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An 'A-Plus' Plan Gets an 'F'

Governor Bush orders elementary teacher Kip Mitchell to end social promotions, but won't spend money creating more classroom space. That means a tight squeeze for Mitchell's students.

Florida NEA members challenge Governor Jeb Bush's plan to improve education: vouchers and school grading.

It isn't smart politics to talk about "raising teacher standards," ending social promotion, and grading public schools based on student achievement if you won't spend enough money or ask teachers how to make it happen.

But that is exactly what Florida Governor Jeb Bush is doing to educators through his complex and hastily conceived "A-Plus for Education Plan," a program that's supposed to improve "accountability for student learning" -- on a state education budget that, in real dollars, pays out $200 less per pupil than in 1987.

Bush pushed his program through the state legislature last spring with subtle threats, pork-barrel promises, and a hot gimmick: vouchers. Students in struggling schools graded "F" by state authorities for two years in a four-year period -- on the basis of student test scores and other factors -- can get vouchers of up to $4,000 for private or religious school tuition.

By now, you've probably heard about these so-called "opportunity scholarships," the first statewide voucher program in the nation. But you probably haven't heard about the damage the Bush A-Plus Plan is inflicting on public education through unfair labeling of schools, unfunded mandates, and unraveling teacher morale.

Kip Mitchell, who teaches third grade at the Baypoint Elementary Magnet School in St. Petersburg, has seen these problems and more.

In her district, Pinellas County, parents worry over how the A-Plus plan is "branding" their kids' schools, while teachers feel pressured to produce in overcrowded classrooms.

"All Pinellas students now must take algebra classes to graduate," Mitchell points out, "and some of those classes have more than 30 kids. And some of our elementary school classes exceed 30 students -- they need more room. At Bayport Elementary, we have 13 portable classrooms. I taught in one for two years."

Mitchell chairs the government relations committees of both her NEA local and state affiliates.

"The A-Plus plan is demoralizing everyone," she says. "You only get bonuses from the state and positive feedback if you happen to be in an 'A' school -- it's pitting teacher against teacher."

"The unintended consequence of the A-Plus plan is that teachers in the so-called 'worst' schools are getting fed up and leaving," adds David Clark, a staffer for the Florida Teaching Profession-NEA.

Ever so slowly, Mitchell observes, lawmakers who thought they knew how to improve "low-performing schools" are coming to realize how strongly socioeconomic factors impact student achievement. In Pinellas County, she notes wryly, "we educators predicted, even before Governor Bush put the A-Plus Plan in place, exactly which schools would rank 'D' and 'F'!"

If Governor Bush and legislators really listened to educators, parents, and students about what it takes to boost achievement, they'd hear a long list of unmet needs, everything from more funding for supplies and facilities to better professional development and better salaries to retain good teachers.

NEA members in Florida have come to see that it's time to speak louder. Last year, FTP-NEA's 62,000 members voted to pay an extra $15 in dues a year to work a "Listen to Us" message into every Association activity, from lobbying to Read Across America.

To build this campaign, FTP-NEA has created a grassroots Center to Restore Public Confidence in Public Education. At its core: a "Center team" in each local, trained to carry the "Listen to Us" theme to the broader public and mobilize Association members right up to the November election -- when 50 percent of state legislative seats will be up for grabs.

"We've formed our own Center team in Pinellas County," reports Kip Mitchell, "and we've used faculty reps to hold 10-minute site meetings to educate members on the pitfalls of the A-Plus plan -- which we want to reform through legislation. We've used these meetings to collect member data cards, and we plan to show people how they can be involved, like sending E-mails to legislators and letters to editors."

FTP-NEA is also:

• Producing a "Proud Graduate" media campaign to promote the quality work of Florida public schools.

• Keeping up the legal heat on Governor Bush, through a lawsuit charging that his voucher plan violates both the U.S. and Florida constitutions.

• Working through both parties to oppose vouchers. "Two Republican state House members from Pinellas County, Gus Billirakis and John Morroni, took enormous heat from the governor in the last session," reports Mitchell. "They were threatened, stood their ground, and voted against vouchers. We need more allies like them."

• Exposing vouchers for what they are: a shift of public funds to Florida's totally deregulated private schools.

  Consider the irony: While Governor Jeb Bush is crusading for public school "accountability," he's unwilling to require that voucher schools be accredited, hire certified teachers, be fiscally sound, or have a history of achievement. "All a private school needs to receive a Florida voucher," points out FTP-NEA's David Clark, "is a building, a name, and proof that it has been in existence for a year. Period."

For more information on FTP-NEA's campaign, go to www.ftp.nea.org.

Your Dues Did It

NEA Voucher Suits Bear Fruit

• In Ohio, U.S. District Court Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. has ruled that Cleveland's private school voucher program violates the constitutional separation of church and state because it directs tax dollars to religious schools -- the vast majority of institutions participating in the scheme. "A program that is so skewed toward religion," the judge wrote, "necessarily results in indoctrination attributable to the government and provides financial incentives to attend religious schools."
  "Judge Oliver has issued a comprehensive and well-reasoned decision that should have persuasive impact with other courts that consider the issue," says NEA General Counsel Bob Chanin, lead attorney in the Cleveland case. "This is, moreover, the latest in an unbroken string of federal court decisions holding that voucher programs of this type violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment."
• In a lawsuit brought by NEA, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania has struck down a voucher program adopted in 1998 by the Southeast Delco school district. The appellate court said this scheme violated state law.

Back Talk

When they say: "Vouchers have absolutely no effect on public school revenues."

You can say: "The availability of educational opportunity will diminish as dollars leave buildings with voucher students," says David Clark, a staffer for the Florida Teaching Profession-NEA. "How can you run a restaurant with 50 items on the menu for just six customers? You'll just be left offering a cheese sandwich." "Because of vouchers, you will lose teacher units, parent involvement, and dollars for the arts, music, and other specialty programs," adds FTP-NEA President Maureen Dinnen. "All students deserve a complete, quality educational experience."