The New Media Journal.us [IL]
All-Athletics
by Will Fitzhugh, The Concord Review
April 29, 2009
The Boston Globe has been publishing for 137 years, and the news that it may have to fold has distressed its many readers. Each Fall, Winter and Spring the paper publishes a special section, of 14 pages or so, on notable local public high school athletes and their coaches. There is a mention of athletes and coaches at local prep schools as well.
The latest Boston Globe's Winter "ALL-SCHOLASTICS" section arrived, with the "ten moments that stood out among the countless athletic stories in Massachusetts." There are reports on the best HS athletes and coaches in Skiing, Boys' Basketball, Girls' Basketball, Boys' Hockey, Girls' Hockey, Boys' Track, Girls' Track, Boys' Swimming, Girls' Swimming, Preps, Wrestling, and Gymnastics. The Preps and Gymnastics parts consolidate boys' and girls' accomplishments, perhaps to save space (and cost).
Each full-page section also features photographs of 9-16 athletes, with perhaps a twitter-sized paragraph on their achievements. In addition, there are 30 photos and tweets about some coaches, spread among the various sports. There are 26 "Prep" athletes mentioned, from various sports, but I didn't see any "Prep" coaches profiled. For each high school sport there are two "athletes of the year" identified, and all the coaches are "coaches of the year" in their sport.
There may be, at this time, some high school "students of the year" in English, math, Chinese, physics, Latin, chemistry, European history, U.S. history, biology, and the like. There may also be high school "teachers of the year" in these and other academic subjects, but their names and descriptions are not to be found in The Boston Globe, perhaps the best-known paper in the "Athens of America" (Boston).
It may be the case, indeed it probably is the case, that some of the athletes featured in the Winter "All-Scholastics" section today are also high school students of math, history, English, science, and languages, but you would not know that from the coverage of The Boston Globe. The coaches of the year may in many, if not all, cases, also be teachers of academic subjects in the Massachusetts public and private schools, but that remains only a guess as well.
When the British architect Christopher Wren was buried in 1723, part of his epitaph, written by his eldest son, Christopher Wren, Jr., read: "Lector, si monumentum requiris, Circumspice." If you wanted to judge his interest, efforts and accomplishments, all you had to do was look around you. His work was there for all to see.
The work of Massachusetts high school athletes and coaches is all around us in The Boston Globe on a regular basis, but the work of our high school scholars and teachers is nowhere to be seen in that public record.
If one seeks a monument to anti-academic and anti-intellectual views and practices in Boston today, one need look no further than The Boston Globe. I read it every day, and I will be sorry to see it fold, if it does, but I will not miss its attention to and recognition of the academic efforts and accomplish-ments of Massachusetts secondary students and their teachers, because there is none now, and never has been any, no matter how many reports on education reform and academic standards it may have published over the years. If you ask how much The Boston Globe editors (and I am sure The Globe is not alone in this) care about the good academic work now actually being done by high school teachers and their students in Massachusetts, the answer is, from the evidence, that they do not.
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"Teach by Example"
Will Fitzhugh [founder]
Consortium for Varsity Academics® [2007]
The Concord Review [1987]
Ralph Waldo Emerson Prizes [1995]
National Writing Board [1998]
TCR Institute [2002]
730 Boston Post Road, Suite 24
Sudbury, Massachusetts 01776 USA
978-443-0022; 800-331-5007
fitzhugh@tcr.org; www.tcr.org
Varsity Academics®
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
FCSS Ex Dir Trimble on Textbook Changes!
April 8, 2009
Dear Senator Wise,
As a long time Social Studies Teacher and Supervisor and a former participant or chair of three state social studies adoption committees, I would like to express my concern regarding current plans to extend the adoption cycle from 6 to 8 years. My concerns focus on four issues:
(1) Content of the material - new discoveries and developments, changes in curricular focus and events make science and social studies materials very time sensitive. Although technology has been of assistance in providing current information, its accessibility, format, and readability for students make it less valuable than current information in a basic textbook.
(2) Pedagogy - ways of organizing and presenting material in texts are constantly evolving. Students today are exposed to a greater range of media than students in the past and need the most interesting and stimulating instructional materials possible. Format alone changes drastically in an 8 year period.
