Jeb Bush foundation: Say thanks to teachers this week

Message today from Patricia Levesque, executive director of Jeb Bush's Foundation for Florida's Future. Some excerpts:

As we gather with family and friends this week to give thanksgiving and usher in the 2009 holiday season, let us take a moment to thank the educators who make a difference in the lives of Florida’s children each and every day ...

In 2001, barely half of elementary students could read on grade level, now 72 percent can. The results are just as impressive in mathematics. Eight years ago, just 52 percent could get by in math, now 72 percent of elementary students are demonstrating mathematics skills at or above grade level. Moreover, there are nearly 100,000 more Hispanic students and more than 50,000 more African-American students reading and doing math on grade level than a decade ago.

Our progress in raising student achievement is outpacing national averages across the board. More students are learning, more students are excelling in rigorous coursework and more students are attending college. Most importantly, Florida is one of the only states in the nation to narrow the achievement gap.

Ten years of extraordinary progress in our schools prove teachers change lives.

Florida attorney general: High-quality schools lawsuit is "baseless"

Florida Attorney General (and Republican gubernatorial candidate) Bill McCollum issued this statement a few minutes ago about the high-quality schools lawsuit:

These lawsuits appear to be driven by political and financial motives with little or no regard to educating our children. Florida's focus must be on making progress with our children's education, not on fighting baseless legal battles. Our office will provide quality legal representation on behalf of our clients, and I look forward to bringing this matter to a quick resolution.

A weekend interview with plaintiffs and attorneys in the Florida high quality schools lawsuit

On Wednesday, a group of parents and parents advocacy groups filed suit against the state, charging that it had not lived up to a constitutional mandate to provide high quality schools. On Tuesday, several members of the group and several of their attorneys met with the St. Petersburg Times editorial board. The following are excerpts from the interview.

The plaintiffs group included Kathleen Oropeza and Linda Kobert from the Orlando-based group Fund Education Now; Mark McGriff, executive director of the Gainesville-based Citizens for Strong Schools; co-counsel Jon Mills, a former Florida House speaker; and co-counsel Jodi Siegel and Neil Chonin, both with Southern Legal Counsel, a Gainesville public interest law firm. (Orlando Sentinel photo shows, from left, FEN co-founders Christine Bramuchi, Kobert and Oropeza.)

Jon Mills: The capsule is 10 years ago, the people of Florida passed a constitutional amendment with 71 percent that says we are entitled to a free, public school system that’s high quality and that’s a paramount duty of the state and a fundamental value of the state. There were two of us involved in introducing that amendment. Bobby Brochin, some of you may remember … is fired up about this too. He’s in Miami. We worked for years trying to figure out the best way to do this. And sort of the best way to do this came to us.

The citizens groups – Mark’s group in Gainesville had done some work already on local financial support for the school system. We talked to them. … And we talked to Fund Education Now. And they were enthusiastic about becoming part of this. And there really is a statewide reach to both of those organizations. And it is a citizen driven lawsuit.

Florida education commissioner: lawsuit "diminishes" student progress

Florida Education Commissioner Eric J. Smith, a defendant in the education lawsuit filed this morning, tonight issued this statement in response:

“It’s unfortunate that this lawsuit diminishes the significant progress that has been made by our children over the last decade and simply ignores the performance of a state that is clearly outpacing the nation. Our African-American and Hispanic students have experienced unprecedented academic improvements and have significantly narrowed the achievement gap in Florida, our graduation rate has steadily improved, and state and national assessments all show tremendous progress. I believe Florida’s education system has achieved incredible results that clearly speak for themselves and are not represented in this complaint.”

Patricia Levesque, executive director of Jeb Bush's Foundation for Florida's Future, also issued a statement a short while ago:

“This lawsuit is based on myths perpetuated by critics of reform who care more about protecting the status quo for adults than improving the quality of education for students. This is the same old cast of characters who have opposed bold, outcome-based reforms for a decade – and continue to stand in the way of progress.

“They can’t win at the ballot box, or in the court of public opinion, so they are taking their losing, misguided battle to the judicial system."

Democrats cheer education lawsuit

Florida Democrats can't get enough of the new lawsuit.

