Owner: The Gradebook URL:blogs.tampabay.com/schools Join Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2007 12:42:20 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Get inside the world of Florida education with St. Petersburg Times staff writer Jeffrey S. Solochek and the rest of the Times education reporting team. We\'ll bring you up-to-date information about the latest education trends, fads and news, taking time Site statistics:Click here
Did she blow it? 2007-03-28 12:08:53 Castell Bryant had two years to turn Florida
A&M University around. While supporters credit her for progress
made in tough times, critics say Bryant was in over her head and made
things worse. FAMU now faces an unprecedented intervention by the Board of Governors. What do you think?
Today's news 2007-03-28 12:01:46 CHARTER UPHEAVAL: The Language Academy, under threat of closure by the Pasco school district, fires its principal, saying she isn't up to the task. Two board members also resign.
QUALITY COUNTS: Many states focus on quality when deciding whether to approve charter schools, while Florida doesn't even require closure of failing charters, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
CLASS SIZE CHANGES? A measure moving through the House to scale back the amendment, doesn't have much support in the Senate, where it heads to committee next, the Lakeland Ledger reports.
FOLLOWING FLORIDA: California adopts a growth model to assess whether schools are making progress with all groups of students, which could cause school grades to drop like a rock. If schools don't close the achievement gap, they won't make the grade, the LA Times reports.
GET OUT: Parents in a D.C. suburb are pushing to ban military recruiters from school hallways, cafeterias and sporting events, the Washington Post reports.
Read more:Today
What's independent, holistic and not a witch hunt? 2007-03-30 18:43:06 Meeting for the first time, the high-profile task force formed to oversee spending at Florida A&M University better defined its mission Friday morning, saying it would work independent
ly to address the school's deep-seated financial and accounting problems but not point fingers.
"There are many rumors out there, and part of the rumors are that this task force is out to kill FAMU, and do a name game or blame game on FAMU," said task force member Albert Dotson Sr., a Miami business executive who participated in Friday's telephone conference. But "this task force is not on a witch hunt."
The Board of Governors formed the 9-member group last week, in response to yet another unflattering state audit that found 35 problems at Florida's only historically black public university. FAMU has been rocked by a series of mismanagement problems going back to the presidencies of Frederick Humphries and Fred Gainous, who was fired in 2004. But many observers thought - until the latest audit -
Going, going, gone? 2007-03-30 15:49:59 The Senate plan (SB 1046) to limit gifted education funding to kindergarten through eighth grade is picking up steam, as key House leaders plan to follow that lead.
"We are going to pick up that language from the Senate and do the same thing, and focus the weighted funding on K-8," House Schools and Learning Council chairman Joe Pickens told the Gradebook. "High schools in Florida just use AP (Advanced Placement) and IB (International Baccalaureate) and dual enrollment and ACE (Access to College Education) programs for their rigorous curriculum, and they already get weighted funding for those."
To give them even more money for each student labeled gifted is unnecessary, he said.
Rep. John Legg, vice chairman of the Education Innovation and Career Preparation Committee, said the notion of gifted courses at the high schools has become almost a "non-issue" because students can take all the other high-level programs. The money could be better used in elementary and middle schools that h
Today's news 2007-03-30 12:03:50 DONE HAULING KIDS: Retired school buses still can haul, though. Just ask Robbie Aaron, who buys them up and races them at the Bronson Motor Speedway. Watch the action by clicking here.
DONE HELPING KIDS: Retired college computers still can help crime fighting. St. Petersburg College is donating about 1,000 obsolete computers to law enforcement agencies in Guatemala.
FAMU UPDATE: New president James Ammons pledges fiscal integrity and accountability are his top priorities as he takes the helm. There's a lively conversation on FAMU going on here. Meanwhile, the Tallahassee Democrat reports that lawmakers will give financial control of FAMU's College of Engineering to nearby Florida State University.
