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.

A weekend interview with Joe Vitalo, chairman of the Hernando superintendent search committee

Hernando County is in the midst of a search for its next superintendent. Former superintendent Wayne Alexander was shown the door by the School Board in September, a year before the end of his contract. Board members felt he’d been less than forthright about his search for a new job and said they’d lost faith in his ability to lead the district. Joe Vitalo, president of the Hernando Classroom Teachers Association, is also serving as chairman of the nine-member search committee charged with recommending a short list of candidates to the Board. The committee met last week for the first time, narrowing the initial batch of 29 applicants to 15. The committee meets again Wednesday. Reporter Tony Marrero sat down with Vitalo this week. You had some strong words for the search committee last week about the quality of the candidate that the Hernando school district deserves, that you’re tired of the district being seen as lower rung for ambitious would-be superintendents.

Hernando County is no longer a small district. We’re growing. We’re progressive in many ways out there, so we should be treated that way. That’s one of the reasons why I say that we’re not a training ground or a stepping stone. For the betterment of our kids, we need stability here, and that’s what I was seeking. What do you think are the most important qualities in a superintendent?

Stability. When everyone is on the same page there are no surprises, we can progress very quickly. When you’re trying to make rapid changes and don’t understand why, or what is needed or what is the long term goal, we’ll never establish a vision in one direction.

The other quality is how they work with people, how they bring in the community itself. Are they advanced in technology? Do they understand what’s going on in the world? Because if you have the skills yourself that would be an expectation of all of us and will filter down to the students and the curriculum. Do they know how to talk with people? Can they bring in the outside help that’s required in our schools? And can they show people how well we’re doing in our schools? Now put on your hat as president of the teachers union. What are teachers hoping for in their next leader?

A weekend interview about teacher quality and a possible Gates Foundation grant with Hillsborough schools superintendent MaryEllen Elia

There's talk around the nation about the need to change the way teachers are trained, evaluated and paid. Even President Obama has called for reforms in this area. The Hillsborough school district hopes to get on board with the help of a major Gates Foundation grant, for which it's one of 10 finalists. Superintendent MaryEllen Elia spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about her goals with the grant and teacher reform.

Tell me first about grant one you're looking into and what it would do for the school district.

We received a call in February from the Gates Foundation asking if we would be interested in examining whether a partnership would be a good thing between the Gates Foundation and Hillsborough County. They had done a thing screening 16,000 districts in the country. And they came up with 20 districts that they wanted to look at and get more information on and see if they were interested in working on this project.

What did they tell you was the reason why Hillsborough would be one of those?

Apparently they have a number of things that they looked at. And it was all done by Gates or contracted services to Gates, because we didn't know much about it. I know that it had to do with the kind of work that you had previously done and your commitment to working on issues related to teaching and good teaching. But I really don't know. We weren't part of exactly what the screens were. ... When they called, they asked if we were interested, and I said, "Yes, we are." And they came in with a team of people and they met with people throughout the county and the community to get a real feel of this community and our teachers and the teachers union and the administration. Kind of how we run.

What did they ask?

They talked to us about the relationship we had with the Classroom Teachers Association. They also talked to them. They wanted to see how we function as an organization. They looked particularly at my staff, to see what kind of leadership we have both at the district and school level. They also interviewed the School Board, talked about the commitment the board had moving forward with student achievement by addressing issues that would affect good teachers. They talked to the business community. They met with the foundation. So it was a pretty good screening of Hillsborough County. And then, after that, about a month or two later we got a call saying, "You have made it to the Top 10. Are you interested in moving forward?"

And of course you said no, right?

A weekend interview with St. Petersburg mayor Rick Baker

Earlier this week, outgoing St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker gave out his 1,001st Doorways Scholarship at an annual celebration at the Coliseum. It was the last ceremony for Baker, who has made education a key part of his platform during his nine years in office. Each year, the mayor gave out 100 to 125 Doorways Scholarships to low-income sixth graders from St. Petersburg schools. The scholarship, which is a combination of private donations and matching state funds, gives students a Florida prepaid scholarship if they maintain their grades and stay drug and crime free. The scholarship's value has ranged from $10,000 to $15,000, Baker said. The Gradebook chatted with him recently about the scholarship and education issues.

Why have you made Doorways Scholarships such a big focus in your education initiatives? 

The Pinellas Education Foundation has been doing it for a while. I was familiar with them. I really like what they do. To me, you're trying to give an incentive to kids early on. I focused on sixth graders because I've always thought that middle school is the time that kids will decide what they're going to do. Most of these kids, none of their family have gone to college. If you can tell them in sixth grade, if you maintain a "C" and stay out of trouble and can go to college ... that's amazing. I just think it's a great thing and it works. Under our program, 93 percent of the kids have graduated from high school and many are now in college.

Why should cities be involved with their schools? 

If our public schools are not great, then people will not want to move into our neighborhoods. Businesses, if our schools aren't great, won't come and open. From a city's standpoint, we want people moving into our neighborhoods and businesses providing jobs. It's important that our schools be good, and I don't think we can be on the sidelines.

A recent Times poll showed that 30 percent of registered voters think the schools are worse now than five years ago. What do you think it will take to get everyone behind the schools? 

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. 

A weekend interview with Teresa Daiker, co-chair of Fundamental Schools Advocacy Network

In Pinellas County schools, parents have begun clamoring for more fundamental schools. One group has formed an action committee, Fundamental Schools Advocacy Network, to advance the cause. Its first goal is to persuade the district to create a second fundamental high school to open next fall. Co-chair Teresa Daiker, the PTA president at Curtis Fundamental, spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about the group's efforts.

Why is this group for fundamental schools now coming to the forefront?

Especially in the last year they've added and expanded our fundamental middle schools. ... There wasn't enough seats last year for all the fundamental eighth graders to get into Osceola (High). And it's only going to get worse because we've now expanded our program.

Why is it that people like the fundamental schools so much?

You know, the reason I like it, and other people as well, is it's a focus on academics and structure. And they don't have all the other distractions that other schools might have, like discipline problems. I'm not saying that other schools have strong discipline problems. I'm saying that our school has a structured environment. There's demerits and warnings and stuff like that that are given for doing the wrong things.

For example, Madeira Beach was not a fundamental school last year. It is this year. Last year, their rate of homework turn-in was 14 percent, which is pretty low. Fifty percent of those children stayed there, and they added another 50 percent. Now their homework turn-in rate -- 100 percent. I mean, that's a huge difference. That came from a teacher who taught at Madeira Beach last year and this year. Clearwater Fundamental, we had a lot of Kennedy teachers who stayed on. And there was a sign hanging in the hallway. It was hanging there all week. ... And the teachers said, That sign would have never stayed there last year. It would have been ripped down in the first day. That just speaks volumes to our kids. They're very focused on academics.

I have heard some people say it's not fair because, one, there's not enough seats for everybody, but also it's sometimes difficult for parents to commit to everything that fundamental schools require.

Our basic commitments to fundamental are that we attend a one-hour meeting eight times a year. That's usually in the evening, like 7 p.m. That's a monthly meeting. And the other requirement is that we have three conferences a year, and the teachers do work around the parents' schedules. ... I know there's not enough seats. That's because it's a popular program, just like IB programs and magnet programs. Sometimes there's not enough seats there, either. But we are expanding the program.

I think the board is supportive, mostly, of our efforts. We know it's a big job to add more fundamental schools. But I think there's a misconception about what the expectation is of fundamental parents.

Your main goal to start off is to have another high school. Is that because there are so many more middle school seats now?

Yes. Osceola's numbers are fabulous. They have made a huge difference in the past year. But if you look at south county and you look at north county -- I live in north county and it would take me 40 minutes each way to go to Osceola High School if we're lucky enough to get in. ... Osceola is a good center, but Pinellas is a big county and it's not easy to get to Osceola from either north or south county without a significant drive.

Have you heard anybody say what would be a good location?

A weekend interview about homework help with tutor Tracey Holloway of Club Z

Report cards come out in the next few weeks. Some parents might decide the time has come to help their kids with homework a bit more diligently. But what to do might elude them. Tracey Holloway, owner of Club Z In-Home Tutoring of St. Petersburg, spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about some ways to help.

What advice do you have for them when they see their report cards to ensure that they do well in school from here on out?

Well, I think that in most situations if you are getting a report card back that is surprisingly less successful than you had thought, it's best not to panic. It's early enough in the school year and it's time to strategically make a plan about how you can get your student's grades up to where you want them to be. There's obviously a conversation with the teacher to find out where they think your student is struggling. ... So that you can work with the teacher, work with the student to bring up those grades by the time the next grading period comes around.

