The note is not in the mail

Once upon a time (last year), the Florida Department of Education would send a letter home to the state's best high school 11th-graders. It would tell them that so long as they graduate in the top 20 percent of their class, they'd have a spot reserved for them at one of the state's 11 public universities.

The Talented 20 program still exists. But not the letter.

Starting this fall, if juniors are to find out about the program benefits, they'll have to hope someone else who knows the scoop tells them. The state is eliminating its notification.

Budgets are tight, you know.

"Due to fiscal constraints, the Department will no longer send these letters, although we encourage school counselors to notify potential eligible juniors of the Talented 20 program," the department has announced. "We will continue to mail seniors a letter notifying them of their potential eligibility in the spring."

Islamic group banned from Seminole schools

Speakers from the Academy for Learning Islam in Sanford came to Seminole's Lake Brantley High School to talk about the Islamic culture. By the end of the class period, though, the talk strayed to the touchy topic of religion instead. And some parents soon complained that the group was trying to convert their children, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

Representatives from the Academy said they had no intent to push religion. But the damage had already been done.

Seminole officials are now reevaluating their rules for who can make classroom presentations. Teachers will have stricter guidelines before the new school year begins, officials told the Sentinel.

It's an interesting issue, that of controlling the conversation in the classroom. What if a student had brought up the topic of the Islamic religion instead of an outside speaker? Just wondering.

What's a kid to do?

Times photo, Steven J. Coddington

The last bell of the school year has rung for most teens by now, and graduations are wrapping up all around the Tampa area and throughout Florida. It's time to get some R&R, raise a little spending cash and maybe take a class to keep your skills honed, right?

Not this year.

The job market is especially tight this summer, with cash-strapped parents taking many of the opportunities that kids would snag in better times (think movie ticket taker, lifeguard, camp counselor). Hey, adults need gas money, too. Read what kids, employers and experts are saying about summer employment here.

Summer school isn't much of an option either. Schools also are cash-strapped, and many are cutting back what few summertime offerings they have provided in the past. Reading camp for struggling third-graders remains a state requirement, but don't look for districts to offer the help to second- or fourth-graders anymore. Voluntary pre-k also is a mandate, but enrichment chemistry? Forget it. See this Miami Herald story for more on that issue.

And if your kids complain there's nothing to do this summer, tell them to go play outside or something. Hope the 10 weeks don't seem too long.

The price of graduation? Not that much

Yesterday's post on the high price of graduation got proud mom (and USF communication prof) Elizabeth Bell to thinking. Sure, commencement costs could get out of hand, but they don't have to, Bell wrote to the Gradebook:

Let's see. How much for my son's graduation last Wednesday from Freedom High School? No senior picture; I do much better with our digital camera. No year book; his MySpace page serves many more purposes. Yes to cap, gown, and tassel, but all were borrowed from a friend who graduated last year. No class ring; he didn’t want one. (Smart kid to realize that no college student wears a high school ring.) No graduation announcement; he made his own [see above] with his Wacom tablet, Photoshop, and card stock I had on hand.

I'll admit that the twelve stamps did cost $5.04, the Latin honors cord $5, and $9 for the diploma cover. A picture shaking hands with the principal? No way. But I will treasure the image of him making the Welcome speech to the assembly at the Sun Dome. I took it with my digital camera. Total for the evening? $19.04. My son's off to do more important things? Priceless.

Happy graduation week, everyone.

Pinellas gets low marks for grad rates

Pinellas County has one of the worst graduation rates among the 50 biggest school districts in the country, according to a national study released this morning. Its rate for the 2004-05 school year was 55.5 percent, putting it at 15th from the bottom, concluded the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, which is affiliated with Education Week magazine.

Detroit topped the worst list, with a 37.5 percent graduation rate, followed by Milwaukee, Baltimore, Los Angeles and Clark County, Nev. Hillsborough County came in at No. 32 with a rate of 67.1 percent.

Florida had a 60.8 percent rate that year (the most recent year for which national data was available), putting it at No. 44 among states behind Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama. The national average was 70.6 percent.

The research center uses its own formula to calculate grad rates for its annual Diplomas Count report, and its numbers are at odds with the state Department of Education. According to DOE, Florida had a 71.9 percent rate in 2004-05 and Pinellas had a 70.1 percent rate.

For the first time this year, the research center broke down grad rates by congressional district. In Florida, the district represented by U.S. Rep. Bill Young, R-Indian Shores, had the second-worst rate, at 51.0 percent. Only the district of U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville, was worse, at 50.8 percent.

To see the entire Diploma Counts report, click here. To go straight to the Florida section, click here. By coincidence, today's St. Petersburg Times listed graduation rates for each of Pinellas€' 16 high schools. To see them, click here.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter; Times photo/Dirk Shadd

The high price of graduation

By LETITIA STEIN

Graduation season is upon us with all its pointy-capped glory. Bring on the tears. The laughter. The speeches about futures so bright you have to wear shades.

Break out a wallet, too. Getting to that diploma isn't cheap.   