(3) Physical practicality - 8 years us a long time for a book to last, with 8 to 16 users, depending on its use in an 18 or 36 week course. As textbook conditions deteriorate, so does the care students utilize, further impacting durability. From a fiscal standpoint, districts will often have to spend money at the six year point to replace unusable books, which will then have a shelf life of only 2 years before needing to be replaced in the new cycle.
(4) Fiscal practicality - the possibility of maintaining the same price for an 8 year period is unlikely. Although on rare occasions, costs go down, more commonly they increase, resulting in the state paying more money for a product that is as much as 8 years behind the current best methodology in textbook production.
Your assistance in opposing the effort to change the adoption cycle would be appreciated. A short term budgetary downturn should not translate into an 8 year impact on Florida's students. In spite of efforts to change classroom environment and improve
tools available to teachers, the textbook still remains the basic tool of teachers.
Theron L. Trimble,
Executive Director, Florida Council for the Social Studies
Chair, Fund for the Advancement of Social Studies Education, National Council for the Social Studies
Dear Senator Wise,
As a long time Social Studies Teacher and Supervisor and a former participant or chair of three state social studies adoption committees, I would like to express my concern regarding current plans to extend the adoption cycle from 6 to 8 years. My concerns focus on four issues:
(1) Content of the material - new discoveries and developments, changes in curricular focus and events make science and social studies materials very time sensitive. Although technology has been of assistance in providing current information, its accessibility, format, and readability for students make it less valuable than current information in a basic textbook.
(2) Pedagogy - ways of organizing and presenting material in texts are constantly evolving. Students today are exposed to a greater range of media than students in the past and need the most interesting and stimulating instructional materials possible. Format alone changes drastically in an 8 year period.
(3) Physical practicality - 8 years us a long time for a book to last, with 8 to 16 users, depending on its use in an 18 or 36 week course. As textbook conditions deteriorate, so does the care students utilize, further impacting durability. From a fiscal standpoint, districts will often have to spend money at the six year point to replace unusable books, which will then have a shelf life of only 2 years before needing to be replaced in the new cycle.
(4) Fiscal practicality - the possibility of maintaining the same price for an 8 year period is unlikely. Although on rare occasions, costs go down, more commonly they increase, resulting in the state paying more money for a product that is as much as 8 years behind the current best methodology in textbook production.
Your assistance in opposing the effort to change the adoption cycle would be appreciated. A short term budgetary downturn should not translate into an 8 year impact on Florida's students. In spite of efforts to change classroom environment and improve
tools available to teachers, the textbook still remains the basic tool of teachers.
Theron L. Trimble,
Executive Director, Florida Council for the Social Studies
Chair, Fund for the Advancement of Social Studies Education, National Council for the Social Studies
O’CONNOR: BOOST CIVIC EDUCATION
By KATHLEEN HAUGHNEY, THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA, THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, April 7, 2009....
Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor brought her campaign for civics education to Tallahassee Tuesday, addressing the Florida Legislature about the importance of teaching social studies in American schools. “It's about teaching students that one person can ignite political fires on the ground and those fires almost always begin with a very small spark,” she said in her address to the joint session of the Florida Legislature.
O'Connor, who was the first woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court in 1981, retired in 2006. Since her retirement, she has focused on pushing civics education, saying she became increasingly aware of the lack of knowledge many people had about government, particularly the courts.
In connection with Georgetown University and Arizona State University, she has launched http://www.ourcourts.org/, a site designed to promote interactive civics curriculum to students and teachers. She even touted the site on The Daily Show. O'Connor said she believes using an interactive site was a “powerful tool” that could educate students.