Obviously if this is a long-term pattern and you have a student who never does well or consistently has trouble getting up to speed at the beginning of the year, there might be some other issues to deal with, too. Club Z obviously does tutoring and I can always recommend getting a tutor if you cannot handle getting those students' grades up to speed on your own. ...

When the kids are coming home with their homework, a lot of times parents don't know what to do to help them. What do you advise parents to do to make sure the kids don't get frustrated and they stay focused?

Right. I think there are several things they can do. Time management is a really important thing, especially establishing it at a young age. If you have a middle schooler or a high schooler and you haven't done it, it's never too late to start trying. At least with the smaller kids, if you can try to establish a time of day - and you can give them some choices to make them feel like they're in control - but try to establish a particular time of day when you do homework. I kind of recommend letting them have some play time after school, but getting it in before dinner. If that doesn't work for your situation, if you can establish a time of day that's important so the child knows what's expected....

Make sure the environment where they're doing the homework, they have a special spot to do it, that it's lit properly, it's quiet, they have all the tools they need. ... And there's no television going on. Because I know that can be very distracting.

Do you think having a specific place every day, that you go to the same place?

In your home if you have a specific time every day to do the homework, and a specific spot ... that's pretty important for them to be able to concentrate.

Is there an amount of time where parents might say, Look this is taking too long. This is maybe not the right time to finish this.

A weekend interview with Hernando School Board chairman John Sweeney

Over the past several months, the Hernando School Board has swirled with controversy. It battled over whether to remove its superintendent, faced a student lawsuit over admission into Nature Coast Technical High School, argued over whether to stop giving students zero grades. Board member Dianne Bonfield so disagreed with her colleagues' contract offer to interim superintendent Sonya Jackson that she stepped down rather than sign it. Into the void came John Sweeney, who takes up the board chairmanship at a distinctly volatile time. He spoke via e-mail with reporter Tony Marrero about his goals and hopes for the district.

So how does it feel to be chairman for the first time?

It’s an honor to be chairman of the Hernando County School Board.

What are your hopes and goals for the school district in the coming year?

These are just a few items, among many:

• Increase the graduation rate.
• Build on the success of our magnet schools by evaluating their unique programs, as we develop an implementation procedure for all schools.
• Continue to remove portables as they are a potential health hazard and fail to meet certain use requirements.
• Safeguard against the continued erosion of instructional time.
• Develop a pilot k-12 engineering curriculum.
• Foreign language full year in all schools.
• International Baccalaureate (IB) development
• Gifted services development.
• Continue to evaluate and improve offerings at NCT, our technical high school.
• Integrate the use of virtual courses.
• Decrease student transportation time.

What do you think is the most important issue facing the district?

Hernando School Board chairman intends to run again

BROOKSVILLE -- For weeks, Hernando School Board member and new Chairman John Sweeney has said he was still on the fence about a bid for a second four-year term.

Sounds like he hopes to be back.

"I intend to run for reelection and will make a formal announcement at the proper time," Sweeney told the Gradebook in an e-mail Thursday.

As of Thursdsay, Sweeney hadn't actually filed to keep his District 1 seat. Neither have any challengers.

In the e-mailed Q and A session, Sweeney also offered his thoughts on the district's priorities and his hopes for its next superintendent. Visit the Gradebook Saturday for the full interview.

--Tony Marrero, Times staff writer

A weekend interview with the founders of Fund Education Now, a parent group fighting to improve Florida education funding

As Florida lawmakers cut public school funding, a group of Orlando parents decided to jump into action. They started small, working to raise awareness at their own school. Now they're expanding their horizons, looking to energize parents across Florida to fight for their children's schooling. Christine Bramuchi, Kathleen Oropeza and Linda Kobert have launched a new web site, FundEducationNow.org, and are trying to link with parent groups around the state. Bramuchi and Oropeza spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about their effort. (Photos by Rhissa Parker Photography)

Christine Bramuchi

I'm first interested in knowing how you came to create your group.

We all have students at the same school. ... When the superintendent here in Orange County, Ron Blocker, and the principal sounded the alarm that the funding crisis was getting more extreme ... we kind of got together to inform and educate the the parents at our school. Because there was a lot of high emotion, a lot of questions, and people didn't know what was going on. They just heard we were going to have a huge budget crisis.

Were you the PTA leaders? Why did you decide to do this at the school?

Actually, our principal Polly Roper called Kathleen because Kathleen had raised the issue of the budget crisis last school year. Because we had begun to have cuts the year before, and they were affecting us in small ways. So when Ron Blocker said it was extremely dire and the most urgent situation he had ever seen, Polly Roper came back to school and called Kathleen and said, 'I need your help on this. We need to talk.' So Linda Kobert and myself got together with Kathleen and just set about to inform and educate our parents at our school. ... So we did a little homegrown Web site for our parents and just tried to answer as many of their questions on there as possible. We also gave them links to their local legislators and state officials.

And then it turned into a bigger effort, I take it.

It did. I think any time you put anything on the Web, it goes viral. We started hearing from parents at other schools, and other principals. What we were doing with our parents was sending out weekly e-mails with updates and calling them to action. A lot of the e-mails were pretty strongly worded ... encouraging action by our parents to advocate on behalf of their children. People who had never been politically active  at all in their entire lives were very fired up and were calling and writing and e-mailing and visiting their legislators, many of whom they didn't know their names before. ... I guess a lot of groups were sprouting up, you reported on them, around the state.

I was going to ask you about that. Because the other groups, they started and then I didn't hear much more from them. Are you all joining forces now?

A weekend interview with Marí Mercado, Gulf High School IB student

This past week, Marí Mercado became the center of some unwanted attention as she battled with her International Baccalaureate program at Pasco's Gulf High School over the content of a novel she was required to read — a novel she felt was too pornographic. After a few days of publicity, with sentiment split over which side was right, the high school agreed to let Marí read something else. Marí spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek shortly after the meeting where that agreement was reached.

When you started down this path with the challenge to the book, did you expect that things would turn out as they did, as far as the attention and the aftermath?

Absolutely not. I just wanted an alternate book.

When things started to grow and grow, what was your reaction?

A lot of surprise, I think.

Did you read the comments?

I decided to stay away from them.

So you didn't see or hear what people were saying?

No. Well, kind of. My parents would say what some people would say in their comments. But I just tried not to give them too much attention.

What about when you went to school? Did you get any reaction from people directed at you?

A weekend interview with Nicholas Whitman, executive director of the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association

With the recent retirement of Yvonne Lyons, the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association needed new leadership for the first time in many years. Rather than turning to an insider, the association turned to a young gun from up north. Nicholas Whitman, most recently the head of the Racine (Wis.) teachers union, took over the HCTA executive director job last month. He spoke with Jeff Solochek about teacher unions, contracts and his expectations for the coming year.

How did you wind up here?

I spent about the last 20 years, to be honest with you, working in various capacities with organized labor. About eight years ago, my girlfriend -- who's now my wife -- started coming to the Florida area to vacation. We had a time share on Madeira Beach and we would come down a couple of weeks a year. And certainly loved the area and loved the state of Florida, for the weather and all that good stuff. Then I just happened to start looking, exploring what options were out there for new challenges after being in the Racine area for a while. I saw that there was a position open here in Hillsborough County. Then just keeping that in the back of my mind I started doing an electronic newspaper clipping search. And there was a lot of stuff that kept coming back about positive collaborative working relationship, early reports about interest in the Gates Foundation grant. ... My former managers in New York knew Jean Clements, who was and is the president here. So all those streams came together to convince me to apply for it.

This is a pretty big district. And I know Racine is not exactly huge. Does the job you do change because you've got so many more people you're dealing with?

It's dependent on whether you look at the positions of responsibility. I was the executive director for the entire state organization in New York, the National Education Association's New York affiliate had about 45,000 members. So comparatively speaking, I had staff I was responsible for overseeing in 10 offices. ... In terms of the scope of things, this job isn't any larger of a responsibility than that one was. Similarly after the NEA and AFT merged in New York, I became the exec director for the entire state of North Dakota Education Association. And so again, being responsible for staff and members across a state. ... This isn't the largest job I've been responsible for.

When you work up north, teachers can do things like strike. Here they can't. So I imagine the things you're able to do in negotiating changes a bit.

