Bipartisan group to focus on children's issues, including VPK

Six Tampa Bay area lawmakers -- three Republicans and three Democrats -- are among 20 members of a new bipartisan group focusing on early childhood issues, including Florida's voluntary prekindergarten program.

The Early Childhood Caucus, hosted by Rep. Ari Porth, a Broward Democrat, meets today and will hear from a handful of speakers, including Linda Alexionok from the Children's Campaign, a group that has pushed for more access and higher quality VPK.

Area caucus members include Bill Heller, Janet Long, Jim Frishe and Peter Nehr from Pinellas and Betty Reed and Rich Glorioso from Hillsborough. Last year, Long, D-Seminole, and Rep. Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, co-sponsored a bill that aimed to beef up academic credentials for VPK teachers. It died in committee.

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Teach them while they're young (foreign languages, that is)

Duval schools have started up a new program aimed at exposing more young students to world languages, including Mandarin Chinese, German and Spanish. High school students in those classes will help teach the lessons.

"The whole purpose of this is to excite them about languages and to motivate them," Duval's supervisor of world languages, Joanne Davis, told students, according to the Florida Times-Union. "We want it to be a positive experience."

The theory continues that if the youngsters enjoy learning the language early, they might stick with it. And that could prove to be of critical importance as Florida continues to hone its education standards to become more internationally competitive.

Indeed, at a town hall meeting in east Pasco County on Thursday night, several parents and educators talked about the need for children to become fluent in other languages as the world "shrinks." The trick is to make it happen, and perhaps Duval has found the path. Thoughts?

Just read, Florida: State to kick off new K-2 reading program

The details are thin right now, as both the Governor's Office and Department of Education want to do a big reveal during an afternoon school visit and news conference in Tallahassee.

The Gradebook can tell you, though, that AT&T is donating a substantial chunk of money to the state to implement a statewide system aimed at helping primary-level teachers more quickly identify students' reading strengths and weaknesses, then target their lessons accordingly.

The money is supposed to go toward lots of Dell computers.

If you're in Tally and want to check things out firsthand, Gov. Crist, education commissioner Eric J. Smith and others will be at Hartsfield Elementary at 1 p.m. Otherwise, we'll post more info when we get it.

(Times file photo)

Children's Campaign seeks to 'Save Our Session'

As Florida's legislative session begins to wind down, interest groups and other watchers have started to tally up the things that are likely to happen and those that aren't. We focus on the Children's Campaign's list because the group advocates to improve the lives of kids.

Its leaders are trying to rally support behind several ideas that aren't gaining traction. (As a side note, it seems the Children's Campaign is in this same spot each year. What does it say about Florida that a group working for children loses so many of its fights?)

In its latest Legislative Connection (text version only), the Children's Campaign urges "every citizen of Florida who values children" to speak up on a variety of issues. They include:

• Degreed teachers for pre-kindergarten, by Sens. Fasano and Rich and Reps. Weatherford and Long. "Passage would have propelled Florida out of the national basement in terms of pre-K quality and saved hundreds of millions more than its cost by preventing elementary school failure."
• SB 2128, sponsored by Victor Crist. "This good bill adopts several of the Juvenile Justice Blueprint Commission recommendations without fiscal impact. Children 9 years or younger would be diverted away from detention, and the detention screening tool would be validated."
• Juvenile Assessment Centers, which face cuts in the House and Senate. "Experts agree that JACs are pivotal services in the juvenile justice system. Not having full-service JACs in every judicial circuit is one of the key reasons why Florida’s juvenile justice system continues to struggle."

The group acknowledges that money matters loom over all issues in Tallahassee. But so long as lawmakers pass on making tough taxing decisions, the authors write, the group has little sympathy: "Florida has long since passed the point where our leaders should be covering up our need for more revenue."

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Florida's pre-K program does the job, DOE says

It's that time of year again when the Florida Department of Education issues its annual report on how well (or poorly) the state's preschools did in preparing our 4-year-olds for kindergarten.

The latest pre-K readiness rate report shows that 92.5 percent of children who participated in Florida's Voluntary Pre-K program were academically ready or near ready for kindergarten, compared to 83 percent of the children who did not participate in VPK.

"These latest results reinforce that children who participate in Florida's VPK program are better equipped to embrace a lifetime of learning," Agency for Workforce Innovation interim director Cynthia Lorenzo said in a news release. "Quality early learning experiences provide the foundation that children need to be avid learners, caring citizens and ultimately conscientious contributors to our workforce and our future."

Just remember: Elementary schools evaluate kindergarteners' readiness as much as a month into kindergarten. And preschools need not take baseline data when children enter, in order to see how much they've grown. So a student's readiness could be based on the first weeks of kindergarten, the pre-K curriculum, or perhaps just work they've done at home with mom and dad.

Still, if you want to know how well a specific preschool's students did, you can check out the state's searchable database of VPK providers. At least you'll know which ones have the most successful completers.

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Kindergartners getting smarter

The latest state screenings for kindergartners show more little ones are doing better with early reading skills. But the numbers released by the state Department of Education this morning didn’t show much movement with classroom readiness. Click here to see the results in more detail, including a district by district breakdown.

Pre-k enrollment up, but still not universal

Okay, okay. We know the state dropped the "universal" from the program's name to signify that families don't have to send their 4-year-olds to school.

Still, when voters cast ballots in 2002, they approved "Voluntary Universal Prekindergarten Education" with the idea that all 4-year-olds would have "voluntary, high quality, free" pre-k available to them. Since then, participation has risen, but it has yet to come close to everyone.

The state reports that through September, only slightly more than half of Florida's eligible 4-year-olds --  121,259 of 234,186 -- had enrolled in the school-year VPK for 2008-09. That's up 11 percent from a year earlier, when 109,257 took the 520 hours of instruction, but still short of the 150,000 kids the state expected might come the first year, back in 2005.

At what cost early education?

Florida has 31 early learning coalitions to oversee education for children through age 5, including voluntary pre-K. A newly released report raises the idea of changing the system to ensure that more money goes to kids and less into overhead.

The Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability reviewed the coalitions' expenses and found that 9.5 percent of the $945-million spent locally on early education went into administration and program support costs. And that's just an average.

