Teachers make how much?

Think teachers don’t earn enough? Researchers at the Manhattan Institute, a non-profit think tank that has supported many of Florida’s recent education reforms, might get you thinking differently. The group’s latest report, released today, contends that teachers – at least in Miami – earn 36 percent more than the average professional. They also state that increased teacher pay has no effect on improving graduation rates. Teachers, who are waging a battle in Tallahassee over whether student performance should impact their pay, of course will disagree. Don’t expect this argument to go down lightly.

Today's news

ARE YOU TALKING TO ME? What's that? Lawmakers are listening to educators about education issues? After spending eight years complaining that Gov. Jeb Bush and the GOP-dominated Legislature ruled them with a heavy hand, teachers are thrilled to find government leaders seeking their advice on controversial subjects like performance-based pay and testing.

CITRUS COUNTY: Lt. James Martone has counseled Citrus County youth about the evils of drugs and alcohol for almost 20 years. Now school district officials are wondering if he’s the right man for the job.

FIX THE FAMILIES, FIX THE SCHOOLS: Hey, parents. If you really want your kids to succeed in school, you have to do your part. A former school teacher laments how education has changed, for the worse, over the years and how families need to do more to fix it.

HERNANDO COUNTY: They’re still jiggering attendance zone boundaries in Hernando County. Read more about it.

PASCO COUNTY: Some Pasco County teens and their parents would rather stay at Land O’Lakes High School than transfer to new Sunlake High when it opens in August. But that didn’t stop them from seeking information about what the school will be like in the fall.

SO, KIDS, WHAT DID YOU DO OVER THE WEEKEND? While some area school districts talk about randomly drug testing students, one New Jersey school is doing it. The AP reports that Pequannock Township High will randomly test students to see if they’ve consumed any alcohol over the weekends. "There are more kids that die each year in alcohol-related traffic deaths than there are soldiers who have died in Iraq. The numbers are staggering," superintendent Larrie Reynolds said.

Another push for high school majors

Education Commissioner John Winn may be on his way out, but that doesn't mean he's just phoning it in. Instead, he's touring the state to impress upon next year's freshmen the importance of choosing a high school major. He visited Putnam County on Monday, and was headed to Brevard and Volusia counties on Tuesday. Why this week? Because on Friday the final approved major list will be released. Why this issue? "This is a big priority for Commissioner Winn," spokeswoman Cathy Schroeder explained. He wants teens to understand they're exploring their options and not cementing their future, and "the best way to do that is face to face."

Today's news

CITRUS COUNTY: Forget portables. Read Barb Behrendt's report on how Citrus County schools now look to "concrete-ables" as a more permanent but less expensive alternative to full school
construction.

HERNANDO COUNTY: School boundary changes are becoming a fact of life around most of the Bay. You just can't get too attached to your schools anymore. Now it's Hernando County's turn.

PASCO COUNTY: School Boards do everything they can to make sure kids they're disciplining aren't identified. A Pasco County judge has a different idea: make those who come before him go public with an apology.
Besides the usual drugs and weapons, students can get expelled for a whole range of things. Read about some of the more unusual ones coming before Pasco school leaders.

ACCELERATED READER: Most schools around here use Accelerated Reader as a way to get students to read. But why does a Tom Clancy novel earn more points than Macbeth? Is that the best way to promote reading of quality material? The Washington Post explores.

SCHOOL START DAYS: Changes to the school start date in Florida could have an unintended consequence: a longer period of time in the summer when school employees go unpaid. Some lawmakers are looking for a solution, Florida Today reports.

My school is bigger than your school

Think Sickles High is crowded at 2,800 students? Think again as you read The Miami Herald’s report about Cypress Bay High, which at 5,300 kids and growing is Florida’s – and perhaps the nation’s – biggest high school.

I hate your shirt

When it happened in Brooksville, people shrugged it off as a remnant of the old South. But how do you explain the spat over kids wearing t-shirts with the Confederate flag in a Broward County subdivision? The Sun-Sentinel looks into the issue.

