No bid contracts

In these times of very tight budgets we must do everything we can to be wise stewards of tax payer dollars. My comments at past board meetings and in the media are not meant to disparage any employee of the district. I truly believe that a majority of our employees have the children's best interest at heart.

However, I am personally accountable to the public and I take that charge very seriously. We as a board with staff input need to have a conversation about these no bid contracts and make some changes in how we do business.

There have been several situations lately that have raised public concerns about the way Hillsborough County Schools awards consulting contracts.

Read Tampa Tribune Marilyn Brown story here.

Read St. Pete Times Leticia Stein story here.

View Channel 10 Mike Deeson story here.

Read Channel 10 Mike Deeson story here.

What are your thoughts on no bid contracts?

Update on IRS 'annualized income' post

I recently posted about a new IRS code and said I would post updates as soon as I knew anything more.

*UPDATE: I found out some preliminary information tonight and will post more as I get it. Hillsborough County Teachers do not need to worry about this new code. We hold out taxes unlike some school districts. This code applies to teachers in districts that do not withhold taxes. Again there is no need to worry based on what I have been told. I will post specific information later, but I thought this was important and wanted to ease concerns as soon as I found something out.

Is it time to dump Voyages?

Voyages math has been quite controversial and has supporters and detractors. I would like to have a conversation about Voyages and need input from parents with Voyages experience and teachers in the district who have taught Voyages.

Read some articles here, here, here, and here.

Thoughts? Pro and con...post your opinions here.

Florida Supreme Court Report: Transforming Florida's Mental Health System

On November 15, 2007, the Florida Supreme Court issued a 170-page report entitled "Transforming Florida's Mental Health System: Constructing a Comprehensive and Competent Criminal Justice/Mental Health/Substance Abuse Treatment System" (see attached links to executive summary and full report). The report finds that the needs of persons in the justice system who have mental disorders are not currently met by Florida's social services systems, courts, jails and prisons.

Are their needs met by the education system? How can we be more proactive? What kind of funding and resources are necessary? Can we be part of the solution?

Yes, this is an educationally related blog. However, society dictates we take many different approaches on how we educate all children. This is why I found the report from the Florida Supreme Court interesting. My questions are in relation to how we as educators can help students avoid the juvenile justice system all together? I want our students to be successful in life, whatever success means to each student, and I know that jail and/or prison is not success.

There are many who believe it is our job to teach only academics and not worry about all of the societal issues we are faced with. Is that realistic? I don't think so. We are obligated by law to educate ALL children. Not only are we dealing with students who have mental disorders, we have students who are coming from homes with parents suffering from mental disorders.

Teachers and parents do you have experiences with these types of students? Do you have ideas and suggestions? Please share them here.

This is important for teachers...it's about your pay check

Suzie Creamcheese uncovered a very important story about a new IRS code regarding what they call 'annualized income'. This is very important for teachers who spread their paychecks over the entire year.

I have asked our staff to research this and publicize the information to our teachers. I will post the information as soon as I get it.

Please post information if you find it before me.

*UPDATE: I found out some preliminary information tonight and will post more as I get it. Hillsborough County Teachers do not need to worry about this new code. We hold out taxes unlike some school districts. This code applies to teachers in districts that do not withhold taxes. Again, there is no need to worry based on what I have been told. I will post specific information later, but I thought this was important and wanted to ease concerns as soon as I found something out.

Exams after winter break?

Let me preface this post by telling you that the Superintendent has not made her recommendation and the School Board has not voted on this proposal by the calendar committee.

I would like input from high school teachers and students on delaying exams until after the winter break. The challenge that the committee faced in coming up with the recommendation is that with Save Our Summers (S.O.S.) law the Florida Legislature passed last year we can not start our school year any sooner than one week before labor day and we also have union contracts that need to be adhered to.

Read the story published on the Gradebook and let me know your thoughts and suggestions.

UPDATE: 12/12/07

I've listened to concerns both on this blog and in person in the community. The general consensus is that high school students, teachers, and parents want exams before the break.

We are going with an academic calendar and have tried our best to accommodate their request. Unfortunately because of the Save Our Summers (S.O.S.) legislation and the fact that we can't start our school year any sooner than 2 weeks before Labor Day we will not be able to have exams before break for the 2009/2010 school year. Labor Day starts 1 week later and there will not be enough instruction time in that semester to have exams before break.

