This just in from the Florida Department of Education:
Tallahassee, Fla., July 31, 2012 – Florida Department of Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson submitted a letter of resignation today to Governor Rick Scott and State Board of Education Chair Kathleen Shanahan.
Commissioner Robinson has served as head of one of the country’s largest state school systems since August 2011. Under his leadership Florida’s school system has realized some major milestones, including raising achievement levels for the first time in a decade, obtaining a
It all started 12 days ago with this image in the business section of the newspaper.
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Charter Schools are public schools. They provide parents with a choice. The movement was originally designed to give parents and educators an opportunity to come together and give students whose educational needs were not being met an educational alternative. However the
Even as nine new public charter schools prepare to open in September to serve families in predominantly low-income communities, there continues to be overwhelming demand for charter schools. Indeed, 20,000 New Jersey students are still on waiting lists for public charter schools.
IEA has not yet taken a position on the proposal. On one hand, if implemented, a cost shift could ensure that the employer’s pension contribution, which is currently the state’s and has often been ignored, would actually be paid.
On the other, if not done in the right way, passing the state’s costs to local districts would place additional financial hardships on districts, many of which are already suffering due to underfunding by the state. And, a shift could increase the already wide funding gap between wealthy and poor districts
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When I graduated college last year, I was certain I wanted to make a real difference in the world. After 17 years of education, I felt an obligation to share my knowledge and skills with those who needed it most.After this past year, I believe I did just that. Working as a volunteer teacher helped me reach out to a new generation of underprivileged children in dire need of real guidance and care. Most of these kids had been abandoned by the system and, in some cases, even by their families, making me the only person who could really lead them through the turmoil.
The cumbersome and counterproductive emphasis on testing fails its stated goal of using student evaluations to improve public education. Instead of focusing on how to fix educational problems, the focus is how to punish and defund struggling schools.
Easy solutions abound, but legislators forget that schools deal with human beings with varying talents and abilities. Traditional public schools cannot choose the most promising to educate; they must educate all children. School districts need flexibility, support and adequate funding to address this diversity.
FSBA courageously stated their views and I’m glad we spoke up. FSBA strongly advocates for
