A new bill titled HB 7079 was introduced in the Florida House last week. This bill has already passed through one subcommittee, and is expected to continue to move through the committee process very quickly. All parents of children in Florida public schools should be concerned about this bill. It has the potential to disrupt … More HB 7079 – Closing Schools Hurts the Community
As this parent learned, and most parents and teachers know, children are much more than test scores. Tests can’t predict how successful a child will be in life. They can’t measure independence, resilience, kindness, diligence, or all of the other qualities we all want our children to master. Why then, does Governor DeSantis want to … More Tests Don’t Make Kids Smarter: A Letter to Governor DeSantis
You may have heard about the Governor’s Executive Order to remove Common Core from the Florida Standards earlier this year. This order led the FL Department of Education on a path with a very aggressive timeline, to complete a full revision within one year. What is Common Core? Common Core is a set of Standards … More The FL DOE is listening…are you speaking?
Thank you Mike Gondolfo, (President of Pinellas County Teacher’s Association), for your message to the Pinellas County School Board. It’s time for lawmakers to step up and stop the unfunded mandates and abusive high stakes tests attached to teacher pay, along with larger class sizes! It’s time to listen to those speaking up for what … More Speak up in support of teachers!
The teaching profession is one of the most important jobs in our country. Teachers help shape the lives of our children, which in turn impacts our own lives when we grow older, as well as those of future generations. The impact they have on society cannot be underestimated or underappreciated. The way we treat and … More Urge legislators to increase teacher pay
The Florida Education Association hosted a statewide gathering of education advocates on May 18 titled: Bringing Voices Together: An Education Summit for Florida’s Public Schools. Over 1,000 teachers, parents, school board members, superintendents, and students, came together in Orlando for conversations about how to save our public schools. Emerging themes included: Educate the public – … More Bringing Voices Together: 100 conversations about public education
by Heide Janshon There has been a great deal of “I doth protest” from districts and superintendents when the case is made attaching the Common Core State Standards (or any standards for that matter) to the high stakes standardized tests used to evaluate teachers, give schools a grade, and of course, determine standards mastery by … More Separating Testing from the Common Core State Standards is like tearing muscle from bone
As a result of a bill by titled HB7069 which passed in 2017, many schools across the state have faced the threat of potential closure if they receive lower than a “C” grade for two years or more. Based on data from the FL DOE, an estimated 79 schools faced this fate this past school … More School Closures Should be Local Decisions
by: Heide Janshon Dear parents, I’m sure you’ve been terrified by all sorts of claims that the Third Grade ELA FSA (English Language Arts Florida Standards Assessment) determines whether your child is retained or promoted. Please read on and stand firmly on the fact that you are informed, empowered and can rest in the knowledge … More What exactly determines Third Grade retention?
A tale of a rural school Public schools are pillars of the community in which they serve – and rightfully so, given that they are funded by the community itself. That has never been more true than in Hawthorne, FL. With a city-wide population of just over 1,400, Hawthorne is the very definition of “small … More The downside to school closures
