letters-readers/2012-04-17/story/con-too-few-teach-america-teachers-remain-system#ixzz2SSuanMRD

I have asked Masha Oliver for updated numbers and she has said she will get back to me but as you can plainly see those numbers are abysmal.

Then Trey Czar on the radio program First Coast Connect said first and second year teachers struggle and often have poor classroom management. Well when we put a TFA recruit in a classroom we assure that classroom will have a revolving door of teachers who will most likely struggle.

I also worry about the amount and expense of training that goes into TFA teachers who will never use it. I had more training that required subs during my first two years than in the next 5 combined. Then TFA has negative ramifications on teacher pay, the cost of benefits and the future of pensions.

Finally the whole notion of TFA is insulting to many veteran teachers and myself. It says anybody can do my job regardless of experience and training and that’s not true. It turns my job from a profession into an extended summer gig for recent college grads.

As I said TFA does have a role to play but in every instance I sincerely believe and the data I believe backs me up, the district should strive to put teachers who may spend a lifetime teaching in our classes. Only when we have exhausted all other routes should we turn to TFA for help. That 11 million dollars would be so much better spent recruiting veteran teachers from the surrounding communities and top graduates from the states colleges of education unless like Jeb Bush believes you think they should all be blown up.

All I ask the district and you to do is to look at the data before making the decision to expand the program. Our resources are already spread so thin.

You might want to check this out too.

http://studentslast.blogspot.com/2013/05/top-ten-reasons-i-joined-teach-for.html?showComment=1368384693425#c1456101220366101441

Again thanks for writing me back. Have a great day

Chris Guerrieri

Top ten reasons why people join Teach for America

2013-05-12T12:54:00.000-06:00

From Students Last

Kai Merikal, a twenty-two-year-old from Wisconsin, will be teaching fourth graders in Newark, New Jersey beginning in September. Below she shares her reasons for joining Teach for America.

10. I didn't get into law school... yet.
9. I want to be sainted.
8. I believe that if teachers just expect their students to learn, they will.
7. How hard could teaching really be?
6. Because I'm blind to the long-term consequences of my actions.
5. My other temp job didn't offer health insurance.
4. I ran out of things to blog about.
3. Two TFA years qualify me to head up just about any school district that education reformers
can get their hands on.
2. It's the only way I could get TFA recruiters to stop calling and emailing me.
1. The kids I'm going to teach are already so screwed up, how much harm can having
an untrained teacher do?

http://studentslast.blogspot.com/2013/05/top-ten-reasons-i-joined-teach-for.html?showComment=1368384693425#c1456101220366101441

Jesus would have been rated ineffective by the CAST

2013-05-12T08:11:00.001-06:00

How do people support Republicans in Florida’s state government again?

2013-05-12T07:51:00.003-06:00

First let me say, something like 12 in the house and 7 in the senate went against their party bosses to vote against the parent trigger. I also know there have been good republicans in the Florida Legislature, Legg, Dockery, King and Weinstein quickly come to mind. The problem however is that there are enough bottom feeders whose sole purpose is to generate profits for themselves, friends and associates that the entire party should be held suspect and since this is the case it is maddening that Florida’s citizens keep voting for them.

The latest two are senators Eric Fresen and Anitere Flores. Read only on an empty stomach. –cpg

From the Tampa Times, By Michael LaForgia and Kathleen McGrory

As the legislative session neared an end this month, state Rep. Erik Fresen found himself in an awkward position.
Just last year, Fresen helped keep a torrent of public money flowing to private tutoring firms.

But after revelations of fraud and lax oversight turned the program into a black eye for education reform, his new orders from House leadership were clear: End subsidized tutoring, and do it now.

A friendly face from the upper chamber, Flores had much in common with Fresen. Both are Republicans from Miami. And both had backed subsidized tutoring without disclosing ties to the industry.

At stake: $100 million in federal education money — cash that could, depending on how things played out, remain committed to private tutoring or be freed up for districts to spend as they liked.

As the session entered its final week, it was far from certain where the money would go.

• • •

A year earlier, tutoring's fate was equally undecided — until Fresen stepped in.

In the last days of the 2012 session, records show, Fresen added subsidized tutoring to an essential education bill that came out of his subcommittee. It led to a compromise negotiated by Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee. Private tutoring firms would again get a cut of the money.

Fresen voted for the proposal, but records show he didn't disclose ties to the tutoring industry.

In 1998, Fresen's brother-in-law, Fernando Zulueta, and sister, Magdalena Fresen, started a charter school firm that now doubles as a subsidized tutoring provider.