By coalition, the costs ranged from 5.26 percent for Hillsborough (the lowest) to 14.47 percent for Santa Rosa (the highest). Pinellas logged in at 13.07 percent, fourth from the top, while Pasco-Hernando's costs totaled  7.51 percent, or ninth of the 31.

The next step in early grades

You probably haven't heard much about the Florida Department of Education's major new effort in the early grades. But you will in coming years.

Called "Bright Beginnings," the initiative is designed to improve on the early grades foundation built during the Jeb era. It includes better assessments to gauge where kids are falling short in reading and math, and better interventions to make sure they catch up and keep up.

Information about Bright Beginnings has been coming out in drips and drabs at Board of Education meetings, but this recent memo from K-12 Chancellor Frances Haithcock to superintendents sums it up.

This attachment includes a time line for when the five phases kick in. It also includes a handful of meaty factoids – like how much it costs the state each year to retain third graders who fall short on the FCAT. (Answer: $672 million between 2002-03 and 2006-07.)

To learn more about the new assessments, see this story.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

Early education - the key to overcoming the achievement gap

Braulio Colon, assistant director of ENLACE Florida, an organization created to get more under-represented student groups into college, is our guest blogger today. He focuses on the important role of education before kindergarten in narrowing the achievement gap. Here's what he has to say:

"In the U.S. today, one out of every three kindergarteners walking into a classroom for the very first time is unprepared to begin learning at grade level; for Hispanics and African Americans I suspect the ratio is much more daunting. Annually, this equates to millions launching their scholastic career already behind their peers and more than 200,000 students repeating kindergarten because they lack the pre-academic fundamentals required to engage in formal reading instruction (The Pew Charitable Trusts, 2008).

Unfortunately, research demonstrates that this group is more likely to remain academically behind through middle school and is three to four times more likely to drop out of high school in later years. 

In this age of global competition, more and more jobs require some form of post-secondary education.  Given that dramatic increases in the Hispanic and African American student populations has increased to the extent that minority students already constitute a majority in many school districts and states, there is no greater long-term challenge facing our country today than that of eliminating the achievement gap and ensuring more minority children graduate from high school ready to pursue a postsecondary education.

Tell it to Obama and McCain

The folks at Pre-K Now haven't been shy in their advocacy over the years for universal, government-funded prekindergarten for all four-year-olds. (Three-year-olds, too, if it's possible.) Many states - including Florida - have gotten on board, to some extent. (Florida still has those sticky quality issues that Pre-K Now doesn't like.)

But there's always the feds to press into action, right?

That in mind, the D.C.-based advocacy group hired pollsters Peter D. Hart Research Associates and American Viewpoint to conduct a national poll on registered voters' views about pre-k. Guess what they found.

• Seven in 10 voters - including swing voters - support a new federal grant to help states increase the quality and availability of prekindergarten programs.
• 56 percent said government at all levels does too little to ensure that children have access to pre-k.
• 66 percent said it's important for a four-year-old to spend time in a learning program outside the home.

Reconsider the rating system

Florida's prekindergarten advocates have repeatedly called for the state to revise the way it rates the state's Voluntary Pre-K providers, suggesting the existing method doesn't take into account student gains and could penalize schools that serve low-income and minority students who improve vastly but started with no appreciable skills at all.

They might have found an unlikely ally in the Legislature's own auditing wing, the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability, or OPPAGA. In a recently released analysis, OPPAGA recommends that the state change its pre-k accountability process to be more fair to the schools that serve at-risk children.

Finding degreed teachers for pre-k not so tough, group argues

The Children's Campaign certainly doesn't give up without a fight.

For nearly four years now, the Tallahassee based group has argued passionately about the need to have teachers with 4-year degrees in early education teaching the state's prekindergarten students. With almost dispassionate regularity, Florida lawmakers and even some folks who run pre-k programs have said finding the teachers would be too tough - especially as schools endeavor to meet the class-size reduction amendment.

Not deterred, the Children's Campaign asked the Florida State University Center for Prevention and Early Intervention Policy to look at data from the Florida Department of Education with one question in mind: Could the state meet teacher capacity levels for all pre-k to be taught by degreed teachers within five years? (That's the time frame proposed in identical House and Senate bills [HB 741/SB 702] that don't get heard.)

The group got its answer this week, and it looks to be a solid "yes."

Another year, another negative review for VPK

The National Institute for Early Education Research has once again put Florida at the back of the class when it comes to high-quality prekindergarten programs.

In a report released today, the organization noted that Florida met just four of 10 standards the group considers critical to a strong pre-k experience. Five other states also met four of the benchmarks, and one met three.

Most notably, the group mentioned that Florida is joined by only Ohio and and California in not requiring pre-k teachers to have the same experience as public school teachers. The state also rated 34th of 38 states with programs in terms of per-student funding. On the positive side, it rated 2nd in terms of percentage of eligible children served.

"The only difference about our grade this year is that instead of Pennsylvania being below us, Kansas is," said Linda Alexionok of the Children's Campaign, which has been pushing for improvements to the pre-k program since its inception.

Alexionok argued that having large percentages of children in the program focuses on quantity vs. quality, and that's not going to help the state or its children. The Children's Campaign continues to support legislation that would require pre-k teachers to have degrees by 2013.

Gov. Charlie Crist has voiced his support for tougher qualifications for pre-k teachers. But earlier this month, his Agency for Workforce Innovation director, Monesia Brown, wrote an op-ed for the Tallahassee Democrat in which she praised the program's quality and mentioned nothing about teacher credentials.

A weekend interview with ...

... Shan Goff, executive director of the Florida Department of Education Office of Early Learning, and Dr. Tara Huls, program specialist. They spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about changing education standards for Florida's Voluntary Prekindergarten program. (No, they're not nearly as controversial as the K-12 science standards.)

Why are we looking at the pre-k standards?

Shan Goff: If we go back a few years to when the State Board of Education first adopted the pre-k education standards, which was in March of '05,there was the commitment to the state board that we would review and revise the standards as necessary on a three-year cycle. the state board wanted to be sure that the VPK standards remained in alignment with what the research tells us and, very specifically, what our expectations are in K-12.

You say 'as necessary.' So, what's necessary?

