Recently, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Florida School Boards Association’s (FSBA) 65th Annual Joint Conference. Also at the conference was the Florida Association of District School Superintendents (FADSS), Florida Educational Negotiators (FEN), Florida School Board Attorneys Association (FSBAA) and several other education associations.
The FSBA Annual Joint Conference is always an important training for new and current board members. It is also an important opportunity to meet with other county school boards and organize together to address the many critical Florida educational needs. In March 2011 the Florida State Legislators will begin their session and many new legislations are being planned by our representatives and the new governor’s staff. While there is some positive legislation being proposed, there is much more legislation being planned that I believe will not be positive for our county, our students, and education. In this next legislative session I will ask our State Representatives and I encourage you to contact them and consider you ask them also “to do” or “not to do” this: Do not revive Senate Bill 6; Create more diploma options for students who are either not college bound or will not be able to pass the new rigorous graduation standards based on a pre-college curriculum; Fund education; Fund and Fix the class size amendment requirements; Do not create new standards or requirements without first consulting your own local School Boards and School Superintendents; Repeal the school start date mandate; Pass statutes that prohibit the state from mandating any new, expanded or modified programs on school districts without the state fully funding the programs; Enable school districts to create and oversee performance pay initiatives that are in line with local needs; Restore local control of public schools and do not usurp local authority in operation, supervision and control of public education.
My days at the conference were spent in many different training sessions and courses beginning with “New School Board Member Orientation”. This course included initial training and review on “Becoming an Effective Board Member”, “Code of Ethics”, “Statutory Powers of Board Members”, and “Florida Sunshine Law, Public Records Law and Administrative Procedure Act”. In addition , along with other Citrus School Board Members, I attended and participated in many other sessions including “A Kindle in Every Hand”, “Emerging Communication Technology and the Law”, “Race to the Top”, “FHSAA Policies and New School Sports Statutes”, and “Employee Risk Managements Workshop”.
Also during the conference we had several general session trainings with some outstanding speakers. One speaker that was so inspiring and who challenged us all to be better educational leaders was Dr. Adolph Brown III. This was my first time hearing Dr. Brown and I knew I was in for something special when School Board Member Ginger Bryant leaned over to me just before Dr. Brown began and said, “Thomas you are going to like him, he is very good”. Boy was that an understatement. Dr. Brown was introduced and as this forty–something, African American gentleman came to the podium I noticed that as he began to speak, his lips were not moving. For a moment I thought in my head, “What is he, a Ventriloquist?” Then I noticed this African American high school kid walking up from the back of the room. He wore a ball cap turned to the side on his head, was dressed in baggy “Hip Hop” style clothes, carried a backpack, and was the one really talking as he made his way to the front the room . The person who the audience had thought was Dr. Brown walked away from the podium. I thought, “Could this kid be Dr. Brown? Or is he ‘Doc Brown’ and not a real Phd ?” This “kid” continued talking about how he was dressed and how this is how many of high school students look in school. He talked about stereotypes and how his appearance might affect learning and teaching. As he continued to talk he teased those that looked nervous when he stood by them and he applauded those that saw him before the presentation and had told him, “Young man you know better, pull up your pants”. Then he began to remove his backpack, jacket, baggy pants and hat to reveal a well dressed man in a black suit. During the applause I still thought, “But he must be only nineteen…” You see this “Doc” (Dr. Adolph Brown) now in front of me was raised by a single mother and had to overcome a childhood that included extreme poverty and violence to become a popular media personality, a noted author, award-winning educator, trained anthropologist and psychologist, columnist, business consultant & coach, much sought after speaker, husband, and father of seven. Dr. Brown is noted for such books as “Uncommon Sense”, “Soft Skills In Hard Times,” and “Messages From Granddad”. Doc used humor to make us laugh and think but told stories and provided information that make us cry and reflect. You see Doc has SEVEN children which made audience members laugh and be thankful they had fewer children. Then he made us cry as he told the story of his upbringing in a home with a single mother, no food, and no clean clothes. He talked about how ambulances would not come into his inner city neighborhood unless they had a police escort. He related his personal story of a being a child with little hope for success whose teacher formed a personal relationship with him in elementary school which empowered him to navigate through the challenges of middle school, high school, and college to get his Doctorate. This inspiring, passionate presentation was the perfect message that school board members needed to hear. When he finished Mrs. Bryant turned back to me with a big smile on her face and said, “Well, what did you think?” I wasn’t able to find the necessary words to express how I felt after hearing this powerful message.
An informative but concerning session was the “The State of the State and Economic Update” from the Dr. Jim Zingale, Capitol Hill Group, LLP, Tallahassee, Florida. Dr. Zingale shared that at this next Florida state legislative session there will be an approximately $2.5 billion dollar shortfall which includes approximately $2.6 billion in what the state refers to as “high critical need” areas but that are not required funding areas and the Legislature does not have to fund. This includes many educational programs. Many in the new Legislature are suggesting that the state is likely to cut another three percent (3%) out of educational funding to school districts for next year. To make things worse, none of the shortfall takes into account any of the cost of the BP oil spill damage. Governor Elect Scott is suggesting approximately $1.36 billion in budget cuts. There are some very good options that the Legislature could consider which would fund much of the $2.5 billion shortfall while not reducing to many of the necessary high critical need programs such as Florida’s public education. Among them is that the current stage of Florida’s “Classroom Size Amendment” this year will cost Florida tax payers approximately $3 billion dollars. Just some of the changes that the Governor is considering in this legislative session is a major overhaul of the Florida Retirement System, discontinuing of the Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP) and the discontinuing of the retirement Health Insurance Subsidy (HIS) to name a few. In addition, there are many in the Legislature that are in major support of the “Taxpayers Bill of Rights” (TABOR) now renamed “Smart Caps Bill”. While to some TABOR seems like it is good for taxpayers on the surface, I personally believe that TABOR could have a devastating effect on our public schools and students’ education.
We must take an aggressive role in the upcoming Florida legislative session to make sure that our representatives know and understand what really is important to us in Citrus County and in particular for our public school students and schools. Our students and schools are our future and we owe it to our children to continue in Citrus to provide a high quality education and learning environment. In the future I will be blogging more about these issues and asking you to contact our representatives about these issues.
The FSBA sessions and courses were invaluable to me in order to be an informed and effective school board member and I am grateful I had the opportunity of attending them. I can not begin to adequately explain all the vast knowledge and resources I received.
During this conference I also had an opportunity to spend a great deal of time with my fellow Citrus School Board Members. I got to know them more on a personal level as due to Florida Sunshine Laws we as Board Members can not talk outside of a public meeting (school board meetings) about any matter that has come before us for a vote or that may come before us in the future. That often leaves us talking about all things personal and about our families. All of the Board Members made me feel part of the team and they went out of the way to help me in everyway they could and introduce me to the many FSBA members. This reminded me again of the importance of school board members respecting each other and working together. It excites me to know that I am part of a School Board that works hard to learn and make decisions that are in the best interest of our students and schools. As Mr. Murray, the FSBA New Board Development Chairperson and Citrus School Board Chairperson, said to the new board members, “Campaigning is over; it is time to begin governing”. Now let’s get to work!
If you have any questions about the educational issues I referenced above or you would like more details about of the of the pending legislations, please contact me.
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