PESPA Pride September 10, 2008

VOLUME XXVIII, Number 3                                   September 10, 2008

Responding to concerns raised by the Florida Education Association, the Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday, September 3, took Amendments 7 and 9 off the November ballot. The two initiatives, offered by the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission, were deemed "outside the purview" of the Commission. The Taxation and Budget Reform Commission is a group of citizens who are assembled every twenty years with the unique ability to bypass the legislature and place items directly on the ballot.

"We knew the voucher issue was a reach," said Jade Moore, a member of the Commission who voted against the vouchers issues. "We held public hearings around the state and no one even mentioned vouchers as an issue. I think the position that it ‘affects the budget' was disingenuous. In reality it was Jeb Bush, using the only avenue open to him, to put vouchers into our Constitution." According to the St. Petersburg Times, Governor Bush called the decision "heartbreaking."

Andy Ford, President of FEA and lead plaintiff in the action, said that had 7 and 9 passed they "would have totally changed education in Florida for the worse." Amendment 7 would have repealed the "no aid" provision of the Constitution which states that no state money can be spent directly or indirectly in support of any religion. It was the reason that the Court struck down Bush's first voucher plan.

Amendment 9 changed the language in the constitution that says "public education is the paramount responsibility of the state" to delete the word public. It was placed on the ballot along with the provision that 65% of funds must be spent in the classroom. "This was the more dangerous amendment because people would believe they were helping public schools," said Moore. In addition to these, Amendment 5, which would have had a major impact on the way schools were funded, was also removed.

SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH NEARS FINALITY

After winnowing down the initial list of candidates to three, the School Board is poised to decide who will be the new Superintendent of Pinellas Schools Wednesday, September 10. On Monday, each candidate had a second public interview and then met with groups of citizens Monday evening at the Stavros Center. The way the ‘citizen interviews' worked was that there were three groups: the employees, the organized community and the public, that each had thirty minutes with the candidates. PESPA was joined by PCTA, SEIU, PBA and PAA to hear the candidates. In another room were PTA, SACs, and SRR. The public was in the third.

"This is a definite improvement over what happened when Dr. Wilcox was chosen," said PESPA President Pamela D'Almeida. "Here you have the employees getting a chance to interview the candidates. That didn't happen last time." The public will have an opportunity to talk to the Board on Monday, Tuesday night at the Board meeting and Wednesday before the final vote. The Board is set to offer a contract on Wednesday at 11:00.

MAKE UP DAY MAY BE OCTOBER 17^TH

If approved by the School Board, the district will have the students attend October 17^th, which had previously been an in-service day. Complicating the decision is the fact that the Certificate of Distinction would have to be moved as well as numerous trainings. Thanks to PESPA, support employees will not have to make up the day lost August 19. The alternative day would be the in-service day in January.

CLASS SIZE POSTPONED ONE YEAR

Back before the district lost $40 million dollars, the class by class cap was due to take effect this year. This was a ‘statutory cap' since the constitutional cap doesn't take effect until 2010. The district had planned on the ‘hard cap' of 18 to 1 in grades K-3; 22 to 1 in 4 to 8; and 25 to 1 in high school. The legislature decided at the end of April that it couldn't afford the reduction this year, so it postponed the implementation for one year. Left in place is the requirement that class size must be reduced so that the number is effective across the school not just the classroom.

"This has produced some variation in class size at all levels," said PESPA Executive Director, Jade Moore. "Schools should look carefully at their numbers to make sure the school average is met. One reason for this is that the state has allowed flexibility in capital outlay dollars to those districts that meet the school target. Pinellas is counting on using $7 million of the flexibility to help balance the budget."

POLITICAL AGENDA SET FOR NOVEMBER

Now that Amendments 5, 7 and 9 are off the ballot, the remainder of the November ballot is set. Here are the recommendations of the PCTA-PESPA PAC, the FEA Fund for Children and Schools and the NEA Fund for Children and Schools. For the School Board: District 1 (voted county-wide) Janet Clark; District 2 (voted county-wide) Nina Hayden; and District 4 (north-county) Ken Peluso, were recommended by PAC.

For the Florida Legislature the Florida Education Association Fund for Children and Schools has recommended: House 48 (north county) Carl Zimmerman; House 51 (mid Pinellas) Janet Long; House 52 (St. Petersburg) Bill Heller; House 54 (beaches, Largo) George Gonzalez.

Already elected, without opposition, were endorsed candidates: School Board, District 5 (Clearwater) Carol Cook; Florida Senate, District 13 (western county) Dr. Dennis Jones; House 45 (Dunedin) Tom Anderson; House 50 (Clearwater) Ed Hooper; House 53 (St. Petersburg) Rick Kreisman. Darryl Rouson, House 55, (St. Petersburg) has a write-in opponent.

COMMITTEES READY FOR FIRST MEETINGS - ALL MEMBERS CAN JOIN

The PESPA Standing Committees are ready to do their work for the 2008-2009 school year. Government Relations, chaired by Sharon Flory, meets the third Monday of each month. In addition to supplying member lobbyists in Tallahassee, the Committees most important work is the contact teams with the School Board and legislators. The Human and Civil Rights Committee, chaired by Brandt Robinson, meets the fourth Monday of the month. The Committee engages Association members in the cause of human rights. They are responsible for recommending individuals for the Human and Civil Rights Award, as well as monitoring the contract for effective language. A new committee, formed last year, is still defining the work they will do. Join them and help shape their agenda for the new year. Both Committees meet at 5:00.