Broward Teacher Union President critiques RTTT and more.

By the way, as of this posting, neither the Broward school board nor the union have bought into RTTT. Please escuse my hesitation.

Read the entire article and post a comment on miamiherald.com.
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/other-v...ry/1428370.html

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State's Race to the Top tools flawed

BY PAT SANTERAMO

It's a long ``Race to the Top'' for Florida's schools because state leaders who are applying for millions of federal grant dollars to improve student learning made sure that we rank at the bottom in virtually every achievement score.

Florida voters elected President Obama because they want change, including in our schools. Yet, when Florida Education Commissioner Eric Smith prepared his grant application for $700 million or more in federal Race to the Top grant funds intended to change the way we educate students, he included every old initiative that has already resulted in our schools being in a race to the bottom.

Broward Teachers Union and School Board members want the best for our students. We refuse to be blinded by dollar signs and insist on asking difficult questions to make sure we do not keep repeating our state's same mistakes of the last eight years.

FCAT emphasis

Although high-stakes testing advocates love to manipulate assessment data, the centerpiece of Smith's grant application remains the FCAT, which was never intended to be the sole measure of student achievement. Education professionals have witnessed first-hand the damage high-stakes testing inflicts on learning.

Sadly, Smith has twisted Obama's intentions for the grant funds in a power grab to pay for existing education initiatives that have repeatedly failed. Obama wants unions to play a key role in developing the state's grant application because he recognizes employees must have a voice in developing true and successful reform.

While employees continue fighting for state school funding, they also want Florida to receive all the federal support possible. However, they refuse to accept Smith's bribe by giving up local control of elected school boards to the state. They want to make sure any additional funding is focused on our most needy schools and struggling students. The funds must be used to recruit, develop and retain effective education professionals.

As voters see hundreds of millions of tax dollars wasted year after year, they are tired of the mantra that unions stand in the way of reform. If state education leaders would get serious about cutting waste, the added funds would likely surpass the grant's $700 million. Taxpayers want Smith and South Florida's superintendents to become better stewards of money on hand before they receive even more.

Broward school employees have identified millions of dollars in district waste that more than doubles the district's would-be portion of the grant funds. ...

Diverting millions

Recently, taxpayers learned that Notter diverted millions of federal stimulus dollars intended for students with disabilities into the district's general fund where he used it, in part, to continue rehiring his retired administrator friends who not only earn top salaries, but collect their state pensions as well. Instead of spending federal stimulus dollars for special-education students, he used the money to keep bureaucrats on the payroll while sending scores of school-based employees to the unemployment lines.

In the coming months, Smith will roll out his stable of corporate executives who support him and his grant application, but they know very little about student learning. The reality is that if Smith and Notter managed corporations like they do our schools, they would have been fired long ago.

Public school employees remain committed to eliminating district tax dollar waste and making sure every state and federal dollar received is best used for student achievement.

Pat Santeramo is Broward Teachers Union president and an American Federation of Teachers vice president.