ICYMI: Florida education news in review, week of Jan. 21, 2019 – Tampa Bay Times

Are Florida school districts taking seriously their responsibility for safety and security? Depends who you ask. The head of the state’s public school safety commission suggested they’re dragging their feet, an accusation that superintendents strongly rejected. They’re planning to talk it out at a February meeting. Read on for that and more news. • Don’t miss our weekly highlights of the news, views, reports and more. You can keep up daily with our conversation on Facebook^[1], hear our podcast^[2], and follow our blog^[3] to get all the latest Florida education news. All tips, comments and ideas welcome. Know anyone who’d like to get this weekly roundup or other updates via email? Have them send a note to [email protected]^[4].

Top of the Times

Gualtieri to lawmakers: schools need more armed staff, punish districts that move too slow^[5], Emily Mahoney

“When Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri stood up to give his presentation to the House Education committee on Tuesday, he had harsh words for school districts whom he said are ‘not moving fast enough’ and are ‘playing games’ with SB 7026, the law passed last year in response to the Parkland shooting that mandated sweeping school safety requirements, including requiring an armed guard on every campus.”

RELATED: Pasco schools superintendent takes issue with Pinellas sheriff’s accusations over security^[6], Jeffrey S. Solochek

Off her school board, Erika Donalds focuses on Florida school choice expansion^[7], Jeffrey S. Solochek

“On the Collier County School Board and on the Florida Constitution Revision Commission, Erika Donalds of Naples made a big impression on the state’s education policy landscape. … Now, Donalds is turning her attention to expanding school choice statewide, both at the legislative policy level and the local implementation.”

Key Florida Republican lawmaker seeks LGBTQ protections^[8], Jeffrey S. Solochek

“State Sen. Joe Gruters, chairman of the Florida Republican Party and a close ally of President Donald Trump, filed legislation Wednesday to bar discrimination in the workplace over a person’s sexual identity or gender orientation.”

RELATED: Fight over Republican support for LGBTQ rights divides Florida activists^[9], David Smiley

Visit tampabay.com for more education news from the Times staff.^[10]

Around the State

Florida college admissions: Getting into UF, FSU, UCF may depend a lot on where you went to high school^[11], Orlando Sentinel, Leslie Postal and Annie Martin

“Students at Florida high schools in more affluent communities are more likely to get into UF or FSU — the state’s top-ranked universities — than students from high schools in lower-income neighborhoods, according to an Orlando Sentinel analysis of an admissions database for state universities.”

Why teachers in Palm Beach County’s poorest schools get smaller raises^[12], Palm Beach Post, Andrew Marra

“The varying outcomes are a product of the school district’s subjective process for evaluating teachers, which gives principals broad sway over how teachers are rated but few guidelines about how to wield their power equitably.”

FL schools aren’t mandated to have Baker Act policies; parents still left in the dark, critics say^[13], WPTV, Katie LaGrone

“But nearly one year after the Parkland shooting inspired schools to improve mental health services to kids in crisis, we found many school districts fail to track how many of their students have been Baker Acted and many lack independent policies on how to handle these cases including policies to contact parents before a Baker Act is initiated at school.”

Janet Cruz wants Education Commissioner back on the ballot^[14], Florida Politics, Drew Wilson

“Floridians deserve the right to vote for who is leading our education system,” the Tampa Democrat said. “Voters currently have no direct influence on state education policy and this resolution seeks to put an end to that.”

For a daily roundup of Florida education news, visit the Gradebook weekday mornings.^[15]

Other Views

Are impressive graduation rates in FL for real? State calculations eliminate thousands of kids, boosting results^[16], Florida Phoenix, Diane Rado

“But the impressive graduation rate in Suwannee and other Florida districts also is the result of a math equation that parents, educators and politicians may not have noticed: Tens of thousands of Florida teens are eliminated from the formula used to calculate final graduation rates, creating a more glowing picture of the percentage of kids graduating, state data show.”

