Florida university president salaries remain high

via @MrMikeVasquez

Florida public colleges and universities have spent the past few years absorbing huge cuts in state funding. To balance the books, schools repeatedly raised tuition, and in some cases reduced class offerings or even postponed maintenance projects.

But there’s one budget line item that hasn’t taken much of a hit, and at times has even grown: college presidents’ salaries.

A pair of reports issued this week, one from The Chronicle of Higher Education and one from Florida’s Office of the Chief Inspector General, highlight how high six-figure salaries, along with hefty bonuses, car allowances and other perks, continue to be the norm in American higher education. University of Florida President Bernie Machen earned $834,562 in the 2012 fiscal year, according to the Chronicle’s annual Executive Compensation analysis. That number was enough to make Machen the nation’s ninth-highest-paid public university president. (On campus, he falls far behind UF men’s basketball coach Billy Donovan, whose salary is $3.3 million, according to Forbes).

Machen’s compensation was roughly 55 percent higher than what he made the previous year, when he earned $539,007.

More here.

Bill opens up funding for private virtual schools

Private online learning companies will get a better shot at Florida public school funding under a bill that won approval on the final day of the legislative session.

Though the vote garnered little attention from outside observers, Republicans hailed it as among the year’s most important victories for school choice.

“We want to open up access and give our kids the very best,” said Rep. Manny Diaz, Jr., R-Hialeah, who sponsored the bill in the House.

But Democrats were outraged that the final action took place on the last day of session – and only hours after lawmakers reduced the funding for Florida’s public virtual school. Taken together, critics said, the moves were a clear effort to privatize public education.

“If you want to get at the largest portion of the state budget that has not been privatized, it is education,” said Jeff Wright, who oversees public policy advocacy for the Florida Education Association, the state teachers union. “That’s what this is all about. This is about allowing outside vendors to get a piece of the action.”

Read more here.

Fight over money for tutoring went down to the wire

As the legislative session neared an end this month, state Rep. Erik Fresen found himself in an awkward position.

Just last year, Fresen helped keep a torrent of public money flowing to private tutoring firms. But after revelations of fraud and lax oversight turned the program into a black eye for education reform, his new orders from House leadership were clear: End subsidized tutoring, and do it now.

Sen. Anitere Flores was ready to push back.

A friendly face from the upper chamber, Flores had much in common with Fresen. Both are Republicans from Miami. And both had backed subsidized tutoring without disclosing ties to the industry.

At stake: $100 million in federal education money — cash that could, depending on how things played out, remain committed to private tutoring or be freed up for districts to spend as they liked.

As the session entered its final week, it was far from certain where the money would go.

Read the story here.

High school athletics bill dies on last day of session

Among the high-profile bills that died when session came to a close Friday: a proposal that would have revamped the Florida High School Athletic Association and eased the rules on student transfers.

Proponents made a last-minute move to get the bill moving in the Senate. But it never got a hearing on the upper chamber floor.

It was a victory for FHSAA Executive Director Roger Dearing, who stood to lose his job if the bill became law. Dearing argued that the proposal would have opened the door for high-school free agency and turned schools into "recruiting-frenzied sports giants."

"It is gratifying that Florida’s 260,000 high school student-athletes will be spared some of the negative consequences of this legislation," Dearing said in a statement issued late Friday. "We understand that many of the legislators who supported the proposal were doing what they thought was best for high school athletics, but it would have opened the door for a few adults and athletes to build powerhouses while those who respected the rules of fair play were left behind."

He added: "The session-long discussion about the FHSAA has raised some genuine concerns, and we welcome the opportunity to collaborate with students, parents, coaches, administrators and legislators to ensure that all high school athletes are able to continue competing on a level playing field. Florida’s high school athletes deserve the opportunity to play under a statewide uniform set of fair rules, and the FHSAA is proud to remain the keeper of that sacred tradition for our state."