A weekend interview with Hope Schooler, Gulf Trace Elementary principal

Many schools aim to have one computer for every student. Pasco's Gulf Trace Elementary School is making it happen -- at least for two classrooms of fourth and fifth graders. Principal Hope Schooler talked with reporter Jeff Solochek about how she made that happen, and why.

How did this pilot project begin?

My tech specialist Rob Borsky and I were talking last year. We made sure that all of our teams have mobile labs. And we said it would be nice to have a class that really focused on technology, because that was the way of the world. We really need to look at our students as 21st century learners. And what could we do to do that?

So we began doing some brainstorming together and we said, why don't we see if we have the funds within house that we could purchase laptops that could be used in a classroom and really look at how we could set up something where that group of students really focused their learning on using the laptop, using the Internet, using different resources and becoming a little more paperless at the same time, because we are a green school, so that would be another issue we could address.

You said funds you have available in the school. Where did you find that? Because most schools are saying they have no funds.

We were fortunate in that we still some funds left to purchase things because we are a new school. We just started our third year. We had money left that we could use to purchase things that would help students. And we felt with the technology like it is in society today, we really needed to look at how we could help students. And that was one way we could.

How much did that end up costing?

A weekend interview with Belinda Pope, media specialist at Sand Pine Elementary

With the increasing use of technology in education, the importance of a school's media center continues to grow. The Florida Association for Media in Education has recognized the media center at Sand Pine Elementary in Wesley Chapel as one of 26 to meet its highest standards. Media specialist Belinda Pope spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about the award and the changing role of what used to be called libraries in the school system.

What is a Florida Power Library, and why did you want to have one?

Last year was the inaugural year for that process, and it all came about because our district self-evaluation process that we have. Our school did real well on that, so the district personnel kind of challenged us to go for it. Because they knew it was coming up.

So it means you have the most excellent library ever?

Well, it is to see how well we are working with our teachers. The whole motivation behind it is to promote collaboration in our state instead of the old fashioned what you would think of a school librarian, who just sat and checked out books. We are full-time instructional employees K-12, teachers, and we really need to be collaborating with our classroom teachers to increase student achievement. It's been shown that excellently staffed and well stocked and well managed media centers, those students score higher on tests, they perform better on information literacy skills and are more adept at technology.

You asked me last night why it wasn't called a librarian any more. The old term librarian still exists for public libraries, but it's way more than books. I guess that's why. We do way more with technology now. In our school we have mobile labs that we can check out, of laptops, for every student. That's been a big boon to me, because I can check out the mobile lab, put every child on a laptop computer and give them a research lesson that is all hands-on. So they're not just watching me do it.

How did you get to this point? It doesn't sound like something you can achieve over a summer.

A weekend interview with Pinellas writing instructor Holly Slaughter

In the past month, we've heard a lot about student writing  -- but not the positive news. Stories about template writing and why it's bad came out of the Florida Department of Education as FCAT scorers reviewed student writing exams for similarities. Pinellas writing instructor Holly Slaughter says she can understand the pressure to perform on the test, but writing education should not rely on stock phrasing to get the best results. Slaughter, who recently published her first book on K-5 writing instruction, spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about the best way to get kids to write well.

What do you think is the most important part about getting kids to write as we enter this new school year? Do we need to start right away? Or is it something that can come over time?

We believe writing Day 1. Day 1 of kindergarten we introduce the concept of writing. I think the most important thing that we can do for kids is to get them to understand that their lives are significant and things happen to us all the time, and we can write about them ...

Kids first and foremost should choose their own topics. We know that the writing is better when we care about what we are writing about. So we start the school year, whatever grade you are talking about (K-5) ... with personal narratives. ... They've just come in from summer. They've had a lot of things happen to them. The other thing is that writing is a community builder. When kids tell the true stories of their life and then share that writing, they get to know one another ... and grow together as a community that way.

It sounds like the complete opposite of the template writing issue we heard about just a month ago. Because it sounds like you're saying kids should not be given pat things to say.

I've read about the template writing. ... I don't know exactly what the issues are. ... But to go back, our whole writing curriculum K-5, we really push teaching kids to write in different genres. We're pushing cross lessons. Again, kids are choosing their own topics. That's first and foremost.

Then we have this idea of the state. They have to develop an assessment. They have to have a measuring stick. They've developed a 45-minute timed test and they give kids a prompt. So we have to respond by not just teaching good writing all year long, K, first grade, second grade, third grade. But once they get to fourth grade, we have to then sort of address this. You've learned all these good strategies. You've learned these structures and cross lessons. You've learned about being focused and organized in your writing. You've learned about support and conventions. But now we're going to look closely at how to take all of those lessons and apply them to situation where you have a deadline ... and you are given a prompt. You are given the topic.

That sounds hard for some adults.

A weekend interview with Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association president Jean Clements

Late last month, President Barack Obama announced his Race to the Top, a competitive grant challenge for states to make major reforms to their education systems. Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association president Jean Clements was one of just five speakers at the event, chosen to speak about her organization's efforts to improve teacher quality. She spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about how she got on the stage, and why she supports the president's initiative.

How in the world did you get invited to be one of only five speakers?

Isn't that an amazing fact? Yeah. I'm not exactly sure, except that it was through the American Federation of Teachers. ... Both (AFT and NEA) presidents were invited and allowed to bring a few people with them, just to be in the audience. And I don't know how it came to be that the AFT was offered the speaking spot on teaching quality. ... But when I got the call on Tuesday that I was being invited to sit in on a meeting with the President of the United States at the AFT's invitation, they told me that the AFT was going to be speaking on teacher quality. ...

Did you have any thought that they would say, 'Hey Jean, come talk'?

No. No. Not then. But by the next day ... the level of security clearance increased and the phone calls I was getting got a little more interesting. ... They were saying, there was just a really really remote possibility, just a remote possibility, that I could be the person that the AFT would have speaking on teacher quality. And I was speechless. My heart was racing. I was extremely nervous about that because now instead of being in the same room with the president I might be speaking on the same stage with the president. ...

Evidently their take on it is, if we're going to have people in the room with Race to the Top is unveiled, then we want to have local leaders from around the country where they know that these union leaders have done some extraordinary, different and not the classic traditional union types of things.

Stop right there. ... You are not ordinary in many ways, because you often wind up making agreements with the district that no other district is making. Things like performance pay. So the next question is, why are you so unusual?

A weekend interview with Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association president Kim Black

In the past, Pinellas school district-employee relations were considered a model for the state of Florida. These days, not so much. Newly re-elected Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association president Kim Black spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about the current state of affairs.

I wanted to talk with you about negotiations because they seem to be more heated in Pinellas than in most other parts of the state (although not Broward). What is your assessment of where things stand right now and how bad it is?

Well, the district declared impasse. ... And I think that is our No. 1 issue right now, that they declared impasse over the salary piece of our contract. We decided this year to do separate ratifications. The first was working conditions. We decided it was really important to lock in the working conditions that our employees have, in the face of the financial downturn. We felt that protecting the workers' rights was important, even though the salary is also important. The difference here is, you were asking if it's more adversarial.

It's probably more noticeable because it's never been like this before in Pinellas County. You mentioned Broward. They've had this ongoing relationship for years. But this is new to us.

What do you think is the difference? Is it the superintendent?

You know, I think none of us has ever faced a financial situation like this before. And it's very easy, when you have a huge challenge like this, the easiest road to me is cutting salaries and benefits and increasing the work load of the workers. That's the easiest thing for management to do. But I really believe it's a measure of your character how you handle adversity. And I think when you have the right people in the right places at the right time, sometimes a bad time can really turn out to bring about some positive change. It takes a lot of creativity, a lot of innovative thinking and a lot of trust to move forward in a time like this. And right now that's not happening.

So you're saying there's no trust right now?

A weekend interview with JoAnne Glenn, principal of Pasco eSchool

This fall all Florida school districts must launch their own K-12 online education programs. Most had not even begun to create their systems before the Legislature passed the mandate in the spring. JoAnne Glenn is principal of Pasco's eSchool, which debuts in August. She spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about the effort of going from nothing to a full-fledged school during a single summer.

The first thing I wanted to ask you is about the basics of this school and where you see it going. Most people don't even know it exists.

Basically, we're in the process of hiring teachers. And in our first year our target for students is the students in Pasco County schools who have been quietly taking courses online from the Florida Virtual School ... as a part of their regular school day. We're also lucky enough to be able to serve students who are in home education settings, private schools and charter schools. We feel like that's a large enough population to sustain the demand for our courses yet small enough to let us grow and develop our policies and procedures to allow our program to continue.