This will only take place for one year, and we will give students 1 week for review upon their return from winter break. We will be able to return to the schedule with exams before break the following 2010/2011 school year.

Watch channel 10 news report here.

Two-minute rule

From the Gradebook by Leticia Stein

Anyone who's suffered through the five-plus hour meetings of the Hillsborough School Board will appreciate a rule change:

Board member Candy Olson proposed at Tuesday's meeting a new procedure: She and the other board members should observe a two-minute time limit on routine agenda items.

Not surprising, it generated talk. (Eight minutes, 50 seconds, to be exact.)

Other board members were concerned about not being able to respond to comments. So April Griffin proposed an amendment that would allow one-minute response time. It proved rather divisive, passing on a 4-3 vote, with the support of Griffin, Carol Kurdell, Doretha Edgecomb and Susan Valdes.

Now the question is who's keeping time? Anyone want to loan the Gradebook a stopwatch for the next meeting?

Conversations need to happen to facilitate change

There has been a lot of media attention on the school district recently. Most of it has not been very positive. There are some who would say that I am the reason for this. They may or may not be right, but I will say this..."conversations need to happen to facilitate change".

I'll give you a little insight to my past and what has helped to shape me. I was primarily raised by two women (my mother and my grandmother) and learned my core communication skills from two distinctly different personalities and generations.

My grandmother was from the generation where unpleasant things were not discussed. They were brushed under the rug (metaphorically speaking) never to be discussed again. She would brush her hands, as if to wipe off dirt, and say "over, done with, gone" and that was the end of the conversation. At times this only served to magnify certain problems, because they didn't go away. They were left to fester and cause misunderstandings and such.

My mother was a product of the 60's and was the polar opposite of my grandmother. She talked about everything and as a little girl I can remember covering my ears and singing the the la la song to drown out things I did not want to hear.

I have tried to find a happy medium between the two generations. I fully realize you must have conversations in order to find a solution to problems and issues. Once the solution is found then my grandmother's saying "over, done with, gone" can be applied and it's on to resolving the next issue.

This has been my approach in life and on the school board and has a tendency to make people with my grandmother's personality uncomfortable. It is my belief that if we all stay in our comfort zone no meaningful changes can happen. So I will continue to do my homework (and homework consist of more than just asking staff if a recommendation is good and having them explain to me why they think it is good), and force conversations by asking questions.

Wayne Garcia has a very realistic perspective and recently wrote about the recent climate in the school district. Read what he wrote on his blog for creative loafing here.

Sound off and be heard's reading level

I thought this was interesting...with my background in politics and marketing I have always been told to write for an eighth grade level. Plain english that doesn't lose an average reader's interest.

On this blog I am outspoken and forthright and I save my more eloquent, expressive prose for my personal journals.

Imagine my surprise when, just for fun, I tested this blog's readability and it was rated as

Get a Cash Advance

I don't place too much stock in this, but like I said, it was fun. Test your blogs reading level here. Let me know how you rate.

FCAT overhaul? Long overdue

Florida House of Representatives House Schools and Learning Chairman Joe Pickens, R-Palatka, is leading a bipartisan delegation of Florida legislators and Board of Education members to New York for a look at the Empire State's own end-of-course assessment test, called the Regents Examinations.

There is talk of Florida education leaders shifting emphasis off of the Florida Assessment Comprehensive Test (FCAT). This trip is being hailed as a bipartisan effort among Florida legislators to shift emphasis off of the highly criticized FCAT.

Senate K-12 Education Chairman Don Gaetz of Niceville said "I believe we must get beyond the FCAT in mastering academic performance in Florida”. The New York Regents Examinations, or other end-of-course tests, are "one more way of getting beyond the debate of 'FCAT good, FCAT bad”.

There is also talk of revamping the classroom size amendment implementation legislation to make the classroom size amendment make more sense.

This is all very encouraging to Florida school districts. Before now there was not even acknowledgment that there could be flaws in our current system.

We all know that FCAT is not going away. But that doesn't mean changes and improvements can't be made using data and information collected from teachers, students, and parents since it's implementation.

There are some who would argue that this is a dumbing down of education. What do you think? I will be following this new development very closely.

Read more in the Orlando Sentinel here.