Florida: State Commissioner Fires Teacher for Supporting BLM | Diane Ravitch's blog #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER

Florida: State Commissioner Fires Teacher for Supporting BLM | Diane Ravitch's blog

Florida: State Commissioner Fires Teacher for Supporting BLM

Richard Corcoran, state commissioner of education in Florida, announced that he fired Amy Donofrio, a teacher in Duval County, because she supported #BlackLivesMatter.

Corcoran made his decision known during a lecture at conservative Hillsdale College in Michigan. He was speaking about “critical race theory” and curriculum oversight and used her as an example of his cleansing of the ranks. Donofrio learned of her termination on a YouTube video. If you look at the photograph accompanying the story, you will see that she teaches at Robert E. Lee Hgh School. (Irony alert.)

Richard Corcoran is not an educator. He was the Speaker of Florida’s House when he was appointed to run the state system. His wife is or was a board member of a charter school associated with Hillsdale College. The Corcorans’ six children were home-schooled.

Corcoran has made clear his hostility to public schools CONTINUE READING: Florida: State Commissioner Fires Teacher for Supporting BLM | Diane Ravitch's blog

Education Matters: Greene and the district don't deny Corcoran had teacher removed from the classroom

Education Matters: Greene and the district don't deny Corcoran had teacher removed from the classroom

Greene and the district don't deny Corcoran had teacher removed from the classroom

 Where not a lawyer, it seems to me Amy Donofrio is going to own the district as she sues it into oblivion. Corcoran tells the Times Union he had Greene remove her from the classroom. While the district sticks with her, she is under investigation (for what) story. 

I spoke with a school board member on Sunday, and they said it was absurd that Corcoran was telling people he had her removed though it sure seems like the right hand, the super is keeping the left hand, the board, in the dark.

  

So just like that, the commissioner says jump, and our super asks how high, though I guess we shouldn't be CONTINUE READING: Education Matters: Greene and the district don't deny Corcoran had teacher removed from the classroom

Education Matters: The district's actions, speak louder than their words... and a pin.

Education Matters: The district's actions, speak louder than their words... and a pin.

The district's actions, speak louder than their words... and a pin

During teacher appreciation week, DCPS had their faculty meet and watch a video where Greene thanked them for their hard work. The schools, I imagine at the behest of the district, then gave newer teachers blankets and senior teachers pins with years of service broken into five-year increments.

Some of my colleagues, people I respect and appreciate, were quite taken with the gesture. I do not want to diminish how they felt, but I think teachers are worth more than this tiny gesture, and I think it is safe to say more than a few teachers were insulted.   

The district has had numerous chances to show they appreciate teachers all year long, and they passed at every opportunity.

If the district truly appreciated teachers, you would have thought they would have wanted to keep them safe, but all year long, teachers risked their health and worse, because of the woeful contact tracing and the lack of social distancing, which never occurred.

When the state passed its terrible teacher raise bill, which will actually see many veteran teachers lose CONTINUE READING: Education Matters: The district's actions, speak louder than their words... and a pin.

Education Matters: If Greene said being gay was a choice and they were going to burn in hell people would flip their lids. However when other education leaders say it, it gets barely a blip.

Education Matters: If Greene said being gay was a choice and they were going to burn in hell people would flip their lids. However when other education leaders say it, it gets barely a blip.

If Greene said being gay was a choice and they were going to burn in hell people would flip their lids. However when other education leaders say it, it gets barely a blip.

 Senator Kelli Stargel when pushing the transphobic sports bill across the finishing line said being gay was a choice and received zero backlash for her remarks. Erika Donalds among a heap of other bat sh*t crazy remarks said gay people don't have to burn in hell, it's a choice, and DCPS rewarded her with a second charter school. How is this acceptable?

She later apologized, sort of. 

I am not sure if she was admitting she was wrong or chastising people who kind of agreed with her witch, monster bigot comment. CONTINUE READING: Education Matters: If Greene said being gay was a choice and they were going to burn in hell people would flip their lids. However when other education leaders say it, it gets barely a blip.

Education Matters: Why a 20 year teacher got a 15 year pin

Education Matters: Why a 20 year teacher got a 15 year pin

Why a 20 year teacher got a 15 year pin

For teacher appreciation week and more on that later, the district handed out pins with years of service in 5-year increments on them. This is my 20th year as a teacher, and yet I received a 15 yer pin. You would think it wouldn't matter so much, but it was really a reminder of how little the district appreciates teachers, especially veteran ones.