Last year, the business, Mater Academy Inc., won $380,000 in tutoring contracts from Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

In an interview with the Times/Herald on Wednesday, Fresen downplayed his role in securing funding for the industry in 2012. He said he simply was following his committee's plan when he amended a bill to include money for subsidized tutoring.

Fresen said he saw no need to disclose his family connection because his sister and brother-in-law's firm no longer controlled the charter school they founded more than a decade ago. Instead they were managing it on a contract basis, he said.

The school's independent board, he said, made its own decision to become a tutoring vendor, just as it made the decision to hire his family's management company.

He added that the only reason the school began tutoring "is because they were being forced to hire fly-by-night providers. At no point was it a profit-maker for Mater."

He said the school opposed subsidized tutoring and would shut down its tutoring arm as soon as the program died.

Flores, too, voted for the proposal last year but didn't disclose a connection: She works as CEO of Doral College Inc., a nonprofit charter school and private college company founded in 2001 — by Zulueta and Magdalena Fresen. And, like Mater, Doral too is now run by Zulueta's management company.

The board that hired Flores in 2011 included business associates of Zulueta's. It now includes at least one person who has lobbied for him.

In a statement to the Times/Herald, Flores defended her record on subsidized tutoring, saying she supports it because it helps impoverished, minority children.

"To imply that the reason for my support is in any way connected to my employment is ridiculous and baseless," Flores said in the statement. "This is an issue that has been important to me since I was first elected because it directly affects the children in my district."

Trouble for tutoring

When the bill passed last year, it marked a hard-won victory in a nationwide campaign by the tutoring industry to keep the tax dollars flowing.

Then something unexpected happened.

In a series of stories published in February, the Tampa Bay Times showed that the poorly regulated program had paid criminals to run tutoring firms. It also allowed operators accused of fraud to continue doing business with districts, the Times reported.

The stories galvanized leaders of Florida school districts, who long had viewed the mandated funding as an unwelcome intrusion.

With the next session approaching, they readied for the biggest fight yet over subsidized tutoring.

First blow, stalemate

It started quietly, gaining momentum as April turned into May.

School districts landed the first blow when Rep. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, added an amendment to an education bill that would make tutoring optional.

But the move got no traction in the Senate, and it created an opening to push the fight into the budgeting process. There, the matter could be hashed out in private, between a Senate committee headed by Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, and a House committee headed by Fresen.

More wrangling ensued. The Senate, urged on by Flores, pushed to keep requirements to fund tutoring. Fresen took up the House position to do away with them.

A week later, when lawmakers emerged from the series of closed-door budget meetings, they still hadn't reached a deal.

Less than a week remained before the end of the session.

Dramatic finish

The fight over tutoring ended four days later, in a dramatic showdown on the Senate floor.

In a move that closely mirrored Fresen's from the year before, Flores proposed adding subsidized tutoring to an unrelated virtual education bill. It was a priority for House Speaker Will Weatherford and a bill that was almost certain to pass.

Then, after questions from a Times/Herald reporter, Flores withdrew the proposal. Another Miami-Dade Republican, Sen. Rene Garcia of Hialeah, offered an identical amendment in her place.

The Senate's sponsor for the virtual education bill, Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, said later that the flurry of amendments caught him off guard.

"What was going through my head was, 'This is a heck of a thing to be putting on a bill at its second or third reading. This is obviously something that should be vetted by a committee,' " Brandes said.

For the next several minutes, Garcia, Flores and Sen. Dwight Bullard, D-Cutler Bay, took turns defending the language, which called for about $80 million in federal education money for private tutoring firms.

"At the end of the day, the ones who benefit from this are the minority students," Garcia said.

But this time, the Senate turned on tutoring.

Montford, who had brokered the tutoring deal last year, led the charge.

"What's happening this year, we are having students who are not being served because I was a part last year of the compromise," Montford said. "And I can't stand here today and vote for something, and feel tomorrow like I do today."

Minutes later, they put it to a voice vote.

The amendment, and an industry's hopes for the coming year, died in a chorus of nos.

When it was over, Fresen said, he felt like the Legislature had made the right decision.

After all, subsidized tutoring "was like the wild, wild West," he said, and it was time somebody stepped in and restored order.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/lawmakers-battle-behind-the-scenes-for-tutoring-money/2120446

Senate President Done Geatz, good job Florida (sic)

2013-05-12T07:33:00.001-06:00

I have to be honest I didn’t realize that Geatz made all his money in for profit hospice care. I didn’t even know there was such a thing as for profit hospice care. I was ignorant to the fact that people profited off people as they lay dying.