While the memories from this week's ceremonies in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando will last a lifetime, the bills had to be paid up front. No, we're not talking about Grandma's plane ticket for the big event, or the blow-out bash to celebrate it. Thought senior prom, portraits and Grad Night expenses added up? Check what it costs just to walk across the stage:

Cap, gown, tassel: $28; Medallion worn around neck: $9; Diploma cover: $9. There's a serious dress code for graduation. That's why the cap, gown, medallion and diploma cover often are sold as a package — a.k.a. required

Graduation announcements: 75 cents each. Want gifts? Better send out invites.

Photo packages: A portrait of the graduate, plus a shot walking across the stage to receive that diploma and shake the principal's hand: $30 to $65. Want to forget Principal X? Ha! You know the handshake photo is bound for a big frame in Mom's living room.

Class ring: Starts at $89 for silver. Gold ranges from $341 for a women's ring in 10-karat, to $545 for men's ring in 14-karat gold. Okay, so if you wanted a class ring, you got it a while ago. But graduation is the day to wear it.

Prices are estimates and exact figures can vary by school. Sources: Herff Jones for graduation products and attire, Bryn-Alan Studios for commencement photos. Main image from Photos.com.

Step by step, click by click

Openly gay kids at a school dance may be a sign of change in Pinellas County. But in Clovis, N.M., they're including gay couples in the school yearbook.

A May 23 Associated Press story said two lesbian couples and nine straight couples were featured in a section titled "Do you want to go out?" The yearbook staff at Clovis High School decided to do so because, in the words of the editor, "We just wanted to show that there is a diversity. There (are) gay and lesbian couples in the school and they have a right to be in the yearbook just as much as anybody else does."

This did not go over well with everybody. Even the lieutenant governor weighed in, calling the inclusion "highly inappropriate" and "negligent exploitation of our kids."

Senior prank season runs amok

Senior pranks have been around since any of us can remember, and more often than not they're funny and usually harmless. We can still remember the VW Beetle carefully reassembled in the school commons, toilet paper in the trees and the car tires stacked all the way up the school's tallest flagpole.

But then there's the overboard attempts by teens who probably aren't thinking much about the potential jail time that might go with their so-called jokes. Lee County is looking at two of those "pranks" right now.

Apparently fueled by the hope of getting on an MTV special that highlights end-of-year pranks, a group of six Estero High students jumped the school fence over the long holiday weekend and trashed the place. A janitor discovered the mess early Tuesday, and the school discovered the culprits with the help of surveillance camera footage. Now the kids are facing felony charges, the Naples Daily News reports.

A week earlier, East Lee County High was forced to evacuate twice after toxic chemical scares that caused some students and staff members to experience dizziness, vomiting and worse. After detailed investigations, district leaders - and several students - are saying they think this, too, was a kid's prank aimed at getting everyone out of class, the Fort Myers News-Press reports.

Graduation season has already begun. Florida's grad rate is already low enough. Perhaps the rest of the state's seniors can find a way to make it to commencement without doing something dumb.

Looking beyond the SAT and ACT

In just a couple of weeks, thousands of high school juniors around Florida and the rest of the nation will rouse themselves out of bed before 7 a.m. one last time before the school year officially ends. They have to arrive at the only summer administration of the SAT no later than 7:45 a.m. on that Saturday, or risk missing the chance to improve (or log in) the score they hope will help them gain admission to the college of their choice.

Some colleges and universities are saying there must be a better way to determine who qualifies for admission than this. So they're slowly making the standardized entrance exam optional, not required. Smith College in Massachusetts and Wake Forest University in North Carolina are the latest two to follow the trend, the NY Times reports.

The goal, officials say, is to broaden the diversity of the applicant pool and to consider more important things than the Saturday morning test scores of a bleary-eyed teen. More important things to look at when evaluating a student's potential would be chosen curriculum, classroom performance and outside activities - you know, things that actually matter more than just the day when admission decisions are made.

So juniors (and your parents), if you're considering Smith or Wake Forest, think about sleeping late on June 7. You won't need the SAT scores to win entrance there. But just remember this: Once you wake up, what you do the rest of the day will matter even more.

(Photo of students taking SAT from Tutors of Oxford website)

A weekend interview with ...

... Riverview High School graduating senior Antonio Dowels. Dowels, 18, was a top-rated athlete who dreamed of attending the University of Florida to play football and study to become a pediatrician. A car crash dashed his football dreams, but not his spirit or dedication. Though paralyzed physically, Dowels retains his ambition to become a children's doctor. He will attend UF in the fall. Dowels spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek. (Times photo, 2007, click to enlarge)

I know you had this accident that really changed your life. I was just interested in you talking about how it affected the way you looked at what you were going to do when it came to your schooling and your future.

Well, it affected me. But I still knew that I was going to come back to school. Because I love school. I love education and I love to learn. The only thing that affected me was me running. I love sports. And I miss it every day, running. But I knew that when I was going to go to college to become a pediatrician, I know it's going to be really hard to do hands-on things, because my fingers don't really function. But I was thinking that I can be like an administrator, and you know, it hasn't affected me that much.

