Scathing Purple Musings
Color me purple in Florida ALL Week
What Charter Schools USA CEO Jonathan Hage Knows That Floridians Don’t
From Orlando Sentinel reporter Lauren Roth: Charter Schools USA isn’t waiting for a judge to decide if it can open a disputed school in Orange County. Construction already has begun. “They have already invested in some construction of a facility,” somewhere on or south of Narcoossee Road, district counsel Woody Rodriguez told the Orange school board this week. The district plans to appeal a state
YESTERDAY
Florida Voucher Expansion Cost “$1 Billion Over Next Five Years”
My recent Twitter duels with voucher advocates have revealed a change in their own talking points. Out of one side of their mouth, they vigorously insist that its perfectly OK for state voucher schools to take different tests than public school kids as proof of accountability. Out of the other side of their mouth, they say that they will trade accountability for universal school choice. Paid for b
About Those Faux “Uniform” School Choice Schemes From Florida Republicans
Author and radio talk show host Dr. Stephen Goldstein offers another blistering review of Florida’s republican-dominated school choice apparatus in the Sun-Sentinel: And yet, in recent years, a succession of governors and members of the legislature haven’t “gotten it.” They have understood “uniform” to mean “variable,” even “competing”; and, for a variety of reasons — some of them crass and profit
Rick Scott Targeted by Common Core Opponents in Florida
You knew wouldn’t go away after being dismissed by Rick Scott’s cronies on the state board of education. Miami Herald reporter Kathleen McGrory has this in Naked Politics: TALLAHASSEE — With their bill to suspend Florida’s new education benchmarks stalled in the Legislature, opponents of the Common Core State Standards are pursuing a new strategy. They are turning the heat up on Gov. Rick Scott. L
MAR 13
Not a Three-Year “Pause,” But a One-Year “Delay” in Florida School Accountability
Lloyd Dunkelberger of Halifax Media Services reports in the Daytona Beach News-Journal: TALLAHASSEE — Local school districts likely will not get a three-year delay they want in moving to new school standards, a new statewide assessment test and other accountability measures. Instead, state lawmakers on Wednesday backed legislation to essentially provide a one-year delay, meaning public schools wil
MAR 12
VAM Margin for Error Exceeds 50%; Meanwhile, Florida GOP Senate Wants to Give BOE More Control Over School Grades
The editors of the Bradenton Herald pointed out just how flawed that teacher Value Added Metrics (VAM) based on test scores have proved to be: Florida’s teacher evaluation system bears too many flaws to be worthy of setting standards for performance pay. But the fact that the Florida Department of Education intended to seal those teacher rating scores away from the public only adds to the train w
Uh-Oh, Broward Public Schools Outperform Charter Schools
“Jonathan Hage: Please call your office.” Writing in Tamarac Talk, Sharon Aron Baron explains: Each year hundreds of parents enter their children’s names into lotteries and wait lists in hopes that their children will be one of the lucky few to be enrolled in Broward County’s charter schools. It is widely regarded that these schools offer a better education than what their children would normally
Do I Belong in the Network for Public Education?
Its called the race card. And it was dropped on me in a place I never expected, but in sad retrospection, should have. It was flattered to be asked to present at the first annual Network for Public Education conference 10 days ago in Austin, Texas. This little blog has developed quite a following for people interested in the politics behind Florida education policy. The weekend was a wonderful exp
MAR 09
Stealth Florida Charter School Ammendment Cuts Out Local School Board Control
The zealots who carry the water for Florida’s for-profit charter schools never met an unseemly expansion of charter schools they didn’t like. Just remember their efforts the past two sessions to pass parent trigger legislation. One of this year’s payoffs to the charter school industry is slipped into “military-friendly” Florida GI Bill. Writes News Service of Florida reporter Jim Turner for the La
MAR 08
Charter Schools USA Blinks, Pulls Appeal for Controversial MacDill AFB School
Fresh off the denial of their appeal by the state Charter School Appeals Commission, Charter Schools USA through it’s Florida Charter Educational Foundation, decided to pull their flawed application for a facility on MacDill AFB. From redefinED: The Florida Charter Educational Foundation, Inc. met today to discuss the best course of action in serving the needs of military families at MacDill Air F