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Tag:

florida education

Catholic SchoolsCourtsEducation LegislationEducation PoliticsEducation ResearchFaith-based EducationKnow Your History

The Sisters of St. Joseph

Patrick R. Gibbons May 20, 2016
Patrick R. Gibbons
St. Benedict The Moor School, St. Augustine, Fla.

St. Benedict The Moor School, St. Augustine, Fla. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

A century ago, three Catholic sisters in St. Augustine, Fla. were arrested for something the state Legislature had recently made a crime: Teaching black children at what, in the parlance of the time, was known as a “negro school.”

The ensuing trial propelled a 266-year-old French Catholic order and America’s youngest Catholic Bishop into the middle one of the wildest and most racially charged gubernatorial campaigns in Florida history. A hundred years ago today, the white sisters won their legal battle, vindicating the rights of private institutions like the Saint  Benedict the Moor School that fought to create educational opportunities for black children in the era of Jim Crow segregation.

Black parents’ demand for quality education didn’t begin with Brown v. Board, but hundreds of years before, in chains and in secret. But near the turn of the twentieth century, as Jim Crow laws reversed the progress made under post-Civil War reconstruction, public institutions intended to uplift freed blacks became increasingly inadequate and unequal. Black parents often turned to their own churches or to missionary aid societies, like the Sisters of St. Joseph, to educate their children.

The story of the three white Catholic sisters has been examined over the years by multiple scholars, whose work informs this post. And while details in the historical record are at times murky and ambiguous, the episode sheds light on the countless struggles across the South to educate black children who were pushed to the margins by oppressive public institutions.

* * *

know_your_history_finalFounded in 1650 in Le Puy-en-Velay, a rural mountain town in southern France, the Sisters of St. Joseph took up a mission to serve, educate and care for the poor and disadvantaged. For the next 200 years, the sisters pursued their mission throughout France until they were invited to Florida by Bishop Augustin Verot after the end of the U.S. Civil War.

Verot, a native of Le Puy, recruited eight sisters for a new mission: To educate newly freed slaves and their children.

The sisters established Florida’s first Catholic school for black students in 1867 along St. George Street in St. Augustine. They would go on to establish schools in Key West and in Ybor City. With the financial backing of a wealthy heiress, Saint Katharine Drexel, the Sisters of St. Joseph opened St. Benedict the Moor School in 1898.

The Sisters of St. Joseph, along with other religious groups like the Protestant American Missionary Association, educated black students in private and public schools in Florida for several decades. But then the legislature lashed out against their efforts. “An Act Prohibiting White Persons from Teaching Negroes in Negro Schools” unanimously passed through both chambers without debate, and was signed into law on June 7, 1913.

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May 20, 2016 2 comments
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Blog AdministrationCharter SchoolsCommon GroundCustomizationDemographic ResearchEducation and Public PolicyEducation LegislationEducation PoliticsEducation ReportingEducation ResearchParental ChoiceSchool ChoiceVirtual EducationVouchers

Florida must embrace alternate visions of public education. Now.

Matthew Ladner February 17, 2014
Matthew Ladner

ladnerm1

How much concern should the citizens of Florida have for the unprecedented change in store for the state’s age demographics? The chart below displays projected increase in youth and elderly populations by state, focusing on the top 10 states for youth population growth. Keep in mind these are increases, not totals.

ladnercensusgrowth

Some of the smallest columns on the above charts should inspire the most fear. Nevada, for instance, has about 400,000 students in its public school system at the moment. Good luck with that. I’m sure the eyes of Floridians have already been drawn to what will appear to them as the most frightening column on the page – a 4.35 million increase in the elderly population. Notice that fellow mega-states California and Texas not only have smaller increases, but also start with much larger populations with which to attempt to wrestle with these problems.

Don’t get entirely distracted with the increase in the elderly population because it is only part of Florida’s challenge. As discussed in earlier posts, the percentage of the population that is working-age is set to shrink in all 50 states, and Florida has the problem in spades. This foretells a fierce, looming battle over scarce public dollars for health care and K-12.

ladnerspendinggrowth

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February 17, 2014 2 comments
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Blog AdministrationEducation and Public PolicyEducation PoliticsEducation Research

Florida’s education system must get a lot better, a lot faster

Matthew Ladner December 6, 2013
Matthew Ladner

The U.S. Census Bureau projects big demographic challenges ahead for Florida. The below figure summarizes its projections for the simultaneous increases in Florida’s youth and elderly populations out to the year 2030.

l1

So let’s take the blue and the red columns separately. The blue columns show Florida’s youth population aged 5-17 is set to more than double between 2010 and 2030 – from approximately two million to well over four million. The 5-17 age cohort underestimates the scale of the challenge from a budgetary standpoint, by the way, as Florida 4-year-olds are eligible for the Voluntary Pre-K program, and many 18-year-olds are still in school.

