HB 91 and SB 184 will require any school receiving public funds (either directly or indirectly) to follow Florida Statute 1003.42 (g).
Excerpt from f.s. 1003.42 (g):
[a required course that will teach] …… the ramifications of prejudice, racism, and stereotyping, and an examination of what it means to be a responsible and respectful person, for the purposes of encouraging tolerance of diversity in a pluralistic society and for nurturing and protecting democratic values and institutions.
If legislators are going to continue giving our tax money to charters and private schools, then each law that spells out rules for the neighborhood school needs to explicitly say if the charter school and private school receiving voucher money has to follow that law also.
Governor DeSantis said any school receiving public funds is a public school. What does he mean? Does he mean that any school receiving public funds should be required to follow the same rules as the neighborhood school?
I was shocked to hear about the terrible condition some of our school buildings are in. I don’t understand why some on the city council are hesitating to let the school board put this on the ballot in November 2019. The school board said they’d pay for the election out of their budget.
The philanthropic organization JPEF says the voters want the repairs to be made. ref 1 Since the issue is clear cut, I don’t think massive super PAC money is needed to get this passed as was needed for Mayor Curry to get his sales tax increase passed to fix the pension debacle in August of 2016.
Please vote yes on 2019-380 which will allow the school board to put the referendum on the November 2019 ballot.
Hopefully philanthropists will donate money to make the neighborhood school grounds even more beautiful for our communities. Beautiful buildings and beautiful parks add to our quality of life.
We need to start these repairs soon. According to the website of the philanthropic organization JPEF , funding from the state has been decreasing over the years, and therefore Duval County Public Schools haven’t been able to accommodate the demand for building upgrades. According to that same website, the Duval County School District is the only district in Florida that doesn’t have a dedicated revenue source from either impact fees or sales taxes. ref 2
Because state funding sources have decreased so significantly, there is not enough predictable funding to back a bond issue. If the voters vote yes on the referendum in November 2019, then the predictable dedicated revenue source will enable the district to issue bonds and accelerate work on the highest priority school projects. ref 3
Dr. Greene was hired as the superintendent because the elected school board members felt she had the skills to fix the problems. And part of the equation was putting a referendum on the ballot. Quote from a TU article: School Board chairwoman Lori Hershey said “I have in my office several master plans that never got off the ground” because we need a dedicated revenue source to tackle the problems.
If you haven’t already signed these and you want to sign one, then please print it from the My Florida website. Be sure to print on both sides of the paper if the petition is a front and back. There is an address on each petition as to where to mail it.
Details of below initiative can be found at this link: https://dos.elections.myflorida.com/initiatives/initdetail.asp?account=64632&seqnum=5 BALLOT SUMMARY: Allows all registered voters to vote in primaries for state legislature, governor, and cabinet regardless of political party affiliation. All candidates for an office, including party nominated candidates, appear on the same primary ballot. Two highest vote getters advance to general election. If only two candidates qualify, no primary is held and winner is determined in general election. Candidate’s party affiliation may appear on ballot as provided by law. Effective January 1, 2024.
Details of below initiative can be found at this link: https://dos.elections.myflorida.com/initiatives/initdetail.asp?account=70490&seqnum=3
BALLOT SUMMARY: Prohibits possession of assault weapons, defined as semiautomatic rifles and shotguns capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition at once, either in fixed or detachable magazine, or any other ammunition-feeding device. Possession of handguns is not prohibited. Exempts military and law enforcement personnel in their official duties. Exempts and requires registration of assault weapons lawfully possessed prior to this provision’s effective date. Creates criminal penalties for violations of this amendment.
Details of below initiative can be found at this link: https://dos.elections.myflorida.com/initiatives/initdetail.asp?account=73891&seqnum=1 BALLOT SUMMARY: Requires State to provide Medicaid coverage to individuals over age 18 and under age 65 whose incomes are at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty level and meet other nonfinancial eligibility requirements, with no greater burdens placed on eligibility, enrollment, or benefits for these newly eligible individuals compared to other Medicaid beneficiaries. Directs Agency for Health Care Administration to implement the initiative by maximizing federal financial participation for newly eligible individuals.
Details of below initiative can be found at this link: https://dos.elections.myflorida.com/initiatives/initdetail.asp?account=70115&seqnum=1
BALLOT SUMMARY: Raises minimum wage to $10.00 per hour effective September 30th, 2021. Each September 30th thereafter, minimum wage shall increase by $1.00 per hour until the minimum wage reaches $15.00 per hour on September 30th, 2026. From that point forward, future minimum wage increases shall revert to being adjusted annually for inflation starting September 30th, 2027.