What is it that you love about learning so much that it kept you going and thinking about it rather than saying, I'm just going to give up?

I just love obtaining knowledge. And I know that I need to learn to be a pediatrician. And to do something that you love, it takes almost 12 years, you have to learn. You have to love to learn. You know, a lot of people want to be astronauts and physicists, but they don't know how hard it is. They're going to have to work to be good at what they do.

Did you ever think that you wouldn't be able to do what your passion is because you can't move your fingers, do the things you might normally associate with being a pediatrician?

No, sir. I never say 'can't.' I know you can always find a different way to do stuff. So when I got hurt, I told everyone: Three months, I'm going to be back in school, learning, playing with the kids, harassing Mr. (Robert) Heilman (the school principal). A lot of people didn't believe me. But I worked real hard. It was just hard work and determination. I came back.

What did you have to do to get to that point?

Florida to change grad rate formula?

Florida Education Commissioner Eric J. Smith is considering changing the way Florida calculates its high school graduation rates, including the possibility of no longer counting GED recipients, according to a May 16 story in U.S News & World Report. The story focuses on the long-running national debate about calculating graduation rates and does not offer additional details about what may be in store in Florida.

The Gradebook has asked the Department of Education for more information, and when we get it, we'll pass it on.

Florida has been both praised and panned for how it calculates its rates – praised for having a model student tracking system; panned for counting GEDs. Even with GEDs, Florida's grad rate was 72.4 percent last year, according to the DOE.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

Newsweek rankings are out

Another list. Another head-scratcher. Three Tampa Bay high schools are in the Top 100 on the latest best-high-schools-in-the-country list from Newsweek, with Lakewood's Center for Advanced Technologies (a D school) at No. 22, Hillsborough High (a C school) at No. 34 and Plant High (an A school) at No. 70.

Meanwhile, St. Petersburg High, which came in at No. 69 last year, tumbled to No. 302, and King High in Tampa dropped like a rock from No. 39 to No. 207.

Confused? Take it with a grain of salt: The Newsweek system has its fair share of critics. Washington Post education writer Jay Mathews, who came up with the system, offers this defense.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

Drum roll please for National Merit Finalists

Sixteen students in Tampa Bay have been named National Merit Scholars, a honor widely recognized as the gold medal of high school awards. The students were selected on the merits of their academic records, personal essays and community work. They rose to the top of a semi-finalist pool culled from the top one percent of high school seniors, based on test scores on the PSAT exam taken in 2006.

Hillsborough's public schools counted five winners, compared to four in Pinellas and two in Pasco. The students all received $2,500 scholarships.

Hillsborough public schools:

• Andrew Betts, Plant High
• Sherry Chao, King High
• John Colby, Plant High
• Zongyu Li, King High
• Neil Manimala, King High

Pinellas public schools:

• Bridget Hendricks, Countryside High
• Karan Sagar, Palm Harbor University High IB
• Michelle Wang, St. Petersburg IB
• Sam Zakria, St. Petersburg IB

Pasco public schools:

• Ariel Choi, Land O'Lakes High
• Katie Lee Meusling, Land O'Lakes High

Private schools:

• Tara Braun, Berkeley Preparatory
• Alexander Edelman, Tampa Preparatory
• Aaron Koch, Tampa Preparatory
• Neal Miller, Berkeley Preparatory
• Samir Patel, Berkeley Preparatory
• Carter Schwartz, Shorecrest Preparatory School
• Liz Reischmann, Shorecrest Preparatory School
• Tiffany Cheezem, Shorecrest Preparatory School

A Wise proposal

State Sen. Stephen Wise is working on a far-reaching plan to offer full college scholarships to every sixth grader in Florida who graduates from high school. It would be funded in part from Florida Lottery and gambling proceeds, and through voluntary donations from utility customers, according to details he offered yesterday in a brief presentation to the state Board of Education.

"We'd give kids hope," said Wise, a Jacksonville Republican who chairs the Senate Education Appropriations Committee.

Under the proposal, sixth graders would benefit from a Florida pre-paid college tuition plan if they stay on the straight and narrow and graduate. Wise said he's already shared his plan with the governor's office. He asked board members to study it and get back to him with recommendations.

Judging by the board's glowing response, and Wise's influence in the Legislature, we'll be hearing a lot more about this one in the future.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

Want smarter kids? Make them reporters!

As if some reporters' egos weren't bloated enough (your humble Gradebook reporters being the exception, of course) a new study out this week shows high school journalism students have higher GPAs and ACT scores than their non-journalistic peers, not to mention better writing and grammar skills. Who knew?

No word, though, on how many stick with it through college and beyond. If they’re as smart as the study suggests, we’re thinking they’ll ditch the note pads for jobs with better pay, reasonable hours, more respect (any respect?), a sliver of job security  …

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

More tests are coming …

For all of you who think Florida kid are up to their eyeballs in standardized tests, here's a bummer: Another test!

But don't panic: It's the National Assessment of Educational Progress (better known as the "nation's report card"), which doesn't carry high-stakes consequences (unless you consider national rankings high stakes) and which a sampling of Florida kids already take in a variety of grades and subjects.