From House Democratic Leader Franklin Sands: "Not only are Florida schools inadequately funded, but the state's school accountability system is in need of serious repair. It's high time for Florida's education accountability system to be updated so that it no longer focuses so much on how students perform on a single day's standardized test. Hopefully, this lawsuit will help us achieve the necessary changes for Florida to truly have the world-class education system that our children deserve."

Lawsuit charges Florida with failing on education

The suit was filed a little bit ago, in Leon County Circuit Court. Read today's St. Petersburg Times story about it here.

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Maybe Obama's kids' school should be model for reform

Before he died unexpectedly on Oct. 20, nationally known education researcher Gerald Bracey (bestower of the Rotten Apple awards) took fresh aim at President Obama's education agenda. In his 18th and final Bracey Report, he followed up on another researcher who suggested Obama should make the model of education he chose for his daughters -- at the Sidwell Friends private school -- a model for national reform.

Four Hernando schools to get new principals

BROOKSVILLE — Central High School will soon have its next principal – and so will three other Hernando schools.

Joe Clifford, currently principal at J.D Floyd K-8 in Spring Hill, will take the empty seat at Central left by Dennis McGeehan, interim superintendent Sonya Jackson announced in an e-mail to district staffers Tuesday.

Jackson last month tapped McGeehan to lead the new, yet-to-be named high school north of Weeki Wachee set to open next fall.

Clifford, 58, is a veteran Hernando schools employee who started as a teacher in 1979. His selection created a chain reaction of administrative moves, also announced by Jackson on Tuesday.

Ray Pinder, in his first year as principal at Explorer K-8 in Spring Hill, will head to Floyd. And John Stratton, in his first year at the STAR Education Center in Brooksville, takes the empty seat at Explorer.

Jackson didn’t announce who would take over at STAR and didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday.

“I’m confident in the leadership abilities of these principals to ensure a smooth transition,” Jackson wrote in Tuesday’s e-mail.

Jeb Bush will talk education reform in Georgia

Georgia is the next stop on Jeb Bush's national education tour. He'll be in Atlanta tomorrow, hosting an education reform symposium with Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue and talking up the school reform initiatives he led in Florida.

A weekend interview with Nikolai Vitti, deputy chancellor of school improvement for the Florida Department of Education

Schools all over Florida are in the process of completing their improvement plans, which are supposed to guide their academics for the year. Nikolai Vitti, deputy chancellor of school improvement for the state, spoke with reporter Donna Winchester about how the plans are created, some of the best things to include in them, and how they're monitored.

Can you explain how the state is connected to school improvement plans? 

The state reviews plans for schools that receive direct support from the department through our regional centers. Those would be Intervene schools, Correct II schools, which are F schools, and what we call ‘D former F schools,’ schools that are D schools but were F schools the previous year. Those schools all receive an instructional review led by our regional directors. A team of specialists visits them. Before the team visits those schools, it very thoroughly reviews the school improvement plan to see what strategies were identified in each of the major subject areas. The team members visit all those classrooms to make sure those strategies are being implemented, then they give feedback. 

Any strategies outside of the school improvement plan that the regional director believes would improve student achievement, those would be included in the recommendations. After the instructional review, a report is generated that gives additional action steps to the school to augment the strategies in the school improvement plan. A lot of those strategies end up being put in the school improvement plan so you have a revised school improvement plan after that review. 

What about other schools? Who monitors their school improvement plans? 

The responsibility for them is at the district level. In most schools, the school improvement plan is created by the leadership team. After it’s completed, the School Advisory Council reviews the plan, recommends changes and then approves it. What should happen is throughout the year the leadership team will provide updates to the SAC on how well they’re implementing the strategies that were identified. In that process, the district should be visiting schools to see how well they’re implementing the school improvement plans. 

The other piece is that there is a peer review process that happens. A group of principals will review one another’s plans to make sure there is quality in them but also to see if there is something they can adopt. 

Does the state look at these other plans once they’ve been created? 

I have staff that randomly pulls school improvement plans and does a review on whether they’re complete and if there are any areas that need to be revamped or improved. But most of the responsibility is on the district. 

How many school improvement plans do you normally pull in a year? 

About 100. 

It seems to me that a lot of school improvement plans rely on general statements rather than details. It’s also hard to tell if the action steps in the plans are new initiatives or if they’re simply things that have been done year after year. 