STAR, MAP, WHATEVER: Pasco County teachers aren't really interested in rushing into a new performance pay plan. They'd rather take some time, do it right. District officials hope to grab the state cash, and prepare to begin negotiations next week. Gov. Crist signed the new performance Read more:Today
Crist signs teacher bonus plan 2007-03-29 21:22:30 TALLAHASSEE - Invoking the name of his fifth grade teacher at Bay Vista Elementary in St. Petersburg, Gov. Charlie Crist
on Thursday signed into law the new teacher bonus plan that replaces the controversial one passed last year under former Gov. Jeb Bush.
"We're going to pay teachers more," said Crist, beaming as he addressed the packed Cabinet room filled with lawmakers, teachers and education lobbyists. "And we're going to do it in a way that's different from last year. That's important."
The bonuses would go to the "top" teachers and administrators in each participating school district, and would be between 5 and 10 percent of the average district teacher pay. An educator's evaluation would be based at least 60 percent on students' work on tests such as FCAT or a locally created test, and up to 40 percent on performance such as maintaining classroom discipline.
There's $147.5-million in this year's budget for the program, but Crist wants to double that next year. The Sen Read more:signs
Ammons: "We can fix the problems" 2007-03-29 21:19:17 GAINESVILLE - Florida A&M University's new president said Thursday that the school's persistent financial and accounting problems
must be tackled "head on" and that he will insist on clean audits.
"Our stakeholders expect greater accountability," said James Ammons, a former FAMU provost and current chancellor of North Carolina Central University. "I am confident we can fix the problems … and turn to our core business of educating students."
Ammons' comments came just moments after the Board of Governors ratified him to be FAMU's 10th president, and a few hours after a key board member issued the most dire assessment yet of FAMU's plight. Florida's only historically black public university is "headed toward, if not in, what I would characterize as the midst of a perfect storm," said Lynn Pappas, who chairs the task force the board formed last week to watchdog FAMU finances.
Ammons, 54, faces arguably the biggest crisis in FAMU's 120-year history when he begins work in Ju
How bad is it? 2007-03-29 18:59:53 Florida A&M University will find itself in a "perfect storm" - and may already be in one - if it doesn't get its financial and accounting problems under control, a key Board of Governors member said Thursday. If things aren't righted soon, FAMU could find its bonding status "compromised" and jeopardize its accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, said Lynn Pappas, who chairs the task force formed by the board last week to watchdog FAMU's finances.
Florida's only historically black public university "is headed toward, if not in, what I would characterize as the midst of a perfect storm," Pappas told other members of the board, which oversees the state university system and was in Gainesville for a regularly scheduled meeting.
Pappas' dire assessment comes on the same day the board is expected to ratify James Ammons as FAMU's new president. Ammons, a former FAMU Provost and current chancellor of North Carolina Central University, was selected by th
Not now 2007-03-29 18:51:57 Pasco County's teachers union, which overwhelmingly rejected participation in Special Teachers Are Rewarded, isn't showing much interest in jumping into the new Merit Award Program, either. Leaders worry that they just don't have enough time to negotiate a performance pay plan by the May 1 deadline that differs much from the STAR proposal that 87 percent of teachers thumped less than a month ago.
"I'm not sure if tweaking a plan that was so resoundingly rejected would fly with the teachers. I'm not sure that it would even fly with the School Board," United School Employees of Pasco president Lynne Webb told the Gradebook. "I will tell you that the overwhelming consensus in each focus group (of the group's building representatives) and when the groups were brought back together was the USEP should not revisit STAR or any other performance pay plan this late in the school year."
School district officials, meanwhile, have said they want to at least pursue a proposal, which would q
Remember Jennifer Porter? 2007-03-29 15:57:42 She pleaded guilty to avoid prison time in a 2004 hit and run that left two children dead and two others injured. She got two years of community control, three years of probation, 500 hours of community service work and an order to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. She lost her teaching job at Muller Elementary School in Tampa, too.
