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FASA Legislative Workshop
January 20, 2007
Jim Warford
welcomed attendees and gave a talk highlighting FASA’s goal to
make our state’s educational administrators’ voices heard. He
touched on the FASA website, its changes, and the new email tool
that allows members to voice their opinions immediately (in real
time). This will be a vital tool for obtaining and getting out
information during the upcoming Legislative Session.
Mr. Warford
introduced Ruth Hall, President of FASA. Attendees present
introduced themselves. Mr. Warford stressed the importance of
changing the way that public education administrators are
perceived. He gave accountability results from the last six
years. 80+ percent of schools in Florida are graded “good” or
“excellent”. Administrators need to become the “agents” of
change, not the “objects” of change. Public school leaders have
the answers for making long-term improvements in our schools.
FASA is leading the charge, together with the legislature, to
carry out those goals.
Juhan Mixon,
lobbyist, welcomed the group and thanked everyone for coming.
He recognized retirees and thanked them for their involvement.
A booklet, Grassroots Lobbying, was distributed.
Mr. Mixon introduced and told a little about Senator Steve Wise
from Duvall County.
Senator Steve
Wise spoke about his experiences in education and his
involvement in politics. A graduate of Florida Southern
College, he obtained his doctorate from the University of
Alabama. Senator Wise spent 23 years in education at Florida
Community College before he had an opportunity to run for House
of Representatives in Jacksonville, FL. During campaigning, he
passed out Wise potato chips for name recognition to help him
win the vote! In 1996, Senator Wise suffered a heart attack and
the next running slogan became “Keep Wise Alive!” He was
appointed to be over all education committees and became
Appropriation Chairman for Education.
In 1999-2000
Senator Wise was involved in putting together a bill for a
Math/Science school in partnership with the space program.
Middle school girls and boys (separately) attend for nine weeks
then high school students (girls and boys separately) for nine
weeks, getting involved with astronauts and college professors.
Goals of the program are to help keep the best and brightest
students from going out of state.
Working for
three years in conjunction with the electric company, plans are
being made in Duvall County, in conjunction with Florida
Community College, to have residents send donations with their
electric bills for pre-paid college for students on free or
reduced lunch. Culmination of the program is planned for the
year 2012. Goals are to cut the juvenile crime rates by 25%
and provide post-secondary education for any student who wants
it. If the Governor will talk with all utility companies in the
state for a similar program, every student in the state could
have an opportunity to attend college.
Representative
Dennis Baxley from Jacksonville addressed the workshop
attendees. He told that his experiences as a legislator have
taught him to be a better listener. He told of some of his
involvements with family, community and in the legislature. To
him, his most important job has been being dad to his five
children, one of them blind. He thanked those present for their
involvement in the education of his children.
Rep. Baxley
congratulated the attending group for being involved, and for
putting leaders in Tallahassee like Jim Warford and Juhan Mixon.
He challenged the group to agree to disagree when necessary to
work together and get the job done to build a great future for
Florida’s students. He challenged those present to remain at
the table, so as not to end up on the menu! Sound economic
futures cannot be built if the next generation is not taught
what they need to know to compete in the global market.
Accountability is not pleasant, but it is vital. The
educational model is the key for the future. Go get ‘em!
Question, Answer and Comments
Session:
Currently, there
exist 120 House members and 40 Senators. But! All
politics are local. Representatives want to hear from
one person they know. Our job should be to get to know
the legislators personally. The best ways to get to know or
communicate with a legislator are:
Steve Wise:
Work in the campaign of the person you want to get to know. Get
involved. Contribute to the campaign. Go by the office.
Identify yourself and your district.
Dennis Baxley:
Figure out who taught the children of the legislator and get
those teachers to contact the legislator. Identify those
who already have a relationship with the legislator. Volunteer
to campaign. After the race – get to know the victor,
whether or not you voted for them. 95% of folks who make
appointments want something from the legislator. Offer help
without asking for anything. Don’t write people off just
because you weren’t in their camp, especially on educational
issues.
Q: John
Miliziano, Hillsborough: Administrators throughout Florida
want to someday see the 1.6% multiplier for retirement benefits
increased to at least 2%. Does it look like that multiplier
will ever be increased? Doesn’t the local School Board fund
it?
A: It is all
funded by the state, and the state sets the rates for what
dollars are put in. It will probably not ever pass. It has too
much fiscal impact. Currently, the 2.0% multiplier is for
exceptional risk. Just a move to 2.0% would explode the
budget. The issue will never get out of the Operations
Committee. Elected officials get 3.0%, judges get 3.3%. Could
probably look at picking up health care costs (HIS) as an
alternative. A HIS supplement bill has been filed by Senator
Lawson and by Bob Allen in the House. Another benefit that
Senator Wise is carrying is the eight-year DROP bill.
Q: Neriah
Roberts, Polk County: For the past three years getting the
multiplier increased has been pursued. One train of thought has
been to implement it incrementally. Regarding DROP, we are
asking that administrators be treated as teachers (eight
years). Of the three issues, (DROP, HIS or 1.6%), which is the
likeliest to pass?
