Posted on April 2nd, 2013 by
Thomas Kennedy
EDC Hears About Citrus School Students
Recently I had the privilege of speaking before the Citrus County Economic Development Council Board of Directors regarding high school graduation requirements and job ready skills.
I began by sharing that Florida is ranked 6th in the Nation in Education; Citrus County School District is 12th out of 67 counties in Florida for overall performance and 1st in performance for students with the highest number of Title 1 students (economically disadvantaged students); Citrus has the highest percentage of “A” schools of any Florida district; has been designated an “A” district for 7 years running; and has been designated by Florida Department of Education as “Academically High Performing School District” for 6 years in a row. I then pointed out the irony that the more successful the Citrus County School District becomes, the more challenging it becomes for the economic development of Citrus County.
Why, you might ask? Citrus County was specially awarded a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. A significant reason Citrus was selected for the unique achievement of students, especially for a rural community with a higher than normal poverty rate. Using the tool provided by the Gates Foundation some excellent details of our impressive post-secondary results of our graduated high school students. The data tells us that an inspiring 68% of Citrus students are enrolling into a college or university within one year after graduating high school and that of those that originally graduated high school in Citrus, 61% will receive a four year degree within five to six years after high school graduation. If that were not exciting enough, of those that graduated from a Citrus high school that are Exceptional Student Education students (those with disabilities), 45% will get a four year degree– almost twice the national average.
Here is the problem: the majority of those that get their degree will not move back to Citrus. Of the 13% that go to student engineering, nearly 0% come back to Citrus; of the 22% that go into medical, surprisingly few of even those young people come back as they often prefer the cities. One of the primary reasons for those in other fields to return to Citrus is to care for an aging family member.
The exception? Those who get a degree in education. They are largely the highest group of young people with degrees to return to Citrus. What is surprising about this for some is that Citrus is a ranked 45th out of 67th in pay for teachers. One of the draws for teachers who move to Citrus from other area was that their spouse was working at Progress Energy. This was a benefit for Citrus County and our students as many of these educators might not ordinarily have located in Citrus. Another misfortune of the Crystal River Nuclear plant closing for Citrus is that many of these teachers must now move away. I speak of this first hand as this includes a great teacher that teaches next to my wife’s classroom.
So who stays in Citrus County and who is our potential labor workforce? First it is the bulk of the 33% of students that do not go on to a colleges and universities in the first year after high school. They may go to WTI or even find an entry level job. Many realized during the months after high school that they must get more specific skills and training. Several will go to WTI but after school leave the area to look for opportunities outside of Citrus. What remains in our county is the potential employment pool for businesses and employers.
What are we doing in our Citrus schools to help young people acquire job ready skills? I would point to some excellent examples in job and career readiness training such as the Crystal River High School Academy of Health where students by their Junior year can earn a certification as a CNA and/or other certifications to begin work immediately after high school. This facility is one of only 10 like it in the nation. The Academy of Health has a state-of-the-art six station dental suite where students learn hands-on the skills necessary to work for a dentist. Students are getting hired directly out of high school and are furthering their dental training while working for a dentist. Another great example is the Citrus High School Drafting Academy which is 1st in the Southeast and 2nd in the entire nation in having the largest number of drafters become ADDA certified drafters. The Academy’s walls are filled with copies of the certifications former students have received. These students have the skills to be hired directly out of high school or to continue their education in many other areas.
One of the biggest obstacles we have had in high school was the State’s requirement that all students must be college ready in order to graduate high school. This was mandated through the passage of 2010’s Senate Bill 4 which has contributed in large part to taking away schools’ and districts’ abilities to offer “real world and job/career ready skill building” classes and opportunities in school. How? Because SB4 put in in Florida law that all high school students must demonstrate through standardized testing that they are college ready/eligible in order to receive a basic high school diploma accredited from the Florida Department of Education. In order for the Freshman class of 2013 to graduate, they will have to pass FCAT Reading along with Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, Biology, Chemistry and/or Physics. They also must pass another science course that is equally as rigorous as Chemistry or Physics, and pass at least one online high school course. The standard graduation requirements for high school are higher than the entrance requirements to UF. This MUST be changed!!
What needs to happen? One of the best chances of change we have this legislative session is the passage of House Bill 7091 which is co-sponsored by our own State Representative Jimmie T. Smith. This will provides more pathway graduation options for high school schools then we currently have. It provides flexibility for districts to work with industry leaders to develop job skill building courses and programs which will count towards high school graduation. This bill provides student assessment taking and passing options which will provide that students’ daily work will count towards passing their required courses. Currently, many required courses are pass/fail only end of course exams. This is one of the best educational bills facing Florida in many years and it is my hope and prayer that it passes and becomes law.
Citrus economic development has many challenges ahead but I appreciate that the Citrus Economic Development Council recognizes the valuable educational system Citrus County School District has built and the asset that it can be in attracting industry and people to our great community. I look forward to the EDC and the school system working more closing to meet the challenges our county is facing.
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HB7091/SB1076 PASSED: Florida High School Students Now Have High School Graduation Options