Pinellas to consider performance pay, differential pay for teachers

The details aren't in yet, but the Pinellas school district and the Pinellas teachers union will soon be discussing plans for performance pay and differential pay for teachers - two things that Pinellas has famously resisted in the past.

"We have to come up with a way to reward people and to encourge them to work with our most needy students," Pinellas Superintendent Julie Janssen told the Gradebook today. She said she talked this morning to Marshall Ogletree, executive director of the Pinellas teachers union, and "they're ready to sit with us and design a plan."

Ogletree said initial discussions will focus on Gibbs High School, but that whatever is ultimately proposed there could be a template for other struggling schools. Ogletree said the state's new differentiated accountability system is helping to drive the discussion - it requires that districts implement performance pay and differential pay for low-performing schools - but he said the union had other motivations, too.

"It's kind of a cliche but we're trying to break the mold," he said. "We have to work on plans to close achievement gaps, no ifs, ands or buts about it."

The most watched superintendent in America

Michelle Rhee, the schools chancellor in Washington D.C., gets another big write-up, this time in Education Next: Rhee’s style—as steely as the sound of her peekaboo high heels on a linoleum-tile hallway—has angered much of Washington, D.C., and baffled the rest since she arrived as schools chancellor in June 2007. But it is also helping her gain control of a school system that has defied management for decades: that hasn’t kept records, patched windows, met budgets, delivered books, returned phone calls, followed court orders, checked teachers’ credentials, or, for years on end, opened school on schedule in the fall.

Columnist: Democrats 'cowed by teachers' unions

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof's turn to rag on teachers unions:

Good schools constitute a far more potent weapon against poverty than welfare, food stamps or housing subsidies. Yet, cowed by teachers’ unions, Democrats have too often resisted reform and stood by as generations of disadvantaged children have been cemented into an underclass by third-rate schools ...

It’s difficult to improve failing schools when you can’t create alternatives such as charter schools and can’t remove inept or abusive teachers ...

Research has underscored that what matters most in education — more than class size or spending or anything — is access to good teachers. A study found that if black students had four straight years of teachers from the top 25 percent of most effective teachers, the black-white testing gap would vanish in four years.

Jeb Bush: Obama is changing the political dynamic on education reform

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is in Washington D.C. this week, at a national education summit sponsored by his Foundation for Excellence in Education. In a brief phone interview, he talked to reporter Ron Matus about the politics of school reform and what he thinks of President Barack Obama's education agenda.

Why do you think the political lines nationally – and maybe even in Florida – are blurring when it comes to positions on education reform?

Fights that were fought 10 years ago when we first embarked on our reforms, the context has changed. We in fact have been successful, as measured by any objective indicator, for moving the needle on student achievement. It’s kind of hard to continue to argue. It’s like policy makers in Washington continuing to fight the Cold War.

(Nationally) a lot of the credit goes to President Obama and his secretary of education, who have been outspoken in their opposition to the old way … This is one place where President Obama has advocated an unorthodox position that takes on a core constituency of his party. That changes the dynamics a lot. … That speaks well of him. And rather than doing the typical thing in Washington, which is to oppose the president on every thing, this should be a place where reform-minded liberals and reform-minded conservatives can come together.

State Sen. John Thrasher joins Senate education committee

Former Florida House Speaker John Thrasher, who helped design Jeb Bush's overhaul of the state's education system (reportedly on a cocktail napkin), is the newest member of the state Senate's PreK-12 education committee. He's also been assigned to higher ed appropriations.

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Former Florida education commissioner speaking in Georgia

Jeb Bush isn't the only one doing his best to spread his vision of education reform to other states. Former Florida education commissioner John Winn, a close Bush ally and a leading architect of Florida's accountability system, is the keynote speaker tomorrow at an education reform conference in Georgia.

Winn will be talking to Georgia lawmakers and business leaders about the system he helped put into place in Florida - and which remains largely intact under Gov. Charlie Crist. He is now chief program officer for AP and pre-AP courses at the National Math and Science Initiative.

Is Charlie Crist taking shots at Jeb's record on schools?

From today's St. Petersburg Times story:

"When I got elected governor, out of 50 states, Florida in K-12 education was ranked 31st — 31st out of 50. Not so good,'' Crist told party leaders gathered at the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference in Michigan on Friday night.