SG: The piece that we knew we would have to tackle this year was the math portion. Remember, we don't necessarily say the word 'math' in preschool. That is what most of us recognize it is. But typically it's underneath our learning domain of cognitive development. And since we passed the '05 VPK standards, Florida adopted the world-class math standards for K-12 that use the best research that was available for that particular standard setting activity. So we took the opportunity to re-look at all of our standards but focusing very specifically on cognitive development. And we've pretty much followed the same process we did when we looked at the emergent literacy piece.

What I saw was, instead of a handful of lines, a bunch of details. Not just understanding numbers, but counting to 31.

They like the bill, but ...

Don't take this the wrong way. Pinellas Early Learning Coalition executive director Janet Chapman wants teachers in the state's Voluntary Prekindergarten program to meet higher education requirements as much as anybody.

But the bill coming through the Florida Legislature (HB 741/SB 702) to make it happen has problems, Chapman tells the Gradebook. Specifically, she has concerns about the provision to have all VPK teachers earn an associate's degree by 2010. The bill also would have all pre-k teachers earn a bachelor's degree within five years.

"There's not enough semesters between now and 2010, even if you start today," Chapman says. Without making some provisions for educators working toward that goal, "we could potentially find ourselves in a problem where we have no certified teachers in the classrooms under this (bill)."

This won't hurt a bit

As lawmakers slash this year's budget by millions, the Florida Voluntary Prekindergarten program looks likely to take a hefty hit of $6.7-million. That's funding for more than 2,500 four-year-olds. Ouch, right?

Well, no.

"That's not going to affect anything," says Dave McGerald, executive director of the Hillsborough Early Learning Coalition, which stands to lose about $418,000 for VPK. "Those were dollars that were going to go unused anyway."

Huh?

The state doesn't know how many kids will sign up for the voter-created program each year. So lawmakers tend to put too much money in the pre-k budget, knowing any of the per-student allocation that doesn't get spent comes back to the general fund coffers anyway. That's the situation here.

"If we served 100 percent of all the 4-year-olds, then I'd be screaming," said Janet Chapman, executive director of the Pinellas Early Learning Coalition, which stands to lose about $300,000. "But we're not at that point yet. I probably send that much back each year that's not spent."

To see the proposed VPK spending cuts, click here and go to pages 6 and 7 of the report.

How's your pre-K?

More than 100,000 Florida 4-year-olds participated in the state's Voluntary Prekindergarten program during 2006-07. A new report from the state Department of Education suggests that the kids who took the classes were more ready for kindergarten than their counterparts who stayed home.

For instance, 72 percent of the pre-k students were "above average" in letter naming, compared to 56 percent of non pre-k students. See the full data sheet here.

The information is designed to determine kindergarten readiness. But the state also uses it to determine whether the preschools where the kids attended met the state's VPK standards. That's been roundly criticized as a bad idea for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that the kids don't take a pretest, so no one knows if the preschool actually helped at all.

So far, the Legislature has shown no indication to change the system, though. So if you're interested in seeing your preschool's score - it's on a 0 to 300 scale with 300 being the best, click here.

Head Start reauthorized, without the test

President Bush has given Head Start a five year renewal, but he didn't sound very happy with all the provisions within the  bill.

Education Week reports that the president criticized Congress for stripping out the test that allowed the government to "examine consistently how Head Start children are performing in programs across the nation."

"I am also disappointed that the bill fails to include my proposal to protect faith-based organizations' religious-hiring autonomy," Bush said.

Not everyone is upset with the law. AFT president Edward J. McElroy said, "This new Head Start law will help our youngest and most vulnerable children get the boost they need. This bill is an example of the smart legislation and forward-thinking investment in education that our country needs to support all of America's children."

For more, read the president's news release and see the bill and related information.

Does this mean VPK is working?

The percentage of Florida 5-year-olds deemed ready for kindergarten continued to rise this year, the Department of Education announced today.

According to the report, 88 percent of kindergartners could perform all or most all of what they were supposed to know and do within the first 30 days of classes, up from 86 percent a year ago. In letter naming, 58 percent were rated "above average," compared to 56 percent last year and 48 percent in 2004. In identifying letter sounds, 45 percent were considered "above average" compared to 44 percent a year ago and 39 percent in 2004.

Locally, Pasco County was among 30 counties showing a slight increase (2-7 percent) in the number of children ready for kindergarten. Hillsborough, Pinellas and Hernando counties showed no percentage increase.

State officials were quick to note that the rising levels of readiness coincide with the growing participation rate in Florida's Voluntary Prekindergarten program.

"A solid learning foundation, developed early in life, is one of the most important things we can do for our children," commissioner Eric J. Smith said in a news release. "The more prepared these young children are entering school, the greater their chances for continued academic success."

For more, read Smith's memo to superintendents or visit the state's web site.

(Times photo of prekindergarten class in Pinellas County, 2006)

Bachelor's degrees for pre-k teachers

Is Charlie Crist serious about his pledge to push for a state requirement that prekindergarten teachers must have bachelor's degrees?

If he's not, he might have his parents to answer to.

Dr. Charles and Mrs. Nancy Crist - mom and dad to the governor - are the honorary co-chairs of this year's effort by the Children's Campaign and Generations United to get Florida lawmakers to change the state Voluntary Pre-K law so that the teaching degree is mandatory, rather than an "aspirational goal."

"We can change Florida’s future by changing one word," reads the letter that bears their names, along with those of several past governors. "Please join all of us as we work to honor the promise made to every parent and grandparent that Florida will deliver a high quality early education to our children."

Gov. Crist said he supported the degree requirement back in April. Since then, though, little has happened - either in the Capitol or the Governor's Office - to push the matter. Stay tuned.

New leadership

Florida's Voluntary Pre-k program has a new face heading up the Agency for Workforce Innovation side of the operation.

Brittany Birken, who has worked for the agency's early learning division for two years, has been named interim director while the agency seeks a permanent leader. She was introduced to the State Board of Education this week as the "interim Gladys."

Gladys is Gladys Wilson, the 30-year educator who headed the state's school readiness division before taking on the brand new VPK system in 2005. But now Wilson has moved on to Colorado, where she is president and CEO of an early education firm called Qualistar.

A look at the education budget cuts

Lawmakers in Tallahassee have hammered out a proposed $71-billion budget, and will sit on it for three days as required by law before voting on it Friday.

Here's the basics of what the cuts look like for K-12 and higher education:

$268-million less in per-student funding for K-12 students, or about $100 less per child.