Florida is among 11 states that have agreed to be part of a pilot project to test a statistically representative sample of twelfth-graders in math and reading, beginning in 2009. "State-level 12th grade results will give educators, parents and state policymakers a powerful source of information to understand the knowledge and skills their high school seniors have as they prepare to graduate," said Mark Schneider, who heads the National Center for Education Statistics at the U.S. Department of Education, in a press release.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

And Florida makes 33

Gov. Charlie Crist announced last night that Florida has joined the American Diploma Project, which aims to better prepare high school students for college and the work force. "Florida has a proven track record of improving student performance across all grade levels," Crist said in a press release sent out at 5:25 p.m. "By working collaboratively with other states, we can maximize our efforts on behalf of our students."

The state Board of Education, meeting in Tallahassee, was scheduled to hear more about the project last night from Michael Cohen, president of Achieve Inc., which is the bipartisan group behind it. "Through the American Diploma Project, Florida joins forces with states across the nation in an effort to transform our high schools and better prepare our students for what lies beyond graduation - whether that's college or a career," Education Commissioner Eric J. Smith said in another written statement sent out last night.

Florida considers national reform effort

Florida could be joining a national high school reform program that stresses rigor and accountability but comes with bipartisan credentials. State education officials are considering signing on to the American Diploma Project, an effort led by Achieve Inc., a group started in 1996 by governors and business leaders and now headed by Michael Cohen, a former senior education official in the Clinton administration.

Cohen is slated to address the Florida Board of Education at a Monday workshop in Tallahassee. Since it kicked off in 2005, 32 states have joined Achieve's diploma project, which aims to better prepare high school students for college and the work place (which of course is something Florida ed officials have been talking about a lot). The project is "definitely something we're interested in," Department of Education spokesman Tom Butler told The Gradebook.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

Hillsborough 11, Pinellas 0

The Gandy Gap strikes again: The Pinellas school district is again looking not-so-sharp compared to Hillsborough – this time in the number of National Achievement scholars, who are widely perceived to be the top black students in the country.

Hillsborough has 11 this year, according to the list released today by the National Merit Scholarship Corp. Pinellas has zero. Florida has 66, out of roughly 800 nationwide, with the vast majority clustered in the state's seven big urban districts (or six out of the seven, given that Pinellas isn't contributing).

Pinellas has suffered by comparison with Hillsborough before, most recently in graduation rates (see St. Petersburg Times stories here and here). And yet, on the surface, you'd think Hillsborough, with more minority kids and kids in poverty, would be the one playing catch up, no?

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

About that idea to pay kids for good scores ...

... Forget it.

The idea of giving students $50 awards for strong marks on a variety of high-level exams - touted by folks like Jeb Bush and put into a bill by Education Committee chair Anitere Flores - is not going to move through the Legislature, House Schools and Learning Council chairman Joe Pickens tells the Gradebook.

"We're not doing that," Pickens said. "I don't think we should be paying students to do that, especially in this type of budget year."

Key parts of the legislation dealing with remediation and dual enrollment will find their way into more acceptable bills, the powerful chairman said. But schools and parents need to find other ways to motivate their kids to learn and do well in school.

"I just think we ought to do better than that" bill, Pickens said.

Don't blame the parents

Parents are one reason kids succeed, or don't, in school. But hardly the only one, an ACLU lawyer blogs this week (click here). The group recently filed suit against the Palm Beach County school district (see story here), pointing to anemic grad rates as proof the district isn't providing the high quality education required by the Florida Constitution.

What about personal responsibility?, asked Tallahassee Democrat columnist Bill Cotterell. "Government schools are like the Florida Turnpike – provided for everyone to use equally, but how far and how fast you go is, inevitably, up to you," he wrote here. "Whether you arrive in a sputtering 1978 Mazda with no windows and the exhaust pipe held on by a coat hanger, or a new Bentley, is something the government can't control."

In his response, the ACLU's David Blanding didn't riff on Cotterell's analogy (he could have said, "But what if the government helps steer students in those Mazdas off the Turnpike, by not ensuring them access to the same high-quality teachers as their peers in the Bentleys?") Instead, he cited a 19th century education reformer: "Horace Mann once proclaimed that ‘education … is the great equalizer of the conditions of men – the balance-wheel of the social machinery.' If this is to remain true, our public schools must be responsive to the varying amounts of social capital and debt our children inherit."

The ACLU suit, which has attracted national interest, echoes a pending suit in Pinellas County. The International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement points to the mile-wide achievement gap between black and white students as proof the district is failing (see this St. Petersburg Times story). Don't accountability types make similar arguments about schools? Could it be that Jeb Bush, the ACLU and the Uhurus are all on the same page?

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

Better than a good grade

Once upon a time, students were simply expected to do well in school. Good grades and a brighter future were the reward.

The new vogue is that kids will respond better to monetary rewards. School is their job, so pay them when they perform well, right? At the end of last year's legislative session, at least one Florida senator predicted such a move was on its way to the state, soon. (See that prescient story here.)

