For many years I have been interested in our schools. When I was studying for my Doctorate of Education in the late 1980s I was struck by how important it was and is to have our children be well versed in the 3Rs. In 1984 the seminal report "A Nation At Risk" was published. It laid out the condition of education in the United States as written by the National Commission on Excellence in Education. The report reinforced the ideas that the federal government has a national interest in education but school board members, governors and legislators have the primary responsibility for financing and governing our schools. In light of this background I write this column.

I, like most Americans, am concerned about students who are getting a high school diploma but unable to read at an 8th Grade level or lack the skills to balance a check book. I recently sat on a U.S. Military Academy selection board and interviewed 28 wonderful students who are graduating from schools in Florida's District 13. What struck me and other members of the selection committee was the disparity between the students GPA/Class ranking and their SAT/ACT scores. Ninety-five percent of the students we interviewed were in the top 10% of the school academically but in the lowest quartile on the SAT/ACT. We all wondered why.

I decided to take a hard look at the data available to every citizen, student and parent about their local school district or school in Florida. Florida maintains a database of Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) scores. The data base may be accessed here. I wanted to learn about why our best and brightest students are not testing higher on the SAT/ACT.

What I found was both interesting, disturbing and startling.

For every year I have been living in Sarasota County, Florida, I have heard that teachers spend so much time "teaching the test" that they have little time left to do the creative things they would like in our classrooms. I know that classroom time is specifically set aside to get students ready for the FCAT. The curriculum in every school in Florida is based upon the Sunshine State Standards tested via the FCAT. Additionally, since 2002 Sarasota County property taxpayers have passed a referendum giving the Sarasota County School Board approximately $40 million a year in additional funds to improve student achievement. That is $40 million above and beyond what the School District would get from the distribution of education funds based on student population or FTE.

In March 2010 the Sarasota County School Board will hold a special election to extend this added tax for another four years via a ballot initiative or referendum. One of the things I looked at when doing my research was where students were in 2001 before the first referendum money kicked in and now after 6 years of added funding (there was one year when the referendum failed).

The FCAT gives us a constant measure of student educational outcomes in the form of grades on a district wide standardized test done annually. I believe it can show us if we are improving, staying the same or declining in student educational outcomes.

Rather than look at how each grade level did in each of the three parts of the FCAT - Reading, Mathematics and Writing Essay, I focused on Grade 10 in Sarasota County. I chose Grade 10 because this is the culmination of years of teaching and testing.  This may give us an indication of how good of a student we are graduating from our high schools. If you look at the Sarasota County data the first impression is that students in Grade 3 do very well on all three parts of the FCAT. As the student advances, however, you see a trend downward in the number scoring at a Level 3 or above. This is disturbing because Level 3 is defined as:

This student has partial success with the challenging content of the Sunshine State Standards, but performance is inconsistent. A student scoring in Level 3 answers many of the test questions correctly but is generally less successful with questions that are the most challenging. [Emphasis added]

At Level 2 the "student has limited success with the challenging content of the Sunshine State Standards."

Here are the results as reported for Sarasota County, Florida:

Grade 10 FCAT Results

(percent of students scoring a 3.0 or higher on the FCAT)

Mathematics

2001 - 70

2009 - 73

Reading

2001 - 50

2009 - 43

Writing Essay (percent of students scoring a 3.5 or higher)

2001 - 81

2009 - 75

Note: The Reading score shows over half of our students are reading below grade level.

So the sum total of outcomes after 6 years and approximately $240 million in additional revenues is an increase of 3% in Mathematics and decline of 7% and 6% in Reading and Writing, respectively. That is a net loss of 10% in FCAT scores or $24 million per percent loss in student achievement. I know this is over simplifying but it makes sense that overall we taxpayers did not get what we thought we paid for - increased student achievement across the board.

The referendum will be a tough sell given these numbers. Especially when the Sarasota Herald-Tribune points out:

The last time Sarasota County voters were asked to approve a special property tax for school spending, school administrators used an ambitious plan to add teachers and programs to make their case to the public.

Times were good in 2006 and student enrollment was up, allowing the district to use the millions in extra tax money to pay for guidance counselors, data and literacy coaches, and high school electives included in the Next Generation classroom initiative.