Her visit comes just as the House's PreK-12 appropriations committee is looking at a bill requiring an end-of-course civics assessment for all Florida students. The bill was previously scheduled for a committee vote, but pulled off the calendar so that a few tweaks could be made, said committee chair Anitere Flores, R-Miami. Flores said she cannot guarantee the measure will come to a vote because she is unsure if her committee will meet again before the end of the legislative session. However, she said she is hopeful that the committee will be able to take up the measure before the end of session. “It's very sad that we know that more people know about American Idol than about the President of the United States,” Flores said. “We need to have a concerted effort to curb that.”--END--04/07/09
Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor brought her campaign for civics education to Tallahassee Tuesday, addressing the Florida Legislature about the importance of teaching social studies in American schools. “It's about teaching students that one person can ignite political fires on the ground and those fires almost always begin with a very small spark,” she said in her address to the joint session of the Florida Legislature.
O'Connor, who was the first woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court in 1981, retired in 2006. Since her retirement, she has focused on pushing civics education, saying she became increasingly aware of the lack of knowledge many people had about government, particularly the courts.
In connection with Georgetown University and Arizona State University, she has launched http://www.ourcourts.org/, a site designed to promote interactive civics curriculum to students and teachers. She even touted the site on The Daily Show. O'Connor said she believes using an interactive site was a “powerful tool” that could educate students.
Her visit comes just as the House's PreK-12 appropriations committee is looking at a bill requiring an end-of-course civics assessment for all Florida students. The bill was previously scheduled for a committee vote, but pulled off the calendar so that a few tweaks could be made, said committee chair Anitere Flores, R-Miami. Flores said she cannot guarantee the measure will come to a vote because she is unsure if her committee will meet again before the end of the legislative session. However, she said she is hopeful that the committee will be able to take up the measure before the end of session. “It's very sad that we know that more people know about American Idol than about the President of the United States,” Flores said. “We need to have a concerted effort to curb that.”--END--04/07/09
Keeping Our American Identity
January 9, 2009 by Phyllis Schlafly
Can you name the three branches of American government, legislative, executive, and judicial? If so, you are among the one-half of Americans who know this very basic fact about the U.S. government and Constitution.
The Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI), which earlier has conducted in-depth studies of what American college students know, and don't know, about civics, now reports equally depressing facts about grown-ups. It appears that adults, too, lack the civic knowledge they need to be informed citizens and intelligent voters. ISI administered a very basic test on American history, government and economics to 2,500 Americans age 25 and older. The multiple-choice test asked citizens to identify terms that everybody should know, such as the New Deal, the Electoral College, Sputnik, I Have a Dream, and progressive tax.
The 2,500 adults scored an average of 49 percent; that means they get a pitiful F. Those who had received a bachelor's degree averaged 57 percent on the test, compared to 44 percent for those with only a high school diploma and, worse still, 164 adults who had held elected office also scored an average of 44 percent.
Almost 40 percent of respondents said they thought the president (rather than Congress) has the power to declare war. Only 50 percent knew that Congress shares authority with the president over U.S. foreign policy, and almost one in four thought Congress shares authority over U.S. foreign policy with the United Nations. Americans who lack knowledge of our country's history, Constitution, and institutions really have no frame of reference to judge current politics and policies. Federal law requires public schools to teach about the U.S. Constitution on Constitution Day, September 17, but it looks like American adults need those lessons, too.
The 2006 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) Civics Test revealed that the majority of eighth graders could not explain the purpose of the Declaration of Independence. No wonder young voters are not shocked at those who talk about "interdependence," globalism, and becoming "citizens of the world."
It's not just that American citizens lack knowledge of historical and constitutional facts about our country, but they also show a declining appreciation of who we are. A survey by Harris Interactive reported that 84 percent of respondents believe we have a unique American identity, but 64 percent believe this identity is weakening, and 24 percent believe we are already so divided that a common national identity is impossible.
Political Correctness in colleges and public schools over the last decade has gone a long way toward replacing patriotism with the trendy dicta of multiculturalism, diversity and global citizenship. Are we losing our identity as Americans?
To address this question, the Bradley Foundation has started a national conversation on America's National Identity called "E Pluribus Unum." The question is, Is America still "from many, one" ("indivisible," as our Pledge of Allegiance affirms), or are we fast becoming "from one, many"?
A review of history textbooks used in public schools today reveals a big source of the problem. Textbooks now emphasize America's faults and mistakes rather than our incredible achievements. History textbooks should tell the exciting story that the United States has produced nearly all the world's greatest inventions, and that these inventions have produced living standards that are the envy of the world. This exciting narrative is not based on Americans being smarter than other nationalities, or our having more natural resources than other countries, but on the wisdom of the Founding Fathers who gave us the superior political and economic system enshrined in our Constitution.
