Revised Interlocal Agreement Passed by Board by 4-1 Vote

Yesterday's special meeting of the Escambia County School Board ended with the revised interlocal agreement being approved by a 4-1 vote. I was the lone "no" vote, as I had numerous concerns with the document as revised. I documented my concerns here:

http://jeffbergoshblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/school-concurrency-subject-of-special.html

The document that we voted to approve will be finalized and presented to the county commission this Thursday for their approval--which is expected. The document, with revisions noted, is here:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/8774229/Escambia-Inter-Local-Agreement-w-Edits

The silver linings involved with the passage of this agreement are:

1. We will have to address our lingering need to close and consolodate some of our schools with excess capacity---if we ever have any hope of receiving ay mitigation funds from any developments. (We should have been doing this all along--but closing schools is difficult and extremely unpopular)

2. Nobody will ever be able to accuse The Escambia School Board of not being "developer friendly" ---as the Home Builders and County Planning Staff essentially got every concession that they requested in this document from the Scool District.

School Concurrency the Subject of a Special Board Meeting Today

Concurrency is simply the method by which local governments mutually cooperate in the management of planned or contemplated construction/development that impact levels of services (fire/rescue, water, libraries, schools, etc.) within a given geographical area. Although relating to Alachua County in particular, an excellent essay on School Concurrency complete with history and examples can be found here:

http://www.acscp.org/school%20concurrency.doc

This afternoon the School Board of Escambia County will be having a special meeting to approve revisions to the School Concurrency plan that was initially approved by the board back in September.

I supported the initial concurrency plan, as I felt it addressed the school district’s interests adequately with respect to managing growth.

The County and the Home Builder’s Association have called for edits to the document, and these edits have been incorporated into the latest iteration of the concurrency plan on which the board will vote this afternoon.

If approved as edited, the Escambia Concurrency plan has some significant issues that differ from what many other Florida Counties are doing in their plans.

Most of the other Florida Counties’ plans that I have seen have a mandatory upfront requirement that at the time of initial application, developers submit a School Impact Analysis (SIA) report. Many counties charge a fee for concurrency review at the time of preliminary review.
The latest Escambia draft does not mandate this.

Most of the other Florida Counties’ plans that I have seen call for concurrency service areas (CSA’s) that are less than districtwide. The original Escambia draft I voted for in September called for CSA’s that are less than districtwide. This has been changed and taken out of the current revision by the county and the Home Builder’s Association.
The Escambia draft now has districtwide concurrency service areas.
(Theoretically, this would allow a developer to build, with no mandatory mitigation required, new residential units in an area that has schools already over capacity [like, for instance, in the Lipscomb attendance area] if the school district has ANY excess capacity anywhere else in the county) This change does not favor the district, and I'm concerned about this revision.

A large number of the other Florida Counties’ plans that I have seen call for the formal/final determination of concurrency to be made at the time of final project approval.

The latest Escambia draft calls for the concurrency determination to be made at the time of preliminary application.

I have spent my weekend surveying what 22 other counties have put into place in their respective concurrency plans, and I have some reservations with the current revised Escambia County Plan. I've voiced my concerns with the Superintendent and also with the Superintendent for Operations.

I have other issues with the draft plan that will be voted on this afternoon, and my hope is that the board will take the time necessary to fully flesh out all of these issues before voting on the current draft, which will be a document in force for the next five years once approved.

Merit Pay for Pensacola Teachers--A Balanced Article From the PNJ

The PNJ article on Merit Pay in today's edition was fair and balanced. from the piece:

"About 340 Escambia County educators have opted out of the merit pay program, about 160 fewer than last year. The Legislature appropriated around $38 million for the Merit Award Program, which gives bonuses to high-performing educators and administrators"

http://www.pnj.com/article/20081206/NEWS01/812060309


I'm glad that the very important statistic (fewer teachers opting out) was a centerpiece of the story. This statistic in and of itself is important, but the other statistic that is equally important will be where the score cut-off point is this year, delineating the statistical top half of teachers (who will receive merit pay) from the statistical bottom half of teachers (who will not receive the award) Fewer people opting out combined with a higher score to win the award will solidify the view that the overall goal of the program--to improve overall districtwide performance--is being met.