But the Pasco County resident held on to her Florida teaching license, which doesn't expire until 2008. At least for now. The state Education Practices Commission will consider yanking Porter
's certificate at its April 20 meeting in Tampa. To see the complaint against her, click here. So far, Porter has not even responded to the Department of Education's notice that it will review her case. That doesn't mean she can't fight it, though. All she has to do is show up at the hearing, which is scheduled to begin 8:30 a.m. (Porter's item is No. 42 out of 44) at the Embassy Suites Tampa Airport. Read more:Remember
Music to their ears 2007-03-29 15:30:52 When it comes to teaching music, Hillsborough County is tops in Florida. At least according to the American Music
Conference, which has included Hillsborough, but no other Florida district, in its eighth annual list of best communities for music education. It's the sixth time in eight years that Hillsborough has received the recognition, which is based on a survey of teachers, parents and community leaders in all 50 states.
Hillsborough officials touted the honor, noting that many districts have scaled back their music instruction, but Hillsborough has tried to retain as much as it can. "Students who study the arts do better in all other subjects," district spokeswoman Linda Cobbe said.
'Get over it' 2007-04-01 02:58:18 Ridgewood High School special education teacher Nichole Shuler doesn't let her students use their disabilities as a crutch. She just looks at them and says, "Get over it. I have one, too." Shuler has refused to allow severe cerebral palsy stop her from achieving her dream of teaching. Now she seeks to inspire her students to achieve. A link to the full story will come. To watch a student's video profile of Shuler, click here.
A weekend interview with ... 2007-03-31 19:02:11 ... Hillsborough School Board member Candy Olson. First elected in 1994, Olson has served as board chairwoman twice. She also has represented the district on the executive board of the Council of Great City Schools. She talked to the Gradebook about whether it's right to expect all students to graduate from high school in four years.
"What's the magic in four years? There are lots of kids who take 4-1/2 or five years to finish college, or even longer. And that doesn't seem to be such a problem. Now I know our Legislature would like kids to finish college quicker. It is because of money. But I think the point is that not everybody learns at the same rate. And when you get to high school you are dealing with much more complex kinds of learning. It's one thing to teach a child to read phonetically. It's another thing to teach a child to understand. ...
Not every child is going to grasp all the material they need in exactly four years of high school. Now, we need to do a better Read more:interview
, weekend interview
Today's news 2007-03-31 12:29:48 LAND DEAL QUESTIONED: Critics accuse the Hillsborough school district of cronyism for buying 34 acres from a retired School Board member. District officials say they did everything by the book.
LENDING PRACTICES INVESTIGATED: The U.S. Department of Education and Congress are looking into whether colleges and universities, including some in Florida, steer students toward financial aid packages that earn the schools money.
SUPERINTENDENT SIGNING: The Hernando County School Board expects to complete its contract with superintendent-designate Wayne Alexander on Tuesday. The details are still being hashed out.
WEIGHING IN ON P.E.: Citrus County stands ready to implement Gov. Crist's desire to have all elementary kids do 30 minutes of daily physical activity. One problem, though, and it's not FCAT prep. There are too many kids and not enough money to hire all the needed PE teachers, they say.
FROM THE OPINION PAGES: Six former governors call upon the current one to improve the state's Read more:Today
The number of the week is ... 2007-04-02 16:57:13 ... $800. That's the amount of buying power the average U.S. teacher lost between 2003 and 2005, according to the American Federation of Teachers.
In its 2005 annual salary survey, released last week, the union says that average teacher pay sank below that of the average government worker for the first time since 1982. Adjusted for inflation, the group reports, teachers lost ground. (Florida, by the way, logged in at the middle of the pack, with an average salary of $43,095.) Click here for the full report.
"It's fine to have discussions and hear proposals to improve education by raising the level of accountability for teachers. But these ideas are destined to fail if the basic pay inequities between teachers and other professions are not remedied," AFT president Edward J. McElroy said in a news release.
We hear a lot of debate about whether teachers are adequately paid. Discussions surrounding performance pay have centered on the issue, and the best way to address it. Meanwhile,
Today's news 2007-04-02 12:07:09 WALL STREET EDUCATION: Several proposed changes to Florida's education system sound like they come from the corporate world more than the classroom. Lawmakers look to tailor the curriculum to community industry, for instance, and to give tax credits to businesses that provide internships. "It's to make sure students who graduate can move on to good jobs," says Senate Education chairman Don Gaetz.
