Today's news

TO SCREEN OR NOT TO SCREEN: That is the question for the Citrus County School Board as it reviews its policies for using new background check technology. The district bought the system to see whether sexual offenders were coming near students, but has come under fire for going so far as to check people entering a board meeting.

CALLING ALL PARENTS: The principal of Hernando High School did just that with an automated message telling them how important the FCAT is, and what they can do to help. As the school struggles with accountability, principal Betty Harper is trying everything she knows to improve achievement.

MORE FROM SEN. GAETZ: The former superintendent and current Senate Education committee chairman, Don Gaetz is a fan of accountability but not one of the Department of Education. To read his views of performance pay for teachers, click here.

STILL CROWDED AFTER ALL THESE SCHOOLS: Pasco County opened six schools this year and will open five next year. Its growth has slowed to about 1 percent. Yet some of its schools remain chronically crowded, even after sending students away to the new ones.

LONGER SCHOOL DAYS: Educators and policy makers across the nation are looking at whether keeping students in school longer each day, and for more days each year, will boost their performance, the Associated Press reports.

IPODS FOR FCAT: Some students will win prizes for their performance on the FCAT, as schools offer incentives for improvement and top scores, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports. But this debate, which has ensued for several years, keeps some educators asking, Why should we reward students for doing what they're supposed to do?

CHECKING TO ENSURE THEY'RE ADVANCED ENOUGH: The College Board is taking a closer look at the Advanced Placement courses that high schools are offering to see whether they meet the mark, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports.

Comments

[A former teacher at Hernando High School]

I taught at Hernando High School. Betty Harper is most certainly not doing all that she can do to boost student performance and the school's grade. If she was, she would be supporting her teachers. I resigned from Hernando High School at the end of the year due to an overwhelming lack of support from administration. I was "courted" to teach at the school, and was promised administrative support. Instead I walked into a classroom full of students with severe behavior issues, appallingly low performance levels in mathematics, and a department that didn't even have an acting head!

If Hernando High School wants to keep teachers, then I would suggest that the teaching staff is fairly supported by administration. End of story.

[teacher at hhs]

Amen, brother, amen.

You got out while the getting was good.

She'll be gone soon. Pray for Deltona!

Not soon enough! Hernando High is like the Titanic without the music now. She fired qualified people she just didn't happen to like and kept people who were "otherwise qualified" in her eyes.

I hope Deltona does what they can to have her not take over their school. She has done enough damage in Hernando County already.