Talk Begins On Florida Charter School Expansion Plans
February 13, 2011
As Gov. Rick Scott backs away for now from a push for an expanded school voucher program, former Gov. Jeb Bush’s education foundation has begun quietly circulating draft legislation that may serve as the Legislature’s template to massively expand the number of charter schools throughout the state.
Scott’s budget team this week preached the governor’s belief in school choice, saying the Scott wanted to expand virtual school offerings, allow more students to transfer from failing or sub par schools and create more charter school opportunities. Meanwhile, Bush’s Foundation for Florida’s Future has brought forth a plan that would allow colleges and universities to open charter schools without school district approval and set up a system for the per-student funding to follow the student and not be tied to a school district.
The governor and the foundation got a high profile push this week from former D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee, who made her name by promoting school choice and firing teachers she deemed failures. Rhee, who also serves as an informal adviser to Scott, was in Tallahassee this past week to lobby the Legislature on an education reform issues, particularly expanding school choice and abolishing teacher tenure.
“We have to be putting policies and laws in place that don’t hamstring charters… that create the right environment for them,” Rhee told reporters. “And if Florida can do that, I think you’re going to attract more and more of the high quality charter providers into the state.”
Republican lawmakers have indicated they are open to a number of school choice options, expanding the state’s largest voucher program, the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship. When Scott campaigned and then prepared to take office, his transition advisers, led by Bush foundation executive director Patricia Levesque, championed the idea of education savings accounts.
The concept, championed by the Arizona-based Goldwater Institute, allows parents to create a savings account for their children in which they can request and receive funds equal to 85 percent of what the state earmarks for students in the public system.
The money could be used for private school tuition and fees, online “virtual” school, tutoring, books and tuition for dual enrollment programs, textbooks or curriculum for a home schooling program or contributions to a child’s higher education savings plan.
The Foundation for Florida’s Future continues to push for expanding vouchers, but Scott has backed away a bit, at least for this year. Also clouding the voucher debate are unresolved issues about the legality of vouchers in the state of Florida.
The Florida Supreme Court ruled in 2006 that a Bush-created voucher program that allowed students in failing schools to attend private ones using state dollars ran afoul of state law. The high court, however, let the corporate tax credit voucher program stand.
Charter school expansion may be an easier route for Scott to test the waters of school choice expansion.
State Sen. Steve Wise, R-Jacksonville, who chairs the Senate’s Prek-12 Education Committee, has been cool to the idea of the education savings account, creating a major roadblock for backers of the plan. Wise’s committee would likely be one of the stops for a proposal of that nature.
He is, however, open to the idea of charter school expansion, noting that the Kipp Charter School in Jacksonville has been relatively successful.
“Sometimes, they have a little bit more flexibility than the school districts, but I think they’re going to be in this game,” Wise said. “And we’re going to try to work with them as best as possible.”
Union officials aren’t weighing in yet on potential charter school legislation. A Florida Education Association spokesman said the teachers’ union has generally been in favor of charters in theory, but that it would not favor a system where per student funding left a school district to follow the student to a charter school.
A line in the foundation’s draft legislation reads, “Charter school students shall be funded without regard to whether the student’s home address lies within the school district sponsoring the charter school.”
Wise’s committee doesn’t write the budget, but Wise does sit on the Prek-12 Education Appropriations Subcommittee and on the Senate’s overall budget committee. Wise wouldn’t say where he falls on the funding right now, but said the Legislature will likely have to take up the funding formula if it wants to go forward with charter expansion.
By Kathleen Haughney
The News Service Florida
Little Miss Relay Pageant To Be Held
February 13, 2011
The Jay Hospital Relay for Life Team is sponsoring a “Little Miss Relay” Pageant to be held March 5.
It will be held at the Jay High School Auditorium. Pageant Attire or Sunday Dress is expected, but the pageant is not based on dress. Age divisions are 0 to 23 months, 2 to 3 years of age, 4 to 5 years, 6 to 7 years, 8 to 9 years and 10 to 12 years of age.
There will be six Division Queens, a Miss Photogenic Award, and a People’s Choice Award. All contestants will receive a gift. Pageant begins at 2 p.m. Door admission is $4 for everyone except contestant and children under five. The People’s Choice Drawing is $1 per entry. The early bird entry fee is $25, and registrations by be completed by February 15. Regular entry fee is $30. The Miss Photogenic entry fee is $10.