Well, state Rep. Anitere Flores (left) has taken the first step to put the concept into Florida law. Flores, a Miami Republican who chairs the House K-12 Education Committee, filed a bill this morning that would offer bonuses to students who score well in IB, AP and other high-level exams. The breakdown would go like this:

• $50 for a 3 or better on an AP exam.
• $50 for an E or higher on the full credit Advanced International Certificate of Education exam. ($25 for the half-credit version.)
• $50 for a 4 or higher on the International Baccalaureate exam.
• $50 for an A or B in a dual-enrollment course.

Teachers could get in on the act, too. Educators who teach dual-enrollment classes would receive bonuses of $50 per student who makes an A or B in the class. If they work in a D- or F-rated school, the teachers would get $500 if at least one of their dual enrollment students earns an A or a B.

Flores aims to push students to higher achievement levels. And her bill also recognizes that not every student has the same opportunities. So she further would require all Florida high schools to offer a minimum of four Advanced Placement classes - one each in English, math, science and social studies - by the 2008-09 school year.

Go Higher gets go ahead

While we were all distracted yesterday by whether evolution is a fact, the state Board of Education took up a long list of other hefty issues, including one that doesn't get enough attention from the media: How to better prepare Florida high school students for college and the work world.

The board unanimously approved a set of five recommendations from the Go Higher Florida! Task Force, including one that calls for creation of a work group to "make recommendations for redesign of Florida's testing framework." Yep, that means looking at the FCAT, and end-of-course exams, and other tests - all in an attempt to figure out better ways of measuring whether Florida kids are learning what they should to be successful after high school. Click here to read the recommendations, but put on your wonk-vision glasses first ...

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

ACLU sues Panhandle school

The Florida ACLU has filed a lawsuit against the Holmes County School Board over the district's refusal to allow a student at Ponce de Leon High School to talk about gay issues, or even to wear a rainbow sticker in support of gay friends.

District officials have told the students that expressions of gay rights would be disruptive, and symbols and slogans would signify participation in a "secret/illegal organization."

"Because the Supreme Court has held that students have a right to free speech at school unless that speech disrupts the educational process, many administrators think they can just slap the label 'disruptive' on anything they don't like and get away with stomping on students' First Amendment rights. The law doesn't work that way," ACLU of Florida staff attorney Benjamin James Stevenson said in a news release.

The ACLU is asking the court to stop the school district's ban, which the organization contends infringes upon students' right to free speech.

For more information on the case, click here.

Don't blame the teachers

While some reports might point to Florida's education system as failing students (think dropout factory paper of not too long ago), at least one unscientific study points its finger elsewhere.

Fort Lauderdale High student Christopher Olsen has spent 12 years in the Broward public school system, and he suggests that the problem is not with schools at all.

"I am now a senior in high school and I have found the Florida public school system to be remarkably comprehensive and decidedly effective," Olsen writes in an op-ed piece in the Sun-Sentinel.

Who to blame? The students themselves.

"If the excellent schools I have attended in Broward County (Fort Lauderdale High, Westglades Middle, Eagle Ridge Elementary and Country Hills Elementary) are representative of the education system across the state, then it is most definitely not the "system" that is causing lack of student success. Sadly, the cause is more likely student apathy toward education and possibly, just plain laziness," he concludes.

Thoughts, anyone?

Is the SAT irrelevant?

High school students around Florida and the country will head to "testing centers" later this month to take the next administration of the SAT exam. Especially for teens on the bubble of getting into the college of their choice, the results could make or break their chances.

A Chicago teen, Peter W. Fulham, suggests in a Chicago Tribune opinion piece that the test means nothing and should go "the way of Michael Jackson's singing career." Away.

"Students should be tested on their ability to solve real problems, to make innovative decisions, to think creatively. The crass, reductive approach of the SAT is counterproductive to all of these ideals," Fulham writes. "We have a formulaic test for a stunningly non-formulaic world, and this needs to change."

Thoughts, anyone?

A stick that works?

For about five years now, the state of Florida has tried to keep potential dropouts in high school by threatening to take away their driving privileges if they don't come back to classes. If teens age 14 to 18 have 15 unexcused absences in a 90-day period, the state sends them a notice that their license could be suspended unless they comply with Florida school attendance laws.

Minors in Florida aren't eligible for a driver's license unless they've completed high school or its equivalent, are enrolled in school or an education program, or have received an exemption. (Read the rules here.)

Does this work?

Well, it seems as if the state deletes more suspension notices than it enters into the system each quarter, and the number of second suspensions is low. Check out these stats, delivered to superintendents late last week:

• 637 students received Notices of Intent to Suspend Driving Privileges
• 2,562 Notices of Intent to Suspend Driving Privileges were deleted
• 2,574 Non-Licensed drivers received notices that they were not eligible to apply and receive driver license
• 6,785 Non-Licensed/Non-Compliance Orders were deleted
• 410 Suspension Orders were issued
• 2,128 Suspension Orders were cleared or deleted
• 11 students who reinstated their driving privilege received 2nd suspension

(Image, Federal Highway Administration)

Wednesday is...pull up your britches day?!?