FOCUS ON THE WORLD: Another set of proposals seeks to make Florida students more globally competitive, pushing such programs as additional foreign language instruction, the Palm Beach Post reports.
THINK FIRST: The Hi-Five program helps elementary students build self-esteem and focus on their education. Some former students, now in college, use of some the skills to this day.
GIVE ME THE MONEY: Lawmakers from northern Florida fought to create a school funding plan that made the price of education per student close to the same statewide. Now some lawmakers from southern Florida, where it c Read more:Today
Coming up 2007-04-01 23:41:37 Tuesday: Pinellas School Board workshop, 9 a.m.; Pasco School Board, executive session, 3 p.m.; Hernando School Board, 7 p.m.
Wednesday: House Schools and Learning Council, noon
Thursday: State Board of Education, conference call, cancelled; Charter Schools Appeals Commission, 9 a.m.
Friday: State University System Board of Governors, conference call, 9 a.m.
April 9: Pasco School Board workshop, 1:30 p.m.
April 10: Pinellas School Board, 10 a.m.; Hillsborough School Board, 6 p.m., Senate Education Pre-K-12 Committee and Higher Education Committee, 2 p.m.
April 12: Florida Schools of Excellence Commission, 10 a.m., Tallahassee; Charter School Review Panel, 1 p.m., Tallahassee
April 13: Senate Education Pre-K-12 Appropriations Committee and Higher Education Appropriations Committee, 9 a.m.
Today's news 2007-04-01 12:25:48 'GET OVER IT': Ridgewood High School special
education teacher Nichole Shuler doesn't let her students use their
disabilities as a crutch. She just looks at them and says, "Get over
it. I have one, too." Shuler has refused to allow severe cerebral palsy
stop her from achieving her dream of teaching. Now she seeks to inspire
her students to achieve. To read Shuler's story, click here. To watch a student's video profile of Shuler, click here.
LOCK THE MEDICINE CABINET: You might be helping your own kids get high. School resource officers notice a growing number of students abusing nonprescription drugs such as Coricidin HBP
FROM THE OP/ED PAGE: As charter schooling becomes an industry, the state has an obligation to monitor them and hold them accountable, the editorial board says. And, the cut-and-paste world of the Internet has dramatically changed education, making it harder to test what students actually know, former teacher Jason Johnson writes.
NO MORE CASH: Read more:Today
Sue you 2007-04-04 00:14:41 The family of Taylor Tillung, the Pinellas high school senior who mooned a teacher in February, is suing the School Board to get his punishment reduced.
A student at Palm Harbor University High when the incident occurred, Taylor was suspended for six days and reassigned to Clearwater High. A lawsuit filed Tuesday in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court alleges the transfer was unreasonably harsh because it will deny him the once-in-a-lifetime chance to graduate with his class, participate in senior activities leading up to graduation and play his final season as a starter on Palm Harbor’s varsity baseball team. The suit also says school administrators did not correctly follow discipline procedures outlined in the district's Code of Student Conduct.
The boy mooned the teacher "suddenly and without thinking about the consequences," the lawsuit states. It says the boy saw the act as a "childish joke" and did not mean to insult the teacher. Click here to read the complaint.
Legal threats by
Phones on the blink at several Hillsborough schools 2007-04-03 21:49:06 The Hillsborough
school district reports that phones are not working at several
south Tampa schools.
Plant High, Monroe Middle and Anderson, Ballast Point and Lanier
elementary schools are among those without service. Other schools in
the area may be affected. Phones
also are not working at the Manahattan
Center and the Area I district office.
Verizon is working to restore service.
Today's kind of slow, but... 2007-04-03 17:37:46 ... if you're a junkie for education legislation, tomorrow is your day. The House Schools and Learning Council is taking up a bunch of major bills that run the gamut from early education to university governance. You can take a view of the humongous (752-page) meeting packet here. Want to see what the lawmakers will do about improving graduation rates, it's here. Human papillomavirus? Here. School bus safety? Here.
