Posted on 01/27/2002 2:27:44 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Orange County schools soon will ask the governor and Cabinet for freedom from all the rules and laws that might interfere with students getting the best education.
This week, the county is expected to send the state a proposal for Orange County to become Florida's third charter school district.
The Orange County School Board on Tuesday approved the charter school plan and now wants the state's OK to ignore certain state laws and rules. In exchange for cutting that red tape, school officials promise that student test scores will improve.
Only two counties have tried charter school districts -- Volusia and Hillsborough. So far, results are mixed.
An outside review commission deemed Volusia's first year as a charter district a success. Yet since Volusia became a charter district in 2000, more schools have fallen in the state's grading system than have improved.
Volusia's goal is for all schools to get at least a B on the state grading scale by 2003, yet none of the county's nine high schools have reached that mark.
Despite Volusia's slow start, Orange County officials pledge they will turn all of their schools into C schools in three years. That means improving almost a fourth of the schools in the county.
Orange County's hope is to improve academic success by redirecting time and resources to educate students better.
Anyone from principals to parents would be able to ask the School Board to waive state laws and local rules, as long as they show how schools could operate more effectively without those encumbrances.
"Personally, as a principal, it's the way to go," said Carlota Mendoza Iglesias, principal of Stonewall Jackson Middle School.
Palm Beach County will try this year to get the state's approval to turn its pilot charter district into a full-fledged one.
Assistant Superintendent Cheryl Alligood said the trial has been great, with schools rearranging budgets so they could hire more teachers.
Volusia put cash into classes
In Volusia County, officials said they have put money into the classrooms when the state would have required them to spend it on covered walkways instead.
Yet not all of Volusia's changes appear to benefit students directly.
Some Volusia schools have dropped state-required physical education courses for certain groups of students, such as band members.
Also, the district stopped school financial reports to parents because officials said the state-required information was an inaccurate picture of school resources.
16 areas to sidestep
In Orange County, officials have identified 16 laws and rules they initially want to sidestep. They address everything from teachers' credentials to instructional materials.
Some of the laws appear to have little to do with classroom achievement. For instance, the board wants to give all school principals credit cards to buy items less than $500. The existing law requires that they fill out requisition orders before they buy.
"What we're asking for is the elimination of paperwork," Associate Superintendent Nick Gledich told School Board members last week.
Redirecting time, money
Making schools more efficient means redirecting time and resources away from paperwork and toward students, officials said.
Orange County Deputy Comptroller Jim Moye said government credit cards make buying easier, but it's a tradeoff.
"You turn these employees out with credit cards and they can buy at will," Moye said.
"I've always said someone is going to lose his or her job with these purchase cards when they don't follow the rules. Bureaucracy has a bad name but there is a purpose for it," Moye said. "It's to protect the public."
Even on the academic front, at least one measure would lower academic standards. The state requires that if students fail a course, they can get credit for it if they retake it and earn a C. Orange County wants to lower that to a D.
School officials said the current system is unfair because it penalizes students who fail a class and try to retake it.
One state senator criticized Orange County's plan to make things easier on failing students. State Sen. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Pembroke Pines, authored the legislation that forces students to make a C the second time they take a class.
"We are only coddling students when we lower the bar," she said.
Concern about academics
When School Board members unanimously supported the charter district proposal on Tuesday, they were most concerned about the academic goals of the district.
Orange County School Board member Kathleen Gordon said she was very concerned about the goals the district has set. The majority of schools in her Orlando district would not meet those goals today.
In Orange County, schools Senior Director Dianne Lovett said the county does not know what will happen if it doesn't reach its goals. She said the hope is that if the county shows improvement, it can continue down the charter road.
School Board member Bert Carrier said the charter district idea is great "if we're willing to put the work into it to get the results."
Kids should read by 9
Regardless of whether a school district has its own charter, schools should try to have more children read by age 9, Carrier said. He said it will be interesting to see what schools do differently to reach that goal if the charter district gets state approval.
Carrier said that the charter district reminds him of one of his favorite mottos: With freedom comes responsibility.
Mary Shanklin can be reached at mshanklin@orlandosentinel.com or at 407-420-5538.
