Scathing Purple Musings
Color me purple in Florida ALL Week
Using Taxpayer Dollars to Mislead Parents on Common Core
After reminding readers that Connecticut governor Daniel P. Malloy is on record as saying “I’ll settle for teaching to the test if it means raising test scores,” Wendy Lecker effectively slams the governor’s faith in tests and his plans to sell Common Core to parents. When it comes to their children, parents do not want to settle. They know that teaching to the test means a narrowed curriculum and
YESTERDAY
Florida Republican Legislators Continue Its Efforts to End Local Control of Schools
The Okaloosa County School Board held a workshop that involved all community stakeholders in considering a proposal to change high school starting times. In the end the board voted not to do so. Superintendent Mary Beth Jackson said that the new start times would cost the district $1 million because it would need additional buses. Not good enough for Rep. Matt Gates (R-Fort Walton Beach) . Two w
Miami Herald Gets it Wrong on Common Core Opposition
Few dispute that most of the professional journalists who staff the state’s top newspapers lean democrat and leftward. It often becomes obvious in their reporting on Common Core. Consider this from the editors of the Miami Herald: In January, the Editorial Board lamented that Gov. Rick Scott, throughout his term, “has had a mixed record on education.” Unfortunately, he’s done little to disabuse So
DEC 26
Common Core’s “Dishonest Debate” and Its “Convoluted and Frustrating Curricula”
The efforts of republican governors and state policymakers to advance and implement Common Core is becoming more arduous by the day. Especially when they are receiving fire from their own side and in traditionally friendly publications. Consider this penned by two American Enterprise Institute scholars in National Review: The Common Core opens the door much wider for Washington to meddle in school
DEC 25
Michelle Rhee, Parent Revolution Blink on Accountability
From Education Week reporter Alyson Klein: So remember how California is planning to suspend most of its accountability testing for a year in order to help the state’s schools get up to speed on new tests aligned with the Common Core standards? U.S. Secretary of Education of Arne Duncan is none-too-happy about that idea, as my colleague, Catherine Gewertz, reported. And neither are a number of sta
DEC 24
Jeb Bush’s Chiefs for Change and the Election of Florida’s Next Governor
From Andrew Ujifusa in Education Week: Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna has joined Chiefs for Change, the second state K-12 chief to do so this month, the group announced on Dec. 20. Luna, along with Delaware chief Mark Murphy, who signed on with the group Dec. 10, brings the group’s total to eight members. Luna seems like a natural fit for Chiefs for Change, which is an affilia
DEC 23
Jonathan Hage’s SchoolChoiceWish Void of Candor and Humility
The publishers of redefinED gave Charter Schools USA CEO Jonathan Hage a forum to pump up the faithful in their #schoolchoiceWISH series. Hage didn’t disappoint, but provided nothing more than a pre-game speech. ……the ed reform movement grows, but only because destiny is set by the potential of our children. We owe it to them to reaffirm that the possibilities of education reform match their limi
Imagine Charter School Belonging to Rick Scott Crony Sued for Ignoring Abuse
Imagine Charter Schools CEO Dennis Bakke was on Rick Scott’s education transition team. Trouble within Bakke’s empire are well documented in Scathing Purple Musings. But revelations that an official at West Melbourne school did not report concerns about abuse could sink Imagine in Florida and further embarrass Scott. MacKenzie Ryan reports in FloridaToday: The lawsuit alleges that, around Septembe
DEC 22
How Jeff Clemens Bill Forces Florida Charter Schools Into a Debate They Don’t Want to Have
Let’s get this out-of-the-way now. Jeff Clements bill has zero chance of getting a hearing. But it sure makes the for-profit charter school bristle. The Florida Current’s James Call has the story: A Palm Beach County senator wants to narrow the mission of charter schools. Sen. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth, Wednesday, filed SB 452 — revising the guiding principles listed in statute creating charter s
DEC 21
Tampa Bay Times: Florida’s School Grading System “Divorced From Reality”
Yowza: Good high schools. Great faculty. Underperforming students. • That’s the condensed version of recent education reports out of Tallahassee spawned by an accountability system gone awry. Apparently schools and teachers are doing great, it’s just the students who aren’t making the grade. Gov. Rick Scott and local educators boasted last week that Florida high schools are doing above-average wor