"Last year we went from 31st to 14 and this year, top 10. We're very proud of that," said Crist, who as governor has been little more than a caretaker for education policies put in place by Bush. His highest profile education initiative has been to promote physical education.

FDOE: Florida education system getting a bad rap

The Florida Department of Education needs to do a better job highlighting Florida’s “staggering” education successes and combating misinformation, says the department’s communications plan, which was on the Board of Education agenda this week.

“Even with Florida’s climbing student achievement and nationally recognized reform efforts, constant misrepresentations of Florida’s educational successes remain,” the plan says.

As proof of those successes, it lists statistics from Advanced Placement exams, the National Assessment of Educational Progress and the FCAT. (No mention of graduation rates.)

The plan’s goal: “Position Florida’s education system and the Florida Department of Education as the premiere administrative education entity in the country.”

Among the strategies to get there: “Develop and strengthen relationships with top education bloggers and online communities.”

House Dems to Legg: We couldn't join you because ...

That didn't take long. First, Rep. John Legg, R-New Port Richey, offered his take on House Democratic suggestions for Race to the Top funds. Now comes the House Democratic response:

It is encouraging that Representative Legg expresses willingness to work with members of both political parties on much-needed education reforms. It is disappointing, though, that he and other Florida House Republicans failed to present their own ideas or comments to the Florida Department of Education.

The House Dems also took exception to Legg's charges that they're flip-flopping on several policy issues they backed in the Race to the Top comments. Some things they supported, they note, were tied to things they did not. Here's one example:

Representative Legg chides Democratic members for voting against House Bill 1293. House Democratic members consistently voiced support for rigorous standards during debate on the bill. They expressed opposition, though, the bill that increased the emphasis on the flawed 10th grade FCAT and because Republican members' refused to provide additional resources to schools to help students achieve these standards.

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Hillsborough, Pasco gain high-performing status

Today the Florida Board of Education granted academically high-performing status to 21 of the state's 67 school districts. Pasco and Hillsborough made the list for the first time.

Districts can receive the recognition by earning an A from the state for two consecutive years, and having no schools with an F grade. They also must meet class-size reduction requirements and have no material weaknesses in their most recent financial audits.

The benefit comes in the ability to waive certain state mandates, not the least of which is the requirement to start school no sooner than two weeks before Labor Day. Pasco district officials say they plan to take full advantage of all the possibilities. Stay tuned.

Florida's new high school grading system now in place

It's official: High school grades won't be based on just the FCAT anymore. We've been writing about this for oh, a year and a half now, so it's been easy to forget that the new formula wasn't totally in place until the state Board of Education voted unanimously for it at today's meeting in Miami.

The FCAT will now count for half of a high school's grade. The other half will include a slew of factors, including graduation rates, participation in Advanced Placement classes and industry certifications for students in career and technical programs.

Here's a recent look at how the new formula may affect schools in Pinellas. Here's a look at the formula in all its wonky glory.

The changes mean high school grades won't be announced in the summer any more, the Department of Education says. Expect them towards the end of the year.

For Florida schools with good grades, another $122 million

The state is handing out $122 million this year to 2,103 schools with A and/or improving grades, a fall ritual that began under former Gov. Jeb Bush and continues under Gov. Charlie Crist. (Crist is visiting a Tampa school today to tout the program ... see post below). You can see which schools got how much in “school recognition” money here.

School advisory councils determine what to do with the money. Many choose to convert it into modest bonuses for teachers. Here are the totals for districts around Tampa Bay:

Hernando: $872,805
Hillsborough: $8,195,408
Pasco: $3,109,947
Pinellas: $3,796,279

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Florida education department steps in to force reform of Gadsden schools

They've failed for six straight years. Reforms put in place have helped Gadsden County's high schools make some progress, but not nearly enough.

Now the Florida Department of Education is saying enough is enough. It has sent a team in to press for a sweeping overhaul of the way East Gadsden and West Gadsden high schools are run.

"We both agree, myself and the district, that there needed to be changes at both schools," deputy chancellor Nikolai Vitti told the Tallahassee Democrat.

New principals and assistant principals already have been appointed. Talk abounds of a transformation, from the way students view their school to the way teachers teach them. The superintendent sports a "No Excuses" button and says he means it.

"I think all kids can learn," superintendent Reginald James (above) told the Democrat. "The bottom line is, if you're teaching them, they will learn."