His legislation went nowhere this past spring, but Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, is trying again.

The Senate's Pre K-12 committee tomorrow will consider his proposed bill that would force kids to pull up droopy, underwear-revealing britches or face penalties.

“This bill aids in the creation of a professional environment, eliminating one of the many distractions found in public schools,” Siplin said. “It puts the focus where it should be: on the blackboard, not the backside.”   

He proposes that students caught exposing their underwear be warned the first time, face a 3 day in-school suspension on the second offense, face 10 days of in-school suspension on the third offense, and be suspended out of school if caught for a fourth time.

Identical legislation is being sponsored in the House by Representative Ed Bullard (D-Miami).

Florida graduation rate up

Florida's graduation rate rose slightly last year, to 72.4 percent, according to figures released by the state Department of Education this morning. The number for the 2006-2007 school year is up 1.4 percent from 2005-2006 and up 12.2 percent since 1998-99, according to the DOE. To see the DOE press release and a breakdown by district, click here.

Florida's graduation rates remain among the lowest in the nation, and have been a source of embarrassment for years. The way the state calculates its rates has been an issue, too, with Florida earning high marks for its student-tracking system but criticism for including students who earn GED diplomas.

The latest figures brought praise from Gov. Charlie Crist: "Florida has made exceptional progress in helping students realize the value and necessity of a high school education," he said in a written statement. "This achievement would not be possible without the tireless efforts of Florida's teachers and school administrators who selflessly devote themselves to ensuring a brighter future for their students."

Club clashes

Ever wonder what it is about high schools and their seeming distaste for kids to talk about things that matter to them? Sure, principals and school boards might cover over their intents by making broad statements about maintaining calm and protecting the youth.

Witness the recent suburban Chicago brouhaha over teens protesting the Iraq war.

Throw sex into the brew, and things quickly get even more excitable. Check out these items in today's news.

First, there's the Gay-Straight Alliance. It's been trying to gain access into Okeechobee schools for quite some time. The district went into a virtual tizzy to stop it, going so far as to ban all sexually oriented clubs. Of course, the ACLU stepped in to sue.

The district's reaction surprised civil rights organization. It took the stance that the "negative health effects of homosexual sex" should factor in its decision to bar the group from its schools, the Palm Beach Post reports today.

"This is the most rabidly homophobic response that the school board could have taken," American Civil Liberties Union attorney Robert Rosenwald told the Post. The ACLU has asked for a delay in the case to figure out how to respond to the tactic of using experts to testify on the dangers of being gay, the Stuart News reports.

On the other side of the fence, an antiabortion club tried to gain access to a suburban Virginia high school and it, too, got the cold shoulder. Administrators there relented only after the Pro-Life Club's leader threatened to sue after being denied, the Washington Post reports.

What's the right response? Should schools be happy that kids are passionate about the issues of the day and support their freedom of speech? Or should they crack down? As that wise TV sage Arsenio Hall might say, it's one of those things that makes you go Hmmmmm.

Our product? Dropouts

A new report from Johns Hopkins University's Center for Social Organization of Schools gives Florida a dubious distinction: It's one of two states where about half of all public high schools meet its definition of a "dropout factory."

"If you're born in a neighborhood or town where the only high school is one where graduation is not the norm, how is this living in the land of equal opportunity?" researcher Bob Balfanz says to the Associated Press.

Nationally, about one in 12 high schools fits that definition. That's about the same as a decade ago. But here in Florida, as well as in South Carolina, it's a much higher percentage. Utah is the only state without a dropout factory.

What about here locally? Check out this list:

• Pinellas: Boca Ciega, Clearwater, Dixie Hollins, Dunedin, Gibbs, Lakewood, Osceola, Pinellas Park, Seminole and St. Petersburg high schools.
• Hernando: Central and Frank W. Springstead high schools.
• Hillsborough: Bloomingdale, Chamberlain, East Bay, Hillsborough, Jefferson, King, Leto, Plant City, Robinson, Tampa Bay Technical and Wharton high schools.
• Pasco: Gulf, Hudson, James W. Mitchell, Pasco, Ridgewood, River Ridge and Zephyrhills high schools.

To read a localized version of the AP story, click here. For the full version, click here.

A 'major opportunity'

Now that the school year is one-fourth complete, the state Department of Education wants to make sure that Florida's high school freshmen really understand they need to complete a four-course major field of study by the time they graduate.

To help, the DOE has put out a new 9-page guide to graduation. It includes all the information about majors, credits, grade-point averages and the other topics kids and their parents need to know to make it successfully through four years and across the stage. The guide also offers key questions to consider when choosing a graduation program. And it has references to other sites for more details, too.

Apparently, though, there's already been some confusion on the majors front. So the department also has issued a memo to districts to clear things up. The question arose of whether students with disabilities, who are seeking a special (rather than regular) diploma, must complete the four-credit major. That's a negative, commissioner Jeanine Blomberg writes. But while there's no requirement, she notes, school districts "are encouraged" to include majors for those students.