In 2010, superintendent Pratt Dannals declared a financial emergency, and the district skipped giving step raises; the district did the same thing this past year for the entire district but then later and again for veteran teachers gave them out and called them raises. 

In 2010 it was later discovered the district had something like 186 million in reserves when the financial emergency was declared, and Pratt Dannals was eventually fired. You would have thought the step raises would have been reinstated, but you would think wrong.

Back then, the step raises weren't all that great, but if you were around year 15 or sixteen, you got the big CONTINUE READING: Education Matters: Why a 20 year teacher got a 15 year pin

Education Matters: DCPS approves charter schools hand over fist, other districts fight back.

Education Matters: DCPS approves charter schools hand over fist, other districts fight back.

DCPS approves charter schools hand over fist, other districts fight back

This should be all you need to know. DCPS approved a charter school right across the street from an A-rated school. They approve charter schools all the time in areas of town that don't need them; District 7 Lori Hershey's district, Mandarin has more charter schools than any other part of the city. Schools doing great; no problem, let's put a charter in their neighborhood. Schools are underutilized; that's cool; let's put charter schools there too. Out superintendent and board approve them, like that, and not supporting the district's public schools is their job. 

Charter schools were supposed to be teacher-parent laboratories of change that, if successful, were to be replicated in public schools. They were supposed to be innovative and work with public school systems. But, unfortunately, that's not what we have in Florida and Jacksonville in particular.  Here it's all about the money, and since the referendum turned Jacksonville into a cookie jar for charters, the money is flowing like water into the pockets of charters, and we can expect a lot more to open up in the next few years. 

It doesn't have to be this way; districts could fight back.

From Tallahaseee.com,

 After a lengthy debate, the Leon County School Board denied a new charter school's application during CONTINUE READING: Education Matters: DCPS approves charter schools hand over fist, other districts fight back.

Education Matters: A tale of two high schools named Robert E. Lee.

Education Matters: A tale of two high schools named Robert E. Lee.

A tale of two high schools named Robert E. Lee.

The city has been tearing itself apart for a year now as DCPS fails the city once again by not quickly changing the names of schools named after confederate generals. Instead of doing both the easy and right thing, DCPS has engaged in a year-long odyssey. Another school district faced with the exact same issue did things much quicker and better.    

From the USA Today, 

The eleventh-largest school district in the U.S. has renamed a high school formerly known as Robert E. Lee High School after civil rights icon John Lewis.

The school board in Fairfax County, Virginia, voted Thursday to rename the school after the congressman, who died this month. The new name, John R. Lewis High School, takes effect this school year.

Representative Tamara Derenak Kaufax, a Fairfax County school board member, proposed a resolution to remove the Confederate general's name from the school in Springfield, Virginia, outside Washington, D.C., in February.

Several board members cheered when the unanimous vote was announced.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2020/07/23/john-lewis-new-name-fairfax-virginia-robert-e-lee-high-school/5498267002/

Here is a little more from the Patch,

In February, the school board voted to start the renaming process and seek public feedback. However, that CONTINUE READING: Education Matters: A tale of two high schools named Robert E. Lee.

Education Matters: With the school name changes, the district sets up the racists to win even if they lose (draft)

Education Matters: With the school name changes, the district sets up the racists to win even if they lose (draft)

With the school name changes, the district sets up the racists to win even if they lose (draft)

DCPS has set up a system where people can vote to change the name of Lee High School, but Robert E. Lee can still get the most votes. This is failure a failure in leadership and it would not surprise me if it was by design.   

I wish I could vote to change the names of all the schools, as a citizen of Jacksonville it is an embarrassment that in 2021, we have any schools named after slavers and traitors let alone six. Furthermore, four of the six schools are minority-majority too which means most of the children that attend them attend schools named after somebody who thought they were subhuman. 

The process that DCPS has set up has been a slog. I guess they have never heard of just ripping the band-aid off and instead went with the slow painful way, a way that has seen racists emboldened, teachers doxed and a community unnecessarily divided.     

All of this could have been avoided had the district had any sense of urgency but of course, they had none. 