$930,000 less for private colleges and universities

$31-million less for community colleges

$84-million less for state universities

Troubling trend for Florida's pre-k

While other states are boosting their early education investments, Florida is heading in the opposite direction, national prekindergarten advocacy group Pre-K Now notes in its latest report, issued earlier today.

Listing Florida under the tag "Dubious Distinction," the organization calls out the state as the only one since 2006 to actually decrease pre-k funding, by 4 percent. It says:

The decreased appropriation promises to undermine both the quality and availability of critical early education programs. Legislators in Florida have damaged the prospects for their state's future fiscal health and economic competitiveness as well as the foundation for success for tens of thousands of young children.

What makes this move particularly disturbing, the group says, is that Florida was supposed to be a national model of how to do things right. Voters did, after all, mandate "high quality" prekindergarten for all the state's 4-year-olds.

Two appointed to Pinellas Early Learning Coalition

Gov. Crist has announced two appointments to the Pinellas Early Learning Coalition, which oversees programs for children ages 0-5 including the state's Voluntary Prekindergarten system. They are:

• Michael K. Pachik, 56, of Clearwater. Pachik is senior vice president of Direct Mail Systems Inc. He will serve a second term, ending April 30, 2011.
• Dr. Kenneth B. Paluso, 56, of Palm Harbor. Peluso, president of Peluso Chiropractic and Rehab Center, succeeds Peggy O'Shea. He unsuccessfully ran as a Republican for the Florida House in 2006. His term expires April 30, 2009.

A weekend interview with ...

... early childhood education advocate David Lawrence. The former Miami Herald publisher helped push Florida's universal prekindergarten constitutional amendment to victory in 2002. Now head of the Early Childhood Initiative Foundation, he tours the country talking about the importance of educating children ages 0-5. (For a more detailed bio, click here.) Lawrence discussed the pros and cons of Florida's Voluntary Pre-K program as it ends its second year with reporter Jeff Solochek.

Lawrence: On the plus side, there are 115,000 or so 4-year-olds who are going to be in the program. ... That’s a very big number. If you consider that 220,000 children are born each year in Florida, you now have more than half of the 4-year-olds. And when there are only three universal programs in the country - Oklahoma in a very small state, 3-million people and a very different kind of model, Georgia which is a close model to Florida. But in the first year of Georgia’s program, which was 1996, in a state half the size of Florida, they had 8,800 children in theirs. So when you consider the program is only in its second year, that’s a pretty impressive turnout. Clearly parents have said, Boy there’s something valuable for my child here. That’s the big plus.

Here are the things I think folks need to work on. First, there is no requirement from the get-go for a research-based, evidence-based curriculum. We know we can easily identify at least a dozen research-based curricula, and yet the state of Florida isn’t requiring that. You can essentially use anything you want for a couple of years, and then if the program in theory isn’t working, you’ve got to use something the state wants you to use. I would argue since the state is spending close to $400-million ... people are entitled to know that their money is spent on quality.

The second area is, as you know, the pre-k advisory council chaired by the lieutenant governor (Toni Jennings), of which I was a member, voted unanimously for within five years an associate’s degree for the lead teacher, and within eight years a bachelor’s degree in early education for the lead teacher. The Legislature decided that it would make those “aspirational goals.” Aspirational goals is a recipe for never getting it done.

JS: The governor has said he supports that (having degreed teachers). Do you think that his comments will drive anything?

DL: Like so many Floridians, I am optimistic about the new governor. And so, yes, that fuels, energizes, my sense of optimism. But of course, it still needs to be done and it hasn’t been done. And the next regular session of the Legislature is when? Next March. So that’s another area.

The third area I would say ... in a high-quality program of wisdom, your son would go that program and at the beginning of that program - next month when he goes in - he would be assessed. Not tested. I’m not talking about baby FCATs here. He would be assessed for how ready he is. How is he doing? Where is he vis-a-vis early literacy? How is he doing socially and emotionally? Then ... and again I emphasize, not a test but an assessment. That assessment to be shared not only with the teacher, but with the parent. You and your wife are entitled to know how your child is doing.

That assessment would then form your child’s instruction and learning for the next several months. We would say ... he does real well in this and this, but he needs some help in this and this. And then during the course of the year a teacher would help him. And then at the end of the year we would minimally see, where is he now? What did he get from the program? And in an ideal program, this would be done several times during the year.

That isn’t done now. Some programs do it. But it is no requirement for that. And instead, the state talked about this readiness rate for kindergarten kids.

How does your pre-K program stack up?

You knew it was coming: They can't make four-year-olds take the FCAT, but the state has found a way to hold pre-kindergarten providers accountable.

The readiness ratings -- based on a scale approved earlier this week by the Board of Education -- can help parents choose schools. It's based on an evaluation of what every kindergarten student knew when they arrived at school. Check out the school-by-school results at the state's voluntary pre-K site.

There's also a list of low performers, the so-called bottom 15 percent. They're required to submit improvement plans. Of course, some have complained that the ratings aren't fair. You could argue that's just one more lesson to prepare kids for the real world.

Clinton calls for universal pre-k

Standing in Miami Beach, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton today proposed spending $10-billion to create a prekindergarten program for the nation's 4-year-olds similar to the one Florida already has - except her plan would require teachers to have bachelor's degrees. "Our educational system needs to be strengthened from start to finish, but we have to start where it all begins," Clinton told an audience of children, teachers and parents, according to the Associated Press. To read the AP's full story, click here. To see her campaign web site on the issue, click here.

Did your pre-k program get kids ready?

When you picked a prekindergarten program for your 4-year-old, you might have had a feeling - or even a good indication - that the school or center you chose would prepare its students for success in kindergarten. Now the state has a new web site where you can see if you were right.

School districts around Florida evaluated every kindergartner on a selected set of skills, such as the ability to recognize letters, within the first 30 days of school. There have been some complaints that the measurement isn't fair, as the kids were evaluated months after they finished pre-k, and there was no pretest to see where they started. Be that as it may, the state took the results and connected each child to the pre-k program he or she attended. That took a while. Today's release is for the 2005-06 voluntary prekindergarten program.

The students' performance on these evaluations could get a preschool a mark of up to 300. The average rate among all 31 early learning coalitions was 239, and only 13 of them had 30 percent or more performing in the top quarter.