A: Senator
Wise: The original premise of DROP was to have a plan that
would allow educators to stay on or come back after retirement
due to a teacher shortage. Now the administrators are also
retiring in large numbers (the leadership) and a new problem
has arisen. Within the next three and a half years, 60% of
Florida’s educational administrators will be eligible to
retire. That data should cause the issue to get attention. If
actuarially sound, perhaps the 1.6% could be increased to 1.75%,
but other areas will pay for the increase. DROP is the
likeliest to pass. Actuarial studies on the DROP extension show
it won’t cost the state.
C: Walter
Pierce, Palm Beach County (comment): Regarding the
DROP extension – every time we lose an administrator, we pull a
teacher out of the classroom.
Q. Lou
Cerreta, Hillsborough County: DROP – after retirement,
teachers must stay out one month, administrators one year to
avoid penalty. Can this be addressed with current bill?
A:
Representative Baxley: People need to be educated about
DROP. Everything has some kind of compromise. Use those
disparities for argument points.
Q: Ruth
Hall, Hillsborough: We need to have a way to continue to
have high-quality leadership development. Due to attrition and
DROP, a lot of people are coming in new, both administrators and
teachers. How can dollars be recouped for professional
development?
A: Senator
Wise encouraged everyone to log on to Teaching Point.com
– 100 programs that have been put together in accordance with
Sunshine State Standards. Senator Wise is running it by
different organizations for input. Look at website and respond
to
srwise@comcast.net with your evaluations. Staff development
dollars, from a Senate standpoint at least, will be
appropriated. In the past, problems with training dollars were
that they were not coordinated toward a common goal. Some
legislators were concerned that value of those dollars was being
lost. What is needed is alignment and prioritization for the
existing dollars.
Q:
Marjorie Ebersbach, Brevard County: School calendar
issue: 54 of the districts in the state have early start
calendars. It makes a tremendous impact on employees who will
go three weeks to a month without pay. Can the vote be
reconsidered? What are the chances of having it re-examined
this session?
A: Debatable
issues will always come back. 36 new members in the House will
be approached with the issue. Save Our Summers organization
gained momentum that had nothing to do with operating schools.
They are part of the discussion. Not an easy struggle to get it
back on the table, but it will be back. It’s Posey’s bill
(Brevard). Joe Pickens’ idea was to make an “opt out” chance
for counties whose communities were in agreement.
Q: What are
the legislative next steps for Secondary School Redesign
Initiative?
A: Bill
Daggett will address the issue on February 14th to
the committees and interested parties. On the House side, it’s
Joe Pickens.
C: Steve
Richardson, Citrus (comments): Lives by the Law of
Accumulated grievances, Law of Unintended Consequences.
Regarding the 1.6 percent: it is not just 1.6, it’s 1.6 percent
of what? Recruitment issues arise. For example, STAR
has diminished relationships between unions, administrators,
etc. It took a year that started out really well and turned it
into a year of friction. Give time for initiatives to be
implemented at the school level. Think of the impact on
teachers and administrators before things get passed that will
cause difficulty for educators.
A: Hearings on
STAR before Appropriations Committee will be the first week of
February. Contact your legislators to give input, but be
positive.
Q: Florida
Virtual School enacted legislation that students could have
access during the school day. There are 350,000 students in the
system. Students are being denied access now – why?
A: Senator
Wise needs to know the details, because he’s on both
committees. Rep. Baxley noted his excitement for the program.
Long-term view is that he’d like to see it grow until 20% of
high school students access virtual school. We need to rethink
how to mix the programs and get over turf wars and weld the two
arenas together. 97% of parents are most satisfied with virtual
school. It’s a huge tool to reach our potential.
C: Patricia
Ramsey-Baney, Orange County (comment): STARS
and the demoralization it causes: Teachers need support and
administrators are trying to provide that support. Teachers
deal with kids with all capabilities, not just brilliant
students. Give schools the money so they can divvy it up where
it is needed. Intentions may have been good, but mission has
failed.
Senator Wise
encouraged Ms. Ramsey-Baney to come to Tallahassee to testify
regarding STARS.
At this point
in the program, Juhan Mixon introduced Vern Crawford. Mr.
Crawford’s comments included:
All politics is
local! True statement. Involvement is crucial, as is
information flow is very important
FELL (Florida
Education Legislative Liaisons) – began 31 years ago, includes
conglomerate of associations and those with educational
involvement. Helps put a local face on concerns – humanizes
issues for legislators. Current representatives from school
districts across the state are recognized in Tallahassee. Each
person should capitalize on any relationship that they have with
a legislator to make their issues and concerns known.
Calendar issue
SB 148 will be coming up next week. In reality, it will
probably hang around until the last week of the session and
possibly until the beginning of summer.
Some other
issues for the coming year: STAR, School Reform, Class Size,
School Grades, Teacher Salaries.
Mr. Crawford
turned over the program to Jim Warford:
- Remember
that politics are local!
- Actions
alerts – only helpful if you respond.
Thanked
attendees for their attendance and input. Communication,
communication, communication – you have to work at it every
day.
Invited the
group to get lunch and network with each other during lunch.
Prepared by:
Marilou King, Administrative Assistant, HASA |