January 18, 2010
W hat were they thinking?
The over the next fcash-strapped Broward School Board turned down the potential for $34 million our years to improve teacher training, better track individual student achievement and help low-performing schools improve.
By a 5-4 vote, the board decided Tuesday it would not join most other Florida school districts — including Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Monroe counties — that are part of the state’s bid for a share of the $4.35 billion the Obama administration is offering in its Race to the Top initiative.
It was a political move prompted by the sour relations between the Broward Techers Union and School Superintendent Jim Notter. And it was wrong.
Mr. Notter wisely recommended that the board sign on to compete for the money, but the BTU, like most teachers unions in Florida, balked at tying any performance evaluation of teachers to the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. As it stands, Florida’s plan would link teacher performance partly to how their students progress on the FCAT, but half of that teacher evaluation would come from other measures.
The formula may need tweaking, which is why the state’s proposal gives districts three months after the federal government awards the money to agree on a plan. There’s wiggle room there, which is why other boards signed on.
The Broward board, already under scrutiny for its palsy-walsy relations with contractors doing business with the district, also doesn’t want to upset the powerful unions that raise money and help board members’ campaigns. Students, it seems, are not the priority.
In the same week that Broward turned its back on the fede ral money, Education Week magazine released its annual “Quality Counts” report, ranking Florida eighth in the nation. Just three years ago the state ranked 31st. The report, which uses national data going back to 2000 in some categories, ranked Florida seventh in student achievement.
That rank recognizes that students’ scores on national tests have improved — thanks in no small part to the FCAT’s insistence on strong language and math (and now science) skills. The achievement gap between poor kids and those from suburban neighborhoods is closing.
The FCAT may not be perfect, but it is producing tangible results.
Of course, both parties play politics with the test. State Sen. Stephen Wise, a Jacksonville Republican who chairs the Senate education appropriations panel, maintains that this latest national ranking shows schools can do without more money because students have made strong gains even though Florida spends $1,000 less per student than the national average.
Whoa! The state has been dumping more and more responsibility for funding on local school districts, fund-raising parents and nonprofits that are constantly scrambling to help public schools. Besides, the report used 2007 figures to compare funding among states — before Florida plunged into recession.
Money does matter, as do standards. The five board members who sold out Broward’s kids for political expediency flunked that common sense test.