Florida Matters; 5; The State of Education

Major funding for Florida matters comes from the mosaic company a leading producer of fertilizer made from phosphate a natural resource found in Florida. America's farmers depend on Florida phosphate for their crop nutrition needs mosaic helping America grow. We need funding. And although we do have. And the country has an economic crisis going on we cannot forget our children. I am I reading Mayor welcome to Florida matters. Today we turn our attention to Florida's public schools. The current economic slowdown is putting a strain on our educators students and

parents at the same time Florida's public education system is under greater pressure than ever to perform. With us today from Tallahassee is the CEO for the Florida Association of District School Superintendents Bill Monfort thank you very much Mr. Montfort for joining us today. I wonder if you could just begin by giving us sort of a thumbnail sketch of the state of education in Florida given tremendous budget cutbacks school closings high dropout rates. How would you characterize the education system right now in Florida. Well thank you for this opportunity. First of all let me say we're blessed in the state of Florida. Have a caliber of teachers and support people that we enjoy to. Florida is the strength of our public education system in terms of financial status. I've been in this business for 40 years and this is by far the worst case scenario in terms of our financing. And if you look at it it's it's it's it's an issue that that is statewide. There is no district in Florida that I have not been touched by this financial

crisis. If you look at Volusia County over a period of three years that there were a three year plan to close seven schools. They've already eliminated a thousand positions. If you look at Marion County in the central part of Florida five hundred teachers who are just notified they would not be back and not be re-empowered for next year. And to varying degrees you'll find that education and in virtually every district in Florida. How about the presidential stimulus package how do you feel that that's going to affect education in Florida. Well we're very hopeful that the stimulus package will come through and we're confident that it will we know our commissioner of education Eric Schmidt the governor and other state leaders have worked very hard to ensure that certainly Florida would would get its share of the stimulus package. We're also very concerned with what the stranger will be attached to do to those funding. We also have to keep in mind it is only for two years a maximum of three. And what we have to be very careful that we don't use as stimulus package funding. And in a reoccurring calls such as personal we be very careful that there will be a lot of earmarks. There are a lot of money tied

up in title one and some other areas. So we're having to be very very creative we're asking our Florida legislature into session to give our school districts as much flexibility as possible in terms of the use of the state dollars and we're asking for the same thing with the federal stimulus package as well. All right. What about cats. They've always been under fire it seems there's always some controversy regarding cats. Is there any plan to make any changes to this sort of testing for students. I think we need to keep in mind that the superintendents in Florida have always been supportive of a high level of accountability high standards and so on. What we have to remember too is that Africa is just the latest test on the blog. If you go back to the 1970s we had what was then called the functional illiteracy exam. Now clearly it is much more of a high stakes test. They know the test we've had before. There may very well be some changes in it but I'm confident though change it will come to serious deliberation and quite a bit of

discussion. Well we we we have to have some measure in Florida as to as to how our students are performing. Sure. Thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedule to join us today Mr. Montfort and thank you for the opportunity. And joining us now back in the studio to continue this discussion on education is CARSEN Cooper. Carson Well Irene we're going to talk about the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. The effort to get. The kid is a standardized test given to all public school students in Florida grades 3 to 11. The purpose of the system is to assess how well Florida students are progressing and to hold schools accountable. The original goals of the Afghan were to shed some light on performance of schools across Florida and that was absolutely appropriate. About a decade ago former Governor Jeb Bush believe that a standardized test could serve a better purpose. He instituted his A-plus plan which links school funding to cat test results. Critics and supporters do agree on one thing.

Under Governor Bush's A-plus plan the Afghan became a high stakes situation with a lot riding on test results funding jobs bonuses reputations and above all a student's ability to receive a high school diploma. John Perry is a fifth grade teacher every year the bar you're supposed to hit goes up. So it's increasing pressure every year. So not only do you have the A-plus plan which involves the school read. No you have no child left behind. And so the pressure keeps increasing. So that now it's to the point really where school is all had all the time it's completely taken over is when everything you do in the classroom everything you do in academics in the school in the district is with the test in mind.