But four years later, school officials acknowledge they have largely dismantled that plan because of state budget cuts. Now, instead of using the money to start new and innovative programs, officials will argue the money is needed to avoid cutting teacher salaries or classroom programs.

So, Next Generation is gone, we have hired more staff, raised teacher's salaries and lost ground for our students. I am sure others will come up with reasons for this decline but given the fact that teachers are teaching the test, students should be doing better.

What do you think?

For the last 38 weeks, a group of patriots (TEA PARTY FTL) have stood on the corner of Oakland Park Blvd. & US1 every Saturday. This past Saturday a member was hit over the head with a sign by a pro-amnesty rally supporter when words were exchanged.   The pro-amnesty group was from “Party For Socialism and Liberation” (www.pslweb.com) The Pro-Amnesty Protesters then go on to assault other immigration reform supporters at Oakland Park Blvd and Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale Florida on 11/14/09.   Due to the nature violent nature of the pro-amnesty group, the tea party member has decided to remain anonymous for the safety of friends and family.  To get involved in the tea party movement in South Florida, please visit SouthFloridaTeaParty.org

Here is the video:

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Pro Amnesty group ANSWER Florida sent this out..

"That is why we are calling on all people to come out tomorrow, to organize a militant confrontation with the so-called "tea baggers." Beating back these forces will require us to organize together, take the streets, fight the racists wherever they show their faces and drive them out of every community."

Protest Tomorrow to Shut Down Racist
"Anti-Amnesty" Rally

Saturday, November 14 12:00PM

Fort Lauderdale, Corner of Oakland Park and Federal Highway 


The ANSWER Coalition is calling on all its members, allies, and friends to join us tomorrow to confront and shut down the racist "Anti-Amnesty Tea Party" in Ft. Lauderdale. 

The "Anti-Amnesty" rallies being held across the country tomorrow have been initiated by fascist, white supremacist organizations that include the Minutemen and the so-called Americans for Legal Immigration. 

...

Racism is like anything else in this world: in order to make it fall, you must smash it! That is why we are calling on all people to come out tomorrow, to organize a militant confrontation with the so-called "tea baggers." Beating back these forces will require us to organize together, take the streets, fight the racists wherever they show their faces and drive them out of every community.

The racist demonization of immigrants only serves the interest of the ruling class during this historical economic crisis. The same bankers, CEO's, and politicians, both Democrat and Republican, which have for decades devastated the economies of countries in Latin America, Asia, and Africa, have once again devastated the economy in this country. The same ruling class that devastates the lives of working people in other nations through war and super-exploitation are the ones throwing workers out of their homes, denying them healthcare, and laying them off from their jobs in this country.

Racism is consciously used as a tool by the ruling class because they know that as long as working people are divided and fighting each other, the people are not fighting the bankers, CEO's, and politicians. Only under a brutal system that puts profit over people can you have a whole section of society whose only crime is being forced from their nations because of imperialism and forced to work in the most hostile of conditions in this country. Only racism can justify this reality. 

The continual devastation of working people because of this crisis, however, is not the fault of one group of workers. On October 28th, President Obama signed the largest military budget in U.S. history-$680 billion dollars, which does not include the cost of the criminal occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. The new administration is also continuing to hand out the $9.5 trillion dollars in working people's tax dollars to bailout the already rich. 

The money to end the suffering of all working people tomorrow is there. It is our choice as to whether we will allow the right of a few to profit from labor of workers to continue, or whether we will rise up as one class of working people to and take political power into our own hands.

We are building a movement that will beat back racism so that working people of all nationalities can unite and fight against our one, shared enemy: capitalism. Amnesty, full rights for ALL immigrants, is a demand that should be raised not just by the immigrant communities, but by every working class community in our struggle to solve this crisis by our own means. 

Join us tomorrow, and join us in building the movement against racism and capitalist exploitation!

For more information, contact 305-710-3189 or info@answerfl.org!
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ANSWER Florida | 1005 S.R. 84 | No. 116 | Fort Lauderdale | FL | 33315

James Madison said, "Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government."

I recieved a number of e-mails from readers concerned that the Sarasota County Commission recently approved $5,168,361 in funding for non-profit organizations. The concerns were that some organizations, whose policies they disagreed with, such as ALSO For Gay Youth, Inc. and Planned Parenthood, were funded. At they same time they were concerned that faith based organizations such as the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Venice were not funded at all.

