News and Info

Florida educators will soon get critical information about how to prepare financially for retirement thanks to a new $750,000 grant from AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company to the Florida Independent Benefits Council (IBC) to fund a comprehensive, three-year statewide education initiative specifically for school employees.

Read the letter here.

“What makes the Finnish school system so amazing is that Finnish students never take a standardized test until their last year of high school, when they take a matriculation examination for college admission. Their own teachers design their tests, so teachers know how their students are doing and what they need. There is a national curriculum -- broad guidelines to assure that all students have a full education -- but it is not prescriptive. Teachers have extensive responsibility for designing curriculum and pedagogy in their school. They have a large degree of autonomy, because they are professionals. Admission to teacher education programs at the end of high school is highly competitive; only one in 10 -- or even fewer -- qualify for teacher preparation programs. All Finnish teachers spend five years in a rigorous program of study, research, and practice, and all of them finish with a masters’ degree. Teachers are prepared for all eventualities, including students with disabilities, students with language difficulties, and students with other kinds of learning issues. The schools I visited reminded me of our best private progressive schools. They are rich in the arts, in play, and in activity. I saw beautiful campuses, including some with outstanding architecture, filled with light. I saw small classes; although the official class size for elementary school is 24, I never saw a class with more than 19 children (and that one had two assistant teachers to help children with special needs). Teachers and principals repeatedly told me that the secret of Finnish success is trust. Parents trust teachers because they are professionals. Teachers trust one another and collaborate to solve mutual problems because they are professionals. Teachers and principals trust one another because all the principals have been teachers and have deep experience. When I asked about teacher attrition, I was told that teachers seldom leave teaching; it’s a great job, and they are highly respected. And by the way, the Finnish teachers I saw -- those heaped with laurels as outstanding professionals -- didn’t look or act differently from many, many teachers I have seen in the United States, even in so-called ‘failing schools.’ “

-- Diane Ravitch.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/ravitch-why-finlands-schools-are-great-by-doing-what-we-dont/2011/10/12/gIQAmTyLgL_blog.html

Public schools hardest hit in September jobs report

The latest national snapshot on employment illustrates the beating that today's economy is exacting on teachers and school employees -- and points toward the need for quick congressional approval of job-generating legislation that the White House has sent to Capitol Hill. Late last week, the U.S. Labor Department reported that unemployment remained stuck at 9.1 percent in September and state and local education employment was a big reason why. Public schools lost 24,400 jobs in September, the biggest losses in any employment category. "State and local governments shed 90,000 jobs in the most recent quarter, the third largest loss on record. The sector has downsized for 27 of out of the past 33 months," CNN reports, citing an IHS Global Insight Report. September 2011 marks the third anniversary of job losses in education, and cuts have steepened in each year. Warning of a growing "teacher gap," the Economic Policy Institute estimates that school employment should have grown by 48,000 over that span in order to keep up with student enrollment. In September, President Obama sent Congress the American Jobs Act, which includes $30 billion to prevent 280,000 teacher layoffs and to allow districts to hire and rehire additional teachers and frontline staff. Although an initial attempt to bring up the comprehensive plan failed in a Senate vote Tuesday, the White House and congressional allies have vowed to keep this vital jobs-saving plan alive and on the Capitol Hill front burner. “Tonight's vote is by no means the end of this fight," Obama said Tuesday. "In the coming days, members of Congress will have to take a stand on whether they believe we should put teachers, construction workers, police officers and firefighters back on the job. … Ultimately, the American people won't take 'no' for an answer. It's time for Congress to meet their responsibility, put their party politics aside and take action on jobs right now."

http://leadernet.aft.org/news/article_detail.cfm?ArticleID=3392

If we want 'great teachers,' don't we need to give them jobs?

http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2011104112/if-we-want-great-teachers-dont-we-need-give-them-jobs

Manatee schools superintendent asks teachers union to forego impasse hearing (Pat Barber mentioned and Bruce Proud quoted)
http://www.bradenton.com/2011/10/13/3566141/manatee-schools-superintendent.html

Tentative contract agreement reached in Palm Beach (Kathi Gundlach quoted)
http://www.bocaratontribune.com/county-teachers%e2%80%99-association-reaches-tentative-contract-agreemenet/

Monroe schools' union contract called into question (Holly Hummell-Gorman and Leon Fowler mentioned)
http://www.keysnet.com/2011/10/12/386752/schools-union-contract-called.html

Pinellas teachers union: Don't punish teachers by changing unused sick leave policy (Marshall Ogletree writes a letter to the editor)
http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/gradebook/content/pinellas-teachers-union-dont-punish-teachers-changing-unused-sick-leave-policy

Harrell's proposal would let school employees transfer paid sick days to co-workers in need (Vicki Rodriguez quoted)
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/oct/12/state-rep-harrells-proposal-would-let-school-to/

Caroline Reed talks about being a breast cancer survivor

http://www.jctimes.jacksoncountytimes.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=292:caroline-reed-talks-about-being-a-breast-cancer-survivor-&catid=26:action-in-jackson&Itemid=14

Demand better for our teachers

http://www.theledger.com/article/20111007/NEWS/110075007/1005/news02?Title=Demand-Better-For-Our-Teachers

Orange exempts four charters from state grading system

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/education/os-orange-charters-want-no-grades-20111011,0,6644400.story

Key Florida lawmaker proposes class size penalty adjustments

Florida State Sen. Ellen Bogdanoff, chair of the Budget Subcommittee on Finance, filed legislation Wednesday that would blunt the financial impact for school districts that fail to comply with the 2002 class size amendment. The bill would reduce the amount of penalties levied against districts that miss the mark. It also would eliminate provisions allowing for reallocation of the reduced categorical funds to districts that did comply. Last year, many of the penalties were vacated anyway. And this year several district leaders have said it might be even harder than last year to follow the standard, with budgets even tighter than before. (That's not stopping Palm Beach, Polk and others from frantically trying to make it -- Palm Beach did set the record for failing to comply last year.) Lawmakers already have reduced the number of courses affected by the amendment. Looks like if they can't get rid of the voter mandate outright, they can certainly try to change the way it's put into effect.