My mother was in hospice her last few weeks and it makes me sick to think her death may have paid for some executive’s golf clubs.

It turns out Geatz not only profited off the suffering and death of untold Floridians but he may have broken the law while doing so. Something Rick Scott’s health care company was fined over a billion dollars doing.

This is what passes for leadership here in Florida, self-serving individuals looking to make a buck off the people.

What does this have to do with education? Well first this ghoul was partly in charge of the disastrous education agenda over the last few years and it is the same thing with on-line and testing education companies, vouchers, and charter schools, those aren't in place to help our kids and improve education they are their so self serving people can make a buck off the people.

Good job Floirda, I am the opposite of proud.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/09/3388766/florida-senate-presidents-former.html

Why tax dollars should not follow the student, or,. why vouchers and charter schools don't get the job done.

2013-05-11T10:20:00.004-06:00

Motivating teachers through fear and reprisal does not work

2013-05-11T07:40:00.000-06:00

By John Louis Meeks, Jr.

Thanks to CAST, the teachers are increasingly afraid of their pupils.

With apologies to Morrissey, who wrote a similarly titled song, I must point out how the teacher evaluation system in place is judging teachers based on student behaviors that are typical for their age, but can torpedo a teacher's evaluation score.

For example, I used to frequently doodle in class when I was a student. I was paying attention, but I preferred to pass the time by making little drawings to pass the time. Today, this would be evidence that my teacher failed to control my behavior. What should my teacher have done? Should he have intercepted my notes and demanded that I conform to the mandated student behavior?

When the observation day comes, teachers try to control every aspect of their lesson and their class, but end up falling prey to the feedback from administrators that focuses on the minor details that put the entire class in a negative light.

"Mr. Smith, you gave a nice lesson but you failed to notice that a student was twiddling her thumbs. This is proof that you did not engage that student in learning," goes the typical refrain.

And we wonder why we are creating a system in which we have teachers who are neurotic and insecure about their work. The result in my opinion, is an increase in teachers who are demanding that students stop acting like students and that students become props in putting on shows that are designed to impress the adults in the room.

This is shameful because even the most eagle-eyed teacher cannot be expected to force children to become silent and still lambs who fit easily into a Stepford classroom filled with children who can be forced into perfect little learners who are devoid of any human element.

There, of course, is a price for many teachers who are literally begging their students to tow the line for administrators. I know of quite a few teachers who ply their students with incentives (pizza, doughnuts, etc.) for making them look good for the folks with clipboards. Yes, this is bribery, but it seems to be part of the game. Others deliberately choose their 'best' classes for observation days with the hopes of limiting the potential damage of an observation.

This supposedly foolproof observation and evaluation system is already being gamed for better results and we are fooling ourselves if we believe that it cannot be somehow manipulated to avoid failing marks.

The most frustrating aspect of this system, in my opinion, is that a teacher can have the entire class on the reservation, except for one or two who are not 'engaged.' Those one or two students are the ones who receive the most attention from observers and are the ones who end up defining an entire class period. It makes me wonder why teachers even bother to plan a decent lesson if their efforts are going to be discarded because CAST is training administrators to deliberately seek out ways that the teacher is not doing his or her job.

The most unintended consequence of the CAST evaluation system is that we are bringing out the aspects of teaching that made education a chore for students. Ask any average layperson about their experience in school and they would quickly point out that public education is notorious for its treatment of students as mere parts of a larger machine. The education establishment, however, fails to see the folly in this and continues to value collective conformity among students as a cherished virtue. This is detrimental because every class is doomed to becoming a clinical clone of other classes for the sake of putting up the appearance of learning.

And what do we make of teaching and learning that is not part of the do-or-die CAST rubric? Nothing. I look back to earlier in my career when I was teaching U.S. history and encountered a student who wanted to learn about history beyond the learning schedule. I crafted an independent study for her in which we discussed the turbulent year of 1968 and focused on the events leading up to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. It was a highly instructive experience as we compared the political process of the late 1960s with the coming election year. The result was a student who felt connected with learning and who eventually attended and graduated from Rutgers University. Yes, I know I am a chronic failure as a teacher because I failed to document her reading scores and failed to pin data to a spreadsheet that made numbers dance across the computer screen. Did I make a connection through encouraging learning? Yes. Did I manage to color between the lines? No.

And, until we improve the way we evaluate our teachers, we will keep committing the grievous sin of using fear as the best motivator for teachers and we will continue to remove any real joy for teaching as the elements of teaching are reduced to being petty supervisors who are increasingly afraid of their charges acting their age.

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