Florida Supreme Court’s Ruling That 2 School Choice Programs Are Constitutional Eases a Huge Burden for Disadvantaged Students^[17], The 74 guest column, Leslie Hiner of EdChoice

“The courts were right. Despite plaintiffs’ allegations that school choice programs caused education to suffer in Florida, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the Nation’s Report Card, found that from 2003 to 2017 — about the time between the first lawsuit against a Florida school choice program and the recent victory in Citizens for Strong Schools — no state had improved more in fourth grade math than Florida, and eighth-grade math students were in the top 25 percent of states showing the greatest improvement.”

Legislature deserting traditional public schools for charters — don’t do it!^[18], Orlando Sentinel columnist Lauren Ritchie

“Charter and voucher school supporters such as Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran and Mount Dora’s home-schooled state Rep. Jennifer Sullivan — chair of the House Education Committee — have made it clear that school choice will be getting a boost in this year’s legislative session, and they’ve got the muscle to do it. Unfortunately, charter and voucher schools are the GOP’s alternative to doing actual work — you know, tackling a truly messed up education system that would take creative thinking and unity to change.”

It’s time to get serious about Florida’s teacher shortage^[19], Gainesville Sun guest column, Alachua County PTA leader Megan Hendricks

“Now more than ever, we need to listen to our educators and use our voices to enact change. We need properly funded schools and policies that favor teachers. We need to show our educators that we value them, and we value what they do. This means asking our state legislators to provide them with the resources they need and to eliminate many of the laws, regulations and high-stakes testing that burden teachers and don’t ultimately help students.”

News Flash: When Given a Choice, Floridian’s Overwhelmingly Choose District Managed Public School Options^[20], Accountabaloney blog

“We believe, the choice most parents want is to be able to send their children to a safe, well-funded, high quality public school in their neighborhood. Fancy graphic or not, when you respect the choice of parents who send their children to their zoned public school you would see that district managed public schools remain the most popular ed choice option. Florida’s policy members would be wise to remember that.”

Reports of Note

Co-Creating School Innovations: Should Self-Determination Be a Component of School Improvement?^[21], Christopher Redding of the University of Florida and Samantha L. Viano of George Mason University

“Teacher self-determination in the innovation development process contributed to greater teacher ownership of, and receptivity to, organizational change, but at the cost of adopting more ambitious practices that likely had a greater chance of improving instruction and positive student outcomes.”

Words matter: the language of evaluation ratings^[22], National Council on Teacher Quality

“While labels may not change the essence of a person or a thing, those labels can change how that person or thing is perceived. From several studies about principals and evaluation ratings, we know that principals often struggle to give low ratings to teachers, even when they are able to identify which teachers are weaker. While much of this is likely driven by the often high-stakes consequences attached, would changing the labels reduce this hesitancy? Would more principals be willing to assign a teacher a rating of ‘developing’ versus ‘needs improvement’ — even if they were essentially equivalent?”

Policy Snapshot: Open Enrollment^[23], Education Commission of the States

“School districts have long engaged in transfer agreements with each other for reasons of practicality and convenience. States started extending student transfers — both intradistrict and interdistrict — as a form of school choice in the past few decades. The specifics of these policies vary across states. They can allow for voluntary or mandatory participation at the district level; and they can allow for intradistrict transfer, interdistrict transfer or both.”

Coming Up

Jan. 30-31: Florida Board of Governors^[24], Florida International University

Jan. 30: Rule development conference call^[25] on certifications exams for Guidance and Counseling; Hearing Impaired; Music; School Psychologist; Speech-Language Impaired; and Visually Impaired. 1:30 p.m. (888) 585-9008

Week of Feb. 4: Legislative committees

March 19: Florida Board of Education

Gradebook: The Podcast

We’re podcasting, with newsmaker interviews and chats about the latest issues to crop up. Please take a listen, and send any thoughts, tips and ideas to [email protected]^[26].

The latest: Why Parkland parent Andrew Pollack wants to be on Florida’s Board of Education^[27]

Subscribe to the podcast and review it on iTunes^[28] or Google Play^[29]. You also can find our past episodes on Art19^[30].