So needless to say, Florida will be steadily adding more and more students year by year for as far as the eye can see. The current choice programs will not even begin to save Florida taxpayers the expense of building a huge number of new district schools. The time between Florida first passing a charter school law and now nearly matches the time between now and 2030 (see chart below).

ladnerchart1Even if Florida adopted a universal system of private school choice next year, and put a billion dollars aside for new charter school facilities for high-quality operators, it would merely slow the rate of growth for Florida school districts.

The red columns in the first figure show Florida taxpayers will be incredibly hard pressed to afford building a huge number of new school buildings. Older citizens usually have passed both their peak earning years and thus their peak taxpaying years. Elderly citizens also create demands of public dollars in the form of health care spending.

The next time Florida readers visit a mall or other public place, try to imagine 2030 by doubling the number of youngsters and more than doubling the number of elderly people you come across. If you don’t feel a growing sense of growing alarm, well bless your heart; you are just one of those completely fearless sorts.

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December 6, 2013 2 comments
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Blog AdministrationDemographic ResearchEducation and Public PolicyEducation PoliticsEducation ResearchParental ChoiceSchool ChoiceTax Credit ScholarshipsVouchers

Florida is not ready for the future

Matthew Ladner October 28, 2013
Matthew Ladner

piggyThe United States faces a staggering demographic challenge over the next two decades. Every state in the union faces this problem, and some have it harder than others. Florida faces one of the larger challenges in that the population of both young and old will be vastly increasing at the same time. This challenge will require fundamental rethinking of the social welfare state, including but not limited to K-12, higher education, pensions and health care.

The U.S. Census Bureau projects a substantial increase in the school-aged population in Florida (see Figure 1).

figure1

Of course, not all children under age 18 will be attending school in 2030 – most notably the children born in 2027 to 2030. So for a more precise measure of the school-aged population likely to be attending public school in 2030, we can consult a different set of Census estimates. This alternate data provides estimates on the population of 5- to 17-year-olds (see Figure 2). This substantially understates the likely size of Florida’s 2030 K-12 population, as it does not include 18-year-olds. The reader should also note the fact that 4-year-olds are eligible to receive public assistance for Voluntary Pre-K. Nevertheless, the same overall trend reveals itself: the Florida public school population is set to expand substantially.

figure2

Florida, in short, will need to find a way to educate far more than one million additional students each year by 2030. Note that Florida’s charter school law passed in 1996. The time between 1996 and now is the same at the amount of time between now and 2030. Charter schools educated 203,000 students in 2012-13.

The Step Up for Students and McKay programs educate another 86,000. It will take a very substantial improvement in Florida choice programs simply to get them to absorb a substantial minority of the increase in student population on the way. Otherwise, Florida districts will either find themselves overwhelmed with expensive construction projects, or can start using their facilities in early and late shifts, or both.

A giant new investment in school facilities will prove incredibly difficult because of the other meta-trend in Florida’s demographics: aging. The expansion of Florida’s youth population, while substantial, pales in comparison to that of the elderly population. Florida’s population aged 65 and older projects to more than double between 2010 and 2030, from approximately 3.4 million to almost 7.8 million (see Figure 3).

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October 28, 2013 2 comments
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Blog AdministrationEducation LegislationTechnology and Innovation

Education needs the ‘tech surge’

Special to redefinED October 23, 2013
Special to redefinED

digital economy

Editors’s note: State Sen. John Legg is a Florida certified teacher with more than 10 years of classroom teaching experience. He is also a school administrator and the current chairman of the K-20 Education Policy Committee in the Florida Senate.

During the White House’s much-maligned rollout of the Affordable Care Act, President Obama suggested that purchasing health care insurance would be as easy as ordering “a TV from Amazon.” However, the president found himself several weeks later admitting the Affordable Care Act website has significant problems.

The U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services is supporting President Obama’s call for a “fix” by sending in the nation’s best and brightest for a “tech surge” to solve the implementation problems. But instead of deploying a tech surge to redesign a website, perhaps our nation’s future would be better served if a tech surge was deployed upon our educational system.

Our nation, indeed our global economy, has dramatically changed. Individuals that have digital and technological skills are, and will continue to be, in demand. America has a growing talent gap when it comes to workers with technology skills. Florida, meanwhile, ranks first in computer training, second in space and defense industries, third in engineering services, and fourth in Internet and telecommunications services, according to the 2012 Cyberstates report. In tech employment overall, it ranks fifth.

It is imperative that our education system equip Florida students with fluent digital and technological skills. Many of Florida’s business and education leaders have seen firsthand the need for policies and investment in technology in our schools.