If politicians are going to keep giving our tax money to charters and private schools, then we need to explicitly spell out which regulations they must follow Said another way: each law that spells out rules for the neighborhood school needs to explicitly say if the charter school and private school receiving voucher money has to follow it also
My understanding is Scott Shine and some of the lobbying groups he represents are pushing for the taxpayers to fund more charter schools. Do charter schools and private schools that receive voucher money have to follow 1003.42? And if they don’t have to follow 1003.42, then are any state legislators pushing a bill for the next legislative session that will require any school receiving public funds (either directly or indirectly) to follow 1003.42?
I am glad this is part of the requirement in 1003.42:
(g) ……, to be taught in a manner that leads to an investigation of human behavior, an understanding of the ramifications of prejudice, racism, and stereotyping, and an examination of what it means to be a responsible and respectful person, for the purposes of encouraging tolerance of diversity in a pluralistic society and for nurturing and protecting democratic values and institutions.
Here is how the statute describes schools that have to follow 1003.42:
1) Each district school board shall provide all courses required for middle grades promotion, high school graduation, and appropriate instruction designed to ensure that students meet State Board of Education adopted standards in the following subject areas: reading and other language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, foreign languages, health and physical education, and the arts.
(2) Members of the instructional staff of the public schools, subject to the rules of the State Board of Education and the district school board, shall teach efficiently and faithfully, using the books and materials required that meet the highest standards for professionalism and historic accuracy, following the prescribed courses of study, and employing approved methods of instruction, the following….
The more I read about Scott Shine, the more I wonder why Jacksonville City Council President Aaron Bowman appointed him to the Charter Revision Commission. I also wonder why more of the city council members didn’t vote to defer the vote on Shine’s confirmation so there would be time to investigate why Shine missed so many school board meetings when he was being paid by the taxpayer to attend those meetings.
The community gets to elect the local school board members. We hope the elected school board members will be making the best decisions for our local schools. They need to budget for where to build new schools. I find the below quote very troubling. Does it mean Scott Shine wants the state to make decisions on how the school board spends funds to build new schools?
If my memory serves me correctly, a council member (at the rules committee meeting on June 4th) asked Scott Shine why he missed so many meetings when he was a school board member. Mr. Shine answered that he only missed two meetings where votes took place. Was he lying? Can you find out how many meetings he missed?
Daedalus Dreamed was born from an obsession with mazes, but particularly The Labyrinth, the most famous maze in human history. The Labyrinth was built by Daedalus for King Minos of Crete. Its sole purpose was to be a dwelling but perhaps more accurately a prison for The Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull life form.
Step 1 involved getting the right size gallery-wrapped canvas. I wanted to create a large maze. 48″ x 30″ was picked because it was the biggest canvas which fit on the table in the art room. After priming it with gesso, I applied crackle paste to the sides of the canvas. I applied extra heavy gloss gel to the front of the canvas. I pushed small tree branches into the wet gel to create imprints. I then cut holes in a large fish net and laid it down on top of the gel medium, stretching it around all four sides, adding more gel to ensure the netting was completely glued to the canvas. I let that dry for 3 days. I then applied GAC500, a binder medium, to the sides and front of the canvas. This not only strengthened the crackle paste on the sides of the canvas, but also made everything one complete unit. I let the binder dry for 24 hours. I then painted everything with black gesso to re-establish a ground with good tooth.
After the black gesso dried, I used a white chalk pencil to draw a grid on the entire canvas. I chose black gesso and white chalk for a good contrast in order to see what I would be doing next. Plus, the chalk mixes well with acrylic paint. Once I had the grid completed, I diluted some white mixing paint with water and put it in a reusable paint pen. I used the paint pen to draw the maze. I drew circles off-center in an asymmetrical relationship on the canvas for focal points, then drew an entrance and an exit for the maze. Once I had the maze closed in with only two openings, I started drawing. I wanted the maze to be somewhere in the middle between easy and difficult to navigate.
This was the biggest maze I had ever attempted to sketch, so there were lots of mistakes. With black paint, I was able to open and close pathways, finally getting the sketch completed in 2 days.
Next I filled up a cake icing bag full of crackle paste. I used a medium sized nozzle and went to work squeezing out crackle paste onto the lines I had painted the previous 2 days. It took a couple of hours to get the maze walls finished. Then I used my fingers to flatten out sections of the maze walls to give the appearance of collapsed walls. I wanted the maze to appear ancient and in a state of moderate deterioration. I then applied another coat of GAC500 binder to strengthen the crackle paste walls. The GAC500 dries to a very smooth finish and must then be treated with gesso. I followed up with another coat of gesso. I then applied coarse nepheline gel to the maze pathways to give them a rough finish. The fish netting was used to give the appearance of roots growing and taking over the maze pathways. I painted the netting iridescent black for contrast. I painted the pathways with a combination of yellow ochre, cadmium yellow, raw and burnt sienna, raw and burnt umber, cadmium red, red oxide, and a few more colors. I painted the walls magenta, but there wasn’t enough contrast, so I repainted the walls antique iridescent gold.