Terry Penny was an educator for more than 20 years. In her last three she served as an assistant principal in Port St. Lucie. Why did I quit. I could no longer condone what I felt to be the oppressive environment that existed in the school. To all in the name of bumping test scores. Penny felt compelled to write a novel inspired by her experiences as an educator. In my book I reveal things that we did as administrators to counter potentials for poor performance and tests. The fictional school administration in Penneys novel has a practice of withdrawing students who could potentially bring down overall scores. I didn't feel good about it. I went along with it but after a while I just couldn't condone it any more. The test can only tell you a certain number of things. It's not perfect. There would be no problem with the use of Africa or any other test to screen schools for which schools need more. A closer look

for intensive intervention. But as long as test scores are the primary means by which we judge schools. Some principals and administrators are going to put too much emphasis on test preparation and take too much from other important educational activities. The idea of giving these tests has been around Florida since 1972 in Florida was the first in the nation to mandate a required high school graduation test for Florida matters. I'm Harson Cooper. Tell us what you think about standardized testing in Florida. You can join the discussion by going online to WSF dot o r g. Slash. Florida matters. The statistics are staggering. In Pinellas County two thirds of African-American students in public schools perform below grade level and only 21 percent of African-American males who enter ninth grade make it to the 12th grade and graduate with the recent rezoning of Pinella schools and budget cuts

certain Pinellas County schools are expected to have higher than normal concentrations of lower achieving students. A group of community leaders came together recently to ask the question what if what if they targeted a group of Pinella schools hardest hit by the rezoning and budget cuts and flooded those schools with resources. Would it make a difference. Take a look. We are not asking if you will be a volunteer. We're asking when will you become a volunteer. If not you who. And if not now when Florida's dropout rate is second highest in the nation with Pinellas County coming in first in the state in a competition no one wants to win. The statistics are challenging the number of minority. Young people that are finishing high school has decreased significantly. The numbers of teachers that are challenged if you will by budget cuts. And disciplinary

problems and challenges is ever increasing. That's why the community decided to create their own solution. The plan match 100 volunteers to 100 high risk students in three Panola schools to see what would happen if a school could have all the resources it needed. They call themselves the dream team. We are. Butchers and bankers we are teachers and lawyers we are preachers and fathers and mothers and grandparents and give them every level of society that it's important that young people still have the best education possible and the best future possible. The budget cuts were the catalysts for this program seeing the need to help students that were facing challenges as we experience budget cuts across the country. We knew that it was time to step back in and been of assistance with the school board's approval the dream team is now ready to recruit an army of volunteers to accomplish their goals.

I have the number as I go to the school I have the reports and I know what you all are looking at. And so we've stepped up. We're here to help with this dream team as well. There's nothing there's absolutely nothing more important than this. So there's this other saying that says each one reach one teach one. I heard that before. So when you leave here tonight you've should become missionaries for this project and the schools participating in the dream team project don't mind being part of an experiment. I think the students having a one on mentor or someone who they know is going to check up on them follow through with expectations and really push them to achieve their goals. It would be very inefficient. I think it would be wonderful at the middle school and our children could really benefit from that. We get families that want to be involved but they can't because you know they're working two jobs or they don't have transportation. And that's exactly what we need. The mood is upbeat.

It's what I call. It's sort of a somber upbeat. You know the stats are real. You know the challenge is significant and you want to achieve something and do something good and right and accountable. But you also feel good about where we all acted as to why we are here. Let's talk about the meat of all of this if you will. So I make the challenge that this is just the beginning. And I look forward to looking at the results and worrying about having to tweak things later on said thank you for your commitment. I'm counting on you to join us in and helping our students succeed. Joining me in the studio is assistant superintendent of Pinellas school Solomon Stephens and sitting next to him is Pastor Louis Murphy Sr.. Welcome to both of you. This program sounds fantastic a really great way to get kids saved. I guess you could say in the education system it hasn't been done before. There are lots of programs that a mentoring program but I believe that this is the first