We should celebrate and honor our nation's heroes starting with George Washington. Federal law (5 U.S.C. 6103) clearly specifies that the name of the "legal public holiday" on the third Monday in February is "Washington's Birthday." Americans should refuse to buy the calendars that wrongly label this February holiday as "President's Day." This calendar mischief is very offensive because there are quite a few Presidents who are not worthy of a special "Day."
Maintaining our national identity depends on keeping our Constitution safe from the supremacist judges who want to change it to comport with what they call "emerging standards." Our national identity depends on keeping English as our official, national language so we don't suffer the conflicts endured by nations with competing languages.
America was founded by men who shared a common inheritance in the British rule of law developed over centuries (beginning with the Magna Carta), the Christian religion, and the English language. They also shared the belief later expressed by Alexis de Toqueville that America is "quite exceptional" and by Ronald Reagan that America is "the shining city on the hill."
Can you name the three branches of American government, legislative, executive, and judicial? If so, you are among the one-half of Americans who know this very basic fact about the U.S. government and Constitution.
The Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI), which earlier has conducted in-depth studies of what American college students know, and don't know, about civics, now reports equally depressing facts about grown-ups. It appears that adults, too, lack the civic knowledge they need to be informed citizens and intelligent voters. ISI administered a very basic test on American history, government and economics to 2,500 Americans age 25 and older. The multiple-choice test asked citizens to identify terms that everybody should know, such as the New Deal, the Electoral College, Sputnik, I Have a Dream, and progressive tax.
The 2,500 adults scored an average of 49 percent; that means they get a pitiful F. Those who had received a bachelor's degree averaged 57 percent on the test, compared to 44 percent for those with only a high school diploma and, worse still, 164 adults who had held elected office also scored an average of 44 percent.
Almost 40 percent of respondents said they thought the president (rather than Congress) has the power to declare war. Only 50 percent knew that Congress shares authority with the president over U.S. foreign policy, and almost one in four thought Congress shares authority over U.S. foreign policy with the United Nations. Americans who lack knowledge of our country's history, Constitution, and institutions really have no frame of reference to judge current politics and policies. Federal law requires public schools to teach about the U.S. Constitution on Constitution Day, September 17, but it looks like American adults need those lessons, too.
The 2006 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) Civics Test revealed that the majority of eighth graders could not explain the purpose of the Declaration of Independence. No wonder young voters are not shocked at those who talk about "interdependence," globalism, and becoming "citizens of the world."
It's not just that American citizens lack knowledge of historical and constitutional facts about our country, but they also show a declining appreciation of who we are. A survey by Harris Interactive reported that 84 percent of respondents believe we have a unique American identity, but 64 percent believe this identity is weakening, and 24 percent believe we are already so divided that a common national identity is impossible.
Political Correctness in colleges and public schools over the last decade has gone a long way toward replacing patriotism with the trendy dicta of multiculturalism, diversity and global citizenship. Are we losing our identity as Americans?
To address this question, the Bradley Foundation has started a national conversation on America's National Identity called "E Pluribus Unum." The question is, Is America still "from many, one" ("indivisible," as our Pledge of Allegiance affirms), or are we fast becoming "from one, many"?
A review of history textbooks used in public schools today reveals a big source of the problem. Textbooks now emphasize America's faults and mistakes rather than our incredible achievements. History textbooks should tell the exciting story that the United States has produced nearly all the world's greatest inventions, and that these inventions have produced living standards that are the envy of the world. This exciting narrative is not based on Americans being smarter than other nationalities, or our having more natural resources than other countries, but on the wisdom of the Founding Fathers who gave us the superior political and economic system enshrined in our Constitution.
We should celebrate and honor our nation's heroes starting with George Washington. Federal law (5 U.S.C. 6103) clearly specifies that the name of the "legal public holiday" on the third Monday in February is "Washington's Birthday." Americans should refuse to buy the calendars that wrongly label this February holiday as "President's Day." This calendar mischief is very offensive because there are quite a few Presidents who are not worthy of a special "Day."
