Better Public Schools Or Else

Florida passed a Teacher Merit Pay bill and now refuses to pay for the Merit Pay portion of the bill

We want highly qualified teachers, we want to reward high performing teachers, but those in power refuse to foot the bill for Merit Pay for Florida Teachers.

Re-inventing public schools will surely require teachers and parents to do things better, but it will also require both a focus on excellent public schools and a willingness to fund excellence -- or else.

The "or else" should be a requirement that politicians be willing to fund excellent public schools or parents, teachers and other committed citizens will vote for those who will

Excellent Public Schools should be our first line of attack for creating a Better America, or we are going to do what we have always done and expect a different outcome -- the definition of insanity

Let's elect people who believe in excellent public schools and are willing to provide the political and financial drive to give our kids the education they need

Florida Learning Disabilities Dilemma

Encourage you to read my blog post on the National Center for Learning Disabilities Blog and to comment. Learning Disabilities community is under intense pressure in Florida as they formed a
Task Force to include students with disabilities and totally excluded parents, educators and students with specific learning disabilities -- please read The Florida Learning Disabilities Dilemma and comment

Task Force on Inclusion and Accountability Gets an F for Students with Learning Disabilities, ADHD and Language and Speech Impairments

The Inclusion and Accountability Task Force was set-up to address the inclusion of Students with Disabilities and English Language Learners. Having sat through both the phone conversations and the task force meeting, I can say they barely mentioned the 90% of the students with disabilities. All 4 parents on the task force represented students with more significant disabilities -- Williams Syndrome, Downs Syndrome (2 parents) and Autism - and for all intensive purposes, they excluded students with learning disabilities, ADHD, and speech and language impairments.

All these students with significant disabilities and their parents could and should have been included in one of the two task forces, but they were the only parents representing either Exceptional Student Education or Students with Disabilities

Left out of the discussion were students with learning disabilities, ADHD and speech and language impairments

Click here to read the conclusions of the Task Force on Inclusion and Accountability

As Co-President of the Learning Disabilities Association, a Parent Advocate for the National Center for Learning Disabilities and an Advocate for Students with Learning Disabilities, I am not just upset, I am downright furious.

This is not about me. This is about the 200,000 kids whose concerns are not being addressed. I welcome input from parents, advocates, professionals and others.

This is the 3rd time our kids have been left out of the mix.

1- When the School Grading System was started, Students with Disabilities were left out of the Performance Grading System

2- When Florida got a waiver to raise the subgroup size from 30 to 100 in 2006, students with disabilities in half our schools were excluded from the Federal Adequate Yearly Progress program

3- Now, the Florida Department of Education has excluded our kids one more time from the discussion

Unacceptable and we need to work together to right the ship

You can contact me at markhalpertldafl@gmail.com, or at 561-361-7495

Together, let's make the difference

Task Force on Inclusion and Accountability and Students with Learning Disabilities

Students with Learning Disabilities were barely discussed at the Task Force on Inclusion and Accountability.

As Co-President of the Learning Disabilities Association of Florida and a Parent Advocate for the National Center for Learning Disabilities I was very concerned. Then I looked at the Florida Department of Education Strategic Plan, and saw no mention of Students with Learning Disabilities

Then I decided to look at the School Grading Program -- Florida's A+ Program. Not mentioned there either.

Then I looked at the Grade 3 FCAT scores for students with learning disabilities -- 73% were at Levels 1 and 2, before the scoring changes -- expect that number to be over 80% in 2012

Tallahassee we have a problem!!!

Dramatically improving performance for students with Specific Learning Disabilities will take a fundamental shift in priorities, systems and implementation.

I am not an optimist, but there are signs things will change. When they do I will be the first to toast those who make the changes. Until then, we need to beat the drums and make sure our kids get the priority and education they deserve

Students with Disabilities Task Force without Discussing Learning Disabilities

We have raised the standards, we will include students with disabilities and second year ELL Students in the School Grading, and the last leg needs to be what we are going to do differently to help teachers and schools help our students succeed. Two days of Inclusion and Accountability Task Force meetings and very little focus on improving how we help kids succeed.

