“Gov. Scott has been diligent about listening to teachers,” Bennett said. “One of the things that I can say with great hope is that by the time this legislative session ends, a number of the concerns brought forth in the suit are actually going to be addressed.”
The biggest complaint is that a teacher’s evaluation may be based on the academic performance of students in a different class or even another school — students the teacher never taught.
Patricia Sullivan speaks during a rally against Common Core at the Capitol. Protesters were asked to lobby legislators about slowing down implementation of the new standards.
A mom of four from Mount Dora is doing her best to convince Florida lawmakers to slow down the Common Core train.
Florida is scheduled to complete the transition to the new academic standards in time for the 2014-15 school year.
Patricia Sullivan home schools her kids and is concerned about the changes home school families may have to make. Students who want to go to college, she said, will have to take Common Core tests.
Her work is part of a sudden turn nationally against the Common Core standards, and supporters — such as former Gov. Jeb Bush — who have been leading the effort.
Floridians Against Common Core Education says Common Core was developed by a "regime" using stimulus money from the Obama administration and "pushed by the duped Republican governors and business groups."
Dozens of protesters fanned out at the Capitol yesterday, trying to convince lawmakers to put the brakes on Common Core State Standards.
A coalition of groups working under the moniker Floridians Against Common Core Education is organizing rallies opposing the new teaching standards that are being phased in nationwide.
Florida is on schedule to complete its roll out of Common Core by the fall of 2014.
Dr. Karen Effrem is a pediatrician and president of Education Liberty Watch, a Minnesota-based limited government group that supports parents as the final authority over their child’s education.
“Common Core was adopted by the appointed State Board of Education. There wasn’t a single elected legislator or county school board member that had a voice,” Effrem said. “It is extraordinarily dangerous.”
Effrem said academic quality will suffer under the new standards.
6th grader Mariah Harris wants to go to college and become a veterinary technician.
Right now, schools determine whether to move a student into special education classes.
But a proposed bill in Tallahassee would give parents of children with special needs more power over their education.
Fort Lauderdale 6th grader Mariah Harris has Down syndrome, and she wants to be a veterinary technician.
“My dream is to go to college with my friends one day,” she told a panel of lawmakers.
She was accepted into a middle school magnet program that caters to her love of science and math. But before the school year started, her mother says the Broward County school district drastically changed the plan for Mariah’s education.
“I feel the school is now providing my daughter with very expensive babysitting service,” said Nancy Linley-Harris.
Most states are moving toward Common Core State Standards – a new way of teaching that dives deeper into fewer topics.
That means new assessments are on the way.
Florida is phasing out most of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. The new PARCC assessments are scheduled to be in place for the 2014-15 school year.
PARCC stands for Partnership for Assessments of Readiness for College and Careers.
More than 20 states and the District of Columbia are working together to develop the tests for K-12. (23 other states are part of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium – a different set of assessments also aligned to Common Core.)
Florida Education Association President Andy Ford has some issues with the new tests.
The standards set benchmarks for each grade level. And instead of learning a little bit about a lot of things, students will be expected to absorb a lot of information about fewer subjects.
Education Commissioner Tony Bennett says Florida’s transition to Common Core is on schedule.
The Florida Department of Education even has an interactive readiness gauge online that measures each district’s progress toward meeting Common Core deadlines.
Q: Where do you think the state is right now in the transition to Common Core?
A: There hasn’t been a sufficient amount of training that’s been done to make sure that teachers understand what the new standards are and how to go about implementing them.
The assessments aren’t online yet in order to be able to have all the proof that we need. Continue Reading →
1st grade teacher Kim Cook posted this picture on Facebook after her unsatisfactory evaluation, and it went viral. Much of her evaluation was based on standardized test scores for students at another school.
One of the plaintiffs, Kim Cook, was the 2012 teacher of the year at Irby Elementary School in Alachua County.
“My evaluation for the 2011-12 school year was based on the FCAT reading scores of students in another grade in another school,” Cook said. “Specifically, 40 percent of my evaluation was based on the FCAT reading scores of 4th and 5th graders at Alachua Elementary.”
Cook expects to be evaluated the same way this year.
The Florida Legislature has approved a bill to create an online institute through one of the state universities. The Board of Governors will choose the university.
The Florida House has unanimously passed a bill to create an online-only institute at an existing Florida university.
“Florida is leading the charge on the digital revolution in higher education,” said House Speaker Will Weatherford. “We are taking the necessary steps to ensure our students will be ready to compete in the global marketplace.”
The bill requires the state’s top research university to create an institute for online education. It also sets requirements for daily operations and tuition.
Once the institute is in place, students will be able to enroll and complete a four-year undergraduate program without ever visiting the campus.
Sen. David Simmons offered one big change to the parent trigger bill. It gives school boards - not the Board of Education - the final say in how to turn around a failing school.
Senators said they changed a key provision in the session’s most controversial education bill on the advice of Education Commissioner Tony Bennett.
Thursday a Senate panel approved the Parent Empowerment in Education bill, better known as the parent trigger bill.
Members altered the bill to conform with the House version, which has already been approved by the full House.
But they also made one big change: The local school board would have the final say in how to revamp a failing school.
The original bill gave the final say to the State Board of Education if the district and parents didn’t agree on a school turnaround plan.
“With the school district being the final arbiter of this decision, it’s going to take the heat as to whatever decision it makes,” said Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs. “Hopefully, it will turn around that school.”
Bennett’s concern is that giving the Board of Education the final say “may let local school board members off the hook when it comes to respecting a parent’s role in the process.”
Sen. Bill Montford wants to see more parents involved in their children's schools. He says the parent trigger bill isn't needed because they are already empowered.
Sen. Bill Montford, a Democrat from North Florida, doesn’t like the Parent Empowerment in Education bill. It’s much better known as the parent trigger bill.
“We know overall that the majority of students that are successful have parents that are involved,” Montford said. “It’s critical to have parent support and involvement in the schools.”
“The issue with the (parent) trigger bill is it’s not a question of parent involvement,” Montford told StateImpact Florida. “The trigger bill centers on parent empowerment. In other words, they will have the power — if 50% plus 1 vote to go a certain way.”
Montford says parents already have lots of options for being involved in schools.
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