Today’s entries:
- Hey Brian, have you read the Palm Beach County school district plan on reopening? Everyone is wondering why they wouldn't put kids back in school. If you dig into the 54-page plan you find that they are looking to spend 63 million additional dollars to make this ridiculous plan happen.
- They should refund the taxpayers for the monies not used since these buildings are not being used for each day, week, month, or year they are not being used. Why should we pay for something that is not being used?
- The schools should stay open and not do it online. How about asking the children what they what to do? How come the Colleges are opening up in FL?
- I’ve seen several teachers offering to teach kids in groups of 10 from 8-4 each day. They claim they can do that while still doing online schooling. $250 per week per kid plus their teaching salary. No wonder why teachers don’t want to go back. That’s a gold mine for them.
- PBC Schools are a joke. The meeting was a complete waste of time. I am very disappointed today to see in the news that schools will reopen virtually only this August. I disagree with this decision, students belong in the classroom ASAP.
- Homeschool your child(ren) not the govt, problem solved
- Very frustrated about Runcie's decision to go to online only for Broward County. My wife and I are left scrambling to figure out what to do with our child now, as the experience did not work for us for the latter part of last school year. We have very few options available to us, private school is prohibitive, we are not equipped to teach properly, and the spring experience proved that the county is not ready for full online learning.
Bottom Line: These notes are just scratching the surface of what I’ve received. Given the deck we’ve been dealt, I wanted to share a few thoughts with you. Throughout the pandemic, my central theme has been a reminder that all elections have consequences and those closest to you often have the biggest impact on your daily life. I’ve used that saying to emphasize the importance of civic engagement and local elections for roughly twenty years, yet we’ve averaged only 12% turnout in South Florida for local-only elections. Twelve percent of the population making the decisions that currently have the greatest impact on our lives. That needs to be the first takeaway here. We have local elections which will be decided August 18th. Inform yourself, engage, and vote. That’s how change starts.
Next up, other options. There are many private schools in South Florida that will be open as usual. If you want a classroom education for your children and if private education is an option for you, this might be the time to make the change. That takes me to a broader point about change. The general need to take back control of our children’s education.
Over the course of my career, I’ve watched and reported on the steady decline in education outcomes, concerns over what is and isn’t being taught in our public schools, and the partisanship of teachers unions which average supporting Democrats with over 90% of their political spending. While some progress has been made in recent years in Florida with graduation rates and certain education metrics, the broader concerns remain. This, for example, is why Governor DeSantis pushed for the elimination of Common Core and a new curriculum that will prioritize civics. Think about it. Why should we have needed reform to have civics taught in our schools? Since the creation of the Department of Education in 1980, American education outcomes have plummeted compared to the rest of the world. From 2nd in overall outcomes to the late teens to twenties in many categories most recently. Many hyper-partisan educators have abused their role through the indoctrination of our children. Many local officials have used the threat of public education as a mechanism to raise our property taxes and pass school-specific taxes on top of all other taxes. And what do we have to show for this? What we’re discussing right now.
Adversity presents an opportunity. I propose where possible we use this opportunity to begin to become more engaged with our children’s education. Ensure they’re learning what’s important and not just what’s instructed. If we use this experience as a catalyst to connect with our kids it could potentially improve their education, our relationships with them, and impact future generations. I understand for many families this is far easier said than done but since many have been left with no choice this could be the start of our taking back of the education system from self-serving bureaucrats with partisan agendas.
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