Providers have some time to challenge their rates, and some might, as the bottom 15 percent will be identified as "low performing" and subject to strict improvement plans before losing their right to offer the state-funded program. That level will be formalized in June.

All talk, no do

It was just a month ago that Gov. Charlie Crist came out in support of requiring all state prekindergarten  teachers to have bachelor's degrees. Early education advocates cheered his stance, saying top-notch teachers are the key to a high-quality program. But the bills that would set the goal in law are not moving. At all. And Crist has no intention of spending any political capital to make it happen. "He's not going to push for anything further," Kathy Torian, a spokeswoman for the governor, told the Gradebook. "He thinks making the goal mandatory is certainly the first step toward achieving it. (But) he's just going to wait and watch."

Rep. Lorrane Ausley, the Tallahassee Democrat who's arguably the most passionate early ed supporter in the House, doesn't blame Crist for the inaction. "He came in when the budgets were set," she said, adding that the governor's action next year will be more telling. Ausley instead focused her attention on House and Senate leaders who have shown no interest in either the teacher certification issue or in a proposal to create a star-rating system for all pre-k programs. "Here we are spending millions of dollars on sports stadiums," she said. "As a state, we are moving in the very wrong direction." Ausley held out hope that an upcoming OPPAGA review of pre-k governance might provide the impetus to bring changes to the two-year-old voter-mandated program in the future.

Leader, or laggard?

Pre-K Now, a national advocacy group for early education, offered some divergent views on Florida Gov. Charlie Crist in its annual Leadership Matters report, which it released today. On the one hand, it counted Crist among the nation's missed opportunities - governors who talked a good game but didn't follow through. The group noted that Crist pledged in his campaign to support the voters who mandated high quality universal prekindergarten, yet in his State of the State address and his budget, he didn't mention the program or provide new money for it. "If Governor Crist truly wants to improve Florida’s public education system and honor the will of the voters, he must champion and adequately fund VPK," the report states.

In a separate news release about the report, though, the organization applauded Crist for recent comments to the St. Petersburg Times and, later, at a public gathering in Tallahassee, that pre-k teachers should have four-year degrees. That's something Pre-K Now cites as a hallmark of a strong prekindergarten program. Executive director Libby Doggett expressed hope that Crist will act on that instinct. "Forward-thinking leaders understand that pre-k changes the course of children's lives for the better and that this translates into gains for their cities and states," Doggett said.  "We hope Governor Crist's recent comments reflect a growing commitment to pre-k so that he can join the majority of governors who are making these early educational opportunities a priority."

Doggett held a conference call with governors Mike Easley of North Carolina and Elliott Spitzer of New York to cheer the growing attention being paid to prekindergarten. This year marked a milestone, she said, in that 29 governors had included pre-k as a policy or budget priority, up from 11 just three years ago. That leadership matters if 3- and 4-year-olds are to get the early education they need, she said: "Pre-k education should be available to any family that wants it. ... Pre-k helps establish positive trajectories for the rest of their lives."

Today's news

ART MATTERS: The Wimauma Academy does all it can to ensure its students, mostly the children of migrant farm workers, get exposed to things like classical music. And the kids love it.

NOT YOUR ORDINARY TEENS: These Hernando County high school students call themselves the Free Radicals. They like to think deep thoughts, and they want to make a difference.

THAT'S JUST MEAN: Reacting to a parent's complaint, the principal of East Lake High in Pinellas County bans the joke superlatives "worst hair" and "most likely to drop out of college." The students say: Chill.

EASING THE TRANSITION: Pasco County changes its summer school programs to help struggling fifth- and eighth-graders make it to the next level.

MAKE THEM HAVE DEGREES: Gov. Charlie Crist tells a group of pre-k advocates he will lobby lawmakers to require pre-k teachers to have four-year degrees, the Associated Press reports.

THAT SCHOOL IS GREEN: Sure, it cost more to build. But Palm Beach County officials figure they'll make the money back in five years with savings on energy and water, the Palm Beach Post reports. Plus, you get preferred parking for your hybrid.

LEARN A LANGUAGE WITHOUT TALKING: American Sign Language is a popular course in Broward County high schools, the Sun-Sentinel reports. To improve, the students help out in middle school programs for the deaf and hard of hearing.

FAMU UPDATE: University leaders say they'll ask Florida lawmakers not to hand over control of their engineering school to Florida State. Student leaders, meanwhile, do it, walking the Capitol to plead their case. Not everyone is convinced, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.

Today's news

CARING FOR COWS: St. Petersburg College is looking at a partnership with the University of Florida to create the state's second veterinary school.

HEADING DOWN THE HOMESTRETCH: And the Legislature still has much work to do. One key unresolved issue is whether to increase tuition for the state's universities. Lawmakers say yes, the governor says no.

FROM THE OP-ED PAGE: Florida's promise for high-quality universal prekindergarten is a promise unkept, the editorial board says. Maybe Gov. Charlie Crist can cash in on all the talk about improvement.

A DIFFICULT DEMAND: Florida, like all other states, is trying to fill its classrooms with highly qualified teachers - those who know their content area and have the right preparation, too. It's not proving easy, as nearly half of the state's new teachers don't have a degree in education, the Palm Beach Post reports.

A 'MORAL IMPERATIVE': A suburban New York school district pays extra attention to black boys to ease the achievement gap, offering special mentoring with black teachers, extra homework and cultural activities. Black girls were doing well enough and didn't need the attention, the New York Times reports.

HATE DETENTION? A Milwaukee-area school district lets kids work off their misdeeds cleaning the cafeteria, weeding the garden and performing other "soft labor" instead on Amnesty Day, the Journal-Sentinel reports.

Getting on the pre-k bandwagon

Count CFO Alex Sink among the growing list of leaders supporting the call for teachers with four-year degrees to lead Florida's prekindergarten classes. Sink will join business, education and law enforcement officers at 2 p.m. Monday in the Governor's Large Conference Room to discuss the importance of bumping up the teacher certification requirements in the Universal Prekindergarten law.

The Florida Tax Watch issued a two-page paper today pushing the issue, too. "How can Florida meet the demand for highly qualified pre-kindergarten teachers?" it asks. "The routes to quality already exist." Among them: alternative certification and teacher preparation institutes. The group argues that the return on investment makes it more than worthwhile to pay the costs.