Maintaining our national identity depends on keeping our Constitution safe from the supremacist judges who want to change it to comport with what they call "emerging standards." Our national identity depends on keeping English as our official, national language so we don't suffer the conflicts endured by nations with competing languages.
America was founded by men who shared a common inheritance in the British rule of law developed over centuries (beginning with the Magna Carta), the Christian religion, and the English language. They also shared the belief later expressed by Alexis de Toqueville that America is "quite exceptional" and by Ronald Reagan that America is "the shining city on the hill."
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Sample Letter Using Our Blog-Links for 'Evidence' - text version with hyperlinks working
One advantage of this website is that it enables powerfully written letters to embed hyperlinks to important documents to provide instant 'evidence' to the points we wish to make to legislators, news editors, leaders of civic groups or even colleagues. Here is one 'informal' email that was quickly thrown together to demonstrate to a community leader across the state the position of FASSS/FCSS during the 2009 legislative session. For this reason, legislative committee members should be very familiar with the resources on the webpage!
___________________________________________
Hello Rich ---
I’ve heard plenty about the book, but haven’t a copy and thus can’t comment. I put it up with Mark Levine’s “Men in Black” (which I have read) and some others on the Constitution. It’s on my list to ‘read’ this summer.
Civics is vital, but so are the other strands of the ‘social studies’ --- American History, World History, Economics, and Geography. We’re not opposing the current CIVICS campaign, indeed some of my best friends are leading that charge, but many of us feel ALL of the social studies strands need taught and assessed. The new version of HB0013 (Rep. McBurney) in Tallahassee has been amended to no longer assess these other strands of Social Studies. It would ONLY assess civics and ONLY at the seventh grade. There are some other problems with the bill – down the road, if a student failed the state’s end of course civics exam by a single point, for example – that student would be denied credit in the course, one day’s poor work thus negating the other 179 days in the course! NO educator I know embraces such a thought and Florida doesn’t do this for FCAT. Maintaining this logic will mean the civics exam must be a ‘minimum test’ – something else we would oppose. For more information you may want to add to your ‘favorites’ our legislative website at http://fasss-fcss-legislative-news.blogspot.com/ . The letter of ‘concern’ on the Civics Bill may be found on page https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh-RNnawWv2bW6YF78rrLeA4luk9FwiQZtilXifdUDvejZsssSyVqYAjzISACXs83IxCuy60RZfpP8zNwcX-ldF0Ne73FkEoJo7bA-cMxcvdWKNhjKz7twdV07k5cLjkLgEek_PtDPVvQ/s1600-h/FCSS+Position+on+CS+H0013.bmp of that site. (Hoover your ‘mouse’ over the document, then ‘click’ to bring it to full size for reading/Printing.)
There are already several bills in existence that requires civics be taught – one that has been on the books for many, many years is called “Florida’s Required Instruction Statute”. You may find many references to ‘requiring’ the teaching of the “Constitution” and “Bill of Rights” and “Declaration of Independence” as well as the content of specific history, economic education and patriotism in this kaw. You may find a copy of that law on our website at http://collier.k12.fl.us/CandI/ss/Docs/legnews/RequiredInstructionStatute.pdf If you want other examples of other bills requiring civics be taught let me know.
The MAIN PROBLEM rests in the assessment of this content. As I mentioned to your group in my visit, this has NEVER been done in Florida and to assess ONLY the civics strand now is only 25% of the battle in my own personal view. It would be tantamount to assessing only “biology” and not the rest of the sciences, or only ‘geometry’ in all the fields of mathematics. (Ask Bernadette Bennett in your county for her thoughts on this, too, for another opinion though.)
At the VERY LEAST, we ‘supervisors of social studies’ endorse the assessment of Civics AND History at the state level. You can’t have one without the other. And assessing ONLY civics would leave out much in our history, let alone a great deal of world geography and economics. And by the way, when you talk to legislators be sure to point out that Florida is only one of TWO southern states that do not assess social studies in any manner. (See evidence on our website go to: http://collier.k12.fl.us/CandI/ss/Docs/Assessments%20by%20State.pdf ) Mind, you we ALWAYS preface our comment with the need to assess ALL of our curriculum strands.