When the district decided to go on this arduous journey, who exactly was it for? It was not for the CONTINUE READING: Education Matters: With the school name changes, the district sets up the racists to win even if they lose (draft)

Lee High teacher reassigned to paid, non-teaching post amid controversy over BLM flag, her organization says #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER #SPLC

Lee High teacher reassigned to paid, non-teaching post amid controversy over BLM flag, her organization says

Lee High teacher reassigned to paid, non-teaching post amid controversy over BLM flag, her organization says

Students planned demonstration but it was shut down by school staff

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Robert E. Lee High School teacher who was told to remove a “Black Lives Matter” flag from outside her classroom, has been administratively reassigned, according to the Duval County Public Schools district.

A spokesperson for DCPS told News4Jax Thursday morning that a claim by The Evac Movement organization on its social media page -- that its cofounder, Amy Donofrio, was suspended from Robert E. Lee High School is false.

Laureen Ricks of DCPS said Donofrio has been “administratively reassigned to paid, non-teaching duties” effective Thursday.

“The district has opened a human resources matter to review allegations of potential misconduct under school board policy and the Principles of Professional Conduct for the Education Profession in Florida,” Ricks said in response to a Public Records request by News4Jax. “The presumption of innocence applies, However, Ms. Donofrio has been removed from school and classroom duties while the matter is reviewed.”

Donofrio was embroiled in controversy after Lee High School administrators ordered her to remove a Black Lives Matter banner from her classroom doorway by the end of the day Tuesday. Donofrio did not comply with the directive and said administrators removed the banner Tuesday night.

Students at the school told News4Jax they had planned to stage a “peaceful assembly” Wednesday morning in response to a school administrator’s removal of a the flag.

A Lee High School senior said the school’s staff prevented the demonstration from happening.

“Security stood outside, like at every block way,” the senior said. “During the time that we were supposed to walk out, they stood and blocked everything.”

Duval County Public Schools spokesperson Tracy Pierce told News4Jax there’s a big difference between the student-led demonstrations that occurred in February and what was planned Wednesday.

“Students aren’t allowed to organize an assembly without the involvement of the school’s administration,” Pierce said. “You can’t have an unplanned, impromptu demonstration.”

The 12th-grader told News4Jax that many students created and posted make-shift “BLM” signs on the CONTINUE READING: Lee High teacher reassigned to paid, non-teaching post amid controversy over BLM flag, her organization says

“Ms. Donofrio, you’re making ME a cake too, right?”Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/amy.donofrio.3/posts/10109661181401944

I am bringing this to your attention as a concerned citizen and public school parent in Florida. This conduct from Duval County Public Schools is egregious. To silence any teacher's speech in support of Black Lives Matter in schools is to fail to protect and support black and brown students in the current climate, which has proven oppressive to these youth.

Is DCPS saying that Black Lives DO NOT Matter?

 

AT ISSUE:

On March 24, 13-year teacher, Amy Donofrio was “administratively reassigned” after refusing to remove a “Black Lives Matter” flag that had been hanging outside of her classroom since October 2020.

 

Amy is a teacher at (Robert E) Lee High School in Duval County Public Schools (DCPS), Jacksonville, FL. She is the founder

of #EVAC a transformative leadership program that saw Black high school students flown to Harvard, winning debates, and some even met President Obama.

 

The escalation of community events:

Mar 20 - Video clip from Lee High School renaming meeting goes viral

Mar 24 - https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2021/03/24/removal-of-lee-high-teachers-blm-flag-sparks-student-response/ “Donofrio criticized (Stevens’) racist comments and said that it demonstrates a need for DCPS to take a firm stance on racism. Hours later, Stevens took to social media, sharing screenshots from Donofrio’s Facebook page, including the Nov. 7 post showing the BLM flag, and called on his followers to contact school administrators. The following morning, Donofrio said, is when she received the ultimatum.”

"Donofrio said the BLM flag that was removed from in front of her classroom is the same one that is seen at the head of a student- led demonstration in February, in which Principal Feagins participated.”

 

April 16 - The Southern Poverty Law Center filed suit against DCPS and Scott Schneider.

SPLC sues Duval Schools on behalf of teacher removed for refusing to take down Black Lives Matter flag SPLC: So We’re Suing

SPLC: Teacher Disciplined For BLM Flag Sues Duval County Public Schools For Retaliation

SPLC: Donofrio V. Duval County Public Schools and Scott Schneider

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - EVAC Founder and teacher files lawsuit with SPLC against DCPS

 

Apr 21 - (Click for photos): “Ms. Donofrio, you’re making ME a cake too, right?

