Utah calls Jeb Bush to help them reform schools. Jeb seeing brother's agenda fulfilled.

madfloridian

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Tue Aug-31-10 02:34 PM
Original message

Utah calls Jeb Bush to help them reform schools. Jeb seeing brother's agenda fulfilled.

Utah leaders are discussing whether to copy Florida's procedure of grading schools with an A to F grade. In Florida it is based solely on the FCAT tests taken by the students. It is based on their score on that test.

There is no consideration given to any other factors. Just test scores.

Some Utah leaders want to copy Florida by grading schools

Some state leaders want to follow in Florida’s footsteps when it comes to school reform by grading Utah schools.

Sen. Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, said Tuesday, in the midst of a visit to Utah by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, that he’s drafting a bill that would hold Utah schools accountable by giving them A through F grades. He said he’s still working out the details of how schools would be graded but said, like Florida’s model, it would likely take into account student academic growth.

“Florida has shown they were successful in that,” Niederhauser said. “I believe we can be successful with that.”

Bush spent Tuesday explaining how Florida’s reform model has worked, first to Gov. Gary Herbert’s Education Excellence Commission and then at a luncheon sponsored by Parents for Choice in Education, which invited Bush to Utah. Florida’s reform plan included grading schools, giving rewards and consequences for those grades, not allowing third-graders with poor reading scores to advance to fourth grade, increasing graduation requirements, and expanding school choice through charter schools, corporate tax credit scholarships and vouchers.

There are other ideas about the success of that in Florida, but they don't get the publicity.

Schools that earn an A or improve by a letter grade get additional money, most of which has been used for teacher and staff bonuses. Schools that earn a grade of F for two out of four years have to give families the option of transferring kids to better performing schools. Until 2006, that included transferring to private schools using a state-funded scholarship or voucher. That private school voucher program, however, was ruled unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court in 2006.

Only good schools are rewarded. The others are subject to turnarounds and transformations through Duncan's new goals.

Actually Florida recently passed a voucher bill that expanded vouchers even more.

FL Senate passes voucher bill for private schools. Will cause state to lose 31 million in taxes

It was signed by Charlie Crist a few months ago.

More than two years ago, the state stopped giving tuition vouchers to students who wanted to leave failing public schools for private school. Since then, Florida's other two programs that pay private-school tuition for disabled kids or poor children have grown by 21 percent and 65 percent respectively. Today, 42,000 Florida students attend private school on the public's dime. And a new study touting voucher benefits could trigger more expansion.

Why is the number growing? As more people learn about the programs, more sign up. Low-income families are thrilled they can afford to find a school that meets their children's needs. Why are these 2 programs still allowed?

Why not work to fix the schools that are under-achieving instead of such drastic measures as giving public money to private schools.

Last September Jeb was invited to Indiana to help their schools.

Jeb invited to Indiana.

Photo from the Indianapolis Star

Jeb Bush hasn't been Florida governor for nearly three years now. Yet the stamp he placed on Florida's education system has been indelible — so much so that other states still bring him in to talk about what he did and how they can do it, too.

This week, Jeb headed to Indianapolis, where he spoke to state leaders about school grading, charter schools, third-grade promotion requirements and several other things he brought to Florida's public schools.

They ate it up.

The Indianapolis Star reports that Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels "would like to adopt everything Bush described — and more." State superintendent of public instruction Tony Bennett was equally enthusiastic, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports.

"There is nothing off the table in the areas of freedom, competition and accountability," Bennett told the Courier-Journal.

Last October Jeb made an appearance on Morning Joe to praise Obama's education agenda.

Jeb Bush is delighted that Obama is taking on teachers' unions.

Video is at the link.

He actually states how pleased he is to see this administration confronting one of their core constituencies, the teachers' unions. Harold Ford, who appears to be part of the panel on Morning Joe seems to agree with Jeb. He asked if Jeb approved of the goals which demand that unions "play by a different set of rules."

I would like to say that Jeb is speaking things that are not true. Trouble is, he is right. Duncan already set up confrontations with teachers' unions and states.

Joe says to Jeb that essentially what we were hearing from Jeb in 1995 and 96 we are starting to hear from Democrats. He asks Jeb if his views will be part of the education bill next year. Jeb thinks that is true....he says that this administration's willingness to tweak the NCLB bill shows that.

Gingrich is touring the country with Arne, seeing his dreams of charter schools come to fruition.

We are now "post partisan" in education goals.