(Times photo, Keri Wiginton)

The kid and the Caddy

Hoping to encourage students to work harder in school - especially in science - a Miami Cadillac dealer joined with Palmetto Senior High to offer a mega incentive. Yeah, it was a 2004 Cadillac CTS sedan. (Forget that $10 for an A incentive your parents might have offered or, more likely didn't, figuring you should make A's anyway.)

Well, there was an alternate prize, too. If the winning senior - chosen in a lottery and not because of top FCAT science scores, mind you - didn't want the car, which lists at more than $20,000, he or she could have taken a cash prize of $14,000.

Now, we could go on about bribing kids for grades. But we won't. Instead, we'll focus on the choice.

The Palmetto High student newspaper reports that the winning student, named Daniela Geraldo, took the car. This prompts a thought. College sure does cost a lot these days. So we just wonder about the real incentive a car offers. Maybe you drive it to college, if you already can afford it. Maybe you sell it to cover the tuition and fees. Or maybe you just look good in your Caddy while commuting to the job you get instead of college.

Just a thought.

(By the way, Palmetto High did perform better than any other Miami-Dade general high school on the science FCAT last year.)

What's good for the guys ...

(Photos provided to Bay News 9 by family)

No one complained when the boys stripped off their shirts, painted themselves the Manatee High team colors and cheered long and loud for the home team. They called that school spirit.

Let a couple of girls try the same thing, though, and see what you get. (Yes, they kept their bikini tops on.) Griping about inappropriate behavior, that's what.

And that is what has the Manatee School Board reviewing its dress code policy for sporting events, the Bradenton Herald reports.

Maybe the girls will get to be painted and rowdy. Maybe the boys will have to stop. It all depends, it seems, on whose version of fair wins out. As for school spirit, no one is saying how that will fare.

Let them play?

The rule governing high school students' participation in school-sponsored extracurricular programs hasn't changed much in years. Teens must maintain a 2.0 grade point (or better), and stay out of trouble. Some states call this the "no pass, no play" rule. In Florida, we call this the Craig Dickinson Act.

In one Miami high school, though, some kids and their family and friends are calling it unfair.

The Miami Herald reports that the benching of six Miami Senior High band members prompted a protest by 60 family members and friends. Even the band director agreed, telling the Herald he was surprised that the kids were removed abruptly, forcing him to replace much of his drum line without warning.

Apparently, what's going on is Miami-Dade's decision to vigorously enforce the act for the first time. ''We want to make sure they are putting their effort into school first,'' a district spokesman told the Herald.

What a novel concept.

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

National Achievement scholars

Two dozen high school seniors from the Tampa Bay area are among the more than 1,600 nationwide named today as semifinalists in the National Achievement Scholarship Program, which recognizes many of the top black students in the country. The list includes one student from Pasco, three from Pinellas and a whopping 20 from Hillsborough (including five from King High alone). To see the complete Florida list, click here.

A little sidestep

Gov. Charlie Crist dropped by Plant High in Tampa for Citizenship Day, and he gave a nice little civics lesson complete with white-board diagrams of the government structure. (Of course, the "people" were on the top.)

He fielded questions, and the kids didn't hold back. Senior A.J. Betts pointedly asked the governor why the standards for the state's Bright Futures Scholarships are so "low"?

Crist's response: He does not want to micro-manage the state's government.

Pointing to his organizational chart, Crist said decisions such as standards for scholarships belong in the hands of department heads, and not his own. He then noted that he expected the State Board of Education to have a new commissioner in place "this week." (The board is interviewing candidates today, and could make an offer as early as tomorrow, though the schedule doesn't call for an official choice until October.)

- Amber Mobley, Times staff writer

UPDATE: Before leaving town, the gov also dropped in on the State Board of Education, reminding the board to choose wisely as it reviews commissioner candidates. He wouldn't reveal if he had any favorites, though he did say he had called some friends on the board over the weekend to give some input. Pressed on the issue, Crist simply said he thought the board had some great candidates and only time would tell whether he's happy or very happy with the board's decision.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

Kudos to the big-brained

By our count, 91 high school seniors in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco and Hernando counties were named semi-finalists today in the National Merit Scholarship Program, with Hillsborough and King high schools leading the pack with 13 semi-finalists each. Last year, 1.4 million juniors nationwide took the PSAT/NMSQT test to qualify, and 16,000 scored high to make it on today's list . The finalists will be announced in the spring. To see the Florida list, click here.

Hooray! SAT scores are stagnant!

Flat SAT scores for this year's Florida graduates wouldn't seem to be good news, except by comparison to national scores, which dropped, again.

Florida's 2007 graduates did one point better on reading and one point worse in math and writing than last year’s cohort, according to data released Tuesday by the College Board, which oversees the SAT. Meanwhile, their national counterparts fell one point in reading, three points in math and three points in writing.

Both state and national officials chose to accentuate the positive, pointing to the increased numbers of students taking the test, which is widely used by colleges and universities to help determine admissions.