What number are you looking at as a target?

Well, in the elementary program K-5 we're looking at probably 50 students this year. And about 30 of those students are reverting to us. They have been participating in a pilot program through our two vendors. ... The remaining group of students would be new students who are leaving the public school system and embracing this option for a full-time education program.

And they do it at home?

A weekend interview with incoming Florida university system chancellor Frank Brogan

Over the years, Frank Brogan has become a familiar face in Florida education policy and politics. A former Martin County teacher, principal and superintendent, he served as state education commissioner before being tapped to become lieutenant governor under Jeb Bush. He left the Bush administration to lead Florida Atlantic University, his alma mater, where he's remained for six-plus years. Now Brogan is slated to become chancellor of the State University System. He spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about Florida higher education leadership, planning, funding and reputation during his first full interview since winning the new position.

Why would you want to take on this role at this time?

I just six months ago began a new six-year contract at Florida Atlantic University. I love this university. It's been great to me and my family. We've done together some really extraordinary things during my first six years here. And the university is really coming into its own, to a great degree. ... It would be a logical question to ask, then, why would you early into your new six-year contract look at the role of chancellor and see yourself in it?

The answer, and please believe me I'm not trying to be overly noble here. I'm really pure of intent when I say this. I have a fairly interesting resume, which means I have a fairly interesting set of experiences. By most accounts I've been pretty good at all of them. And that's not a statement of arrogance. I've got nothing to be arrogant about. But I think the resume is as interesting as it is because it's an accumulation of successful opportunities that I've pursued.

And I looked at the role of chancellor right now. Not years gone by, but right now. And having worked in higher ed now for six and a half years, look at some of the challenges that we face. We need clearly to better establish quality reputation for our existing higher education system. We need to engage, to a greater degree, important partners around higher education. The governor's office, who has really strongly begun to support higher education. The Florida Legislature, obviously, the House and Senate leaders and the members in general, who all love and respect higher education. But I think it's a matter of getting people better organized on how we can move forward together as a state....

Can I ask you about the Legislature and the governor? They have a role that many people have questioned when it comes to higher ed. Do they really care? Because of the issues of financing and control. Where do you see the role of the universities and the role of the Legislature and governor coming together in a more productive way?

A weekend interview with David Voss, creator of Be There

In 2007, Sarasota businessman David Voss launched Be There, a campaign to inspire parents to get more involved with their children’s education. Since then, 100 school districts, including Pinellas and Pasco, have become subscribers.

Be There differs from other parental involvement programs because it focuses on changing behavior, Voss says. He spoke to Times reporter Donna Winchester about the campaign as he finalizes plans to take it nationwide.

Q. Why did you decide to launch Be There?
In conversations with disengaged parents, I was getting three responses to the question “Why aren’t you more involved in your children’s education?” One was, “I’m just too busy.” Another was, “I don’t feel qualified.” Another group was just very intimidated. Maybe school hadn’t been a friendly or inviting environment for them.

And so we decided to do what Madison Avenue does. We created a media campaign patterned after the “Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk” campaign. We figured, “If you can sell a $30,000 car with a 30-second commercial, why can’t you sell parents on getting involved?

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.

A weekend interview about summer school meal programs with Gray Miller, Pinellas food services director

Most parents know that the National School Lunch Program provides free and reduced-price meals for children during the school year. What many don’t know is that the U.S. Department of Agriculture also provides a meal program during the summer. The same children who are entitled to breakfast and lunch when school is in session are entitled to meals throughout the summer months as well. Times education reporter Donna Winchester spoke with Gray Miller, director of food services for Pinellas County Schools, to learn more about the program.

 How does the Summer Food Service Program work?

The program provides meals for children who need them during the time when school is out of session. Summer is a pretty long time if you’re having financial issues. In that regard, the program offers a stop gap between the end of one school year and the beginning of another, offering breakfast and lunch, and perhaps an afternoon snack.

This takes place in all 50 states. The program has different sponsors, who report to the state, which in turn works under the auspices of the USDA. Locally, the Pinellas County Department of Health and Human Services is one sponsor. The county offers meals at more than 50 sites, including rec centers, churches, and various places that have summer programs for children. The Pinellas school district is another sponsor. The district provides meals at 11 schools that are offering summer programs for the children who attend them, but the program is also open for children in the neighborhood.

So any child can come to one of the school sites and get breakfast or lunch, depending on what’s offered there?

Yes, any child up to age 18.

What do children need to do to get the meals? Do they need to show identification? Do they need to be accompanied by an adult?

A weekend interview about graduation rates with Florida deputy education commissioner Jeff Sellers

Every year Education Week puts out its report on high school graduation rates that differs greatly from the rates that Florida releases. And every year Florida officials decry the Ed Week report saying it's an imprecise measure that does a disservice to Florida's more accurate data system. Jeff Sellers, Florida deputy education commissioner for accountability, spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about the pros and cons of the different ways to look at graduation rates.

I'm curious about what Education Week does provide. Is there any value you see in their report?

Well, yes, there is value in their report. It provides a methodology that can help us estimate future graduation rates before all of our data have actually been submitted by the districts. Although we prefer our cohort-based grad rate, which actually takes into account individual students and tracks them over time to see how many graduate.

So the state does something completely different. Have you ever talked to Education Week about why they don't do it your way?

I don't know that we have ever talked to them directly about it. Overall this has been an issue from the perspective that when you're trying to calculate, or if you try to have a national measure of any kind, this one being a graduation rate, you have to accommodate the lowest common denominator. So based on states' capabilities, you have to find ways to calculate any type of measure. And so for something like Ed Week's graduation rate, that approach is probably one of the best to accommodate a common measure for all states.

But in Education Week, they actually point to Florida's method as a very strong method. And I know the president and his education team have also talked about Florida's data system as being the best. Is there a disconnect here? ... Why would people want to take the Education Week numbers over your own?

A weekend interview about summer school with Pasco assistant superintendent Ruth Reilly

With money tight for Florida public education, many school districts are scaling back their already meager summer course offerings to make up at least some of the difference. Count Pasco County schools among those. Assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction Ruth Reilly spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about the choices and the rationale behind Pasco's limited summer options.

I know the budget has created changes for summer school. I'm interested in knowing what is going to be offered this summer, and how it differs from past summers.

Well, we have changes in all three levels. And we are downsizing from what we have had in the past. At elementary school in the past we offered summer school to all first, second and third graders who needed assistance with reading. And this year we're only offering it to those third graders who did not meet proficiency on the FCAT.

So what happens to those other kids?

Those other students will continue to receive support during the school year, and progress monitoring, but the extended school year will not be available to them. So that's the elementary change. And that's a significant reduction.

How do you think that will affect what happens in school during the regular year with the elimination of those programs?

A weekend interview with Brevard School Board member Karen Henderson

In trying to give Florida school districts funding flexibility, the Legislature allowed school boards to increase their local property tax rates for one year to pay for critical operating needs. Brevard County was the first to agree to impose such a tax. Board member Karen Henderson spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about how she came to support higher school taxes even in the down economy.

Who made the recommendation to go forward with the tax idea?

The superintendent.

And what was his rationale?

He gave us two budgets. One without the quarter mill that would require cutting quite a few positions. And one with the quarter mill that would be able save positions and to continue the education that we're giving our children.

So was it basically a no-brainer for you guys?

Not necessarily. My first instinct is to not raise taxes. However, when you look at the big picture and you see, you know there's a cliff out there when this stimulus goes away, you know you've got class size coming on. I'm just not sure it was a wise decision to cut positions now, when we've got class size coming on and we'd have to rehire to fill those positions. ... It was a hard decision. I went through and I looked at both budgets. Neither one of those would be set in stone. We don't make those decisions until July 25th. But they gave us a base line of what the numbers would look like.

A weekend interview with Marshall Ogletree, the new executive director of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association

Marshall Ogletree went to school in Pinellas County and after college came back to teach here. Then he got into the business of advocating on behalf of teachers, working in Orange and Seminole counties before heading to the state teachers union. Now he's back as executive director of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association. He spoke with Times education reporter Donna Winchester about why he thinks teachers unions are important and the priorities that will guide him in his new job.

How did you get involved in teacher advocacy?

I’ve always had a strong political bent. I was a math major who took political science classes as opposed to science courses. When I got involved in the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association as a faculty rep and later as vice president, it was from a political point of view. PCTA then and now is one of the more active organizations in Florida from that perspective. When I was vice president, someone said, ‘Why don’t you look for a job in this business?’