This same argument is being played out at the national level with pro-life proponents working to keep funding for abortions out of any national healthcare bill. It now appears the passage of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment to prevent healthcare funds from being used for abortions allowed 25 pro-life Democrats to vote for the H.R. 3962. Many see the passage of H.R. 3962 as the greatest threat to our liberty and economy in history. Some are arguing that if the Republicans had voted against the Stupak-Pitts Amendment then H.R. 3962 would have surely failed.

What does this mean?

It means that pro-life proponents traded a short term political victory for the passage of H.R. 3962, which is seen as leading to the long term destruction of our healthcare system for all. This same strategy applies to the e-mails I recieved lamenting the de-funding of faith based organizations and funding of organizations that support radical pro-abortion and pro-gay agendas.

To those who e-mailed me I say this: You are missing the bigger picture!

The national debate is not if government shoud be involved in healthcare at all but rather how it should be involved. The arguments from Democrats, Republicans and Independents is not getting government totally out of healthcare but rather different ways government can and must be involved. So too is the case with the funding of non-profit charitable organizations in Sarasota County, Florida and most likely in your own county or city.

The question for taxpayers in Sarasota County is not which charitable organization should and should not receive county tax dollars but why are we using tax dollars to fund charities at all?

The entirely Republican lead Board of County Commissioners recently voted to unanimously approve the recommendations of the Human Services Advisory Council. The Advisory Council recommended that $5,168,361 be given to local and regional non-profit organizations. Why? Why in terribly tough budget years, with county commissioners crying in their milk over lost revenues from property and sales taxes, can we easily find over $5 million to give to charities?

Charities are established as non-profit or not-for-profit organizations dedicated to a particular cause. The idea is for individuals to give to these organizations because they believe in and support that cause. The best way for the individual to do so is to take money from his or her pocket and donate it to their cause. For that they receive a tax deduction. Government has no role in making that decision for the individual. Government has no role in picking the non-profit winners and losers, just as they have no role in doing so in the public sector. This is just another example of government over reaching and creeping socialism. This is all about power. Non-profits now must pander to government to stay solvent. Rather than promoting charitable giving they now lobby the County Commissioners for tax dollars. Now, government can give and government can taketh away. Government decides what it wants to fund, not you and me.

As Barry Goldwater, former U.S. Senator from Arizona, stated, "I do not undertake to promote [government] welfare, for I propose to extend freedom." I believe the Sarasota County Commission must get out of the non-profit funding business. Getting into it was a mistake, continuing it is a greater mistake. Let non-profits stand on their merits, not on government largesse. The decision to give or not to give belongs to the people.

For those who may argue that there are some good non-profits who should continue to be funded, I say to you, then give of your personal wealth, but do not transfer mine.

Congressman Vern Buchanan (FL-13) today called on the House Homeland Security Committee to investigate the shootings at Fort Hood as reports surfaced describing the assailant as an Islamic extremist whom witnesses say shouted Allahu Akbar (God is great) as he fired on unarmed victims.

The suspect, Major Nidal Hasan, also attended the same Virginia mosque as two Sept. 11 hijackers in 2001, according to the Washington Post.

“We have a lot of questions that need to be answered,” Buchanan said in a letter today to the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, “the bottom line is we need to make sure our military installations are safe and that we are doing everything possible to protect our men and women serving on those bases.”

Buchanan said this would not be the first time a military base was the target of a terrorist plot, pointing out failed attacks at Fort Dix in New Jersey and Quantico in Virginia.

“The Homeland Security Committee should investigate the motives behind the shooting and any connection between Hasan and terrorist organizations,” Buchanan said. “If the shootings amounted to a terrorist attack, we need to know if this could have been averted and if enough is being done to prevent future attacks.”

Buchanan noted that Senate Homeland Security Chairman Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) intends to launch a congressional investigation into the attack.

The New York Times reported today that moments before Hasan’s rampage, “witnesses say he bowed his head for several seconds, as if praying, stood up and drew a high-powered pistol. “Allahu akbar,” he said — “God is great.” And he opened fire. Within minutes he had killed 13 people.