comprehensive collaborative effort where you have a relationship between the school district and the community. It really is that old cliche it takes a village to raise a child. That's right. And you're calling it the dream team the dream team and one of the mentors volunteers with the program of course is Pastor Murphy. Tell us about why you got involved. Well I pastor in the community and many of our parents are single parents and many of them really struggle with their boys because there's so much peer pressure. And if you look at the stats they are alarming. So many of our children are not graduating from high school and ending up in the juvenile detention center. This is a problem particularly in Pinellas County. As I understand it retention keeping kids in school. Right. It's a national problem but right now we're focusing in on Pinellas County. We know that Pinellas County is Florida and Florida alone ranked number 15 9th and graduation rate for African-American boys Pinellas County on that list. It's probably

four to six. That's not good. We want to make sure that we do something about it. We have enlisted the help and support of all groups the clergy business owners just the whole community. It's going to be a community effort. We're excited about the whole notion of coming together bringing the community to try to change the life it's a fake kids not only currently but also ultimately in the future. You're asking people to volunteer to do this. Pastor Murphy you are a busy man. How are you going to make time in your day to help these kids. How can I not make time is just that important is urgent in my mind is the state of emergency to many of our children ending up in jail. Did selling crack on crack. Not only myself but we're really calling on the whole community to get behind the dream team. So you would encourage other pastors other people in general that may hear this. Oh absolutely.

Just wait. Yes. Do you have to be in education or in pasturing in order to be a volunteer who can do it. Well absolutely not. We are looking for people who are willing mine who have a desire to give some assistance who understand the essence of the problem. You know understand that in our county alone as pastor my fear indicated our kids end up with unsuccessful future. So we want people who want to step forward who are willing who absolutely who are able to give some time in the evening during the daytime whenever they can give it. We need them in the halls in the school. We need them doing to talk to your service. We need them doing a mentoring relationship with kids we need them in any capacity within this or when you're hard hit by budget cuts what kind of an impact can a program like this make in your school system. Significant there's no way that we can meet our needs of the kids without having the volunteers to step up. We are facing at least from 80

to 100 six million dollar budget shortfall this year. That's significant our kids still need the service we need them more than any time now to step up to the plate because it occurs in nature. We need people to step up to take hold of this opportunity. It's a crisis situation. We make sure that we have to have a dream team to come together to unite the buildings and these kids. What do you think will be the gauge of success. How will you know if it's working. Well we don't have any kids going into it when we can you know close out all the juvenile detention centers and we have a 100 percent graduation rate. That's right. And more and more kids staying in school just in general. Sure. And you know we probably need some significant things that we can look at the metrics achievement gap we need to make sure that kid discipline level offense is the down we need to make sure that at 10:00 that they're coming to school they actually enjoying school and participating.

Right. So you'll keep records and really try to quantify it. Well good luck with it. Thank you both for coming in and sharing all this information with us. I think it's wonderful. If you'd like to talk more about this important issue find out also how you can get involved. Visit our Web site at WSF dot o r g. Slash. Florida matters. It's time now for Larry Elliston's next Florida story. And let's just say he had a dog on good time with this one. Take a look. Tipper ready. Let's go see the kids. Among the early arrivals at otes that elementary school in Manderlay teacher Cindy Goldsworthy. And a dog named tip. Tipper is a 6 year old 6 pound long haired duction. She's also a trained pet therapy dog and part time teaching assistant. This is tip or she is going to read with my class today. Laurie. Is. Going to work on it. Today. Everybody wants to be in Mrs

Goldsworthy is calling us. Tipper started her once a month visit to class about two and a half years ago. We were trying to figure out a way to motivate students to read a little bit more. And I looked at home and I thought my children are motivated by my dog at home. So why not get Tipper trained and certified and bring her into the classroom. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. You may be seated. Welcome to the third grade and Mrs. Goldsworthy getting close. We're manatees are marvelous. Pronouns take the place of nouns and you can read with Tip cursive. Remember we're going to be the big one first. But first there's another lesson in real writing.