I then painted the 4 circles. The black paint on the fish netting came last. The painting took several weeks. I frosted the circles with iridescent white paint to give them a misty appearance. This painting was hard work, but worth it.
You can see the coarse texture of the maze pathways in the close up below.
You can see the black fishnet looking like roots are taking over the pathways in the close up below.
This painting was featured in a recent exhibition.
I have written about workplace bullying and bullying in schools. The incidents that I’ve heard and written about have not involved bullying toward specific groups of people, such as ethnic minorities or gay or lesbian individuals (although we know that this occurs with greater frequency), but persons from all walks of life who are singled out as targets of bullies.
Helping kids to understand and identify bullying techniques early on in their lives is an important aspect of combating this problem. Young children, especially, should be encouraged to let their parents and teachers know when they are being harassed by other students. They should also be encouraged to expose cases of bullying when they see it happen to their peers.
In 1994, the Florida Legislature passed the Holocaust Education Bill (SB 660) which amends Section 233.061 of the Florida Statutes (Chapter 94-14, Laws of Florida), relating to required instruction. The law requires all school districts to incorporate lessons on the Holocaust as part of public school instruction. The statute reads as follows:
The history of the Holocaust (1933-1945), the systematic planned annihilation of European Jews and other groups by Nazi Germany, a watershed event in the history of humanity, to be taught in a manner that leads to an investigation of human behavior, an understanding of the ramifications of prejudice, racism, and stereotyping, and an examination of what it means to be a responsible and respectful person, for the purposes of encouraging tolerance of diversity in a pluralistic society and for nurturing and protecting democratic values and institutions.
What do you think of this program to give voucher money to a kid that claims to have been bullied but leaves the bully in the public school? Why not spend money on reducing the bullying? Quote from this article:
The Florida Legislature passed a bill in 2018 that is the “first state-supported scholarship in America aimed at helping K-12 students victimized by bullying,” according to Step Up for Students [an organization that profits from administering state voucher programs].
Bullying in schools, ranging from elementary to high school, has reached epidemic proportions. But bullying doesn’t stop there. Bullying in college, in the workplace, and against minority group members of all ages is rampant. …. What is being done about the bullying epidemic, and what can be done? … High-profile cases of bullied teens’ suicides, and now the instances of college bullying and hazing, are leading many schools to develop anti-bullying policies. … We need to rethink our attitudes toward bullying, and incivility in general. As parents, we need to ensure that we are not encouraging teasing and bullying behavior in our children. We need to support anti-bullying programs in our schools and workplaces. We simply need to be more respectful and tolerant of others, and of others’ differences. I find it ironic that the time, money, and energy spent on trying to stop gay marriage, is many times greater than the resources devoted to protecting LGBT persons from bullying. Resources: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/ss/se/bullyres.asp http://www.workplacebullying.org/
Here are my questions:
1. Is the state providing funding for this course?
2. If yes, is it adequate to hire specialized teachers?
3. Is this course required of all public schools? If yes, how are they defining public schools? Are they using DeSantis’s definition that any school that receives public funds is a public school so that charters and private schools that receive voucher money must also include this as a required class?
4. This class would be a great place to include some of the curriculum required in f.s. 1003.42(g). Is 1003.42(g) required of charter schools and private schools receiving voucher money? In case you don’t see the connection, 1003.42(g) also aims to reduce bullying.
Quote from News Service Florida article:
“TALLAHASSEE — Public schools will be required to teach students at least five hours of mental health instruction beginning in 6th grade, under a mandate approved by the state Board of Education Wednesday and hailed by Florida’s top educator as a “life saver.” The new requirement will require students to take courses aimed at helping them to identify the signs and symptoms of mental illness, find resources if they are battling with depression or other issues, and teach them how to help peers who are struggling with a mental health disorder. The five-hour minimum will be included in curriculums for grades 6-12. “We know that 50 percent of all mental illness cases begin by age 14, so we are being proactive in our commitment to provide our kids with the necessary tools to see them through their successes and challenges,” DeSantis, the mother of two young children, said in a statement. “Providing mental health instruction is another important step forward in supporting our families.” Under the new rule, school districts will be able to choose the types of classes children will be required to take, according to Department of Education spokeswoman Cheryl Etters. The instruction includes courses about cyberbullying, suicide prevention and the impact of substance abuse.
What is the answer to bullying?
My understanding, and I admit I don’t know much, is that the community school concept could help the school with that issue. See page 11 of this report.
Unite Us Do Not Divide Us 