One bill alone (PCB 07-02) aims to implement 11 of the House's 100 "innovative ideas for Florida's future," all under the umbrella of world-class education standards. This is the legislation that the state teachers' union has decried as too much, too soon without enough input from all the players. It would change the rules for FCAT, Florida Bright Futures and more.
Is the Legislature biting off more than it can chew? What are your thoughts on the session so far? Read more:Today
Today's news 2007-04-03 12:03:04 TAKE ME OUT TO COMMENCEMENT: Tropicana Field is an increasingly popular graduation spot for Pinellas County high schools. But what to do when eight want the Trop on the same week, during a Rays homestand?
BAD KIDS (LOCAL EDITION): Two eighth graders lace their teacher's Pepsi with Febreze at Giunta Middle School. They're in trouble. She's taking leave to sort things out in her head.
THEY NEED A DEGREE: Gov. Charlie Crist joins several of his predecessors in saying that the state's prekindergarten teachers should have four-year degrees. Whether the Legislature will join the call remains to be seen.
BAD BUS DRIVER: One school bus driver didn't like how the other was driving during a student field trip to Georgia. So he shot him dead. No students were present at the time, the Sun-Sentinel reports.
DO YOU HAVE TO SAY YES, SIR? The Troops to Teachers initiative takes hold in Florida schools, as more and more retired soldiers enter the classroom, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
STUDE Read more:Today
Count Charlie in 2007-04-02 21:11:45 Six of the past eight Florida governors, plus the widow of a seventh, say the state should require prekindergarten teachers to have four-year degrees. The current governor tells the St. Petersburg Times that he agrees. "How do you argue against having certified teachers? I don't want to make that argument," Gov. Charlie
Crist said Monday. "I wasn't asked to sign onto the letter. I would have. I'd sign onto it today." As for budget concerns, he added, "The real negotiation on the money begins next week so there's great opportunity to tweak and modify and realize new priorities."
Identical bills in the House and Senate (HB 1103/SB 2506) would accomplish the goal. But legislative leaders had doubts that the measure would move anytime soon. It's a matter of money and teacher supply, they said. "I think everybody wants quality in pre-k," said Sen. Stephen Wise, chairman of the Education Pre-K-12 Appropriations Committee. "It's just a
Today's news 2007-04-05 12:15:28 WORLD-CLASS STANDARDS: That's the new catch phrase for the effort to replace the Sunshine State Standards. And the House Schools and Learning Council is doing its part, moving the legislation to the floor with a unanimous vote despite some misgivings. Here's the Miami Herald version.TEENS ON A BINGE: As prom approaches, Pinellas school officials take steps to deal with kids who drink too much alcohol.
HERNANDO TEAM WINS: A 7-member team from Hernando High takes the state African-American Brain Bowl, sponsored by the Florida Education Fund. Now they have their eyes on the prize for next year's competition.
PERFORMANCE PAY UPDATE: Seminole County appears to be the first to dump its approved STAR plan, reacting to the new state law allowing them to do it, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
VOUCHER REPORT: A bill moves ahead to expand Florida's McKay Scholarship program, the Bradenton Herald reports. The effort to kill Utah's new universal voucher program, meanwhile, heats up, KS Read more:Today
Bible in school? 2007-04-04 17:30:00 Call it a rite of spring. Every time lawmakers get together, at least one of them has to propose something that would do little more than satisfy a pet peeve or a personal preference. It matters not whether the bill has even a remote chance of winning the day. Yet the idea is so provocative that it of course captures the headlines, often over much more substantive stuff.
Here in Florida, we've seen the bill to stop boys from "slabbing," that oh so lovely practice of wearing their pants below their butts. In Texas, there's now a bill to require all schools to teach the Bible. (Read the AP story here.)
Now, the courses would be electives. No one would have to take them. But the schools would have to offer classes on the Old and New Testaments. Of course, the bill has touched off a lively debate. So here's your turn to join in.