House, Senate OK virtual education expansion

With the clock winding down on the 2013 Legislative session, the House signed off on a bill that would revamp virtual education in Florida.

The proposal would enable more private online education companies to do business with public schools. And it directs state education officials to conduct a study on Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs, so that Florida may look into offering the classes for credit.

Rep. Manny Diaz, Jr., R-Miami, who sponsored the bill in the House, said the bill will help break down barriers, so that "no matter where a student's zip code is, he or she will have access to a world-class education."

He added: "If we want to be a leader in education, we have to keep up with the technology and explore these avenues."

The bill won the support of the Senate on Thursday.

Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, likened the proposal to “letting the outstanding [online education providers] from around the world come to the state of Florida, and allowing our teachers and students to decide what’s best for them.”

Said Sen. Darren Soto, D-Orlando: “Here we go again. Another way to privatize our public schools.”

It is now headed to Gov. Rick Scott for final approval.

Will Miami Dade College bill get heard?

With just one day left in the Legislative session, South Florida political observers are wondering what will happen with a bill that would benefit Miami Dade College.

HB 1295 would enable Miami-Dade County to levy a voter-approved sales tax to support building and maintenance projects at the college. A small percentage of the revenue would go to Florida International University.

The measure passed 37-1 in the Senate, with Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, casting the lone vote in opposition. But it seems to be tied up in messages.

Rep. Erik Fresen, who carried the bill along with Sen. Anitere Flores, said he was doing everything possible to get the bill heard on Friday. Passing the proposal, he said, would require a little bit of luck and a two-thirds vote.

"But for what happened Tuesday with the Democrats reading every bill, this would have been heard already," Fresen said. "This could be a potential victim of those actions."

Still, Fresen said, he is "fully committed" to the proposal.

Miami Dade College President Eduardo Padrón has said the additional dollars are sorely needed.

"You have buildings that are getting very old," Padrón said. "Roofs that are having problems, you have elevators that have stopped working ... a well-documented set of needs."

Parent trigger language has new life in Florida House

Two days after the Florida Senate killed the parent trigger bill, one of the proposal's more controverisal provisions won the approval of the Florida House. 

The language, which would prevent children from being assigned to unsatisfactory teachers for two consecutive school years, was tacked onto the session's big charter school bill. It met resistance from House Democrats, who argued that the state's teacher evaluation model is too flawed to distinguish unsatisfactory teachers.

"We need to wait until we have an evaluation system that evaluates teachers properly," said Rep. Mark Danish, D-Tampa, who is a teacher. "We’re not supposed to be working out problems with the plane while in mid-flight."

But Rep. Michael Bileca, R-Miami, who carried the parent trigger bill last year, said the provision would pressure school districts to pair struggling students with top teachers.

"If you vote against this bill, you are voting against having our students who need [help] the most having the best teachers possible," Bileca said.

The House approved the amendement, and then the bill, in a pair of party-lines votes. 

The charter school bill that will land on Gov. Rick Scott's desk will require the state Education Department to draft a standard charter school contract for all 67 school districts to use. The Legislature will consider the proposed contract next year.

The bill also requires charter schools to adhere to tougher financial standards, puts new restrictions on the length of employee contracts, and allow school districts to open "district innovation schools" that will function like charter schools.

Florida Virtual School: Proposed budget would hurt our funding

School districts, teachers and parents are celebrating the $1 billion addition to the state’s education budget.

But not everyone is happy with their slice of the pie.

Florida Virtual School, the state’s public online school, says it will actually come up about $36 million short due to a proposed change in the state’s education finance formula.

FLVS was expecting to see its $200 million budget increased by $45 million next year to cover the cost of 80,000 new enrollments, CEO Julie Young said. But the increase will be closer to $9 million.

That’s because under the new formula, online providers will receive fewer dollars for every part-time student they enroll. As a result, FLVS will have to increase its teacher-to-student ratio and eliminate part-time graders and curriculum specialists, Young said.