Isn’t this a really difficult time to be taking on the job of executive director of a teachers union?

I know it’s going to be tough. This is a very difficult time for unions and school districts because of the lack of funding and the lack of support the Legislature has given us. I don’t care how they color it, this last legislative session was just a Band-Aid of major proportions. They’re going to have to face up to the fact that there are holes to fill because they’re building on the stimulus money and on taxes that are a declining source of revenue, like the cigarette tax. We have big holes to fill, not just in education, but in all parts of the budget.

The discussions we’ll be having this summer about salary and benefits will be constrained by that. We’ll try to do the best we can to make sure the district stands by its employees. We’ll fight for their needs. But it’s going to be difficult. I want our members to understand this is a time like no other. I’ve been doing this a long time, and there has been no time since I’ve been doing this work that we’ve had the problems and the financial situation we have today.

You were close friends with former PCTA executive director Jade Moore, who died in December. What did you learn from him?

A weekend interview with Hernando School Board member James Yant

The Hernando County School Board has split over the performance of superintendent Wayne Alexander, who lately has been popping up as a finalist for other jobs even as he pledges to remain true to Hernando. Board member James Yant has found himself in the minority in pushing for Alexander's dismissal. He spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about his views on why the district needs new leadership.

How did the board get so divided over the superintendent to this degree?

I think that the reason, the decisions that I have made over the superintendent ... I don't make any decisions that I don't think are good for the student. I'm looking at the welfare of the student. And if the superintendent shows his loyalty elsewhere, that's telling me he's not really interested in this county. So whatever we do, we have to think about the education and the welfare of the student. ...

The superintendent, he told you he was committed to the school district. Then he turned around and started looking for another job. I'm curious how that fits in with anybody's view of what's right for the school district.

Well, that's one thing I don't know. If committed to this district, he probably should not be looking for a job. I look at it as honor and commitment. If you have a contract and you say you are going to do something, that's the image that we are sending the children. That it's okay to promise something and then break the promise. That's what I see. And I think it's the wrong message to send to the children.

Would there be any way that he could win your confidence back?

A weekend interview with state Rep. John Legg, Florida House preK-12 policy committee chairman

The Florida Legislature completed its 2009 session with more failed than approved changes to public education. The budget proved the biggest stumbling block. Rep. John Legg, chairman of the House PreK-12 Policy committee and vice chairman of PreK-12 Appropriations, spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about the ins and outs of the session.

Aside from the budget ... what did you see happening this session? Did it really go the way you expected, with no major legislation?

I was hopeful that we could move our standards and move some of our civics reform, move that forward. And we were disappointed that the Senate didn't take that up. We came into session knowing that it would be a hard lift to get any policy passed. We were successful in the House dealing with some of the civics, some of the science and some of the math standards. However, the Senate unfortunately didn't even bring it up for discussion. I was very disappointed in two issues. And I'm hopeful that we'll get it through next year. Because the Senate explained to us that they supported it wholeheartedly, but they did not want to discuss it. And that was eliminating the eleventh-grade FCAT requirement for science ... and replacing it with a biology/physical science end of course exam. No one objected to it. It just simply didn't happen. The second issue dealt with the civics middle school requirement as an end of course exam. We gave them several, several attempts to address that. However, because of the budget issues and the reservations to do anything new or make any changes whatsoever ... they decided not to do that.

They did do some things, though. ... Some of the changes that were made with the budget, for instance moving money from capital to general operating ...

Right. Most of the policy that was passed this year seemed to be passed in the conforming bills. Part of it was very good policy that I thought we needed during these tough fiscal times, dealing with flexibility ... Some of it was major policy shifts for the short term, specifically dealing with those capital dollars. Some of your large districts had a lot of issues dealing with bonding. ...

There were a lot of small things that I don't know would have made a lot of difference. Take Sen. Storms' bill on inspirational messages. ... It wouldn't have cost anything, except for some possibly good will. I wonder why some of those things didn't have any traction.

A weekend interview with John Kirtley, founder of Florida's corporate tax credit scholarships

Florida lawmakers again this year broadened the state's corporate tax credit scholarship program, which provides vouchers that allow low-income students to attend private schools. This time, the law changed to allow insurance companies to participate in the program and to make it easier for families to apply for the program. Along the way, the number of Democrats backing the idea continued to grow. Tampa businessman John Kirtley, who created the program and runs the group that implements it, spoke via e-mail with reporter Jeff Solochek about the successes the program has found.

Why do you think Florida needs to keep broadening participation in the corporate tax credit scholarship program?

In the past, we had insurance companies that wanted to participate but couldn't, because they pay insurance premium taxes instead of corporate income taxes. So that's why we wanted to expand the eligibility to that particular tax.

Regarding broadening children's participation in the program, our desire is very simple. We want economically disadvantaged children to have every possible education tool available to them and for the parents to be able to choose the school that works best, regardless of who runs it. We won't rest until every low-income family has that right. Most low-income parents are very satisfied with their assigned public school, because most public schools do a great job against great odds. But there are always going to be some children who need a different learning environment in order to thrive.

When you helped create the program, did you envision it working as it does now? Why or why not?

I really had no preconceived notions as to how it would work. I just had a desire to help low-income families have more educational options. Now, after being in the parental choice movement for over 10 years, I have a much better understanding of the role the program can play. This program is not a silver bullet to solve our challenges in K-12 public education. It is a crucial element of K-12 reform, but only one element. Many public school districts have done a great job creating more options for low-income children. I am very encouraged when I see what's being done in places like Dade, Hillsborough and Okaloosa. There you see excellent charters, magnets and career academies – and innovative partnerships with private entities like Embry Riddle University. However, some low-income children only thrive in school environments that can be accessed with the Tax Credit Scholarship. To ensure genuine equal opportunity, these schools must be a part of the mix.

What is the meaning of the increasing support of groups that initially opposed the idea?

A weekend interview with Skardon Bliss, executive director of the Florida Council of Independent Schools

As Florida lawmakers fight over the state's education budget, the fate of Florida Virtual School has come into play. Proposals call for the distance learning program to scale back its course offerings, and would allow other private providers to step into the void. Several groups, including home school parents and independent schools, have risen to oppose the changes. FCIS executive director Skardon Bliss spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about his organization's perspective on Florida Virtual School.

What part of the Florida Virtual legislation are you most concerned with?

There are really two parts. That is where the funding is set up so it will be in competition with private providers who are basically curriculum programs rather than actual teaching with certified Florida teachers behind them. So it will be the quality of the program which the private providers will be able to offer less expensively because they don't have the staff and the Florida requirements. And with the funding streams from the Florida school districts, they get to keep what's left of the FTE from what they pay any one of the private providers or the Virtual School. Obviously they're going to go with the cheapest program to keep the most money for the districts. Also, this bill limits the Florida Virtual School to the core curriculum.

What's wrong with that? I've heard a lot of people complaining about that.

Well, the core curriculum is just English, math, the basic requirements for graduation. They wouldn't be able to offer the elementary programs, they wouldn't be able to offer all kinds of extra things, fine arts and stuff like that they do.

And those things benefit the students in ways that their schools can't provide? Is that the argument?

A weekend interview with the Rev. Matthew Cotten of OK2Pray

Back in January, a federal judge ordered Santa Rosa schools to stop permitting prayer at school-related activities. The school district accepted the order. But the Rev. Matthew Cotten of Pine Terrace Baptist Church in Milton did not. Instead, he began prayer rallies and started the group and Web site OK2Pray. Cotten spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about his initiative. (Photo from Pensacola News-Journal profile)

I was interested in you telling me what are your concerns that led to your decision to act?

Well, I'll tell you. I am a lifelong educator. ... And I believe that not only kids need an education, but adults too. The fact of the matter is, I see that lack of freedom is what has caused education to shut down all over the world. And there's a lot of places all over the world where people don't have education because they don't have freedom. They don't have the financial freedom to get the education they need. They don't have the freedom to travel to get the education they need. And they don't have even the resources, they're not allowed to have that education. Well, that's not the case in America. It's not supposed to be. And yet now I see a trend that it just upsetting and unsettling that we're sacrificing freedoms for security.

