The index focuses on the concept of school choice, which has been popular with Florida Gov. Rick Scott and the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature. Lawmakers passed a series of bills last spring to broaden school choice options. The result is easier expansion of virtual and charter schools, and more opportunities for kids to transfer to better performing public schools or into private schools using vouchers.
A study in Education Week makes the case for districts to get rid of middle schools in favor of K-8 schools. Harvard University researchers Guido Schwerdt and Martin R. West looked at public schools in Florida. They used statewide data to track kids in grades 3 through 10 from 2000 to 2009.
The study found “that students moving from elementary to middle school in grade 6 or 7 suffer a sharp drop in student achievement in the transition year.” The achievement drops continue through grade 10, “by which time most students have transitioned into high school. We also find that middle school entry increases student absences and is associated with higher grade 10 dropout rates.” By comparison, the data show the transition into high school in the ninth grade typically brings a brief and small drop in achievement.
When Governor Rick Scott asked the state’s 11 public universities to prove their worth to him, the universities responded to the challenge.
The Governor asked the schools to answer 17 questions that he says will help him craft higher education reform. And those schools have been turning in their answers.
The Sun Sentinel reports the University of Florida turned in a 750-page report. And according to the Sentinel, Florida State University answered those questions in “a 38-megabyte file, roughly the size of an encyclopedia volume.”
The Governor is testing public universities to see how well their goals match up to his job-creation plan, which includes graduating more science, technology, engineering and math majors, or STEM fields.
The latest kerfuffle involving religion in schools comes to us from Clay County in a suburb of Jacksonville. A school principal is being sued by an assistant principal over what the plaintiff refers to as state-sponsored religion.
Linda Turner is the principal at Bannerman Learning Center in Green Cove Springs. She is being sued, along with the school district, for sending religious and political notes from her school email account. The plaintiff, Patrick Capriola, says that while he is religious, it’s not proper for people in public employment to promote such issues.
A lawsuit that claims the Florida Legislature has failed to adequately educate the state’s children is going to the Florida Supreme Court. State leaders appealed for a halt to the proceedings after a trial judge rejected their request to dismiss the case, but an appellate court voted 8 – 7 this week to allow the lawsuit to proceed.
The lawsuit was filed two years ago by half a dozen students and parents. They were joined in the suit by Fund Education Now, a nonprofit focused on education reform in Florida, and Citizens for Strong Schools, a nonprofit based in Alachua County.
Readers rekindled the debate about whether Florida universities should “drive” more students into science, technology, engineering and math fields.
Trena G said government doesn’t have the authority to require a student pursue a certain degree.
Fine if he wants to make SUGGESTIONS to individual students, as to what they might enjoy studying. But, the gov has no right to dictate what people study, or what courses the school can offer. The schools are there to serve the students, not to serve the governor, or his state. The state is there to serve the students, not the other way around.
Dave said Scott is right to have some foresight to protect taxpayers from the future costs of current poor decisions:
The petition signers will soon be in some city park screaming at us because their degree in 15th century Chinese literature isn’t helping them find a job…liberals tend to rebel against common sense. And we have to suffer the consequences by bailing the idiots of out student loans then paying for a lifetime of welfare while they raise 3 kids on a McDonald’s job.
Bassetjaw offered an idea on how to encourage STEM graduates:
A market solution would be to waive all or a significant amount of tuition for students that attain STEM degrees with a GPA above 3.0. That would take someone with a brain to come up with. Sorry Florida you elected him.
What’s your take? Add it to the comments or shoot us an email.
Reader reaction is an important part of building StateImpact Florida’s education coverage. Feedback Loop will be a regular feature highlighting your questions, criticisms and comments.
This map shows charter school attendance in every Florida county. Click on the image for an interactive map.
More than two dozen counties did not have a charter school during the last school year, despite a rising percentage of Florida students attending charter schools.
These interactive maps show the counties without charters and the percentage of students in each county that attend charter schools.
A recent article in The Nation magazine accused business leaders of using legislative tactics to hide their true intentions, which include privatizing virtual public schools. Writer Lee Fang talked about Florida as a leader in the pursuit of privatized education through vouchers and charter schools. But another writer says Fang got it wrong.
Fang cited former Governor Jeb Bush’s “far-reaching ten-point agenda for virtual schools and online coursework.” He wrote that a key to Bush’s success included a requirement that Florida’s public school students take some classes online.
The article quoted Patricia Levesque, who runs two education foundations chaired by Bush. At a retreat last year, Fang said she urged education reformers to spread the opposition thin by keeping them busy with legislative proposals.
Now, writer Bill Tucker takes the original article to task for what he sees as some serious flaws.
It’s that time between Halloween and Thanksgiving when first-year teachers start losing some of the initial excitement they had at the start of the school year, and when students (who haven’t had a school break in a while) start pushing new teachers to see what they can get away with.
Roxanna Elden, calls the month of November the “disillusionment phase” for rookie teachers.
Below, she tells us about her first-year teacher breakdown, and offers some tips for new teachers, friends and family members of new teachers, and people who help train new teachers.
“This Halloween marked the ten-year anniversary of my first-year teacher breakdown. I spent the afternoon in my car in a Burger King parking lot, crying too hard to drive. According to many of the teachers I interviewed for my book, I was right on schedule.
Which industries are adding the most jobs? Georgetown University researchers think they know the answer.
Marketing and sales and hospitality and tourism industries will create the most jobs in Florida between 2008 and 2018, according to a new Georgetown University report.
Overall, researchers expect the state will create 1.04 million jobs over the ten-year period.
The report projects information technology and health science will have the fastest percentage growth over that time period. At the bottom of the list is science, technology, engineering and math with just 3 percent growth and 21,100 new jobs expected.
According to the report, these five industries will create the most jobs in Florida:
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