Today our kids learn differently, have far more attention challenges and are reading less --- fundamental changes are needed -- the scoring changes are only productive if our kids get a better education

I represent students with learning disabilities and in two days of discussions students with learning disabilities were barely mentioned and yet we make up 39% of the students with disabilities

A new task force representing students with learning disabilities, ADHD and related challenges needs to be formed

To Improve National Security -- Invest in Public Schools

Secretary Rice and Joel Klein make a strange argument for school choice -- read this article and consider why wouldn't we Invest in Public Schools

Our National Security would be best served by focusing on improving the quality of the programs in public schools. Technology, foreign language efforts and all initiatives are being de-funded as we support school choice at the expense of school quality. Many of our best and brightest students go to public schools, and they deserve to have their schools funded with world class programs

Invest in public schools Now!!!

Governor Scott - How to Attract Business - Excellent Public Schools

Florida Governor Scott correctly says that businesses want excellent schools.

Governor Scott appears to believe that means more charter schools. The challenge with that logic is that almost every dollar we give to charter schools comes out of public school budgets -- and then public schools wind up cutting music, art, reading and other critical programs.

I understand the concept of charter schools being a great place to pilot new and innovative programs, but a rapid expansion of these programs may lead to a quality decline and continued pressure on public school budgets and key services.

Florida Senators and Governor Scott -- Hit The Pause Button on Parent Trigger and School Grading Changes

There is great controversy in Florida on the Parent Trigger Bill, the substantial changes in the Florida School Grading System and on inclusion of Students with Disabilities and ELL Students

The Parent Trigger and the School Grading Changes will have a major impact on students, teachers and the State of Florida

Senator Simmons and others have called on Senators and the Governor to hit the Pause Button and to give the state the time to get it right

Let's take the immediate passage of the Parent Trigger and implementation of the School Grading System and hit the Pause Button

Parent Empowerment Yes Parent Trigger No

True Parent Empowerment Yes, The Parent Trigger - Cloaked as the Parent Empowerment Bill NO!!!
Today is March 3rd, 2012 and the Florida Senate is about to consider a Parent Trigger Bill.

Senate Bill 1718 is being considered at the same time school grades will go down dramatically as a result of higher passing scores and inclusion of Students with Disabilities and English Language Learners.

I agree with raising the standards and the inclusion policies-- and I do support a Task Force to bring all stakeholders together to consider how these should be done.

Given the dramatic change in passing scores and the inclusion polices, this is not the time to privatize schools who were passing last year and would probably be doing better this year, if the changes were not made.

Parent Empowerment is critical to our kids success, but the Parent Trigger appears to be a not so thinly veiled approach to privatize schools

Senators need to Say No to the Parent Trigger or feel the wrath of Parents, Teachers and Committed Citizens in November

McKay Scholarship

The McKay Scholarship allows parents to take a child who has an IEP or a 504 Plan for the last year and to go to either another public school or to a McKay Private School.

The Miami Times did a piece last year on the financial challenges of McKay Schools -- I will not comment on this since I have no knowledge.

My concern is with the need for academic accountability.

Jeb Bush's Foundation for Excellence in Education is a leading organization on school choice. In a page they created they promote:

Measurement: To provide an accurate depiction of where our students are, annual standardized testing must be continued and expanded in all 50 states. Measuring whether students are learning a year’s worth of knowledge in a year’s time is essential for building on progress, rewarding success and correcting failures. To accurately measure progress, modern data and information systems should be utilized, and there must be maximum transparency across the board.

Data-Driven Accountability: Holding schools accountable for student achievement – measured objectively with data such as annual standardized tests and graduation rates – improves the quality of an education system. Success and learning gains no longer go unnoticed and problems are no longer ignored, resulting in efforts to effectively narrow achievement gaps.

Teacher Quality: Study after study show the quality of teaching is paramount to student achievement. It is past time for America to move away from a union-dominated system that places tenure before the needs of students. Financially rewarding educators for their expertise and their excellence will attract and retain the best and brightest to the teaching profession as well as to the greatest challenges in providing a quality education, including teaching in high-poverty and low-performing schools. Educators should be licensed, measured and compensated in diverse and flexible ways that put a premium on raising student achievement.