"In 13 yrs of teaching, I’ve learned there’s SO MUCH of my kids’ lives I CAN’T fix…but what i CAN do is use opportunities to create moments of belonging, love & joy. To make our classes a family. Today is exactly 4 weeks since I’ve (been) in our classroom home. It’s the 1st bdays I’m missing. And it’s so painful. But tho I can’t bring it to them, I’m keeping my word to celebrate their LIVES. I’m making their cake.”

 

BACKGROUND:

Powerful Ted Talk about EVAC: At-Risk or At-Hope? How We Label Youth Matters | Amy Donofrio | TEDxJacksonville

 

https://kidsimprisoned.news21.com/blog/2020/06/model-high-school-social-justice-program-cut-short/

 

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/education/2017-07-28/award-winning-evac-movement-not-returning-jacksonville-s-lee-high- school

 

The 2016 NYT article about EVAC students that garnered national attention and the attention of President Obama: Court Costs Entrap Nonwhite, Poor Juvenile Offenders

 

DCPS actions punish Amy Donofrio for creating a safe space for black and brown students in her classroom; AND deny those students access to their trusted teacher at the end of this most challenging year – seniors, who will be robbed of celebrating their last high school milestones with their teacher, who has supported them fully. I call on DCPS to reinstate Amy Donofrio’s teaching status in her previous capacity and to remove any disciplinary actions regarding this event from her permanent record.

Education Matters: The Southern Poverty Law Center says DCPS is on the wrong side of what is right

Education Matters: The Southern Poverty Law Center says DCPS is on the wrong side of what is right

The Southern Poverty Law Center says DCPS is on the wrong side of what is right

The Southern Poverty Law Center is a premier social justice organization that has fought against white supremacists, anti-semites, Islamaphobes, and all manner of malcontents on the wrong side of decency. Well, friends, you can now add Duval County Public Schools to that list. 

They have even represented Florida's public schools in their fight for fair funding, a lawsuit I testified in. It is manifestly disappointing that DCPS is on the opposite side of them. Disappointing but sadly not unexpected.  

From the Southern Poverty Law Center:

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the private employment law firm Scott • Wagner and Associates filed suit in federal court today on behalf of a Florida high school teacher who was removed from her classroom and reassigned to administrative duties in retaliation for displaying a Black Lives Matter (BLM) flag over the objection of school administrators.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, claims that officials at Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) violated her First Amendment rights and other constitutional and statutory protections because of her advocacy on behalf of Black students.

Amy Donofrio is a white teacher at Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, a school where about 70% of CONTINUE READING: Education Matters: The Southern Poverty Law Center says DCPS is on the wrong side of what is right

Education Matters: Florida GOP bullies its most vulnerable children

Education Matters: Florida GOP bullies its most vulnerable children

Florida GOP bullies its most vulnerable children

The Florida House came up with a solution without a problem, which includes girls' genitals being inspected by a stranger. The GOP just said to children, want to play a sport? Then be ready to show your privates.

The Florida GOP, a gerrymandered bunch, isn't about solving problems or making things better; it's about exercising its power to gin up its base. The state is so gerrymandered to assure them victory that they don't need to, which just makes their latest effort to punch trans children, for checks notes, being trans children is based on sure meanness.  

From First Coast News,

 Florida lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a bill Wednesday that would ban transgender girls from participating in women's sports.

HB 1475 passed the House by a 77-40 vote.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Kaylee Tuck, R-Lake Placid, is dubbed the “Fairness In Women’s Sports Act.” It would make participation in athletics contingent on determining a student’s “biological sex.” If a student- CONTINUE READING: Education Matters: Florida GOP bullies its most vulnerable children

Education Matters: Gary Chartrand spreads misinformation about charter schools, again.

Education Matters: Gary Chartrand spreads misinformation about charter schools, again.

Gary Chartrand spreads misinformation about charter schools, again

Gary Chartrand really supports charter schools; that is undeniable; however, the same can’t be said for public schools, which he has for decades sought to undermine. His tenure on the state board of education, a position he as a grocer was completely unqualified for saw, high stakes testing go up, and teacher salaries go down as well as the creation of one unfunded mandate after another that, for the most part, charter schools are exempt from. 

Gary Chartrand has his truth; unfortunately, his truth is filled with caveats that he leaves out. Let’s look at his claim about the IDEA charter schools, which are coming to Jacksonville paid for with Jacksonville tax dollars. 

