John O'Connor is the Miami-based education reporter for StateImpact Florida. John previously covered politics, the budget and taxes for The (Columbia, S.C) State. He is a graduate of Allegheny College and the University of Maryland.
Tres Whitlock, who tried to enroll in a charter school last fall. Whitlock was told the school could not provide the services he needed.
Earlier this week we wrote about a new study showing charter schools receive about 70 cents, per student, for every dollar district schools receive.
The report included a few policy changes that would help even out the funding. One change was to make charter schools the Local Education Authority — a legal term that equates to charter schools becoming their own school district.
Currently, charter schools are a subset of the county school district and charter school funding passes through the school district. The proposed change would allow charter schools to cut out the middle man and directly access state and federal funds.
President Barack Obama shakes hands after a White House event announcing No Child Left Behind waivers.
So you’ve just been granted a waiver by the U.S. Department of Education — congrats on being one of the lucky 10. You’re ready to take your first steps toward Leaving No Child Left Behind, well, behind!
But what does the waiver mean? How will it change things for Florida schools, students and parents?
Here’s what education leaders say to expect following today’s announcement.
1) Tougher standards — Florida has already raised Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test reading standards, and promised to include more student subgroups in its school and district grading system.
While we’re waiting for the White House and the U.S. Department of Education to say why they approved Florida’s No Child Left Behind waiver request, let’s review what they said about the application in December.
Below is the December 20, 2011 letter to the Florida Department of Education outlining initial concerns.
At the time, the feds were concerned that some student groups weren’t included in Florida’s grading system, that the system did not place enough emphasis on graduation rates and that the application did not emphasize enough student sub-groups, which can include minority and low-income students.
President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan talk about "Race to the Top" during a stop at a Virginia Elementary School in 2010.
The White House has confirmed that Florida is one of ten states which has been granted a waiver from No Child Left Behind requirements. Of eleven states initially applying, only New Mexico was not approved today.
In a statement, President Barack Obama said the move will give states the “green light to continue making reforms that are best for them…our job is to harness those ideas, and to hold states and schools accountable for making them work.”
Florida’s request is built largely on systems already in place to test student performance and measure gains against some of the nation’s toughest standards. Those measurements break out students into subgroups, such as minority or low-income students. Florida is also developing a system to measure teacher performance.
The decade-old No Child Left Behind law is overdue for a rewrite, and the White House said they were tired of waiting on Congress to act.Read the full White House statement after the jump.
Giving charter schools local money for construction, maintenance and facilities could leave school districts unable to pay their bills, Fred Grimm argues.
Miami Herald columnist Fred Grimm raises another issue with the proposed bill requiring equal funding for charter schools and district schools: A credit crunch.
But the budget has another complication. Most of that remaining $230 million must go to pay off the district’s mandatory obligations, including some $180 million due as debt payment on bonds, $27 million for property insurance and $8 million to satisfy legal obligations stemming from the Americans with Disabilities Act. That leaves the district only about $12 million to spend on maintenance for the entire year.
The consequences become more dire in subsequent years, when debt payment obligations increase, causing the district’s construction and maintenance to descend, if this bill passes, into the red. With less than nothing for maintenance. (The district derived most of that debt when it was forced to borrow construction money to provide 100,000 additional student stations to meet the constitutionally mandated classroom enrollment caps.)
The school district would be forced to reach into a general fund already devastated by budget cuts and rising medical costs.
A new study finds charter schools receive 70 cents for every dollar budgeted to district schools.
Charter schools receive about 70 cents for every dollar budgeted to a traditional district schools, per student, according to a new analysis from Florida TaxWatch.
Florida TaxWatch argues a handful of changes could eliminate the disparity, including requiring school districts to share local money for buildings and repairs and allowing charter schools to be their own school districts — eliminating the middle man (school districts) for access to federal and state money.
Critics argue the money could pay for private facilities, and that charter schools do not have the same requirements — and therefore costs — as district schools.
Seminole County's school board has found itself in the crosshairs for threatening to close schools.
Seminole County’s school board has found itself a political target at home, and in Tallahassee, for its threat to close down schools due to budget cuts and declining revenue.
Seminole is facing a $20 million budget shortfall next year, largely due to the end of one-time federal assistance. The district has proposed everything from saving $500,000 by raising thermostats, to ending school sports and closing schools.
Seminole County commissioners said Tuesday that the district had built too many schools, according to the Orlando Sentinel, leaving empty seats and a big debt bill to pay off.
Rep. Kelli Stargel's bill would require teachers to evaluate their students' parents.
Rep. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, wants to grade parents, but readers gave her idea failing marks.
Dirhart argues grading parents does nothing but generate ill will:
This is a total waste of time, and will just lead to more teacher bashing. Yes, many parents are not doing a good job. There is little we can really do about it.
GrumpyElder puts the parent-teacher relationship in context:
Stargel forgets, both she and the teachers work at the pleasure of the parents..
Parents as voters and Taxpayers are the employers, if anything they have the right to grade individual teachers, NOT the other way around–
I would also challenge Rep Stargel to show where there is any Constitutional Authority for the State to use Schools as a means to evaluate parents.
Lina, a former teacher, appreciates the motivation:
As a former teacher, I do not think this bill is feasible, however, I think that it is well intentioned. I have worked in some challenging environments and had been held accountable for the performance of students who repeatedly failed to come to school ( some of who were also defiant and oppositional in the classroom).
It was beyond frustrating when parents were uncooperative during attempts to meet with or contact them even though I made myself available by coming hour early and staying until 6 pm or later, often tutoring other students for no monetary gain. Frustration wasn’t even the word when I worked 60 hour weeks tailoring plans to individual students who would either not attend or misbehave during school so when it was time for my class they had already been sent to the office or into a CSI classroom.
The public deserves information that is useful and these rankings are not. What does it mean when a city’s public education fund releases better info than state officials? Politics, anyone? Those who released this garbage have shown their willingness to give the public useless data.
Ldhiker notes the relationship between test scores, the basis for the rankings, and wealth:
The lowest-ranked high school has almost 90% of students on free or reduced lunch. The highest-ranked school has 6% of students on free or reduced lunch. The same thing can be said for percentages of minority students. Until we address the gap with minority students and other social problem issues, these school rankings are absolute garbage.
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.
Gov. Rick Scott opposes tuition hikes that could result from the proposed Florida House budget.
Gov. Rick Scott has thrown out a handful of education markers for lawmakers this session, most notably threatening to veto any budget that does not increase K-12 funding.
Scott told lawmakers that he also opposes a proposed budget that would raise tuition at state universities. But it’s worth underlining a passage in the Orlando Sentinel’s budget story today: Scott’s veto may be useless to stop tuition hikes:
Former California State Sen. Gloria Romero help write the nation's first parent trigger law.
California was the first state to adopt a ‘parent trigger,’ which allows a majority of parents in a failing school to vote on a method to restructure the school.
The bill is expected to be among the most contentious education issues of the 2012 legislative session. Activists have lined up against the bill, arguing it is not being done in their name. Others argue the bill is bad policy.
For more explanation on how Florida’s proposed law works, click here.
StateImpact Florida spoke with Gloria Romero, a former California state senator who authored the original parent trigger bill. Romero is now state director for the California chapter of Democrats for Education Reform.
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