My concern is there is no academic measurement, no data driven system and no requirements for teacher quality at McKay Schools.

I hear comments like, "There are very few schools with problems", "these are private schools, so we have no right to regulate them", and "the parents can make an informed choice".

I see students come from McKay Schools who are far below grade level in their reading and math, and the parents were not fully aware of their child's present performance. The challenges appear to be widespread and it is difficult for educators to determine which programs are academically the best, how could a parent be expected to sort it out.

I believe all private schools have the right to be private, but once they take public funds, that should change - McKay Schools presently get close to $150 million a year. I do not favor FCAT testing, but if the McKay students were required to take a nationally normed test, for example the SAT 10s, it would give parents insight into how students are performing and hold McKay Schools to a fair and reasonable standard.

Note -- when former Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings was asked if she would support a voucher program without academic accountability her answer was a simple, "No".

Let's get Academic Accountability into the McKay Scholarship Program, let the schools who do well shine, and the schools that do not pay the price for poor performance.

The Privatization Express (TM) -- Is The Parent Trigger The Decoy and Charter School Funding The Reformers Real Target?

Patricia Levesque orchestrated a very professional presentation at a house meeting in Tallahassee promoting a Parent Trigger Bill -- allowing parents in a failing school to have a choice on management of the school if it has been failing for 3 years. Not a bill I like -- if Parent Empowerment and Involvement was the goal and not Privatization, there are far better things that could be done far easier and far sooner -- like getting parents involved today or at the latest when the school is deemed a failing school.

HB903, that says districts must either give Charter Schools a pro rata share of local money for construction, is a big issue.

It could move
- Over $100 million into the Charter School coffers
- Reduce bonding capacity for public schools

Three things that do not make sense:
1- Public school districts own public schools -- so when the state funds the new buildings, the public gets the benefit and keeps the asset -- with charter schools the assets belong to a private corporation and they charge the charter schools rent. Consider the following

Responding to this week's cover story about the charter school chain he runs, Frank Biden continues to insist Mavericks in Education Florida is not profiting from its schools. He says it's just the school buildings that bring in the dough.

Why should the public fund construction when the private enterprise makes money on the rent, they get the asset and there is no benefit to the public

2- In a Ball State study they found that charter schools get $2700 less per student, and $2000 of that is the local districts not allocating local taxes. Take that $2000 per student multiply it by the 200,000 students in Florida Charter Schools and that would be a $400 million swing -- more money for charter schools and $400 million less for public schools. If HB903 is passed, expect to see the same logic used with operating funding. What's worse -- is this could grow to $600 million or a Billion.

3- HB903 is saying that local government must spend their money the way Tallahassee wants it to and not have a choice -- if a local government refused to allocate the money to the charter schools the bill says the state will deduct this from their allocation to the districts

These actions could significantly reduce public school funding for building and in the near term even more significantly reduce school operating budgets.

Bad for public school students, bad for public school teachers, and very bad for local governments

Charter Schools Do Not Make Money on Charter Schools

Frank Biden, President of Maverick Charter Schools, says that Charter School Companies do not make money on the Charter Schools -- they make money on the real estate.

That is insulting.

Charter schools exist in large part because public schools are set in their ways, they have some great teachers, many good teachers, and some bad teachers. To make matters worse, public schools are too often run like a monopoly. For a long time parents had a challenge, "Take it or leave it".

Now parents are leaving in droves -- often for charter schools that invest even less money in education than the cash strapped public schools, because so much money is paid to the Charter School companies for management fees and rent.

Biden's comments are insulting. It is like a razor company saying they do not make money on the razor, but what is not said is they make a ton on the razor blades.

Shedding light on their practices helps, but what is really needed is for public schools to improve and take away the shine from the charter schools. If this were to happen, public school attendance would increase, the could add back services, and charter schools would no longer be a cash cow to their management companies.