Now, I'm a Christian minister and I'm from the Bible Belt. ... Because of that we have this reputation that there is going to be a conservative push in our politics, there's going to be a conservative push in our churches, and there is going to be a religiosity here. And that's true. But I am sort of unique and I'm catching flak for it on both sides, both the political side and the religious side. ...  The fact of the matter is, we (Americans) don't understand one another, we don't know what the other side believes. ... So one of the things I promote is an open dialogue. Well, that open dialogue cannot occur. Where's the best place to get that? Well, work is one place. ... The other place is at school. And the workplace and school have case law now, precedent is a better word ... deciding that the workplace and school are not a good place to talk about religion.

Now, when the court said that, the school district seemed to accept that. But you didn't.

Yeah. And that's one of the problems we have here. And one of the reasons they accepted it was because of fear. ... They don't know what the truth is because the truth has been distorted. ... It's been distorted over time and over many different variations of method. I think the church is responsible for some of that distortion. I think that the ACLU is responsible for some of that distortion. I think radical legislative judges are responsible for some of that distortion. And I think individuals not being educated about what their First Amendment rights are, and that includes me. I went for years just getting a paycheck, going home and not paying attention to any of this stuff. ... It's affecting all of us now, and we can't have a dialogue about religion.

Now, the students' rights are fairly intact after this consent decree that the School Board signed. ... That's a great thing and I am excited about that and we are touting that at our rallies. When we have an OK2Pray rally we say it's okay for a student to pray. It's okay for a student to believe whatever it is they  believe and to pray whatever that belief or worship or whatever it is they have to do.

Tell me about the rallies that you're holding. What do you do at them? What is the message that you bring besides that it's okay to pray. Or, is that the whole message?

It's pretty simple. It's okay to pray. Honestly, the people that I have gotten to pray are primarily Christian because they have a mandate to pray. ... When Jesus instructed us to pray he instructed us to pray with 'our father.' ... If he meant for it to be just private, he would have said, 'my father.' ...

A weekend interview with Florida Prepaid founder Stanley Tate

Florida lawmakers are moving to let the state's universities increase tuition to help cover revenue shortfalls. Stanley Tate, founder of the state prepaid college tuition program, wants to stop the effort in its tracks, arguing it would hurt the Florida's low-income families.

He's started a Web site against the bill, collecting support from families but not lawmakers. Tate spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about his attempts to stop tuition from rising.

I want to hear about what you're trying to do.

The story is interesting. And of course it plays the line of the educators and the campaign they're running that this need has to be addressed by an increase in tuition. Unfortunately, what I've asked for and cannot seem to get is, why can't they cut out some of the noneducational programs that seem to run such a high percentage of the cost of the university system?

Do you have any particulars in mind?

Well, sports programs. Things that are noneducational that might perhaps reduce their operating expenses. You know, the truth of the matter is all of the universities want to be research and development universities. And that's nice. But we can hardly afford 11 universities that have graduate schools, like law schools and medical schools. Even the AMA came out against the last two medical schools that were granted the right to establish. It's not that the state doesn't need doctors. It's that the doctors don't go where the state needs them.

UF looked at the idea of cutting back some of its undergraduate programs and focusing on its graduate programs, letting some of the other schools focus on undergraduates. But the students rebelled.

A weekend interview with writing instructor Melissa Forney

When seeking a leg up in teaching their children to write, many Florida school teachers turn to Melissa Forney. Based in Orange City, Forney writes novels that schools can use as starting points for getting students interested in reading and writing. She also offers strategies teachers can use to make writing fun. Forney talked with reporter Jeff Solochek while visiting Sand Pine Elementary in Wesley Chapel.

I am interested in why you come to schools like Sand Pine and talk to students about writing.

I am an educator. And I love the philosophies of John Dewey, that education should be hands-on. And we've gotten so far away from that with testing. And as a child I was a big reader and I found I just lost myself in books. And I wanted to recreate that experience for kids to have outdoor books that at least mentally took them outdoors. No technology. Everything about climbing trees and swimming in brooks and learning about the outdoor fun stuff. And now I love going to schools that are actually implementing things where kids are on their bellies shooting marbles, or having a slingshot contest, that kind of thing. I just think this makes education memorable for them. That's the main reason.

Were you surprised to see how many children are into your books and the things that you are doing?

I am surprised and of course extremely gratified. When I went to graduate school to become an author for children, the philosophy was that you wrote for yourself. But I never adhered to that. I always think about the children who will read my books as I'm writing them. The book might be plotted ahead of time. But as I'm writing I might think, 'If I did this, the kids will love it.' Or, 'If I did this twist, kids would be sad but we would get through it.' So I do have them in mind when I write. So when I see that kids are excited about it, of course I'm thrilled.

How did you decide to come here [to Wesley Chapel]? Do you just tour Florida?

A weekend interview with Debbie Rodgers, Hillsborough director of school improvement

Every year, at least one Florida school seems to fight about how to spend the school recognition funds it has received from the state. The Hillsborough hopes to avoid such disputes in the future, so it has put together a new model for schools to use when planning how to distribute the money. School improvement director Debbie Rodgers spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about the effort.

What exactly is it that you are proposing?

The bonus money usually comes in in the fall. So it's the year after the test. So what we are proposing to do is give schools the option of creating their A-Plus distribution plan before the school year is over so that the existing faculty, the faculty that was there the year the test was actually given, would have the opportunity to be a part of the decision making body and the voting body in what the plan should look like. If the school does get the A-Plus money, then they can go ahead in the fall and put that plan into action. If they don't receive the money, then it just becomes null and void.

The whole issue of giving out A-Plus money has been controversial in the past. Does this just move the controversy to the end of the school year instead of the beginning of the school year? Or does this eliminate some of the controversy?

From my perspective, I think it will alleviate some of the controversy. Because the controversy comes in with people who have had to leave the school, say because their unit was cut or a new school was opened and they were shifted, or they retired. It was the people who didn't return to the school site who weren't included in some of the distribution plans that really felt like they were getting the raw end of the deal, so to speak. This now allows for all those people to be a part of the process.

If you're trying to make sure people are included in the process of deciding how the money is going to be spent, it seems like you're assuming the money is going to be used mostly for bonuses as opposed to supplies or additional personnel.

Right. If you traditionally look at the plans at the schools, the majority does go for bonuses.

Is that the best use of the money?

A weekend interview with Pinellas school board member Mary Brown

In the midst of a discussion on student discipline at the School Board’s annual retreat, Mary Brown made a provocative comment that the district must address “the elephant in the room” when it comes to kids behaving badly. She spoke with reporter Donna Winchester about what she meant.

You said that as the district has moved back toward a system of neighborhood schools, you’ve been approached by white teachers in south Pinellas schools who say they feel intimidated by black students, particularly black males. Can you elaborate a little more on that?

I think the big thing about it is that unless we get high standards of appropriate behavior, you can’t have high standards for learning. If you allow black children to not act appropriately, it’s not good for them. We have too many black males in particular not graduating from high school and dropping out. Something is wrong. I don’t know what it is, but I do know that we can’t afford to have this many young black males without jobs. Our prisons are full of them.

We have got to do something about whatever is causing the problem. We have to set those standards in school. We really do. When they walk through our doors, we should have control. We should be able to tell them what is and what is not acceptable. If (teachers) set the standard and say, “This is the expectation,” the kids will have to follow the rules.

For how long have you been hearing from white teachers that they’ve felt intimidated by black students?

I’ve been hearing this off and on ever since I’ve been on the board. It’s not new. We just have not dealt with it.

How frequently do teachers approach you about this?

A weekend interview with Eduard Goodman, chief privacy officer for Identity Theft 911

In a three-month span, the University of Florida had three computer security breaches, compromising thousands of peoples' personal records. Could it happen again? And what should people whose information was hacked do about it? We turned to Eduard Goodman, chief privacy officer for Arizona-based Identity Theft 911, for some insights. Goodman spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek.

What exactly happened at the University of Florida that allowed all this information to be released?

Well, actually, there's been three distinct events that happened over the last several months. The most recent one was essentially a hacking into a quite dated system that they had still in place at the university ... which is, unfortunately, quite common in a university setting, where technologies tend to be put in place and used well past their expected life. ... They shut it down for investigation. ... It probably should have been taken offline seven or eight years ago. ... This is the most recent one.

Not too long ago there was actually another incident where the university has a special service ... which sends out SMS text messages on an emergency basis. Someone hacked into that system. This was on Inauguration Day. ... There were 1000's of students that got a message that said, 'The monkey got out of the cage,' whatever that means.

There was a more serious one, I want to say it was in November. What happened is the College of Dentistry at the University of Florida had some unauthorized software, as they want to call it, installed on one of their servers. It was where they stored names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, medical notes and other sorts of information on former and current patients. The breach size was between 300,000 and 400,000 people who could have been exposed.