For entries or information, contact Ricky Sanders at (850) 675-8208 or ricky.sanders@bhcpns.org.
Area Flu Cases Increase
February 13, 2011
The height of flu season is here, according to health officials, and flu activity is on the rise in the local area.
Flu activity was moderate and increasing in Escambia, Santa Rosa and 26 other Florida counties, while it was considered widespread in two (Hardee and Holmes) counties, according to data released by the Florida Department of Health.
Flu-like illnesses were considered to be high in Alabama, while Florida’s level was moderate.
For those that believe they have the flu, a trip to the emergency room is usually not necessary and causes an unnecessary strain on area ER’s.
Most people with flu-like symptoms do not need to go to the Emergency Department,” said Dr. Mixon. “I would encourage those who have flu symptoms – fever, chills, cough, sore throat and body aches – to contact their primary care physician if possible. Other health providers such as urgent care centers or community clinics will have shorter waiting times compared to an emergency department where patients may wait for several hours or longer to be treated.”
January and February typically are the worst flu months, but the flu season can also drag into March. Although colds and flu seem to be more common in cold weather, the colder temperatures are not the culprit in making people sick. Many experts believe the increase is due to people spending more time indoors with others during the winter months, which increases the chance of spreading viruses.
This year, most of the flu cases seen in the U.S. have been due to a Type A virus called H3N2. This particularly virulent virus has been known to trigger more pneumonia and other complications than other forms of influenza. The 2010/2011 seasonal flu vaccine does offer triple protection — against last year’s “swine flu” (Type A H1N1), the prevalent H3N2 strain, and the Type B flu that tends to be less severe.
Influenza is caused by very contagious viruses which infect the nose, throat and lungs and cause symptoms such as fever, chills, dry cough, muscle aches, extreme fatigue, sore throat, headache and nasal congestion. A person can spread the flu as early as one day before he or she even feels sick, and can continue to pass the flu virus to others for five to seven days after symptoms start.
There is still an ample supply of this year’s flu vaccine available in the United States, but because it takes about two weeks for the vaccine’s protection to take effect, those interested in being vaccinated should do so right away. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends vaccine for most everyone, except infants younger than 6 months and people with severe allergies to eggs.
Featured Recipe: Fresh Rosemary Chicken with Pesto Pasta
February 13, 2011
This weekend’s featured recipe from Janet Tharpe is a Fresh Rosemary Chicken with Pesto Pasta. Fresh herbs, sun dried tomatoes and pesto sauce team with chicken for this impressive but simple pasta dish.
To print today’s “Just a Pinch” recipe column, you can click the image below to load a printable pdf with a recipe card.
Florida Weekly Government Roundup
February 13, 2011
Gov. Rick Scott rolled out his first budget proposal this week in Eustis with the tea partiers that brewed up his election. While that was sweet for the governor, when the tea budget got to Tallahassee the reception was iced, and bitter.
Republican legislators said they’d give it a look, but many were openly skeptical and more of them privately perplexed about how this two-year plan would work. It was reminiscent of Gov. Charlie Crist’s last budget, which was roundly dismissed by the Republican Legislature, though Crist was on his way out of the GOP, and Scott just arrived at the party.
But when Scott rolled out his $65.9 billion proposed budget, he turned to the tea party that propelled him into office, not the official party he is a member of, which largely supported his primary opponent.
“This is the budget you asked for,” Scott said to applause in Eustis.
The cheers did not come back with him to Tallahassee, where House education, transportation, and health care panels grilled Scott’s budget office staff – and sometimes chastised them – on the governor’s plans for cutting the budget, moving money around, consolidating agencies, and shifting the burden for some services to local governments.
“Do you realize that at the local level there’s not going to be any funds for some of the services you say need to be funded at the local level?” Rep. Daniel Davis, R-Jacksonville, asked an administration official. “We need to be honest with ourselves and the local community.”
Particularly troublesome to some lawmakers was a $298-per-student cut – and that’s if expected pension savings are put back into education – that Scott budget officials attributed to the loss of federal stimulus dollars. If pension savings aren’t realized, or the local governments haven’t saved wisely some of their own federal money, some counties could see a much bigger reduction. The governor’s office says it isn’t proposing to cut education spending, it’s simply not in favor of replacing federal money the state shouldn’t have relied on in the first place. For parents, the result would be the same. Rarely has cutting education been popular with voters.