In Florida, 97,366 graduating seniors took the test last year, up 3 percent from the year before. Nationally, the numbers were up 2 percent.

"The record number of students, coupled with the diversity of SAT takes in the class of 2007, means that an increasing number of students in this country are recognizing the importance of a college education and are taking the steps necessary to get there," College Board President Gaston Caperton said in a press release.

"I am proud of the level of interest our students have shown in taking college entrance exams and higher level coursework," said Florida Education Commissioner Jeanine Blomberg in another press release.

Florida students still trail many other states. Nationally, the average scores were 502 in reading, 515 in math and 494 in writing. In Florida, the averages were 497, 496 and 479, respectively.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter
 

High school dropouts left behind?

No Child Left Behind has its share of flaws, but some education observers would say none are more glaring than its failure to hold high schools accountable for pathetic graduation rates. That loophole is so big it's undercutting high school reform efforts, suggests a report released this morning by The Education Trust. The Washington D.C. think tank takes No Child to task for allowing states to set anemic goals for improving graduation rates. "Because current graduation rates are so low, we need targets that provoke action on behalf of students, not ones that condone the status quo," said Ed Trust's Daria Hall in a press release.

This isn't a new criticism, but it's not one that's gotten wide coverage. And given that the 2002 federal law is up for re-authorization this year, it's worth re-airing. No Child, of course, mandates that schools find ways to get more and more students to reach minimal bars in reading and math or face an escalating series of consequences. And by more and more students, it means not just students overall, but a long list of subgroups, including poor kids, minority kids and disabled kids.

No Child requires improvements in grad rates, too. But as Ed Trust points out, it allows states to set the improvement targets. The result: Most states have set goals so low (a majority deem any progress, even a fraction of one percent, their goal) that they seem meaningless in terms of prodding schools to improve. Florida, for example, has set a grad-rate target of 85 percent, and an improvement-rate target of 1 percent. At that pace, it'll be 15 to 25 years before Florida meets its goal, depending on whose stats you think are valid. Even worse, critics say, No Child does not require that improvements in grad rates apply to subgroups, which EdTrust's Hall says amounts to "turning a blind eye" to achievement gaps between white and minority students.

-Ron Matus, state education reporter

Where's the orchestra?

Who says Florida schools increasingly teach to the test? Students at Varela Senior High in Miami, that's who. In the school's recent issue of its student newspaper, columnist Nastassia Alayeto bemoans the loss of her school orchestra as a victim of FCAT. "According to a district mandated rule, orchestra and other fine and performing arts classes do not contribute to the FCAT, and supposedly provide no support for the exam," she writes. But Alayeto begs to differ: "Studies have shown that music, and particularly orchestra, when taught by certified instructors can significantly improve the overall abilities of a student, and especially their reading and language skills." To read more, click here.

Scam alert

Have kids getting ready for the June 2 SAT? Look out for folks offering Kaplan study materials. The company has sent letters to some area high school counselors advising them that telemarketers are impersonating the firm's representatives, attempting to sell its retail CD-ROMs at a significant markup from the real cost. "Kaplan does not sell its retail products through individual sales calls but through authorized distributors, vendors and our online bookstore," the warning states. To read the full e-mail, click here. And stay alert. If you think you've been scammed, you can contact the state Attorney General Office.

Are they really the best?

The latest Newsweek rankings are out, and once again Florida looks amazingly good, with 22 of the Top 100 high schools in the country, including four from the Tampa Bay area: Lakewood High at No. 22, Hillsborough High at No. 26, King High at No. 39 and St. Petersburg High at No. 66. But take a closer look at each of those schools, and you can’t help but scratch your head.

Last year, Lakewood High earned a D grade from the state. Only 39 percent of its ninth- and tenth-graders could read at grade level (down from 43 percent from the year before). And only 74 percent graduated on time. Among black students - who made up 40 percent of the student body last year - only 14 percent of ninth- and tenth-graders were reading on grade level.

So, how can Lakewood be seriously considered among the best in the country? Blame (or credit) the Newsweek formula, which takes the total number of AP and IB test-takers at each high school and divides by the number of graduating seniors. High schools with poor graduation rates are rewarded with higher scores. So are schools that offer AP, IB and specialized academic programs to a minority of students - for example, Lakewood’s fine Center for Advanced Technologies - but don’t seem to get much traction with the majority.

The Gradebook apologizes for being a party pooper. But as long as the Newsweek list keeps getting gobs of media attention, and keeps rewarding schools that look like they need help instead of accolades, isn't it right to keep raising the question? To see the Newsweek list, click here.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

Tune in, click on, drop out

Well, not exactly. But if you want to find out how graduation rates look in any school district in the country, you can now do it at the click of a mouse, thanks to an online mapping tool unveiled today by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center. "Because this information has often been unavailable or unreliable in the past, this is the first time that users nationwide can compare their local schools' success with neighboring communities and districts around the country," said Christopher Swanson, the center's direction, in a press release.

At the risk of giving Gradebook readers a headache, though, keep this in mind: The center's rates are based on a formula the center devised called the Cumulative Promotion Index. We're definitely n