In case you missed it, there's a campaign afoot to bolster the state's national rating on the pre-k front, and it involves teacher quality. Six former governors and the widow of a seventh made the call for higher credentials for pre-k teachers last week, and this week Gov. Charlie Crist said he, too, supports the idea. Whether the concept makes it through the Legislature remains to be seen. To read more on the issue, click here.

Today's news

TAKE ME OUT TO COMMENCEMENT: Tropicana Field is an increasingly popular graduation spot for Pinellas County high schools. But what to do when eight want the Trop on the same week, during a Rays homestand?

BAD KIDS (LOCAL EDITION): Two eighth graders lace their teacher's Pepsi with Febreze at Giunta Middle School. They're in trouble. She's taking leave to sort things out in her head.

THEY NEED A DEGREE: Gov. Charlie Crist joins several of his predecessors in saying that the state's prekindergarten teachers should have four-year degrees. Whether the Legislature will join the call remains to be seen.

BAD BUS DRIVER: One school bus driver didn't like how the other was driving during a student field trip to Georgia. So he shot him dead. No students were present at the time, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

DO YOU HAVE TO SAY YES, SIR? The Troops to Teachers initiative takes hold in Florida schools, as more and more retired soldiers enter the classroom, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

STUDENTS HAVE SPECIAL NEEDS: Parents demand better treatment of children in Sarasota County's exceptional student education program, where substitutes have taken the place of permanent teacher aides, the Herald-Tribune reports.

STUDENTS HAVE RIGHTS: This time, it's a New York state fourth grader, whose school stopped her from distributing a personal religious message to classmates. A judge slaps down the district, saying it violated the girl's First Amendment rights, the Associated Press reports. The Florida-based Liberty Counsel, which pops up in these cases all over the place, is in this one, too.

CLASS-SIZE DISPUTE GROWS: The California school district that lied about its efforts to shrink its classes to meet state mandates faces another round of allegations, as more teachers step up to say they were asked to sign that they had fewer students than they did, the LA Times reports. Are you watching this, Florida? Class size counts go to the classroom level next year.

Count Charlie in

Six of the past eight Florida governors, plus the widow of a seventh, say the state should require prekindergarten teachers to have four-year degrees. The current governor tells the St. Petersburg Times that he agrees. "How do you argue against having certified teachers? I don't want to make that argument," Gov. Charlie Crist said Monday. "I wasn't asked to sign onto the letter. I would have. I'd sign onto it today." As for budget concerns, he added, "The real negotiation on the money begins next week so there's great opportunity to tweak and modify and realize new priorities."

Identical bills in the House and Senate (HB 1103/SB 2506) would accomplish the goal. But legislative leaders had doubts that the measure would move anytime soon. It's a matter of money and teacher supply, they said.  "I think everybody wants quality in pre-k," said Sen. Stephen Wise, chairman of the Education Pre-K-12 Appropriations Committee. "It's just a matter of how we really put the plan together so we don’t put ourselves in a bind."

Early education advocates expressed optimism at Crist's public stance. "Charlie has spoken passionately about following the will of the voter. He has spoken about high quality teachers," said Roy Miller, president of the Tallahassee-based Children's Campaign. "He has added up 1+1 and he knows it equals pre-k." But the past president of an association of child care providers questioned whether bachelor's degrees are the answer. "Do they need more than they’ve got now? Yes," said Danny Morris, past president of the Florida Association for Child Care Management. "We would like to see something between what is existing now, in the (child development associate) credential and the four-year degree."

Already, 22 of the 37 other states that offer state-funded prekindergarten require teachers to have bachelor's degrees, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research.

To read the full story, click here.

Today's news

LAND DEAL QUESTIONED: Critics accuse the Hillsborough school district of cronyism for buying 34 acres from a retired School Board member. District officials say they did everything by the book.

LENDING PRACTICES INVESTIGATED: The U.S. Department of Education and Congress are looking into whether colleges and universities, including some in Florida, steer students toward financial aid packages that earn the schools money.

SUPERINTENDENT SIGNING: The Hernando County School Board expects to complete its contract with superintendent-designate Wayne Alexander on Tuesday. The details are still being hashed out.

WEIGHING IN ON P.E.: Citrus County stands ready to implement Gov. Crist's desire to have all elementary kids do 30 minutes of daily physical activity. One problem, though, and it's not FCAT prep. There are too many kids and not enough money to hire all the needed PE teachers, they say.

FROM THE OPINION PAGES: Six former governors call upon the current one to improve the state's Universal Prekindergarten program. The former Board of Regents chairman says more college students should study abroad.

QUITTING NEA: Collier County school employees switch to the Teamsters. It's proving a controversial move, the Naples Daily News reports.

PRE-K SHRINKS: Some of Orange County's neediest children might lose access to the free state pre-k program because the schools nearest them did not meet state class-size reduction requirements, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

BAD KID ALERTS: Five Suffolk County, N.Y., eighth graders hand out doughnuts filled with laxatives to their classmates and teachers, USA Today reports. Two Seattle-area girls contaminate their teacher's coffee cup with lip gloss, the Seattle Times reports.

Early education, unruly behavior

The New York Times reports that a study will be released today showing that, regardless of gender, family income or quality of preschool, children who attend day care for a year or more are likely to be more aggressive than those who don't, all the way through sixth grade. On the plus side, the kids have a better vocabulary to hurl at their classmates.

This report could have reverberations in Florida and throughout the country, where early ed advocates are pushing for higher quality in preschool. Why? Because it suggests that quality isn't all that matters. But what's a parent to do, when one income increasingly doesn't pay the bills?

Today's news

SORRY, JEB: No honorary degree for you. University of Florida professors nix the notion, and there will be no recount. UF prez Machen, meanwhile, just frets about whether the move will kill his lobbying effort to make students pay higher fees.

BAD, BUT NOT THAT BAD: Citrus County school officials were appalled last year when they saw the conditions at Crystal River High. They ordered up major renovations. Then they got a cost estimate. Now the project is on hold.

CARNEGIE OR BUST: The Clearwater High choir has an invite to play the prestigious theater. The New England Symphonic Ensemble is set to back it up. If only the kids had enough money to get there.

