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.
A protestor holds up a sign at a Boston rally encouraging others to submit testimonials.
Teachers are joining the anti-corporate Occupy Wall Street movement that has been spreading across the country since mid-September.
The Occupy Education blog features photos of teachers holding up messages outlining how they work on behalf of their students. Many of the messages imply that administrators or bureaucrats undermine their efforts.
“I see my students as individuals, not data points. We aren’t perfect, we’re people. Learning is messy—sometimes you need to get your hands dirty,” one note says.
The site explains its purpose this way:
“This is a collection of adults and children’s messages that challenge public school to become something more than it is – messages that dare public school to serve students’ passions instead of politicians and vendors’ coffers.”
Just what kind of shape is the state budget in? Tune in this morning.
State economists are counting the contents of Florida’s piggy bank this morning to see how much money the state will have for its budget beginning July 1.
Earlier this year it looked like Florida might have a very small surplus. Estimates last week suggested the state economy has slowed and lawmakers could now face a $2 billion shortfall.
If revenues fail to meet expectations, school budgets may need to be cut — again — next year. That decision will be made after lawmakers return to Tallahassee in January.
You can watch the revenue meeting live here, starting at 9 a.m.
Parent Revolution is organizing parents to demand public school reforms.
Parents unhappy with their children’s schools are using labor union tactics to build support for charter schools, according to a story by the Associated Press.
California was the first state to adopt a so-called ‘parent trigger’ law, which allows a majority of parents to vote to convert a district school to a charter school. Florida Gov. Rick Scott is considering a similar law, according to his draft legislative agenda.
Movement leaders argue a parent’s first concern is his or her child:
Behind the parent empowerment movement is a feisty Los Angeles-based nonprofit, Parent Revolution, which in 2010 pushed through a landmark law giving parents authority to force turnarounds at failing schools through a petition.
Known as the “parent trigger,” the California law was the first of its kind in the nation. It inspired Texas and Mississippi to adopt similar laws and legislation is under consideration in 20 other states. Two states have voted down parent trigger bills.
“Parents have a different incentive structure than anyone else,” said Ben Austin, Parent Revolution’s executive director. “They’re the only ones who really care about kids.”
Parent Revolution also has the backing of the Gates Foundation, which has poured billions into education reform efforts. The foundation has given a $100 million grant to Hillsborough County to design a teacher evaluation and merit pay system.
What’s your view of groups such as Parent Revolution? Do you support a ‘parent trigger’ law in Florida? Do parents always know best when it comes to schooling?
Florida spends 18.1 percent less per K-12 student in state money than when the recession began in 2008, once figures are adjusted for inflation, according to the report.That means Florida is spending $705 less per student this year than it was in 2008.
South Carolina registered the highest budget cuts at 24.1 percent per student, while North Dakota increased funding by 24.2 percent per student.
Overall, 37 states are spending less per student this year than last. 30 states are spending less per student than they did four years ago.
The report argues that the budget cuts have hindered states’ ability to implement education reforms and extended the economic recovery.
The program started with cereal, but has now added lots of other items — even Hi-Liter markers. School officials and dietitians say it’s possible to collect box tops and still choose healthy foods.
But many of the participating products are far from a health teacher’s dream: Betty Crocker SuperMoist cake mixes, Cocoa Puffs Brownie Crunch, Pillsbury Big Deluxe Cookies, Spider-Man Fruit Flavored Shapes.
Teachers protest budget cuts and Senate bill 736 -- now law -- in Miami in March.
Teacher merit pay systems need less objectivity and more accountability if they are to work, argues an economist at the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute.
Rating and paying teachers based on student test scores is unlikely to improve teachers, writes Arnold Kling. It is easier to “game” the system if it is based on a simple formula, Kling wrote.
A new Florida law requires school districts to evaluate teachers and pay educators based on their performance. Half a teacher’s evaluation hinges on student Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test scores.
“People closest to the teacher, including peers, principals, and parents, have more information about teacher quality than what can be obtained by remote administrators relying on test scores,” Kling writes.
Steve Jobs' inventions, particularly the iPad, will leave a lasting impact on education
The death of Apple founder Steve Jobs is an education story as well as a business story.
Among the Jobs tributes flooding the Internet Wednesday night was this from the parent of an autistic child. Although the son does not talk, the parent wrote, he uses Apple’s iPad to communicate.
“Thank you Steve Jobs for helping my son,” the parent wrote on CNN’s iReport site. “You have given us hope we thought we would never have.”
The parent summed up Jobs’ impact on the son very simply: “Steve Jobs saved my son.”
Vice President Joe Biden argued Congress should approve a jobs bill that includes $35 billion to add or maintain education jobs.
Pitching the effects on Pasco County elementary students, Vice President Joe Biden made a case for President Barack Obama’s jobs bill Tuesday.
Biden pulled plenty of local anecdotes for his stop at Oakstead Elementary School in Land O’ Lakes: The $54 million shortfall the district faced this year; the 513 jobs cut; the eight Oakstead teachers no longer working at the school.
Obama’s jobs bill, Biden said, would mean $35 billion across the country to add or preserve 400,000 education jobs.
The bill would mean 26,000 education jobs in Florida. Pasco County would get $40 million in emergency funding the county could use towards an expected $26 million deficit next year.
“No one can tell whether or not these shortfalls put these beautiful kids a month behind in their overall education?” Biden asked. “Six months? A year? Or two years? But the truth is it does slow down…their capacity to learn.”
Yesterday we looked at some of the misconceptions about how Florida charter schools must operate.
Today we’ll take a look at a couple of charter contracts to see the different requests school districts make of charter applicants. Seminole County asked Galileo School for Gifted Learning to abide by the class size limits for district schools, for instance, instead of the slightly more forgiving standards usually applied to charter schools.
Below is a Hillsborough County charter school contract. We’ve added some notes to point out important sections.
To read the contract of a Duval County charter school run by a for-profit firm, click here.
For Galileo School for Gifted Learning’s charter click here.
And finally, a Duval County charter high school here.
A Polk County high school under construction last year.
Florida schools will have little construction money next year after state economists reduced their estimate by 70 percent Monday.
Schools will have about $113 million available, down from the $380 million initially expected for the budget year beginning July 1, 2012.
Utility taxes provide much of the school construction fund, but economists said fewer people are buying electricity because businesses have closed or larger homes remain vacant. The school bond fund is being hit by a longer-term trend too: More consumers are buying energy-efficient appliances.
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