Fraud, racketeering charges: The founder of a charter school company is charged with racketeering and organized fraud in connection with the operation of his schools in the Pinellas, Escambia, Bay, Hillsborough, Broward and Duval districts. According to a statewide prosecutor, Marcus May, who founded Newpoint Education Partners, took more than $1 million from the state, the six districts and the 15 schools he owned and used it to take trips, have plastic surgery, and buy homes and personal watercraft. Also charged is Steven Kunkemoeller, who owns two companies that allegedly sold supplies and furniture to May’s charter schools at inflated prices. The three companies also were indicted by an Escambia County grand jury a year ago on charges of grand theft, money laundering and aggravated white-collar crime. Tampa Bay Times. Panama City News Herald. Pensacola News Journal. Florida Times-Union. WJHG. WFLA.
More on H.B. 7069: One financial safeguard that was discussed early and often for inclusion in an education bill did not make it into H.B. 7069. There are no provisions to make sure that state funds for charter school construction aren’t pocketed for profit by charter company owners. Instead, charter companies will automatically get a proportion of funds based on enrollment, not need. Gradebook. H.B. 7069, and its push for school choice and charter schools, is now the law of the state. But the debate about it hasn’t ended. Critics of the bill say the “state-money-should-follow-the-student” catch-phrase many Republican legislators have adopted violates the state Constitution and a 2006 court precedent that outlawed state vouchers for private school tuition. Tampa Bay Times. Opponents of H.B. 7069 say they expect one or more districts to file a legal challenge to provisions of the bill. The Capitolist. Hillsborough County school officials should quit blaming the Legislature for their financial problems, says House Speaker Richard Corcoran. “It’s their bloat, inefficiency and gross overspending. Their problem is their mismanagement.” Tampa Bay Times.
Testing change: The Florida Department of Education is considering ending use of the Postsecondary Education Readiness Test (PERT) as an alternative to the algebra I end-of-course exam. A study by the Buros Center for Testing at the University of Nebraska is recommending that “PERT not be used to satisfy any assessment requirements for high school graduation.” The study recommends districts use the PSAT. Gradebook.
End-of-course options: A survey by the Florida Association of District School Superintendents shows that 13 of 40 districts contacted do not use end-of-course exams. Pasco School Superintendent Kurt Browning requested the survey because his district is considering alternatives to the exams, after a torrent of complaints from teachers that the exams do not reflect what students learned during the course. Gradebook.
Testing results: Clay County students showed gains in the Florida Standards Assessments test scores recently released by the state. Florida Times-Union.
Raise for superintendent: Brevard County School Desmond Blackburn is up for a 5 percent raise and a multiyear contract extension. He and the school board have to finalize details before the board votes July 11. Blackburn has been superintendent two years and makes $210,000 a year. This would be his first raise. Florida Today.
Schools at risk: Leon County school officials say six schools could be candidates to be replaced by charter schools. They say another D or F grade for those schools from the state could force Superintendent Rocky Hanna to declare them to be in a state of an “education emergency.” That could initiate negotiations with teachers over workplace rules, plus a plan of action that would have to be approved by the Florida Department of Education. Tallahassee Democrat.
After-school programs: More than 8,000 south Florida children from low-income families benefit from federally funded after-school programs, which are on the cutting block in the budget put forward by President Trump. Sun Sentinel.
Health clinics expansion: Health clinic programs in Monroe County schools plan to expand their services to include dental work for students and staff. Keynoter.
Notable deaths: James McDermott, principal at Bair Middle School in Sunrise, dies at the age of 57 of cancer. After leading Forest Glen Middle School to A grades from the state for years, McDermott was switched to Bair, which was struggling and received a D grade. Within a year the school had earned a B. Sun Sentinel.
Land deal off: Lee County school officials are no longer pursuing the purchase of one-tenth of an acre owned by the Hawthorne Community Association for the high school being built in Bonita Springs. A traffic study shows no need for a right turn lane for school buses, which will save the district the $70,000 it thought it would have to pay for the sliver of land. Fort Myers News-Press.
Personnel moves: Guarn Sims is named principal at the struggling Boynton Beach High School in Palm Beach County. He replaces Fred Barch, who will take Sims’ old job as director of the district’s adult education department. Palm Beach Post.
School board seat: Manatee County School Board member John Colon is urging Gov. Rick Scott to appoint Scott Hopes, chairman and CEO of CliniLinc, a health care consulting firm, to the board seat that opened when Karen Carpenter moved to another state. Colon is the only board member opposed to a ballot initiative to raise taxes for schools, and Hopes has spoken out against the proposed tax. Bradenton Herald.
Student arrested: An 18-year-old student is arrested and accused of physically and verbally assaulting a teacher at Wellington High School in April. Sebastian Escudero, is charged with battery on a public education employee. Palm Beach Post.
Opinions on schools: The Republicans’ victory dance after the K-12 education bill was signed is as much about the whipping they inflicted on the state’s largest teachers union, the Florida Education Association, as it was the expansion of charters. Joe Henderson, Florida Politics. We are using hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to build privately run schools in areas of concentrated poverty. If these “schools of hope” have smaller class sizes, economically diverse student populations and involved parents, they might have a shot at success. But it raises the question, why aren’t we doing these things in the public schools we already have? Beth Hobbs Goldman, Fort Myers News-Press. Until it is ruled on by the courts, the new freedom of religious expression in schools law (S.B. 436) will create a legal quagmire, as well as divisive consequences for Florida’s public schools. David Barkey, Miami Herald. The competitive edge the Legislature has handed charter schools is best-described as corporate welfare. Khanh-Lien R. Banko, Gainesville Sun. We cannot expect education to get better if we do not make any changes where they belong — in the classroom. The obligation to provide a quality education has taken a back burner to politics from the local to the federal level. Carol Lowe, Gainesville Sun. Gov. Rick Scott was right to veto a bill that provided money to schools that require uniforms. Daytona Beach News-Journal. Improvement in algebra 1 end-of-course test scores for Florida 7th and 8th graders is a welcome development for a state that has traditionally been weak in science and math. Paul Cottle, Bridge to Tomorrow.
Student enrichment: Jesse Katzeff of Naples is one of 373 young Americans to receive a Congressional Award Gold Medal this week. The 18-year-old was homeschooled. Naples Daily News. Four hundred children from Miami-Dade and Monroe counties are given books by the Early Learning Coalition during a “Read and Ride” event on the Metrorail. Miami Herald. The Sarasota Housing Authority and Sarasota County Libraries team up to distribute 2,400 free books to students who live in public housing. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Every K-2 classroom in Charlotte County will get 100 books for their libraries, thanks to a $40,000 grant from the Charlotte Community Foundation and Smuggler’s Enterprises Inc. Foundation. Charlotte Sun.