TRY PLAN B: Hey, high school seniors (and parents). Haven't been accepted to college yet? Don't give up hope. The National Association for College Admission Counseling will release a list of schools that still have freshman openings in May, the LA Times reports. Check it out.

BATTLING PERCEPTIONS: Hispanic education advocates try to overcome the thought that Hispanic parents don't care about teaching young children, the Washington Post reports.

Today's news

LIFE WITHOUT QUOTAS: It's been eight years since Florida dumped affirmative action for college admissions. The results have been mixed. Jeb Bush, who implemented the program, and Charlie Crist, who inherited it, talk about diversity with reporter Joni James.

FROM THE EDITORIAL PAGES: Some lawmakers want to remove enrollment limits on the Florida K-8 virtual school voucher system without knowing how well the program really works. It's time to slow down, the editorial board says, and evaluate this "dubious" program.

SPEAKING OF ONLINE EDUCATION: Its popularity is soaring as the catalog of course options expands, the Palm Beach Post reports.

MORE ON TEACHER ABUSE CASES: The Sarasota Herald-Tribune continues its special report on what happens to teachers accused of sexually abusing or physically attacking students.

TOUGH TIMES AHEAD: With changes in the state tax structure and more mandates placed upon them, teachers could find it increasingly difficult to afford to live in many parts of Florida, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

MAKE THEM HAVE DEGREES: Florida isn't getting the high-quality prekindergarten program that voters supported because the law doesn't require pre-k teachers to have college degrees, former American Bar Association president Martha Bennett writes in the Tallahassee Democrat.

A NEW APPROACH TO TALLAHASSEE: Rather than talk about the kids, Miami-Dade school officials are talking about the return on investment lawmakers would get if they give the school district more money. It's an unusual approach that's not without its risks, the Miami Herald reports.

Today's news

TRY IT, YOU'LL LIKE IT: Teachers in Little Rock, Ark., have quickly warmed to performance-based pay bonuses, suggesting that if the plan is right, it can work. Reporter Ron Matus writes about the Little Rock system.

SCHOOL STINKS: Literally. Kids at Chamberlain High in Tampa have to cope with sewer gas smells while they eat and while they walk down the halls. The a/c doesn't cool well, either, and the water boiler doesn't always heat. Students, and at least one School Board member, are seeking change.

COOL RUNNING: Wesley Chapel eighth-grader Sara Reamer plays soccer, volleyball and more for her middle school teams. But the 14-year-old is making her mark in a distinctly non-Florida sport - luge.

FROM THE EDITORIAL PAGES: Three of the six finalists for Hernando County superintendent misrepresented themselves on their applications. The editorial staff suggests that residents deserve better. In Pasco, the superintendent spent some time seeking to tweak the teacher dress code. The opinion is: the district has bigger fish to fry.

SYSTEM MALFUNCTION: More than half of Florida teachers punished for sexually abusing or physically attacking students kept their licenses and their classrooms, a Sarasota Herald-Tribune special report says. One example: "Tara Wright had sex with two teenage boys when she taught English at Wymore Secondary School in Orange County. She now teaches second-graders in Hernando County."

WHEN CHURCH AND SCHOOL MEET: Every weekend, schools around the state close to students and open to worshippers, who rent out the otherwise unused space, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

IS YOUR CHILD'S SCHOOL BUS SAFE? Regulations vary across the country, making it hard to know. The National Coalition for School Bus Safety is trying to change that, the New York Times reports.

HEAD START TEST ON THE ROPES: Four-year-olds in the federal preschool program soon might not have to face standardized testing anymore, as Congress moves to get rid of the exams, the Washington Post reports.

Seeking a pre-k fix

Rep. Loranne Ausley, D-Tallahassee, isn't surprised at all by the latest reports ranking Florida near the bottom of state prekindergarten programs when it comes to funding and quality. Once again, she's one of the few Florida lawmakers pressing to make it better. She's focusing on two efforts. One would create a star rating system, so parents could go to anyplace in the state and see how good or bad a pre-k provider is (HB 1107). The other would change the way Florida oversees pre-k (HB 1103). "The biggest problem that we face in trying to get funding and improve the quality of VPK is that it is in three different agencies," Ausley told the Gradebook. "As a result it is in three different budgets in the Legislature. The buck doesn't stop anywhere. As a result, children in Florida are suffering." She wants to create an Office of Early Education in the governor's office as part of the reform. Ausley isn't sure where the bills are headed, and she plans to talk more with Schools and Learning chairman Joe Pickens later today, before calling out the advocates to pressure for change. "I'm optimistic that we can at least get the dialogue started," she said.

Today's news

PRE-K PROGRAM "PARTICULARLY WORRISOME": Access to Florida's Voluntary Prekindergarten program is fourth-best in the nation, but its per-student funding is 35th of 38 states that have pre-k systems, the National Institute for Early Education Research reports in its latest preschool survey. That disconnect leads to low quality, researcher Steve Barnett said. But there's no activity in Tallahassee to change the program.

REFS CRY FOUL: Some sports referees are threatening to stop working games in Citrus County unless the school district changes its background check procedure. They complain that the $61 fingerprint fee, along with the cost of renewing their badges, is a burden. District officials say the Jessica Lundsford Act gives them little wiggle room.

MATH PROBLEMS: Some parents have found shortcomings with Hillsborough County's elementary-level math curriculum. Several teachers have concerns about it, too. Now the district is seeking outside advice as it looks to update the way it teaches math.

SLIM BUDGET PICKINGS: The GOP-dominated Florida legislature trimmed Gov. Charlie Crist's education spending proposal by about $200-million, blaming a "modest budget year," the Fort Myers News-Press reports.

ANTI-BULLYING OR ANTI-GAY? As anti-harassment legislation winds through Tallahassee, some lawmakers face criticism for not including specific protection for gay students, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.

CELL PHONE DEBATE: Parents like them to keep tabs on their children. Teachers don't like them when they're used in class. Palm Beach's schools superintendent says they might be used to "cyber-bully." So he's recommending several alternatives, including banning cell phones from campus, the Palm Beach Post reports.

UNREASONABLE EXPECTATIONS? Congress takes a closer look at whether all children really can read and do math at grade level by 2014, as it  considers renewal of No Child Left Behind, the Washington Post reports.