The big question, though, is whether a poor community that has gotten no new funding can dig itself out of its hole. The schools involved here have had trouble getting certified teachers, among all its other problems. We've got to wonder whether a leadership change will be enough. Stay tuned.

A weekend interview about Florida's school accountability with deputy chancellor Nikolai Vitti

For years, Florida has tried to explain to the general public how its schools could earn an A grade from the state and then not meet federal No Child Left Behind progress standards. This week, the Florida Department of Education rolled out a new accountability model aimed at merging the two systems into one. Nikolai Vitti, deputy chancellor of school improvement and student achievement, spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about the new endeavor.

What exactly are you telling us about?

As you know, last year we unveiled differentiated accountability but only as a pilot. And we only included Title I schools that were included in schools in need of improvement status under NCLB and non-Title I D and F schools. So the list of schools will be expanded because we will be including non-Title I A, B and C schools. ...

So you're talking about every school in Florida?

Every school in Florida could be included in differentiated accountability, but that doesn't mean all schools will be in one of the categories, the categories being Prevent I, Prevent II, Correct I, Correct II and Intervene. Because in order to actually go in one of the cells ... you have to have missed AYP for two consecutive years, and many schools don't fit that criteria.

Let's start off with the schools that are going to be appearing on the list for the first time this year. What will be the things that they have to do?

Most of the new schools will be non-Title I A, B and C schools that have missed AYP for two consecutive years. And this is going by to 02-03 when No Child Left Behind began. What will be new for these schools is a required list of support systems and interventions that will have to be applied at the school site among students and subgroups that have not made AYP. So there will be a requirement for additional professional development. There will be requirements around how schools and districts put together their improvement plans to specifically address the subgroups that have not been making AYP. ...

So this is for schools that have not made AYP for two years in a row.

Gibbs High School avoids accountability hammer

Gibbs High in St. Petersburg won’t have to make plans for an overhaul after all.

Despite its F grade, it falls into the “Correct II” category under the state’s complicated new accountability system and not in “Intervene,” according to information released by the state Department of Education this morning. Thirty-six other Pinellas schools are in Correct II. (You can find them here.)

Those schools will still get increased intervention and oversight from state and district officials, and will still have to make changes. But only schools in Intervene face the prospect of restructuring (at least that’s the threat the state has put on paper) if they don’t make substantial progress in two years.

How Gibbs managed to avoid the most severe category remains unclear. But it may have squeaked past because even though it hasn’t improved in reading and math in the past five years, it hasn’t gotten worse, either.

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Two Hillsborough schools among worst in Florida accountability ratings

Just days after Gov. Charlie Crist extended Florida's academic accountability rules to all schools, and not just those that get federal Title I funds, the Department of Education has released a list of 2,445 schools that fall under some level of sanctions.

Two Hillsborough schools - Middleton High and Franklin Middle - join 15 others in the most critical status, that of Intervene. Congrats to Sulphur Springs Elementary, which jumped off that list to Correct I status. Because Middleton didn't improve from last year's Intervene status, it now faces reconstitution under the state "differentiated accountability" law.

Hillsborough district officials acknowledged Middleton's poor result, but focused on the positive. "While most high schools around the state lost ground this year, Middleton showed improvement. It wasn’t enough improvement, but it’s a sign that the school is headed in the right direction," spokeswoman Linda Cobbe said. "There was significant improvement among students in the lower quartile."

Crist applauded the broadened accountability effort, saying it would bring improved academic offerings to all Florida schools. “After a successful first year we are already seeing tremendous results and I’m excited that every school can now benefit from this increased level of assistance,” he said in a news release.

To see a breakdown of the rankings by Tampa Bay area school district, read on.

Middleton, Edison Senior high schools miss accountability mark, face reconstitution

Last year, 13 Florida schools performed badly enough to fall under the state's most severe sanctions in its new accountability plan if they didn't improve.

One closed. Ten improved this year. And two didn't make it.

Now Hillsborough's Middleton High School and Miami-Dade's Edison Senior High must face the music.

State law requires those two schools to choose from four options - closure, conversion to a charter school, contracting with a private operator or conversion to a district-run turnaround school. Each has chosen to become a turnaround school, deputy chancellor for school improvement and accountability Nikolai Vitti tells the Gradebook.