Stop teaching to the test

Teachers don’t have to teach the FCAT by rote to get their students to do well. They could just read the test specifications, which give clues into how to apply knowledge rather than how to take a test, a University of South Florida professor tells the Associated Press.

Don't park so close to me

Sure, Pasco County is growing, and that means more kids. But does the school district have to park its extra buses so close to Dade City’s historic district? It’s a question on the minds of the mayor and others in the east county community.

School evacuated

First Ruskin Elementary, now Challenger K-8 in Brooksville. What is it about schools and noxious odors? Read about how nearly 40 children had to go to the hospital as their school was evacuated.

Coming up

Monday: Education Commissioner John L. Winn will visit Robert H. Jenkins, Jr. Middle School in Palatka at 11:30 a.m. to meet with students and discuss the new major areas of interest available to ninth graders entering high school in 2007-2008.

Tuesday: The Hillsborough County School Board meets at 2 p.m. with a short agenda.

February 5: The Florida Schools of Excellence Commission will have a public telephone conference call at at 11 a.m. to discuss general standards and practices of Charter School Applicants and Co-Sponsor Applicants. Call: 1(888)808-6959 Conference Code 2459620

February 6: The Pasco County School Board meets at 9:30 a.m. In Tallahassee, the House Education Innovation and Career Prep Committee and the House K-12 Committee meet at 9 a.m. The House Schools and Learning Council convenes at 1 p.m. Also, the Florida Agriculture in the Classroom, Inc., Board of Directors will meet for a regularly scheduled board meeting at 10 a.m. at Florida Citrus Mutual in Lakeland.

John Winn, Black Panther?

Retiring Florida Education Commissioner John Winn got quite the compliment this week from T. Willard Fair, chairman of the Board of Education.
At a board meeting in Tallahassee, Fair, who is black, likened Winn, who is white, to Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. and black power activist Angela Davis.
Winn is “radical,” said Fair, who heads the Urban League of Greater Miami. “I never saw him cave when there was controversy.”
Winn is pretty much the Wizard of Oz behind high-stakes use of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. He got his start teaching at an all-black school in Palatka and helped shape the school grading formula that forces teachers to pay more attention to the most struggling students.
Fair told fellow board members he has a “black wall” at home featuring photos of Dr. King, Malcolm X and other black leaders.
He said Winn will be the wall’s first white member.

Today's news

State education reporter Ron Matus reports Florida’s new education commissioner will bear Gov. Charlie Crist’s imprint. Crist, once commissioner himself, already has signaled he will not blindly follow his predecessor Jeb Bush’s path, signaling his willingness to change the school grading system and removing one of Bush’s key supporters on the State Board of Education. He plans to tell us more soon.

Is Florida losing its luster as a place to live and do business? The statistics, including a slowing growth in school enrollment, seem to say yes. Here’s what reporters Donna Winchester and Ivan Penn learned.

A wary Pasco County School Board denied national charter school company Imagine Schools the opportunity to operate in its district. The company isn’t going down lightly. Read about their dispute.

Hernando County’s annual school science fair has become a family affair. Read all about it.

School boundary changes are far from over in northern Hillsborough County. Thousands could be affected by new zones for a new elementary and middle school.

If reading and math weren’t enough, Florida high schoolers now will have to pass the 10th grade FCAT writing test to earn a diploma, the Miami Herald reports. Ever seen the test? Here’s a sample from the Department of Education.

Ever think there are just too many people who complain about No Child Left Behind and other school accountability efforts, but do nothing? Well, file count the Fairfax County (Va) School Board among those that thinks talk is cheap. The Washington Post reported that the Board defied the US Department of Education on Thursday by refusing to test students with limited English as the NCLB requires. Any other takers?

There's often a disconnect between charter schools and their sponsoring agencies. But when there are two local governments involved, the issues can get complicated. The Sun-Sentinel reports about the city of Pembroke Pines' effort to get more money from the Broward County School Board for the city's charter system, and the school district's resistance. Is this what we have to look forward to in school "reform" – bickering over cash? Read about it here

Coming soon: a new blog for tampabay.com