I disagree with Gail Husbands' assessment in the article that the reason that more teachers are participating this year is simply due to the poor economy. I think this view is an oversimplification.

I don't understand the reasoning behind publishing the names of the teachers that opted out, either. With this list of 340 opt-outs, it would be interesting to drill down the statistics to know how many are EEA Union Members--my hunch is that it is a high percentage on this opt-out list. Typically, Organized Teacher's Unions nationwide have been wary of any sort of Merit Bonus System that rewards fewer than all teachers equally. The important points to know locally as they relate to our Florida Merit Award Plan are that Gail Husbands, the EEA, Andy Ford, and the FEA have all endorsed the Merit Awrd Plan. The other important data point to be aware of (that did not make it into the article) is that a majority of Escambia County Teachers are not Union Members.

Overall, to have only a hair over 10% of Escambia teachers opt-out is encouraging, because this means nearly 9 out of 10 teachers are "in" this year. I'd like to see the participation rates cotinue to increase as the program continues to move forward.

Michelle Rhee: The Education Reformer to Watch in 2009

Michelle Rhee, the maverick chancellor of Washington D.C. Public schools, is gaining a lot of momentum in her quest to reform her district. She is also getting a lot of national press coverage of her unfolding reform agenda. I picked up on an article in The Economist earlier this year which highlighted some of Rhee's strategies for reforming the D.C. Schools, and I included this article in an earlier Blog entry.

http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11707298

I hope Rhee is successful in her very tough endeavor, and I am also hopeful that she continues to receive fair and positive media coverage as she begins to tackle some very unpopular issues.

From the US News and World Report Blog:

"If you want to quickly become the most unpopular person in a city, close down a school. No, make that 23 schools. Then, fire 34 principals, offer buyouts to 700 teachers (while pressuring hundreds more to leave), and fire 98 employees from the school district's central office. That's what Michelle Rhee . . . has done since she took control of the district in the summer of 2007.”
“Teacher unions have been a major stumbling block for Rhee, who is seeking to win support for proposals that would make it easier for her to fire incompetent teachers and give bonuses to the best ones. She has introduced two compensation plans, one that strips teachers of tenure but allows them to earn up to $130,000 if they meet performance goals based on student test scores, and the other that lets teachers keep tenure but gives them a modest raise. So far, the unions have chosen not to hold a vote on either proposal, leaving Rhee frustrated.”

Full article here:

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/on-education/2008/12/2/rhee-challenges-obama-to-get-behind-her-on-school-reform.html

Rhee is also featured on the cover of the December 8th Time Magazine:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/29/AR2008112902104.html

Rhee is also featured in a short piece in the December 4th CNN Fortune Blog:

“Rhee has hit walls and earned the ire of unions, but that doesn’t discourage her. “You always have to lead from the front,” she told me yesterday when I asked her what is the best advice she’s gotten along the way. Joel Klein, the New York City schools chancellor, gave her that advice last year, and he told her: “Don’t feel the need to bring everyone along with you. If you do that, you’re not going to get anywhere.”

full article here:

http://postcards.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/12/04/a-visit-with-educations-fearless-reformer

Florida Media Coverage of Charter School DCA Opinion

Several major Florida newspapers have covered the District Court of Appeals opinion handed down yesterday affirming the exclusive authority of local school boards to establish charter schools at the local district level.

From the Orlando Sentinel:

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_education_edblog/2008/12/court-rules-flo.html

From the Miami Herald:

"A three-judge panel of the First District Court of Appeal struck down a 2006 law that lets applicants sidestep the state's 67 county school boards by getting their charters instead from a state commission"

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/796872.html

from Florida Today:

http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20081202/BREAKINGNEWS/81202003/1086

From the Jacksonville Times Union

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/120308/met_362871457.shtml


WEAR TV pensacola did a 6.25 second piece on this issue, PNJ did not cover this story.