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/gradebook/content/key-florida-lawmaker-proposes-class-size-penalty-adjustments

How private companies are profiting from Texas public schools
It’s not hard to imagine Pearson’s vision of utopia. Pearson is a British mega-corporation that owns everything from the Financial Times to Penguin Books and also dominates the business of educating American children. The company promotes its many education-related products on a website that features an idyllic, make-believe town. It’s called Pearsonville, and it looks like the international conglomerate version of SimCity. In this virtual town, school buses whizz through tree-lined streets, and the city center features skyscrapers and a tram. Tabs pop up to show you just how many Pearson products are available. A red schoolhouse features young kids using Pearson products to learn math (with Pearson’s enVision Math) and take standardized tests online. Nearby, at the Pearsonville high school, students use the company’s online instructional materials to study science. The high school also features online testing. Pearson online courses are available at the town library. At the model home, parents can use Pearson’s student information system to track their children’s grades. The “test centre,” not shockingly, provides even more testing options. It’s a beautiful little town. A Las Vegas-style sign welcomes you, while a biplane flies through the sky trailing a Pearson banner behind it. It’s a computer-generated reality. But when it comes to Texas education (and Florida for that matter), it’s not far from the truth. Pearson, one of the giants of the for-profit industry that looms over public education, produces just about every product a student, teacher or school administrator in Texas might need. From textbooks to data management, professional development programs to testing systems, Pearson has it all -- and all of it has a price. For statewide testing in Texas alone, the company holds a five-year contract worth nearly $500 million to create and administer exams. If students should fail those tests, Pearson offers a series of remedial-learning products to help them pass. Meanwhile, kids are likely to use textbooks from Pearson-owned publishing houses like Prentice Hall and Pearson Longman. Students who want to take virtual classes may well find themselves in a course subcontracted to Pearson. And if the student drops out, Pearson partners with the American Council on Education to offer the GED exam for a profit. “Pearson basically becomes a complete service provider to the education system,” says David Anderson, an Austin education lobbyist whose clients include some of Pearson’s competitors. With the prevalence of companies like Pearson operating in Texas and many other states, the U.S. education system has become increasingly privatized. In some cases, the only part of education that remains public is the school itself. Nearly every other aspect of educating children -- exams, textbooks, online classes, even teacher certification -- is now provided by for-profit companies.

http://www.texasobserver.org/cover-story/the-pearson-graduate

Parents, teachers watch changes to how FCAT is scored (by Pearson)

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/schools/parents-teachers-watch-changes-to-how-fcat-is-1910524.html

Walton Foundation gives more for Florida vouchers

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/gradebook/category/gradebook-tags/vouchers

Low marks for Fordham Foundation report on student achievement
http://nepc.colorado.edu/newsletter/2011/10/low-marks-%E2%80%98high-flyers%E2%80%99-report

Court: Lawmakers can set tuition rates

The Legislature does have the power to set tuition rates for state universities, an appellate court ruled Wednesday, siding against a group of plaintiffs led by former Gov. Bob Graham. A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal agreed with a circuit court that the Legislature -- not the Board of Governors of the state university system -- has the power to set tuition and fees. The appeals court decision was a victory for the Legislature, Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island and House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, who were named in the lawsuit. The panel said "university tuition and fees are unquestionably state funds," in an opinion written by Judge T. Kent Wetherell, the son of former FSU President and House Speaker T.K. Wetherell. "We are unaware of any entity other than the Legislature in the history of our state that has been authorized by the Florida Constitution to exercise the quintessential legislative power of raising and appropriating state funds," Wetherell wrote. The decision said statewide voter approval of the creation of the Board of Governors in 2002 did not mean granting the board exclusive fee-setting authority, only the power to manage the system. The lawsuit was filed in 2007 by Graham and former Florida State University President Sandy D’Alemberte, along with state university system faculty members and other interested parties.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/12/2451017/court-lawmakers-can-set-tuition.html

http://www.theledger.com/article/20111012/news/111019744

Knocking anthropology? Scott's daughter has a degree

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FL_ANTHROPOLOGY_MAJORS_FLOL-?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-10-12-17-16-31

Edison State trustees should step up
http://www.news-press.com/article/20111013/OPINION/110130376/Editorial-Edison-trustees-should-step-up

Students skeptical of independent USF Poly

http://www2.tbo.com/news/politics/2011/oct/12/1/students-skeptical-of-independent-usf-poly-ar-271533/

Florida's college prepaid tuition soars
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/education/sfl-florida-college-prepaid-tuition-20111012,0,7046855.story

Special interest cash floods state Capitol in down economy

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/12/2451305/special-interest-cash-floods-state.html
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/os-gaming-industry-contributions-20111012,0,7418359.story

Future Senate leader got big bucks from business lobby

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/dcblog/2011/10/future_senate_leader_got_big_b.html