miamizsun wrote:
 
Agreed, but the discussion isn't around THE choice of where to send your kids... it's about CREATING the choice for something versus changing the existing institutions.   I

Voting "FOR" a charter doesn't promise a parent something better, it merely presents an opportunity to try something else if you feel the current situation isn't working.

As we can all see everyday, change isn't always an improvement, and occassionally has tragic results.

 rgio wrote: 

the powers that be have had access to money (spending has gone way up)

but i think results aren't reflecting that

it would be hard for me to say to parents "sorry, just hold on and we'll get it right" or "sorry, you don't have a choice right now because..."

meanwhile they are stuck

regards

 miamizsun wrote:
 
The results from Charter schools are mixed.  Many have higher performance, many do not. 

There are reasons that companies merge but rarely break up successfully...adding administration rarely improves performance.  If the kids with involved parents all move to a charter school and those with disinterested or missing parents all stay in the local school, the scores of the kids in the charter school are going to be higher.  Are they higher because of the school, or is it that you have isolated the better students who skew the averages "for" the charter and "against"  their old school.  In fact, they may actually be getting less of an education, but the statistics show in favor of charter because they are starting with more intelligent children. 

States with higher numbers of charter schools are generally those with the weakest performance.  Many states need real investment in schooling...but I don't see that happening any time soon with all of the tax increases on the horizon to pay for our disastrous COVID response.

The answer isn't enabling some to move, it's fixing the broken system.  We're all paying for them, and we need to support those who are struggling so they can be productive, happy members of society as adults.  Leaving behind those who struggle with family and educational issues at a young age is going to cost everyone a lot more than fixing the schools.  That said....Florida is

 cc_rider wrote: 
the right is anything but conservative (well as long as money and/or votes are involved)

i'm thinking they might want to bust down teachers unions, something along those lines

my children are failing! defund the teachers! (joking)

however, if you're an inner city parent and you don't want to send your child to the local school (pick a reason)

should they have a choice? or should they be forced to stay in what they may see as an inferior education experience?

something to think about

peace

 miamizsun wrote:
 
Fair enough. It sounds like the program was pretty rotten. In Florida, of all places! Whodathunkit.

But without anything to replace it, how are students, already falling behind, going to keep up?

Some of this goes back to the issue of infrastructure, like internet access. Low-income folks are much less likely to be connected, especially at a speed high enough for distance learning/video.

BUT there's also the aspect of school privatization/choice/vouchers/charters that 'conservatives' (ha!) have pushed for decades.

Regardless, thanks for finding the rest of the story...
c.

 cc_rider wrote:
 

i'm not in the loop on this, but like the article says, there's probably some sort of question/scandal regarding the folks in charge

i don't see him leaving people in the lurch on this, i'd look for a proposal soon

i think he's dropping common core and giving vouchers to those who want to get their children into better schools

pretty sure school choice/vouchers are a big deal with those stuck in bad schools (usually inner city)

and he's boosting teacher pay by $500,000,000 (especially new teachers)

edit: i saw this on a tampa news site





Oversight for the program comes from University of West Florida, which was on DeSantis’ radar since he called for an audit of the Complete Florida Plus Program last year.

In November 2019, DeSantis withheld $5 million from the university’s Complete Florida $23 million allocation until an audit of the program was complete.

In March of this year, the results of the audit were released, reporting that UWF withdrew nearly $2.4 million from the program’s fund without authorization.

The audit also found that the university did not keep records of the salaries and benefits of 125 employees, which totaled $11.9 million.

Thousands of students across the state are now scrambling for answers, especially as coronavirus cases continue to surge throughout Florida and students continue to depend more heavily on virtual learning.

https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2020/06/30/desantis-kills-online-learning-program-amid-virus-resurgence-1296178

WTAF?
c.

Florida Man arrested for encouraging 12-year-old to drive his SUV at 85mph, police say

 Red_Dragon wrote:
 

I am embarrassed to admit that I once did something similar on a friend's boat on the west coast of Vancouver Island.  Luckily the error was quickly identified.  (Dumbass......)  

Florida Man Mistakenly Pumps Gas onto the Deck of His Boat

 sunybuny wrote: 

they are everywhere in south florida and they get quite a bit of press

some of these can get up to 4-5 feet long and 15-20 lbs (godzilla-like)

and why hasn't anyone in the film industry done a horror series on a giant mutant iguana? (hey japan)

 miamizsun wrote:
 
OMG - if you only knew how true....   LMAO!!

 ScottFromWyoming wrote: 

 Red_Dragon wrote:
 

I was gonna order some fresh iguana meat from Florida, but in the fine print it says "previously frozen".

 miamizsun wrote:


about halfway there's a tower you can go up into and see some whopper dinosaurs in the pond/lake
it's hard to judge just how big they are, but they're usually....

...noticeably larger than most you'll see on the trail/loop

 
I sure hope so after that description!

I’m watching AKC.tv ... the national dock diving championships. My good friend and her two dogs are nationally ranked! Go Reesie and Saffron!

 kcar wrote:
 
I knew the gator was dissected, I was just speculating - based on the stories of salt water crocodiles in northern Australia that use Mandrax to relax their prey.  I was guessing that Mr. Meth was dumped there after having the bad manners to die in someone's car/trailer/flop-house.  They may have thought it would be easier to drop him out in the glades than to try to explain a dead guy to the cops.  It is Florida after all.

 kcar wrote: 

well there's no way around the fact that it is a very large critter

they don't get much longer 14-15 feet maybe and that's probably rare

but they gain more girth and can get quite a bit heavier (esp males/bulls)

if you're ever in south florida try and make a trip to shark valley (winter is the best time)

rent a bike or take the tram on 15 mile loop through the glades

about halfway there's a tower you can go up into and see some whopper dinosaurs in the pond/lake

it's hard to judge just how big they are, but they're usually noticeably larger than most you'll see on the trail/loop