So all of this has happened roughly within three months at the University of Florida. I think it helps outline the general problem when it comes to universities.

So what is that general problem?

Weekend interview with a (gr)easy rider, student inventor

When Colin Coon chose his senior project, he decided to go really big. A senior at New Gate School in Sarasota, Colin bought a 1980 diesel Mercedes station wagon and rigged it so that it runs on used vegetable oil. He will take off Saturday on a cross-country road trip, expected to last about six weeks and take him about 8,500 miles. You can follow his exploits on his blog. He spoke with reporter Ester Venouziou about his road trip plans.

Are you an environmentalist?

"Not really ... I'm more interested in how wind and water and sun energy can power (a car) than in the green aspects."

So I guess you must know a lot about cars?

"I've been working on cars with my dad since I was 6. I love pulling things apart and putting things together.  ...  and ever since I heard of using vegetable oil, I've been fascinated by it."

What's this costing you?

Colin says he's getting sponsors and donations to raise about $8,500. That will help cover the cost of the car ($5,000); a Greasecar conversion kit ($1,000) that lets the diesel car run on vegetable oil; initial repair work including a new filtration system ($2,500); and money for maintenance during the trip ($1,000), including oil changes, tires and other things that might come up. He plans to cut costs by staying mostly with friends and relatives along the way. The drive will be mostly solo, though some friends plan to join him for parts of the ride.

How does veggie driving work? And is it working?

A weekend interview with virtual education petitioner Jessica Howard

Jessica Howard, 7, has received schooling from her mom, Wendy, in her Pasco County home for the past year. When the family looked into using the state's new K-8 virtual school program to supplement its curriculum, it learned that wasn't an option. State law requires that children sit in a public school classroom the year before enrolling in the online courses. So Jessica is petitioning to change the law. She spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about her effort.

What is it exactly that you want lawmakers to do?

I want them to change a portion of House Bill 7067.

What is House Bill 7067?

It provides virtual school. But it says I have to go to public school for a year to be able to do this program. So we're trying to change the law so it does not discriminate against me and other kids who are coming out of private or home school.

Why do you want to do virtual schooling?

Because it has the online teacher to help.

Why is that important to you?

A weekend interview with House Pre-K-12 policy chairman John Legg

State Rep. John Legg, R-New Port Richey, chairs the House Pre-K-12 Policy Committee and sits on the Education Policy Council as well as the House education appropriations committees. He spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about what he expects to see occur in the coming legislative session regarding class size, Bright Futures, graduation standards and other education matters.

Tell me a little bit about the education priorities you see in the House for this year.

Some of the big issues we're looking at are, one, dealing with the differential grading. Making sure that school grading and AYP are aligned. It's very difficult for parents to know that if their school is an A school and yet fails AYP, what does that mean. So one of the big issues is making sure that we address those issues dealing with differential grading. The second issue that's a priority of mine is dealing with college readiness, ensuring that we increase our standards to keep Florida competitive, making sure that our students that are graduating from our high schools in Florida can be competitive in this global market.

And the third issue is, I think you're going to see us addressing the class size amendment. With the current budget crunch I don't know how it's going to be able to be paid for. We want to be sure the voters understand the cost of the implementation of it, and see if the voters do want us to implement the class size amendment, what kind of revenues do we have to find in order to pay for that.

Talk a little bit about the second one, the standards. You just raised the standards last year. What more needs be be done? And why?

In reviewing that we want to make sure that, for example Algebra II. I want to ensure that when our students graduate from high school they're ready for college, that they can do college work. So much remediation takes place right now in the first year of college. If you look at our students now, even the ones on Bright Futures (scholarships), those that are on the partial Bright Futures, the 970 (SAT score). Most of them are unable to do the work because they are just not prepared for the rigors that are involved. So we want to take a look at what our colleges need those students to be ready for matches up with what our high schools are producing and what we expect at high school.

How does that tie into, if at all, the end of course exams that are being worked on?

A weekend interview with ...

... Bill Cook, a leader with Parents Against Cell Towers at Schools  (PACTS). Cook, a South Tampa parent and activist, spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about the group's motivations and future plans.

Where did this group come from?

It's the joining of two organizations. One was the group of parents who mobilized to oppose the tower at Coleman, who were then contacted and grouped together with the parents at Pride Elementary who already had a tower put on their campus without their knowledge and without their consent and without their input. And we sort of merged our organizations together, and we are now bringing in parents from more schools as well. ... So it's really a countywide organization now of parents who are concerned about towers on school property.

Is it mostly Hillsborough? Or are you expanding beyond Hillsborough also?

Right now we're in pretty much only Hillsborough, though we've had parents reaching out to us from Pasco County and Pinellas County.

What is your big concern about cell phone towers?

A weekend interview with...

....Alexander Flores, a sixth grader at Cambridge Christian School in central Tampa. Alexander, 11, just got back from Washington DC, where he followed President Obama's inauguration from the Junior Presidential Youth Inaugural Conference. He spoke with Letitia Stein about the experience.

Why did you want to go to the Inauguration?

I wanted to go to the Inauguration to see history being made.

What events did you attend?

I went to the Inauguration and we want to the gala ball at the University of Maryland. We had three speakers, one was Erik Weihenmayer. Also we got retired Gen. Colin L. Powell. Also we got to hear from Al Gore.

What was most exciting and why?

It was probably the Inauguration, because there was so many people there and everybody was excited to hear President Obama get sworn in.

A weekend interview with ...

... Phyllis Musumeci, founder of Florida Families Against Restraint and Seclusion. Musumeci, a Palm Beach mom, recently traveled to Washington, D.C., to testify before Congress about the need to ban the use of seclusion and restraint on children in schools. She spoke with Jeff Solochek about the issue.

Talk about why you were in Washington testifying before Congress.

Well, I went to Washington because my son was restrained in school and put in seclusion, and I didn't know about it. The seclusion I knew, but I didn't understand at the time what was really going on. They used to drag his desk out in the hall and leave him by himself. That was almost every day when he was in seventh grade. The restraining I didn't know about. My son's behaviors started changing. His personality started changing. ... He went from a happy little boy to a very unhappy, angry little boy and I didn't know what was going on. That happened over a period of time, like about one year. And so at the end of seventh grade, he just flipped out one day when I picked him up. ... I was scared.

It was about four days before school let out. I called the doctor immediately and brought him in, and he suggested I take him to a psychiatrist. ... I had some tests run on him and then about maybe a month or two later I brought him back to the psychiatrist and he was put on some medication to help with his anxiety, aggression, depression, which he had never had before.

You found all of this tied back to the school?

Well, I can only assume that this was the reaction to what they were doing to him.

Is that when you became an advocate, or an activist?

A weekend interview with ...

... Peggy O'Shea, chairwoman of the Pinellas School Board. The Pinellas board voted unanimously earlier this week to close seven elementary schools and reassign thousands of students. O'Shea spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about the vote, the rationale behind it and the expected outcomes.

How hard is it for you to be making these decisions regarding the boundaries and the school closures?

They're really two separate issues. The school closures is tough. You get parents who are so involved in their school and it's part of the community they live in. You hate to take that away. We looked at all kinds of opportunities to avoid that. But the bottom line came when we looked at the budget and the budget projections and the cuts coming from the state. It just became impossible. We haven't even reached all the budget cuts we have to make yet. Coupled with the fact that we have less students and we're projected to continue to have less students over the next few years, which means we don't need as many schools with less kids. So for efficiency -- with or without the budget implications, there's a certain efficiency as guardians of the taxpayers' money that we need to take into account.

Some of the parents pointed out you were closing down schools that are well regarded and have strong community support, whereas some other schools might not have had that same level of success. How do you pick which schools you must close?

Our student assignment department looked at it in terms of where kids are and where we have other schools nearby to put them in. We looked from a financial perspective the cost of running those buildings. Risk management -- what it costs to insure those buildings. What our maintenance costs are. Those kinds of things. Because the ones we closed are all small schools that had under 400 students. Whereas when you see newer elementary schools in the state of Florida today, they're built to house 750-800 kids. That's what the state requires you build from now on. So even look at some of them and say, Maybe you could build a larger school on them. Some of the sites aren't large enough, because they're older, smaller areas built several years ago. Some of them in the early 1900s, one of them in the 1950s. That was the age range of the schools we were looking at.

So it didn't have as much to do with whether the school was an A school or whether it had a strong PTA?