The proposed cut is “pretty steep,” said Rep. Marti Coley, R-Marianna and chairwoman of the House Prek-12 Education Appropriations Subcommittee. “So we will consider his proposals and we will make our own proposals as well.”
That was a familiar refrain as Scott’s proposal worked the halls of the Capitol building this week.
“How flexible is the governor on this?” Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, who campaigned for Scott last fall as Florida Republican Party chairman, asked Scott’s budget director Jerry McDaniel.
“You’re doing away with 619 jobs to save $2.8 million-a-year. Are we benefiting from that?,” Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, asked of Scott’s plan to cut the Corrections Department by $82.4 million. Doing so would eliminate 1,690 jobs and close two prisons, which Scott says would offset an 8,000-bed surplus throughout Florida’s prison system.
Rep. Mike Horner, R-Kissimmee, chairman of the House Transportation & Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee, was one of the few lawmakers to not immediately dismiss Scott’s budget as unworkable.
“By investing additional dollars in economic development, by preserving the transportation trust fund, I think (that) shows that he’s got an interest in job creation,” said Rep. Mike Horner, R-Kissimmee, chairman of the House Transportation & Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee.
Horner was probably happy that overall transportation spending would drop from just under $10 billion this year to $9.3 billion next year and then just under $8.8 billion the next year, a far less steep cut than Scott suggested for other areas of the state budget. He also preserved most of the transportation trust fund, a fate far unlike 124 other trust funds that will be raided or eliminated under Scott’s proposal to the tune of $8.5 billion.
And it wasn’t just in the Legislature where Scott’s “supporters” weren’t fully supportive.
Among those upset with Scott’s proposal to have existing government employees put more of their paycheck into a retirement account was Pinellas County Sheriff Jim Coats, a Republican who had been on Scott’s law enforcement transition team. He said he had gotten the impression from Scott that a much smaller contribution would be proposed by the governor.
“To make existing employees contribute, what is it 5 percent? I think that’s a little harsh,” Coats told the St. Petersburg Times. “I think it will have a potentially adverse impact on our recruiting activities and retention, and I think it will have an impact on morale.”
SAME PARTY, DIFFERENT PAGE
The budget differences were the first hint that that the establishment’s embrace of Scott after he defeated GOP primary rival – and establishment candidate – Bill McCollum may run into some rough spots. But it wasn’t the only difference this week.
The new governor and the ambitious Senate president were singing a different tune on when Florida should hold its 2012 presidential primaries.
Despite calls from leaders of the Republican Party of Florida and Florida Democratic Party to hold the primary within parameters approved last year by the national political parties, Senate President Mike Haridopolos said this week that he’d like the primary to remain early – before there’s a clear front runner – so that more presidential candidates will court Florida voters during the campaign.
But Scott, who would likely not be governor if he had taken the advice of Haridopolos and the rest of the GOP establishment last summer, countered that it wasn’t worth risking Florida’s delegate strength at the Republican nomination convention.
“I want to have it as early as we can, but I don’t want to lose any of the delegates,” Scott said.
Haridopolos had a different take on the possibility that Florida could lose some delegates, – which is what happened in 2008 when both parties stripped the state of some delegates at the nominating convention because of the early primary.
That could be even more embarrassing to Republicans this time around because they’re hosting the Republican National Convention in Tampa.
“That’s, I guess, a risk we take,” said Haridopolos.
Two Democrats were not particularly interested in taking that risk this week, however, and they filed legislation to avoid it. Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, and Rep. Marty Kiar, D-Davie, filed bills (SB 860, HB 695) that call for the primary to be held on the first Tuesday in March, which would result in a March 6 primary in Florida.
CELEBE-RHEE
Teacher-firing former D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee, a hero of the conservative education reform community, brought her talents to Tallahassee this week. And while she was here, she received a reception from lawmakers usually reserved for the likes of Dan Marino or Tim Tebow.
No footballs were thrown in the halls of the Capitol, as has sometimes been the case when athletes are in town, but lawmakers hung on Rhee’s every word as she talked of reforms that have made her simultaneously beloved and hated by education watchers around the nation. One committee even delayed its meeting for an hour so it could wait for Rhee, a Democrat, to finish addressing another one.