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October 23, 2013 0 comment
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Florida Schools Roundup

Florida schools roundup: Tony Bennett, teacher debit cards, art magnets & more

Sherri Ackerman August 1, 2013
Sherri Ackerman

More on Tony Bennett: Two days of controversy seem to have taken a toll, with Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett expected to resign later today. Tampa Bay Times. Meanwhile, supporters and others are calling for more evidence in this latest school grade snafu: “What we have now is not “the rest of the story” but a failure to seek the rest of the story,” writes Greg Forester on the Jay P. Greene blog. Bennett should request a broader set of emails to provide some context to this story, says Sherman Dorn. StateEdWatch and Dropout Nation raise more concerns. florida roundup logoBennett answers questions from Education Week’s Rick Hess about the grade boost in Indiana. “It’s not that big of a deal,” says Eduwonk, adding that calls for Florida’s education commissioner to resign “pretty obviously overstate the issue.” Fred Grimm from the Miami Herald writes: “Grown-ups might not buy Tony Bennett’s tortured explanation for jacking up that C grade to an A, but every school child in Florida understands the rationale.” The Buzz reports that Democrats are lining up to call for Bennett’s resignation. More here. And Beth Kassab from the Orlando Sentinel says, “Lots of headlines have portrayed this as Bennett doing a favor for a big donor. But that’s not quite right.” Even more from The Hechinger Report and New America Foundation.

Charter schools: Time is running out for a new Lauderdale Lakes charter school that has enrolled hundreds of students but still doesn’t have an approved site for them to attend class. Sun Sentinel. Lake Wales High School, a conversion charter in Polk County, may have a waiting list for students. The Ledger.

Magnet schools: The Palm Beach County School District considers expanding art magnet programs to schools in Boynton Beach, Delray Beach and Boca Raton. Sun Sentinel.

Debit cards: Gov. Rick Scott unveils debit cards that will allow teachers to buy tax-free supplies year-round. Sun Sentinel.

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August 1, 2013 7 comments
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Achievement GapBlog AdministrationEducation and Public PolicyEducation ResearchSchool Choice

From the Silver State to the Sunshine State: A look at how far you’ve come

Patrick R. Gibbons July 30, 2013
Patrick R. Gibbons
(books on tape and caffeine are highly recommended for long road trips in western states!)

(books on tape and caffeine are highly recommended for long road trips in western states!)

After 2,500 miles through high deserts, forested mountains, windswept prairies, and boggy woodlands – and 190 gallons of gas and one flat tire – I’ve reached my education destination. For the past five years in Nevada, I made a consistent pitch to my colleagues and lawmakers and the governor: “Copy Florida.” Now I live here in Tampa.

Resident Floridians may not realize how well their state actually performs on the education front. You may not even recognize the similarities between Nevada and Florida.

Yes, Nevada and Florida have a very different geography and climate. For one thing, Nevada is the driest state in the U.S., and Florida will receive twice as much rain in July as Nevada gets in an entire year. Florida’s tropical climate is thick with forests, swamps and beautiful beaches. Meanwhile, Nevada occupies the Great Basin and Mohave Desert; a dry desolate place known for prickly Joshua trees, barren mountains and temperatures that soar above 120 degrees.

The landscapes aside, Nevada and Florida share similar public education students and challenges. Both states have a student population that is majority minority today.  Student poverty rates and disability rates are also comparable, though Nevada has a larger English language learner population. Nevada and Florida also spend about the same amount per pupil. Interestingly, both states are vacation and retirement destinations with more tourists than residents.

Not surprisingly, education attainment rates were once very similar.

Data from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading exam shows that Nevada and Florida had virtually indistinguishable achievement rates just 15 years ago. That has changed dramatically. While Nevada in the past few years has started to catch up with Florida on math, the Sunshine State has soared past the Silver State in reading. NAEP’s 4th grade reading scores are also a good barometer for education success and graduation rates.

These reading achievement levels are also striking when we zero in on low-income students who are on free or reduced-price lunch (FRL). In the charts below, we compare Nevada and Florida’s FRL students on the NAEP 4th grade reading exam. In this way we examine only the attainment for the most disadvantaged students in both states.

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July 30, 2013 0 comment
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Blog AdministrationEducation PoliticsSchool Choice

Florida House education committee chairs, members named

redefinED staff November 26, 2012
redefinED staff

Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford announced committee assignments today (hat tip: News Service of Florida.) Here is who will serve as chairs and vice chairs of the education committees, including the new subcommittee on school choice and innovation:

Education Committee: Chair, Marlene O’Toole, R-Lady Lake. Vice Chair, Elizabeth Porter, R-Lake City.

Education Appropriations Subcommittee: Chair, Erik Fresen, R-Miami. Vice Chair, Marlene O’Toole, R-Lady Lake.

Choice and Innovation Subcommittee: Chair, Michael Bileca, R-West Miami. Vice Chair, George Moraitis, R-Fort Lauderdale.

K-12 Subcommittee: Chair, Janet Adkins, R-Fernandina Beach. Vice Chair, Ronald Renuart, R-Ponte Vedra Beach.

Higher Education and Workforce Subcommittee: Chair, Jeanette Nunez, R-Miami. Vice Chair, Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford.

To see all members by committee, click here.

November 26, 2012 0 comment
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