My turn for the show again I'm gonna screwed it up a little bit. Come around like you're going to make the scene go back around and over. Excellent. Glad you did. And what do you do with the alphabet you spell and learn new words brisk the morning was brisk here today. Cautious words written into sentences and read in books. I'm going to bring the crowd in the center of the room. She's going to do some tricks for you and get you all excited about reading with her today. Good tipper can come in the classroom because she is a certified therapy dog which means she's had some obedience training she's had some temperament training. She's had some testing that she has the right temperament not to be afraid of the children moving around the classroom. If a loud noise like a fire drill or an alarm goes off she has been exposed to some of those things and she'll react appropriately because they know it's time to read tipplers first reader.

Nine year old Shiloh we've spoken to this work is about a community room. His mom wanted him to get off the porch for the murders. Want to get away from someone. Check your watch. Got to go. Tipper makes her appearance once a month. She's a furry in cities such as Rizo. All of my children have been motivated more to read those longer chapter books on their level. And I think. That Tipper provides that extra motivation just to finish that book to get a reward at the end. Gliding in the OR UNDER the top of their headphones I poor me. Whenever I. To get to her. We German read eight books this month. It will only take you half way there. Just take me seriously and you long to see studies have proven the unconditional love of an animal is a good thing for us human race. Just

touching a dog like tippler offers reassurance and warmth and a sense of well-being. Take you. It can be pretty good. Listen seriously and you long to see the. Tipper. Cause she likes to sit with me and read with me and sometimes she lets me most times when I hear that I get her a temper I'm like oh my goodness I gotta go to the library get some books. While I take my money over it's your turn to really. Show nine year old Scott Matthews has two dogs at home and a reading buddy at school. Trombone sound. Sounding out the word or reading your dog. You actually feel like you know I keep reading to someone and person I conversing. Thanks for being here at old dead elementary reading that

Tipper was going great and then dog gone it just when Tipper was ready for her next duty and the alarm for a tornado drill came over the loudspeaker. It was only a practice but the students and Tipper show their men. And what was Mrs. Goldsworthy saying about loud noises and warms Tipper was on top of that no problem. However John. You'll be happy to know that Mrs. Goldsworthy 3rd grade class came out with flying colors on the Duck and Cover drill keep her to. Me sit up and listen for directions. And now back to the book. This. Is. What a wonderful way to get kids excited about reading. I think Cindy Goldsworthy is going to be one of those teachers that her students remember her for doing just that. I'm excited about reading and

excited about learning. Tipper too. Yes I think so. Thanks a lot Larry. We welcome your questions and comments so be sure to check out our Web site and get involved. Go to WSF dad Orji slash Florida matters. And we'll see you next week. Major funding for Florida matters comes from the mosaic company a leading producer of fertilizer made from phosphate a natural resource found in Florida. America's

farmers depend on Florida phosphate for their crop nutrition needs mosaic helping America grow. Well thanks for being with us here at Homestead elementary reading that

Tipper was going great. And then dog gone. Just when Tipper was ready for her next Dieudonne the alarm for a tornado drill came over the loudspeaker. It was only a Cruddas but the students and Tipper showed their men. And what was Mrs Goldsworthy saying about loud noises and warms. Tipper was on top of. No problem. Daddy. However John. You'll be happy to know that Mrs Goldsworthy 3rd grade class came out with flying colors on the Duck and Cover drill kippered to. Mix it up with directions. And now back to the books. What a wonderful way to get kids excited about reading. I think Cindy Goldsworthy is going to be one of those teachers that her students remember her for doing just that. Get her. I'm excited about reading and

excited about learning to Tipper too. Yes I think so. Thanks a lot Larry. We welcome your questions and comments so be sure to check out our Web site and get involved. Go to WSF dot org slash Florida matters. And we'll see you next week. One. Major funding for Florida matters comes from the mosaic company a leading producer of fertilizer made from phosphate a natural resource found in Florida. America's

farmers depend on Florida phosphate for their crop nutrition needs mosaic helping America grow