ALERT: Judge Tosses FL DOE Rule on Teacher Evaluations

The Florida Education Association announced and WCTV in Tallahassee reported this morning that the administrative law judge, Judge John Van Landingham has invalidated, the 2011 Senate Bill 736 also known as the “Student Success Act”, performance evaluation rule that the Florida Department of Education had required Florida school districts to develop and follow. (Click here to read FEA’s full announcement and click here to read WCTV News Report.)

As I understand it at this time this basically means that the performance measure for educators known as the “Value Added Model” (VAM) which represents 50% of the educators evaluation will need to be redeveloped.  Based on SB-736 the additional 50% of a teacher evaluation is based on student’s scores and as I understand it has not changed as it was not part of this lawsuit.

I am pleased with the court’s decision and hopefully this decision will result in more local control and flexibility in developing the teacher evaluation system.

I am not a supporter of “teacher’s merit pay” where teachers evaluations and pay raises are directly tied to student scores and performance.  Therefore it may seem strange that I am somewhat thankful for the teacher’s merit pay section involving  the VAM in SB-736 that was just invalidated by the court.  The reason is that in the initial architecture of the Bill was to have 100% of a teachers evaluation based on students’ scores .  If the VAM was not part of the Bill then we might never have this opportunity to impact locally deciding on 50% performance measure section.  As a result the FEA was able to suit based on the VAM being part of the Bill.

I am encourage that while we will have to begin developing a new evaluation system that in the end this will be positive. I still have concerns but it is a new place to start.

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Four Citrus Schools Get Free Solar Power Generating Systems

Some Bay area schools that also serve as emergency shelters are getting free solar installations and battery backup systems.

The new systems are from a $200,000 grant from Progress Energy Florida (PEF) and is part of a program called SunSense® that has a goal of increasing renewable energy education. The SunSense® schools program helps schools in the PEF service territory to manage energy costs while promoting energy education. The program provides new solar photovoltaic (PV) systems to schools designated as Enhanced Hurricane Protection Area (EHPA) shelters, at no cost to our schools.  The program supports renewable energy education, energy efficiency and environmental stewardship by providing teachers and students with interactive learning experiences and training materials.

Our schools were chosen based on their commitment to energy efficiency and renewable energy education, number of students, the shelter’s capacity and the school’s location.

Citrus High and Inverness Primary School are two of the four schools that will receive the new solar technology.

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Understanding Dyslexia Event

Central Ridge Library , September 14th 11:00am to 12:00pm

Discover the tools to succeed at the “Understanding Dyslexia” class. The class covers the definition of dyslexia, causes, neurology, early signs, and when/how to get help for your child. Talk will be followed by an open question-and-answer period.

Dyslexia is the most frequently occurring learning disorder in the United States, but it can sometimes be difficult to obtain help on this subject. Join Elaine Fellows, an Orton-Gillingham certified tutor, for this excellent class supported by evidence-based research.

Following this link to sign up or learn more http://host4.evanced.info/citruscounty/evanced/eventsignup.asp?ID=38303&ret=eventcalendar.asp

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