What do you think? Is the Bible part of history and worthy of a spot in the classroom curriculum? Or is it religion and belonging at home and church, rather
Today's news 2007-04-04 12:20:19 LET'S MAKE A DEAL: Wayne Alexander gets a two-year contract worth about $153,000 annually to take over as Hernando County's new schools superintendent.
AP AUDIT: The explosion of Advanced Placement courses in Florida and across the country has college admission officers questioning whether the classes are all as rigorous as they are supposed to be. The College Board responds by conducting its first ever audit of AP classes.
SUING OVER MOONING: The family of the Pinellas County boy who got suspended and transferred for mooning a teacher has sued the school district. To read the full story, click here. To participate in the lively reader conversation about this, click here.
FAMU UPDATE: Summer school enrollment is on track despite all the hubbub, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.
FOCUS ON VOCATIONS: Call it career and technical education, call it multiple pathways, call it what you will, vocational classes are all the rage these days. And they're academically challenging, not like Read more:Today
Get up, stand up 2007-04-06 22:42:59 There's nothing like the threat of a sit-in to get an administrator's attention.
Interim FAMU President Castell Bryant responded in writing Friday to scores of questions that angry students submitted to her earlier this week. The students demanded at a campus rally that Bryant respond by Friday afternoon, and according to the Tallahassee Democrat, some threatened sit-ins - not only in Bryant's office, but in Gov. Charlie Crist's - if that didn't happen. "Your questions and concerns have been reviewed with great interest," Bryant wrote, "and I have ensured that key University administrators and staff served as points of reference for the answers and information being supplied to you." To see the list of student questions and Bryant's response, click here.
The response from on high comes as FAMU's troubles seem to have reached a boiling point with students. Among the latest blows: A move by the Legislature to put control of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, long under FAMU's
Getting on the pre-k bandwagon 2007-04-06 22:29:09 Count CFO Alex Sink among the growing list of leaders supporting the call for teachers with four-year degrees to lead Florida's prekindergarten classes. Sink will join business, education and law enforcement officers at 2 p.m. Monday in the Governor's Large Conference Room to discuss the importance of bumping up the teacher certification requirements in the Universal Prekindergarten law.
The Florida Tax Watch issued a two-page paper today pushing the issue, too. "How can Florida meet the demand for highly qualified pre-kindergarten teachers?" it asks. "The routes to quality already exist." Among them: alternative certification and teacher preparation institutes. The group argues that the return on investment makes it more than worthwhile to pay the costs.
In case you missed it, there's a campaign afoot to bolster the state's national rating on the pre-k front, and it involves teacher quality. Six former governors and the widow of a seventh made the call for higher credentials for
Let them in 2007-04-06 18:03:52 All the Gay-Straight Alliance wanted was the same access to Okeechobee High School that other clubs had. It took the Florida ACLU's intervention and a federal court case to get it. Today, U.S. District Judge Michael Moore ordered the school to let the club in - at least for the duration of the case. To read the order, click here. According to the ACLU, the ruling is a first because it states that the Gay-Straight Alliance is not by definition a sex-based club, which was part of the rationale for keeping it off campus. (The school has an abstinence-only policy, you see.) Read the ACLU's news release here.
Anyhow, the kids who started the club are overjoyed. "I am so glad that we're going to be allowed to meet on campus just like kids in other clubs already do," club president Yasmin Gonzalez said in a news release. "Even though I am graduating this year, I now know that by standing up to intolerance today, future students at OHS will benefit from a more open env
Raises would cost how much? 2007-04-06 17:29:49 For teachers, spring fever brings more than baseball season and a weeklong break. It's time to start thinking about salary and contract negotiations for the next school year.
Much will hinge on the money sent down from Tallahassee at the end of the legislative session. But to get the conversation rolling, Hillsborough has looked at what it could cost to give raises of 1, 2, and 3 percent next year. For teachers alone, the cost totals to $6.8 million, $13.6 million and $20.3 million, respectively.
Adding other employees into the mix, an across-the-board raise of 3 percent would cost $27.3 million.
Just fodder for thought – for now.
- Letitia Stein, Hillsborough County education reporter
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