At the national level, there is a bill that would correct much of our problem -- by holding the states accountable by comparing their students’ performance in the areas of civics and history on a periodic basis-- and despite what some might refer to as the “pork” that is in it, I’m convinced it’s the only thing that will help! At the very end of this bill are a few words and a few dollars to actually begin to hold up to ten states accountable for teaching civic and historical literacy!! The rest of the bill includes hundreds of millions of dollars for other projects, thus it may or may not ‘pass’ Congress.
Information about this NATIONAL measure (sponsored by Kennedy, Byrd, and Alexander) may be found on our site at these links: (1) http://fasss-fcss-legislative-news.blogspot.com/2009/03/fasss-urges-congress-to-pass-naep.html
(2) http://fasss-fcss-legislative-news.blogspot.com/2009/03/florida-pushes-to-reform-naep-expand.html
(3) http://fasss-fcss-legislative-news.blogspot.com/2009/04/nche-endorses-s659-pg-1.html (page one) and
(4) http://fasss-fcss-legislative-news.blogspot.com/2009/04/nche-endorses-s659.html (page two)
In conclusion, social studies professionals have been fighting since 1988 (SINCE 1988!!) to get Florida to hold our districts and schools accountable for all the content described in the states’ ‘required instruction statute’ cited above. (By the way, did you notice any (ANY!!) mention of reading, mathematics or even science in that bill? Evidence of our battle in 1988 may be found at: http://collier.k12.fl.us/CandI/ss/Docs/legnews/1988FASSSLetter.pdf ) And again, we’d like to see ALL of the social studies assessed, not just ‘one’ strand of our curriculum.
Many groups have endorsed the idea of testing all of the social studies over the years. Here’s an impressive one dating back to 2001 at http://collier.k12.fl.us/CandI/ss/Docs/legnews/LWV%20Letter%20to%20Sec.%20Horne.pdf . If you and your organization would like to ‘go on record’ calling for the same, it would be a great stimulus to doing things ‘the right way’. I would be delighted to add your group to a growing list of organizations calling for this necessary step. But I urge we do it ‘right’. Getting ‘one-fourth a loaf’ may be an excuse to never give us the rest! And given the sorry state of legislative history on this matter, this is no idle ‘worry’. For an example of how bad things got over one simple bill which the ENTIRE House of Representatives once voted for and ALL MEMBERS of the Senate Education Committee see “An Example of How an Eminently Worthy Measure Repeatedly Fails to Become Law” at http://www.collier.k12.fl.us/ss/Docs/legnews/History%20of%20Progression%20law.pdf
Thanks again for being a great supporter of our cause. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Jack Bovee
Legislative Chair, Florida Association of Social Studies Supervisors and Florida Council for the Social Studies
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Committee Chairs
2009 Florida Legislative Committees
Go to www.OnlineSunshine to obtain information related to phone, fax, email address, legislative aides, awards and other personal data.