The Washington Post reported today that federal investigators are examining possible links between Hasan and an American-born imam whom U.S. authorities say has become a supporter and leading promoter of al-Qaeda since leaving a Northern Virginia mosque.

The chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee said he plans to begin a congressional investigation of the shootings at Fort Hood.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Ct., said Sunday he wants to determine whether the shootings constitute a terrorist attack. He says he also wants to find out whether the Army missed warning signs that Hasan was becoming extreme in his Islamist views.

The Connecticut independent says if Hasan was showing signs of becoming an Islamist radical, the Army should have shown "zero tolerance" and discharged him.

Link to a copy of the letter sent by Congressman Vern Buchanan (FL-13) to the Chairman & Ranking Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security: http://www.scribd.com/doc/22327482/Ft-Hood-Investigation-Request-Letter-To-House-Committee-On-Homeland-Security

My Fellow Patriots,
On Saturday, the House passed the Health Care Bill that would takeover our health care and 1/6 of the economy! However, the war is far from being over. This is just one battle. Do you remember Bunker Hill in the Revolutionary War? The British took the hill, because we ran out of ammunition. While the result was a victory for the British, they suffered a large amount of losses: over 800 wounded and 226 killed, including a notably large number of officers. The battle is seen as an example of a Pyrrhic victory, as while their immediate objective (the capture of Bunker Hill) was achieved, the loss of nearly a third of their forces did not significantly alter the state of siege. Meanwhile, Colonial forces were able to retreat and regroup in good order having suffered few casualties.

On Saturday, we ran short on votes. The war for freedom and liberty is far from being over. The Liberal Left who pushed through this bill know that it is has cost them more than what it was worth. Their actions tonight will be the reason for the loss in 2010 and 2012 – if we can regroup and fight back. Yes, we must regroup. Now is the time to fight back. They are weak. Have you forgotten that WE won last Tuesday in Virginia and New Jersey!

America’s fight for freedom has always been won by hard work and perseverance. On September 23, 1779, John Paul Jones fought one of the bloodiest engagements in naval history. Jones struggled with the 44-gun Royal Navy frigate Serapis, and although his own vessel was burning and sinking, Jones would not accept the British demand for surrender, replying, “I have not yet begun to fight.” More than three hours later, Serapis surrendered and Jones took command.

Don’t Give Up – Keep On Fighting!!!
Your Brother In Liberty,
Everett Wilkinson

Join The Fight at SouthFloridaTeaParty.org

He hates it when we call him “cheese head”. Forty something year old white male, Hustusa has been following the Tea Party Express tour across America. He wears a triangle hat shaped like the cheese head hats wore by Green Bay Packers football team fans. Hustusa's hat reads “I didn't vote for this Obamanation” on all three sides. He also carries a tall sign and sells buttons at every rally. A general contractor by trade, Hustusa said his phone stopped ringing the day after Obama was elected. He lost his home earlier this year.

In Amarillo TX, I met a grandmother who is raising a little boy, not her own, on a widow's income. She proudly told me, “I never asked nobody for a bailout!” This feisty grandmother is not infected with the entitlement mindset being spread by liberal democrats.

The crowds love it when I (a black man) say I am not a hyphenated American. In Beaumont, TX, a white cowboy approached me at the rally pushing a stroller with two black babies. He said, “My babies are hyphenated Americans until we get their citizenship a week from today". He explained that he and his wife (also white) wanted children who really needed them. They adopted two black babies from Ethiopia. Today they are Ethiopian-Americans. Next week, they will be Americans! But how could such a “color blind” act of love happen? The Left says only racists attend the tea parties.

Also in Texas, a women with her husband asked me to let America know about the plight of our truckers. She said her husband along with hundreds of thousands of other truckers across America are out of work. She lamented that trucking companies who have been in business for a hundred years have closed their doors. Truck stops which used to be full are empty.

In case anyone thinks the Tea Party Movement is winding down, think again. At a whistle stop rally in Brenham, TX, our Tea Party Express bus was greeted by 600 cheering patriots; extremely grateful we stopped in their town.

We are 14 days into the national Tea Party Express II tour, several states, two and three rallies per day. We hear and feel the same emotions at every rally. The American people are frustrated, angry and terrified of the Obama administration's agenda. We (Tea Party Express) give them hope that “We The People” can and will save the America we know and love.