He claimed that 100 percent of their graduates have been accepted to college. I am reminded of the old adage if something seems too good to be true, it probably is, and this definitely seems too good to be true. I could not find anything to independently verify that statement. Still, I was able to find plenty of how they routinely counsel out poor performers, and only sixty-five percent of their ninth-graders made it to graduation. Then it gets worse.

This is from the IDEA student handbook: As required by the IPS charter, a student may graduate and receive a diploma only if the student successfully completes the curriculum requirements identified by the SBOE, has been accepted into a four-year college or university, has completed a minimum of 125 hours of community service, and has performed satisfactorily on required end of course assessment instrument.

They are required to be accepted, not attend or do well, but just be accepted. To give you some CONTINUE READING: Education Matters: Gary Chartrand spreads misinformation about charter schools, again.

Education Matters: Another failure in leadership

Education Matters: Another failure in leadership

Another failure in leadership

The renaming of our schools is another failure of district leadership. 

For ten months, the process to change six of our schools named after confederate era figures has been going on. TEN MONTHS.  

Last June, after the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbury, and Breonna Taylor, the nation had a reawakening of interests in civil rights, and protests erupted all over the nation, not just because of the deaths but because of generational and systematic racism too. Duval County Public schools decided to join in, just in their own slow, disorganized, and painfully awkward way. 

I spoke at the first meeting where the name changes were proposed by Board Member Warren Jones. The gist of my speech was we couldn’t have schools named after people who never did anything questionable because we could never find anyone, but we could have schools that weren’t named after slavers, racists, and traitors. That and sometimes we revere historical figures despite their flaws, see our founding fathers, but confederates were revered because of their flaws.  

This was the beginning of June, and I was optimistic that those schools would open in the fall with new names, but that has been far from the case. 

After months of little or no action, it became obvious that the district did not want to do anything until after the vote on  CONTINUE READING: Education Matters: Another failure in leadership

Education Matters: Parents opt your students out of Florida's high stakes tests

Education Matters: Parents opt your students out of Florida's high stakes tests

Parents opt your students out of Florida's high stakes tests

 I am finishing my 21st year teaching in Duval County Public schools. I have seen a lot, but without a doubt, the worst and what must go is the state's reliance on high-stakes testing, This is especially relevant as DCPS starts testing season. I call it a season because it will last for weeks. Students at private schools that accept vouchers paid for by the public already don't have to take these pernicious tests, and it's time public schools joined them. 

Testing and preparing for the tests take away weeks of instruction. They don't provide any value either because the results aren't made known for months until after the school year has ended, and they rob teachers of the ability to be flexible, reteach or do deep dives into subjects. On the other hand, these tests affect everything from teachers losing their jobs to housing values and to a city's ability to attract businesses. 

This is not to say we shouldn't have standards or accountability; we should, though, for some reason, the CONTINUE READING: Education Matters: Parents opt your students out of Florida's high stakes tests

What’s in a Name? – Grumpy Old Teacher

What’s in a Name? – Grumpy Old Teacher

What’s in a Name?

That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, or so the Bard said as he put these words into the mouth of Romeo.

21st century update: That which we call a turd by any other name would stink like spoiled meat.

In Jacksonville, Florida, we are refighting the Civil War, sometimes known as the War Between the States, and by some on one side of the argument, the War of Northern Aggression Against the Southern States.

As a famous Miami Herald Columnist would say, Grumpy Old Teacher (GOT) is not making that up.

At issue is the renaming of six schools whose monikers match that of five Southern Generals for the Confederate Army, Robert E. Lee (1928), J.E.B. Stuart (circa 1965, the building began as Nathan Forrest High School), Kirby-Smith (1923), Joseph Finnegan (Confederate general who won the Battle of Olustee, opened 1968), and Stonewall Jackson (Google, you failed me, but the location makes GOT suspect the 1960s), as well as ol’ Jeff Davis himself, the president of the Confederacy (circa 1961).

That’s not a real rose! But it’s a CONFEDERATE ROSE.

The process kicked off last summer after the Black Lives Matters protests across the nation that caused many to consider the ways that racism and white CONTINUE READING: What’s in a Name? – Grumpy Old Teacher

Part Two: The Rose

Part Three: Take Down That Flag!

Part Four: What’s In a Name? Part 2