Rhee pressed Florida lawmakers to abolish tenure and fire ineffective teachers as she did in D.C. in the state’s quest to overhaul its education system. Little mentioned was the political consequences that appeared to follow those moves, when D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty was denied re-election in a campaign that turned in part on Rhee’s decisions. Democratic-leaning D.C. could never be confused with Florida, where Republicans hold supermajorities in both chambers of the Legislature, so Rhee’s proposals here were mostly met with fawning.
The Senate did pass a merit teacher pay bill through its first committee, though a key element is missing – exactly how teachers would be evaluated.
“We just have the skeleton and not the bones and meat on it,” Senate Prek-12 Education Committee Chairman Steve Wise said of the bill, which is a sequel of sorts to the bill that ran into enormous opposition from teachers last spring and was vetoed by Gov. Charlie Crist.
For her part, Rhee was not as impressed with the current education system in Florida as lawmakers here were with her.
“No. 5 in this nation? This nation is not where we need to be in the global marketplace,” Rhee said of the state’s recent No. 5 ranking in Education Week.
Elsewhere, Gov. Scott toured several state agencies and sought to assure workers who he has sharply criticized – and whose positions have been squeezed by his budget – that he really liked them. On one, a visit to the Department of Environmental Protection, Scott pledged not to close any state parks.
Additionally, months after promising to give the Florida Legislature hell for not approving a proposed constitutional oil drilling ban last summer, former Gov. Charlie Crist was in Tallahassee to announce how he is going to do it. Crist and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink announced they would co-chair the Save Our Florida Beaches campaign that was launched in October by the Florida Wildlife Federation, Progress Florida and the Sea Turtle Conservancy. The move is aimed at getting a ban on new drilling.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Gov. Rick Scott rolled out his budget before his staunchest tea party supporters in Eustis, with a model of the Boston Tea Party ship Dartmouth on hand. But by week’s end, the budget proposal was clearly taking on water.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “This is basically a visionary budget. You envision these reductions occurring,” Rep. Gayle Harrell, R-Port St. Lucie, making clear she did not see what Scott saw in the numbers.
By KeithLaing
The News Service Florida
Boil Water Notice Lifted For West Kingsfield Road
February 12, 2011
The precautionary boil water notice issued for ECUA customers residing on W. Kingsfield Road, from 297A to Fox Quarry Road was lifted Saturday morning, including the following:
- Brightleaf Circle
- Natalies Way
- Tall Oak Drive
- Burr Oak Drive
- Flintstone Drive
- Avalon Street
- Badger Circle
- Bentley Oaks Circle
Standing Strong: NJROTC Annual Inspection Held (With Photo Gallery)
February 12, 2011
Northview High School’s NJROTC Annual Inspection was held Friday at the school, with cadets undergoing face to face scrutiny with a retired Navy commander.
Commander Merlin Ladner, USN (Ret) conducted the inspection. The day’s events began with a personnel inspection, drill demonstration and a pass-in-review in the school gym. Other events Wednesday included a financial record review, briefings, administrative inspections, supply inspections and more.
For a photo gallery from the inspection, click here.
One by one, Cmdr. Ladner went face to face with each cadet, asking them questions about their NJROTC experience and conducting a complete inspection of their uniform.
“I will spend a few seconds with each cadet asking them questions,” he told the audience. “You won’t hear what I have to say to them, but it will help me get a sense of the unit’s health and how it’s going.”
“Yes, sir,” the cadets answered as they faced the questions about their NJROTC service, their ribbons, the shine on their shoes and some less than expected questions that left some cadets trying not to crack a smile.
“I am very proud of how you look this morning,” Ladner, who conducts annual inspections at about 60 high schools in the Southeast, told the entire group following his inspection. It has been two years since he was last at Northview. A visiting officer conducts inspections during the years Lander does not visit Bratt.
Ladner said the voluntary military service, and a voluntary Navy JROTC program is a good thing for the United States.
“I don’t want to be in the country that’s number two in the world,” he said.
For their outstanding personal appearance during the inspection, cadets Kasie Braun, Michelle Carnley, Christina Donald, Amber Francis, Jacob Peterson, Kent Smith, and Victoria Wright were awarded the Exemplary Personal Appearance ribbon.
