Let's start with the opening statement:  "All children can learn. Poverty, broken families, disabilities, language barriers all are challenges to learning. But all of these challenges can be overcome by effective teaching." First of all, the statement is so grandiose, who would argue against it. We all want children to learn, our future depends on it. But it is like saying that ‘all politicians can be altruistic.' It's a lofty goal born out of a desire to bring everyone up to a better standard, but the hard truth is that it's an ideal at best. Mr. Bush needs to consult with a few more statisticians who can advise him of the tenants of Normal Distribution. Basically, humans lie along a continuum where the majority of us fall in the ‘average' range of ability (approximately 68%), then there are those that fall either ‘above average' or those that fall ‘below average.' As in all walks of life, the expectations for these groups are different. As an example, the ‘above average' athlete plays professional sports. The average athlete participates in intramurals, little league or even High School athletics and the ‘below average' athlete takes up cards, drawing or video games. We can certainly set goals for all of us to make the PGA tour or an NFL or NBA roster, but it's not reality. So why is educating our children any different? Do the laws of probability cease to exist when you walk into a public school? Certainly, we MUST have the highest of expectations for ALL of our children, but we must tender those with a dose of reality and understand that our greatest efforts will ultimately result in a relatively predictable distribution. Some will go to Yale, Harvard, or the University of Florida some will go to a State school and some a Technical, Trade or High school diploma; what's wrong with that? Mr. Bush would have parents think that teachers, principals and support staff are solely responsible for what happens within the school walls. Yet we continue to ask them to do more with less; less pay, fewer teaching days, less professional development, less support staff, fewer supplies and resources and less support and preparation from parents. To their praise, they have generally produced. Overall, our students are being taught very well. If teachers were free-agents in the NBA or NFL, most would be holding out for the big 6 figure contract, where teams pay for results. Until we bring the conversation to an honest starting point, as is the case for many of today's issues, there can be no advancement. Forget letting politicians design education policy! Would you let Jeb Bush fix your car or perform open heart surgery? Then why let him design your child's education?

By the way Mr. Bush, children start reading to learn in 3^rd grade not 4^th...isn't that why you pushed for mandatory retention in 3^rd?

 

The Elephant in the room! Education!

Parents, what is happening to our education system? How can you let this go on? No PE, No Art, No Media, No Music! That's not education, that's detention. Research has shown the ACADEMIC benefits of these programs: Art promotes expression and creativity, PE relieves excess energy and improves focus; Music improves math skills. When are we going to let educators and science drive our education policy and not politics? Keep putting people like Haridopolos, Thresher, Gardiner, and Cretul (there are plenty more) into office and Public Education in Florida will cease to exist. You can't complain that school boards are asking for property tax increases to cover basic costs when the State legislator mandates more testing (for "accountability"), yet requires the district to pay for it out of current funds. You can't complain about "poor, ineffective" teachers, when they are some of the worst paid in the country.  You can't complain about wasted resources (e.g., lifetime pensions, subsidized health benefits) for state employees (teachers), when they don't make enough to buy their own or contribute to their own retirement. Maybe we should pay our teachers more, give them their raises and then we can ask them to be "more accountable," and contribute to their own retirement, and benefits. Spend the money where it will have the biggest impact and benefit to OUR children.

Next week: My plan for teacher accountability