A weekend interview with ...

... H. Kim Bottomly, the new president of Wellesley College. On Monday, the Wellesley Clubs of Sarasota and Tampa Bay will host Bottomly for a talk, "Wellesley College Today and Tomorrow." Bottomly, an immunobiologist and past deputy provost at Yale University, will touch on matters similar to those facing Florida's public and private colleges and universities. She spoke with higher education reporter Donna Winchester.

Is your upcoming trip to Florida one in a series of trips you’re making to visit alumnae?

Yes. I do that fairly regularly. In the spring I will go to California. Each year I go to a couple of locations. It’s actually one of the fun parts of my job. One of the things that amazes me is that alums are everywhere. Almost everywhere I go, I bump into one.

I understand that Wellesley attracts students from 45 states as well as 42 countries. What percent of your students come from Southern states, and in particular, from Florida? 

We have about 2,200 students. A little less than 10 percent come from the South, and 64 or so come from Florida.

Why do you think there are so few single sex colleges in this area? Is it simply because the Northeast is more traditional?

A weekend interview with ...

... Nancy Detert, chairwoman of the Senate Pre-K-12 Education Committee. Detert, a Sarasota Republican, spoke with Jeff Solochek about the financial choices for education that lawmakers face as they approach a special legislative session that begins Monday.

What should we expecting in the special session? I know that money is the topic, and I was wondering how schools should be expecting to fare. Because everybody seems to be expecting the worst.

Well, I think that there's just no question that the schools are going to lose money. For one thing, the money is attached to the student, and we've had 30,000 students leave the state of Florida and leave the school system. So that money will not be replaced. My chore will be to try to protect the rest and make sure there are no other cuts other than the money you would have naturally lost due to student decline.

How can you do that, while everybody seems to be thinking that 2-3 percent is what's coming as a first round of cuts? Or, I guess this would be the second round of cuts.

Well, actually, I'm pretty new to this, but I think they've had a 4 percent hold back, and we have to hope we don't hit another 4 percent cut. But it's very difficult to balance the budget, which we have to legally do, and not touch health care and education when they make up most of the budget.

Are there certain parts of education that would be more likely to get cut than other parts?

A weekend interview with ...

... Peter Boulware, the newest member of the Florida State Board of Education. Boulware, a former FSU football star who went on to play in the NFL, will complete the term vacated by Donna Callaway. He spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about his views on state education issues and public service.

Why did you want to be on the State Board of Education?

I feel so fortunate. I had the opportunity to get a scholarship from FSU and live my dreams and go to the NFL. I really enjoyed that. I thought I wanted to come back to the state and really get involved and help out in any way I possibly can. Obviously I ran for office the last couple of years and fell a little short. But I knew I wanted to stay involved. I wanted to help out as much as I possibly can. So I got this appointment. I'm proud and honored to do it, and I'm honored to be able to try to serve the state.

When you look at what is going with the state these days, especially with regard to finances, it would seem you have a hard set of decisions that you'd be facing immediately. What are your thoughts about how education can deal with the budget cuts that are coming?

Well, I tell you what. It's tough for everybody. I'm a local businessman. I know everyone is facing the same thing - budget cuts, budget shortfalls. So it's going to be difficult to make it through this thing. We're going to have to look at the programs that are most effective, the programs that are working the best, and the programs where we're getting the most bang for our buck, and try to focus on those. After that, see where we have to go from there. But it's just going to be tough right now for everybody in the state. Budget shortfalls are very difficult to come through.

Do you look at the class-size amendment at all and have any thoughts about it? Because it seems like that's where a lot of money is going, and it's of dubious nature whether it's going to be one of those programs that works well.

A weekend interview with ...

... Zach Witthoeft, a senior at Land O'Lakes High School. Witthoeft wants to go into sports journalism, and has not chosen where he plans to attend college. He spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about how he plans to spend winter break and second semester of senior year.

What do you spend your winter break doing?

Winter break? Well, mainly winter break we in the past just concentrated on relaxation time. Coming up as a senior, winter break is mainly a time when colleges expect your applications. So at the same time that we're relaxing and spending time with family, we have to also concentrate on our futures. So, this is mainly a point in time where it allows you to clear everything out from the previous semester and just concentrate on the future.

So you have college applications you're preparing?

Yes.

Do you know where you want to go?

I'm really interested in UCF [and] USF. I need to get a scholarship, though. I'm trying to maintain my GPA and trying to get the Bright Futures. I'll be taking the SAT's in January. I just want to get all that squared away.

You mentioned the need to get a scholarship. How important has that become with all of the changes in the economy?

A weekend interview with ...

... state Rep. Will Weatherford. Weatherford, a Wesley Chapel Republican, is considered a contender to be House speaker in 2012. This session he will serve on several education-related committees, including as chairman of the State and Community Colleges and Workforce Appropriations Committee. He spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about the upcoming session, education funding and priorities for the next two years.

You're going to be on all these education committees and councils. What do you see as the key issues coming up during session?

Well, I think clearly funding is the biggest issue. You know right now, particularly when you talk about higher education, just access, being able to not only get into school but be able to have the funding to get in. When the economy slows down like it has, particularly there's problems in the work force, people want to go back to school and get a degree. We have to make sure we have those avenues available for people to go back and get the education they need, so when the economy comes back around they're more qualified and prepared for those higher quality jobs.

What do you see as the role of the state college system that is coming into play, and how is it going to be affected if at all by the economy?

I think it's an economic development issue. When you look at our community college system, they play a vital role in our work force. Just the mass numbers they deal with. ... What we've created is the pilot program for the state system. So what you'll see this year is looking at the state college system and making sure if they can offer some four-year degrees that maybe universities aren't focusing on but are badly needed in the work force, then we want them to be able to do that. We want to give them the authority to do that and the ability to get those degrees. So that's a big focus of ours.

How does the money play into that?

A weekend interview with ...

... Joseph Joyner, St. Johns County superintendent. This week, the Florida Association of District School Superintendents named Joyner its 2009 Superintendent of the Year. He spoke with Jeff Solochek about the challenges that superintendents face during the coming year.

Were you expecting this at all?

No. No, no, no. I really wasn't at all. But it is a great honor. There are many great superintendents, and I am just grateful. I don't know what to say. I don't think I deserve it.

Why not? They seem to think you do great things.

Well, we've got 30 new superintendents this year out of 67. Maybe they picked me out of attrition, you know. There's only a few left.

I noticed you're giving a lot of talks about the importance about what superintendents do with relation to the budget. What kind of guidance are you giving for your district and for others?

The budget is going to be the biggest issue for the next couple of years. That's not a surprise to anybody. I think we've done a good job with the association and a group of superintendents by trying to prepare each other about being able to make decisions up front so we don't have to get involved in layoffs and things like that during the year that would hurt children. It takes a lot of planning and we're spending a lot of time coaching each other on what we can do. But it's going to be the biggest issue for the next couple of years.

The commissioner mentioned how you're losing money per student, and it's happening in the middle of the year. How do you avoid hurting classrooms when it's a cut that comes so late?

A weekend interview with...

... Robin Wikle, newly sworn Pinellas School Board member. Wikle spoke with reporter Donna Winchester about school attendance zones, finances, the FCAT and more.

Q. Pinellas earned kudos last week for improving its graduation rate, largely by increasing the number of students who were able to pass the GED test. Do you think that’s a valid way for the district to increase its percentage of graduates?

There are many students who pass the GED test and go on to be successful, so I do think it’s valid. I don’t think the ultimate goal is graduation. I think the ultimate goal is adults who come back to our community and work and pay their taxes. We also have to make sure we provide services for all levels of kids, whether they’re GED bound or academically bound for college. I’m a big proponent of vocational education. Sometimes it has a bad taste, but now we’re moving toward creating centers of excellence.

Q. Does it concern you that many of the students who graduated based on an alternate assessment were unable to pass the 10th-grade FCAT?

I’m not a fan of the FCAT. I don’t think it’s an inclusive measure of everyone’s lifetime success.

Q. If the board revisits the issue of grandfathering — allowing students to stay at the school they were assigned under the old controlled choice plan — would you vote to keep things as they are and allow children to stay at those schools even though they’re not necessarily the neighborhood school?

I would vote to end grandfathering, but I would allow students who are fourth- or fifth-graders and eighth-graders to stay at their current schools if their parents would agree to drive them.

Q. What about that part of the current policy that allows siblings to attend the same school, even if it isn’t the close to home school?