Northview’s NJROTC is under the command of Senior Naval Science Instructor Captain Charlie Code and Chief Jeffrey Simpkins. The unit is led by Company Commander LCDR Tyler Garrett and Executive Officer Cadet LT Melissa Moretz.
For a photo gallery from the inspection, click here.
Pictured top: Commander Merlin Ladner, USN (Ret) addresses the audience during Northview High School’s NJROTC Annual Inspection Friday morning. Pictured insets and below: More scenes from the inspection. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Amber Alert Kidnapping Suspect Extradited Back To Florida
February 12, 2011
The man who allegedly kidnapped a 17-month old Tuesday night has been extradited from Alabama to the Escambia County Jail in Pensacola.
Keith Square Sr., 36, of the 500 block of North B Street, Pensacola, is being held without bond on charges of kidnapping, interference with custody and a probation violation. He is a former resident of Blackmon Street in Century, according to Escambia County Circuit Court records.
Square Sr. is accused of kidnapping Keith Square, Jr. Tuesday, prompting a nationwide Amber Alert for the toddler. According to police, Square Sr. is not the father of Square Jr., and the mother has sole legal custody.
The child’s mother, Monique Slater, 29, of Pensacola, was visiting friends in the 1200 block of Cervantes Street in Pensacola Tuesday, according to police, when Square Sr. showed up and asked to take the baby to see some friends.
Davis said the mother agreed. A short time later, the suspect Square called Slater and told her she would never see the baby again. Pensacola Police said Square called Slater several times threatening to harm the baby and also said that he and the baby “would not be taken alive.”
The vehicle believed to have been used in the kidnapping was later located in Brewton Tuesday night, where the driver told Brewton Police that the suspect and baby were dropped off at a residence near Century Woods on West Highway 4 in Century.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Department unsuccessfully checked several possible suspect locations in Century, including homes on Blackmon Street and West Highway 4, Tuesday night in an effort to the find the child.
Someone dropped the child off at East Brewton (Ala.) Police Department Wednesday morning. About an hour later, Square, Sr. turned himself into authorities in Alabama and was booked into the Escambia County (Ala.) Detention Center in Brewton.
Chiefs Lose In Semi’s, Plus Other Florida And Alabama Playoff Scores
February 12, 2011
It was a heartbreaking, season-ending loss for the Northview Chiefs Friday night as they lost in the District 1-2A Basketball Semifinals.
Freeport defeated the Chiefs 73-67 to advance to the finals Saturday night against Baker.
..
Here is a look at other area semifinal basketball games from Friday night:
FLORIDA
District 1-5A Semifinals
Escambia 55 Navarre 44
Pine Forest 59 Milton Milton 49
Escambia vs. Pine Forest 7 p.m. Sat. at Tate
District 1-4A Semifinals
Washington 64 West Florida 41
Pensacola 48 Choctaw 45
Washington vs. PHS 7 p.m. Sat.
District 1-2A Semifinals
Freeport 73 Northview 67
Baker 61 Pensacola Christian 39
Freeport vs. Baker, 7 p.m. Sat. at Baker
ALABAMA
4A Area 1 Semifinals
Escambia County (Atmore) 71 Saraland 40
B.C. Rain 57 UMS-Wright 54
B.C. Rain at ECHS, 7 p.m. Monday
2A Area 1 Semifinals
Flomaton 66 Mobile Christian 37
Cottage Hill 72 J.U. Blacksher 35
Flomaton at Cottage Hill, 6 p.m. Monday
Escambia Investigators Seek Robbery Suspects
February 12, 2011
Investigators are asking for the public’s help in identifying a couple of accused armed robbery suspects in Escambia County.
Two black males are believed to have worked together to commit several armed robberies in Escambia County recently.
The first suspect is believed to be in his mid to late 20’s, possibly has a light complexion, about six-feet tall, thin build, possibly with short dreadlocks, and has worn dark clothing and a jacket with a zippered hood that covers his entire face.
The second suspect is a black male in his mid 30’s, about six-foot two-inches tall, 220 pounds, short black hair, sometimes wears a baseball cap, sometimes has a pencil behind his ear and has used a bicycle on at least one occasion.
They have used a new model silver sedan that may be a rental car.
Anyone with information about the identity of either armed robbery suspect is asked to contact Gulf Coast Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP or visit www.gulfcoastcrimestoppers.org to submit an anonymous tip online.