“We like to say that FLVS is a place where every student has a front row seat,” Young said. “But with a budget cut this steep, teachers will have less time with individual students.”

Read the story here.

Lawmakers tweak teacher pay raises

The House and Senate tweaked the language on the teacher pay raises Wednesday, meaning educators won't have to wait until June 2014 for their payouts.

The revised language also gives school boards the flexibility to develop their own merit-based systems for awarding salary increases, rather than adhering to a plan developed by the Legislature.

"We all knew that the original language wouldn't work," said Jeff Wright, who oversees public policy advocacy for the Florida Education Association. "It took teachers, superintendents and the governor weighing in for us to make that point."

Lawmakers first released the language on Sunday, drawing immediate criticism from the teachers' union. Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho and Broward Superintendent Robert Runcie turned up the pressure Tuesday by holding a joint press conference to express their concerns. 

Senate President Don Gaetz was sympathetic.

“Teachers who earn their increases in pay ought to be able to get them as soon as school districts develop a plan to do so, collectively bargain the plan with their unions, and submit their plan to the commissioner of education,” the former schools superintendent said late Tuesday.

Gov. Rick Scott got involved, too, urging legislators to get the money out as soon as possible.

Lawmakers hashed out a solution Wednesday.

Carvalho said he was pleased with the new language. "What was unacceptable to me was that something was promised, but folks would have to wait 14 months to get it," he said. "This has moved dramatically in a positive direction."

Carvalho hopes to see the pay raises awarded as soon as possible, he said. The Miami-Dade school district is already contract negotiations with the United Teachers of Dade.

Mixed feelings on the parent trigger vote

Quite a few press releases went out after the Florida Senate killed the parent trigger bill on Tuesday. Here's a sampling.

Bob McClure, president and CEO of the James Madison Institute: "Many Florida parents whose children are assigned to a chronically failing school have been seeking better options. Unfortunately, the state Senate’s failure to pass parent empowerment legislation has denied these parents a remedy that is already available in several other states. As a result, too many of Florida’s children will be left behind in situations that stifle their academic growth and limit their future opportunities. Clearly the state has missed an opportunity to do what is in the best interest of these children. We hope that the Florida legislature will reconsider and choose to empower parents with the additional options necessary to provide their kids a fighting chance for a better future."

StudentsFirst Florida Director Nikki Lowrey: “Failing to pass the Parental Empowerment Bill means another year that hundreds of children in Florida will be trapped in schools that are failing them. Absolutely no parent should be forced to send their child every day into a failing school without a choice for finding a better education. Kids from low-income and minority families need a legislative solution to deliver equal access to the education they deserve, and this bill would have been that remedy. Despite this grim outcome, I would like to thank the legislators who stood boldly on their convictions for children, and supported this measure. StudentsFirst would also like to thank the thousands of parents, educators, and concerned citizens who made their voices heard in the face of hostile opposition. We pledge to stand tall beside them and demand equal access to a quality education for all of Florida’s kids.”

Sen. Dwight Bullard, D-Miami: “As a teacher and advocate for our Florida students, I’m thrilled that Democrats and Republicans came together to bring this bill to a close.”

Florida Education Association President Andy Ford: “The parent trigger measure is a political device created by venture capitalists looking to rapidly expand for-profit charter school chains. Major parent groups in Florida opposed this bill. This bill depends on professional lobbyists and outside forces to use marketing forces to persuade parents in a challenged school to transfer a valuable public asset from the jurisdiction of an elected school board into the hands of a corporation.”

Patricia Levesque, executive director of the Foundation for Florida's Future: “The choice today was simple, do you believe parents deserve a seat at the table or not. Senator Thrasher said it best, Parent Empowerment is about trusting parents. We are grateful for the 20 Senators and 68 House members who trust parents and voted to include them in the decision-making process on how to improve failing schools.”