A Victory For Local Government Control

In 2006, the Florida Legislature enacted section 1002.335, Florida Statutes, which created the mechanism by which a State Level Entity, The Florida Schools of Excellence Commission, wrestled away from local district school boards the exclusive authority to authorize charter schools. Several District School Boards, to include Escambia County, challenged this law in court. Fast forward two years, and today the local school districts unanimously won the exclusive authority appeal in the district court. The court agrees with the dozens of Florida School districts in that local district school boards, under title IX section 4 of the Florida Constitution, should have the exclusive authority to authorize charter schools within their respective districts. Read the entire decision here:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/8612263/DCA1

This decision, a vindication of sorts for the local control purists, brought to mind some interesting “pop culture” quotes. As I thought about this issue, I thought about a couple of quotes relating to organizations and the importance of “control”.

Bill Parcells, one of the greatest coaches to ever walk an NFL sideline (In my opinion), once famously said:

“They want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries”

What did that mean? The quote was made after the 1996 NFL Football season of coaching that saw Parcells take the New England Patriots to the Super Bowl. The Patriots lost Super Bowl XXXI to the Green Bay Packers, 35-21 and Bill Parcells resigned as the Patriots head coach five days later. Three days after his resignation, Parcells was hired as head coach of the Patriots’ arch-rival, the New York Jets. Asked about his abrupt departure from the Patriots during his first official New York Jets news conference, Parcells wryly stated:

“They want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries”

Parcells-- frustrated at having several of his decisions (particularly draft choices) second guessed and in some cases overruled by the Patriots team owner-- knew that if he was in charge of an organization, he needed to have decision making control. His move to the Jets allowed him control.

Similarly, Robert Di Nero’s character Sam “Ace” Rothstein from 1995’s film Casino said: (about being offered the chance to run an organization) “You know if I did it, I'd have to run it my way, I'm serious, no interference.”

Parcells and Rothstein both had a valid point. Who would want a title, responsibility, and accountability for an organization’s operations/achievements--- without control?

School districts are nothing like NFL Football teams or Giant Casino Operations. School districts are, however, large organizations that should be locally controlled. Unfortunately, much of the autonomy of local boards has been eroded. Local boards are constantly being force-fed a seemingly endless array of mandates from the State and Federal Government. I am an advocate for local control, and when a district is held accountable for its success and achievement, that district should have the opportunity to “shop for some of our own groceries” with “no interference.”

Mobile School District on Notice from ACLU

Recently, Mobile public schools have been warned by the ACLU about allowing gender segregated classes in one of their public middle schools. from the Montgomery Advertiser:

"In a letter to school officials, the American Civil Liberties Union said the student body at Hankins Middle School was wrongly segregated by gender without notifying parents and that no coeducational option was provided as required by federal law.
Mobile County schools spokeswoman Nancy Pierce said the system's lawyers will review the ACLU letter, but she declined further comment"

full article here: http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20081113/NEWS02/811130309

Escambia County does not have any such school-wide programs, with the exception of the Department of Juvenile Justice programs (Corry Boy's Base and PACE center for Girls). Tate High School has some 9th Grade classes that are gender segregated, and Carver/Century k-8 has some gender segregated classes, but neither of these small programs is an "all-day" program. If more of these types of programs are put forth I would support the implementation, because these programs work.


Many districts around the country have begun gender separate education, because it is widely believed that boys and girls learn differently and that separation of boys and girls leads to greater student achievement. In 2006, Federal Regulations were codified to permit gender segregated education in U.S. Public Schools. Some school districts, like Greene County, Georgia, have gone all Gender-separate.

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2008/02/14/gaschools_0215.html

For many struggling districts that are trying desparately to improve achievement, gender-segregated programs are one of the tools in their "toolbox." If this concept works, and the facilities and programs are equal, then why would the ACLU object to this?