Today's news

MORE CANDIDATE PROBLEMS: One finalist for Hernando County superintendent withdrew after the Times discovered lies on his resume. Now another is on the ropes after reporter Tom Marshall found that she misstated enrollment figures by as much as 50 percent for the districts where she has worked.

VIRTUAL SCHOOLING GROWS: So Florida lawmakers want to take a closer look at the online program, to make sure the money is being spent wisely, the Florida Times-Union reports.

LESSONS IN EATING: As concerns rise over obesity and food allergies, preschools and schools take a closer look at how they teach about food and nutrition, the New York Times reports.

HE NEVER WORE A CROWN: But the middle school textbook depicted Sikh founder Guru Nanak wearing one. So leaders of that religion protested to the California Board of Education, which agreed to remove the offending picture from future editions, the New York Times reports.

CASE COULD AFFECT STUDENTS' FREE SPEECH: An Alaska high school student was disciplined by his school after displaying a banner saying "Bong hits 4 Jesus." He sued, and the U.S. Supreme Court is going to consider the case. Education Week examines the issue.

New program targets youngest students

Too many children enter kindergarten woefully underprepared. They have little access to early education, health care and other services so many families take for granted. With the help of a $10-million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the University of Florida Lastinger Center for Learning and the Miami-based Early Childhood Initiative Foundation announced this morning that they are launching Ready Schools Florida, a program that aims to help both needing children and the schools they attend. "The Ready Schools Florida model seeks to prepare both ready children and ready schools to enhance a child's healthy growth and development," foundation president David Lawrence said in a written statement. The program, which will launch in Miami-Dade County and roll out across Florida over four years, will strive to bring more tutoring, health care services and accredited early-learning centers to under-served communities. It also will focus on what happens in the classroom, providing better training for teachers and for parents, too. That includes aligning curriculum from child care through third grade, so children learn things in an order that makes sense. "What makes this all work is all of these pieces fitting together," Lawrence said in an interview, noting that schools, neighborhoods, community groups and more all must work together toward the common goal. To read the University of Florida press release, click here.

Today's news

NO DAYS OFF FOR RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS: But Hillsborough County schools will continue to give students a day off to attend the State Fair. Says board member Candy Olson: "I think this calendar tiptoes us into the 20th century." Last year, the board adopted a calendar without religious holidays but reversed itself amid a community uproar. Students still can take holidays off without penalty under a district policy. To participate in the conversation, click here.

KEEP YOUR $6.1-MILLION: The Pinellas School Board joins forces with its teacher union to reject Florida's Special Teachers Are Rewarded performance pay program, calling the law and its implementation flawed. Broward County did the same thing, deciding to ignore the deadline hoping lawmakers will change the law, the Sun-Sentinel reports. Pasco County's School Board decides today, and so, too, does Palm Beach County, the Sun-Sentinel also reports. For more on performance pay, click here.

PASCO SUPERINTENDENT TO STAY: She was one of the first rumored to want the education commissioner's job. Now Heather Fiorentino is among the first to pull her name out of contention.

BAKE SALE WITH A PURPOSE: Pre-k and kindergarten students at a Pasco County Catholic school learn about money as they raise some for an enclosed cafeteria for their school.

RUN, KID, RUN: State Rep. Will Weatherford has filed a bill to require all elementary school children to have at least 150 minutes of weekly exercise while at school. To read more and to comment, click here.

LONGER DAYS, LONGER WALKS: The Hillsborough School Board approves a plan to extend the class day at high schools. Seeing as the plan is to give buses more time to get from place to place, of course it also will extend the distance between bus stops, too.

A NEW WAY TO DISCIPLINE: Los Angeles public schools adopt a "holistic" discipline policy that emphasizes intervention, the LA Times reports. Who's next?

Today's news

THEY EVEN PLAY ON WEEKENDS: Students from Pasco and Hernando Counties love competing in Odyssey of the Mind so much, they don't let the fact that it's Saturday bother them. Their teachers, who only coach, say they love watching the kids use their brains to come up with innovative solutions to some tough problems.

SNAPE: GOOD OR EVIL? Will Voldemort triumph? Who else will J.K. Rowling kill off? Area students and educators who can't wait for the finale of the seven-part saga predict what will happen in the (insert a sad sound here) last chapters of Harry Potter.

INNOVATION? OR REPACKAGING? The idea of high school majors now is Florida law. Many educators like the idea of focusing students toward a goal. But several districts have done little more than regroup their existing courses, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Which leads some to question whether this reform idea will matter.

PRE-K FOR ALL: In Iowa, that is. Iowa lawmakers are looking to follow in Florida's footsteps by creating a voluntary prekindergarten program for all 4-year-olds. The difference? Lawmakers actually are taking the initiative, rather than being forced by voters to do it, the Des Moines Register reports. The similarity? Parents there, like here, worry about the quality a state program can provide.

BUSINESS SCHOOL FOR KIDS: As Florida embarks on its efforts to improve career and technical education for all, leaders might stop and look at the business curriculum being taught middle and high school kids in San Francisco and other areas. The courses include entrepreneurship, finance and marketing, and, proponents say, it leads to a better understanding of the real world - maybe even a job. Critics say the classes undercut the nonprofit motive of public education, the LA Times reports.

WILL IT WORK ON WII? A new video game is out for kids to help them fight obesity. You fight evil Col Esterol and Betes II, the Associated Press reports,  as you try to stop Obeez City from raging out of control. The game goes on sale in limited release Tuesday. Click here to see a preview.

The number of the week is...

2.44 - That's the percentage increase Gov. Charlie Crist wants to give to the state's universal Voluntary Prekindergarten program. It translates into an additional $62 per 4-year-old, raising the per-child funding to $2,622. Which begs the question, what did lawmakers mean when they said the pre-k implementation law they adopted two years ago was a "first step" and not a final solution? Since then, there's been no effort to address key concerns raised by early childhood education advocates, key among those being an increase in the per-child rate to $3,899. That would be enough, they contend, to pay for teachers with better credentials and increase the pre-k day from 3 to 6 hours. Even Florida Tax Watch has supported paying what it takes, because the cost of the alternative - dropouts, juvenile offenders and the like - are too high to bear. Yet so far, there's just one bill filed in the Florida Senate to look into these matters, by a Miami Democrat who hasn't had success here yet.
So there it is. 2.44. A number worth rethinking as the state aims to improve its competitiveness for the 21st century.