Our campaign kickoff party was on Wednesday, April 26th at the Seminole Heights Garden Center and the room was just barely big enough. Over 100 people came from all over the county to hear me talk and wound up staying to talk to each other about what we can do for our students, teachers, parents, and taxpayers instead of me just talking to them. Judging by the applause, the questions, and the conversations these are the things on most voters' minds:
FCAT and accountability:
The FCAT should not be the sole measure of success of a school or a student. It is not a true diagnostic test and should not be punitive. In my opinion the only things the FCAT in it's current form measures is the affluencey of a school or how well a student tests.
Money for teachers:
We need to pay our teachers what they deserve to be paid. Teachers do need to be accountable, but we need to base that accountability on true metrics. What growth and benchmarks has the student made within the time the teacher has that student in his/her class? Student's progress is not a black and white issue based on the performance of 1 punitive test...there are grey areas.
Parents need to have a voice:
I understand the need for the boundary changes. However, the district's handling of the recent boundary changes was inexcusable. The district should have had a meaningful dialogue with the community members who were going to be affected by this monumental decision. Parents are not a necessary evil to be endured or worked around. They are our most important allies in the education of our children. Moving students should always be a last resort.
Education for jobs as well as college:
We should do more to prepare our students to be successful in their lives. For some, this means preparing them for college. For others it means giving them the skills and experience to go after and get high-paying jobs right out of school. For business this means a reliable pool of skilled workers. For our families it means that our children won't have move somewhere else to get a job; they can stay here, put down roots, and strengthen our community.
Education is not a business, it is a social responsibility:
An educated citizenry is absolutely vital to maintaining our democracy. We do need to be more efficient and business like in certain areas of our administration, but performance based funding does not work with schools.
Comments? Feed back? I want to hear from you.
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1 comment:
April, this Hillsborough teacher heartily agrees with your comments on the FCAT. Even though the misuse of FCAT is dictated from Tallahassee, we need school board members who "get it" and can help mitigate the damage.
I'm also in complete agreement with your statement that "Education is not a business, it is a social responsibility." If everyone involved in making education policy understood that concept alone, public schools would be much better off.
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