Who Will Lead the School Board's Prayer at Tuesday's Meeting?

We have discussed the School Board's Invocation protocols many times in School Board meetings.  In light of the recent events at the City Council, I asked my counterpart, District 4 Board Member Patty Hightower, if she would be bringing this same individual this Tuesday for the pre-meeting prayer.  I strongly doubt that any of the other board members would bring him as their guest.  I certainly won't invite him, due to the way he has disrespected two of my previous guests that I have brought to bring the board a pre-meeting prayer.  Why would I ask Patty Hightower this?  Why wouldn't I...after all, she has invited this same person to bring the invocation before, and this person declined, he blew off her invitation. Thankfully.

But Hightower wouldn't answer the question, and of course she is under no obligation to do so.

But the way the exchange at the workshop went, who knows what will happen, who knows who she will bring?  I thought it peculiar and odd that she wouldn't answer the question.  Guess we will see Tuesday night......Hopefully it will be her doing her own version of an invocation, although according to the attorney this is a problem under the law.  Hopefully it will be a non-issue, just another Dr. Seuss reading, a story about geese and the reason they fly in a "V",  a children's poem, maybe even a moment of silence, or gee, maybe a Christian prayer?...hopefully, I really hope it doesn't turn out to be someone in a ridiculous costume like this.......

FASA Drops out of FSBA, Union Lawsuit against School Choice.

This Fantastic news was reported late yesterday in numerous media outlets, and I think this is a good start.

The rest of the groups that are pushing this suit in court should re-evaluate their positions and consider following the lead of FASA.

If we truly care about EVERY child and want to speak with ONE voice, then we need to all be pulling from the same side of the rope, supporting ALL children, in public, private, virtual, and alternative learning environments--and we ought to support the choices parents make about what sort of learning environment is best for each child.

If we want to proclaim we are the voice of education since 1930 then we ought to join everyone here in the 21st century ---and read the polling data that clearly demonstrates that the majority of Floridians support school choice!

It should always be about students, parents, and  tax-payers FIRST--not adult economic interests!

From an article in yesterday's  RedefinED :

"One of the original groups that signed on to the lawsuit last August challenging Florida’s tax credit scholarship program has announced it will no longer be a party to the case.  The Florida Association of School Administrators announced its decision to withdraw in a statement posted on its website and first reported by the Gradebook.

'Having made our position clear with regards to tax credit scholarships through our participation in the lawsuit thus far, it is time to dedicate the resources of our 5,000 members on the priorities that are the heart of our organization.'

Reached by phone, the group’s executive director, Juhan Mixon, said the organization’s “core mission” is to provide professional development to school officials around the state, and that litigation is “not our thing.”  “Our main priorities are teaching and learning,” he said, and the organization’s board, which oversees training for thousands of principals and other school officials, as well as a major digital learning initiative, decided it would be best not “to take resources of our association away from our priority.”

$21,766.00

At this evening's meeting of the Escambia County School Board, an expenditure will be made totaling $21,766.00.  In the scheme of a District with a $600Million + yearly budget, this number does not seem, on its face, to be that significant.

But how many books would this buy for students?  How many field trips would this amount cover for students?  How many athletic fees would this cover for students that are impoverished?  I think this is a big number.

And this amount is significant because it represents almost 80% of the School Board's yearly office budget, with the remainder going to travel and a minimal portion going to office supplies.  This $21,766.00 expenditure is going to pay annual "dues" to the Florida School Boards Association.

I strongly believe, as do many others, that individual constitutional officers like school board members should be able to determine whether or not to send their portion, on a pro-rata basis, to an organization like FSBA.  I want to opt-out of this expenditure and return my portion to our district's general fund;  Sadly, the current system for funding advocacy groups with taxpayer money precludes individual choice in this for individual school board members.  Subsequently, organizations like FSBA conscript false legitimacy by claiming they represent all school board members when in reality those of us that choose to,  cannot opt out.  The legislature should fix this so that like all other constitutional officers (Sheriffs, School Superintendents, Supervisors of Elections, etc.) we can make an individual determination regarding the funding of "advocacy" groups.  This, in turn would force such groups (FSBA) to be more responsive to the minority views of their members, lest they lose the funding.  Such a change would also foster competition, which is always beneficial.

So here is the problem with this expenditure:

Over the last several years, the relationship the FSBA has had with our elected legislature and Governor has become strained (and that is using a polite adjective).  Three years ago, then President-elect of FSBA (and current President of the organization) Patty Hightower and I sat in the office of a Tallahassee Senator, at that moment in time the second most powerful and influential man in Tallahassee, right behind Governor Rick Scott.  In that meeting, this senator looked Patty Hightower right in the face and said "Of all the organizations that come here to see me, I can think of none, not