"The state requires that if students fail a course, they can get credit for it if they retake it and earn a C. Orange County wants to lower that to a D."
Is it the teachers who can't teach or are the students sub-human? How many parents can't read or write? A nine year old finally reading? Something is really wrong in the Florida educational system...children should be able to read well before entering the third grade.
Many teachers are between a rock and a hard place as far as their unions are concerned. I agree that NEA has huge problems, but no teacher can afford the legal costs to defend themselves should the need arise. Many teachers view the union as a necessary evil.
Probably depends mainly on what percent of local residents are immigrants from non-English-speaking nations!
I don't know where in Florida this county is - but, given the demographics of much of Florida, that state has severe educational handicaps not of its making.
Himself immigrated from a Hispanic place, a NYC community-college administrator recently put it best. He said teachers there tell him their biggest headache is the many newly-arrived aliens who come at age 14 after only two or three grades of school in Mexico. What grade do you put them in?
IMMIGRATION resource library: public-health facts, court decisions, local INS numbers!
AFB, And, if any teacher steps outside the bounds of the "commune-ity", the unions won't step up to defend them either. Only the "system" is allowed. Peace and love, George.
Something is wrong with education, period. Look to the 60's crowd practicing their social engineering in schools of education, these teacher training grounds that excel in LIBERAL group think. Subject matter comes after all the psychology and feel good, self esteem training.
Next check out the curriculum and the text books. Heavy on environmentalism, sex-ed (I think it's replaced phys-ed), bi-lingual classes and anti-American history (what they now call social studies), while very short on solid math, English, science and history. Bumper stickers go home touting excellence in your off-spring, while the truth is their grades do not reflect knowledge learned. So they have to be tested to graduate but colleges put so little faith in their abilities they test them again to put incoming freshman into the proper remedial English, reading and math classes before they can start their college years. So many teachers can't teach math we're importing them from other countries while denying people trained in math and other core subjects from teaching. They don't have the credentials, the "training" needed to teach. But they do know the material! Could it be they'll make the education major teachers look bad? They would!
Then when everything goes to hell in a hand basket, the NEA (having collected heavy dues) fights to keep incompetent teachers in the classroom while they fight voter initiatives to change stupid school curriculum and policies. The LIBERAL judges will overturn any votes that don't go the way teacher's unions want. Teacher's unions are the number one contributor to the Democratic Party and they provide massive man-hours to get them elected. Once in office the favor is returned and I'm sure there is plenty of discussion of politics in the classrooms.
The administration layer is a parasite of school superintendents and staff and more staff and grand buildings where they can gather and spout their educrat lingo, dismiss parental concerns and complain they don't have enough money to care about the children. They believe they know best, they believe we are fools. Unfortunately the kid's future's and their abilities have been squandered.
Read this and see an example of this social engineering mess being played out in Houston. Magnet for problems? HISD Vanguard program for gifted students being reassessed Different horror stories are beinging played out in every public school in the U.S. But parents think if the physical plant is attractive and new, and the teachers say things are great, that their child is getting a good education. They need to ask their children some questions and find out how much they really know.
ALL kids should know how to read in the first grade!
Yes this is a dilemma. They should be put into intensive English submersion classes. No bi-lingual education! Then place them according to their abilities, either give them training or let them enter junior high school. This isn't a perfect world and many of us sink or swim. The education system has been torked around so much it isn't dependable or effective. Let's stop failing to provide substance in order to feel good about political correctness and buying votes.
Ya think?! Gracious. You're right on target. This isn't hard to understand but it takes some hard work. With kids you make it fun and they actually like to learn. It makes them feel good to learn. Then they just soak it up. Today in public schools, everything is done to educat specifications and it is just so much garbage. Garbage in garbage out. Kids with anything on the ball, know this self-esteem stuff is bs.
I thought this was an interesting article about homeschooling in, of all places, the current Brown Alumni Magazine.
Kids used to learn to read in first grade. Now, as long as they can read a Miranda card by time they graduate, it's all good.
I was reading in grade K and forming a proper sentence by grade 2.
Break up the NEA! Their goal is to create generation after generation of functional idiots.
American history is all about the indians and slavery. Science is all about recycling.
What a load of $hit!
Doesn't look so wonderful to me.
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