Senate Education Pre K – 12
• Chair: Senator Nancy C. Detert (R)
• Vice Chair: Senator Frederica S. Wilson (D)
• Senator Larcenia J. Bullard (D)
• Senator Lee Constantine (R)
• Senator Don Gaetz (R)
• Senator Eleanor Sobel (D)
• Senator Ronda Storms (R)
• Senator Stephen R. Wise (R)
Senate Education Appropriations
• Chair: Senator Stephen R. Wise (R)
• Vice Chair: Senator Gary Siplin (D)
• Senator Larcenia J. Bullard (D)
• Senator Nancy C. Detert (R)
• Senator Rudy Garcia (R)
• Senator Garrett S. Richter (R)
•
Education Policy Council
Representatives:
Culp, Faye B. (R)Chair
Coley, Marti (R)Vice Chair
Heller, Bill (D)Democratic Ranking Member
Chestnut IV, Charles S. (D)
Flores, Anitere (R)
Kiar, Martin David (D)
Legg, John (R)
McKeel, Seth (R)
Precourt, Stephen L. (R)
Proctor, William L. (R)
Reed, Betty (D)
PreK-12 Policy Committee Representatives:
Legg, John (R)Chair
Flores, Anitere (R)Vice Chair
Kiar, Martin David (D) Democratic Ranking Member
Bullard, Dwight M. (D)
Burgin, Rachel V. (R)
Ford, Clay (R)
Fresen, Erik (R)
Jones, Mia L. (D)
Kriseman, Rick (D)
McBurney, Charles (R)
Plakon, Scott (R)
Stargel, Kelli (R)
Workman, Ritch (R)
PreK – 12 Appropriations Committee Representatives:
Flores, Anitere (R)Chair
Legg, John (R) Vice Chair
Kiar, Martin David (D) Democratic Ranking Member
Bogdanoff, Ellyn Setnor (R)
Bullard, Dwight M. (D)
Clarke-Reed, Gwyndolen (D)
Fresen, Erik (R)
Stargel, Kelli (R)
Go to www.OnlineSunshine to obtain information related to phone, fax, email address, legislative aides, awards and other personal data.
Senate Education Pre K – 12
• Chair: Senator Nancy C. Detert (R)
• Vice Chair: Senator Frederica S. Wilson (D)
• Senator Larcenia J. Bullard (D)
• Senator Lee Constantine (R)
• Senator Don Gaetz (R)
• Senator Eleanor Sobel (D)
• Senator Ronda Storms (R)
• Senator Stephen R. Wise (R)
Senate Education Appropriations
• Chair: Senator Stephen R. Wise (R)
• Vice Chair: Senator Gary Siplin (D)
• Senator Larcenia J. Bullard (D)
• Senator Nancy C. Detert (R)
• Senator Rudy Garcia (R)
• Senator Garrett S. Richter (R)
•
Education Policy Council
Representatives:
Culp, Faye B. (R)Chair
Coley, Marti (R)Vice Chair
Heller, Bill (D)Democratic Ranking Member
Chestnut IV, Charles S. (D)
Flores, Anitere (R)
Kiar, Martin David (D)
Legg, John (R)
McKeel, Seth (R)
Precourt, Stephen L. (R)
Proctor, William L. (R)
Reed, Betty (D)
PreK-12 Policy Committee Representatives:
Legg, John (R)Chair
Flores, Anitere (R)Vice Chair
Kiar, Martin David (D) Democratic Ranking Member
Bullard, Dwight M. (D)
Burgin, Rachel V. (R)
Ford, Clay (R)
Fresen, Erik (R)
Jones, Mia L. (D)
Kriseman, Rick (D)
McBurney, Charles (R)
Plakon, Scott (R)
Stargel, Kelli (R)
Workman, Ritch (R)
PreK – 12 Appropriations Committee Representatives:
Flores, Anitere (R)Chair
Legg, John (R) Vice Chair
Kiar, Martin David (D) Democratic Ranking Member
Bogdanoff, Ellyn Setnor (R)
Bullard, Dwight M. (D)
Clarke-Reed, Gwyndolen (D)
Fresen, Erik (R)
Stargel, Kelli (R)
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Florida League of Cities In Favor of Civics Bill
Source: Sharon Berrian
During the League's Legislative Action Day, President Priore testified before the House Pre-K Policy Committee in favor of Rep. Charles McBurney's bill on Civics Education in the Classroom.
When Carmine Priore became president of the Florida League of Cities he pledged that he would spend his tenure implementing a statewide campaign to increase knowledge of civics and promote greater public participation in our political process. Since then, he has traveled around the state speaking to students, civic organizations and other elected officials about the importance of civics.
President Priore believes that " City officials must be teachers in classrooms, in city halls and in our communities. We will all benefit if more citizens understand what services cities provide, how we pay for those services, and how residents can impact their city's quality of life through active participation in their government."
(ed. Note: Representative McBurney’s bil, H0013, has recently been amended to assess only Civics in grades six – eight in Florida in order to lessen the overall fiscal impact of assessing all of social studies.) From: http://www.floridaleagueofcities.com/News.aspx?CNID=657
President Priore's Civics Education Initiative
There’s no better time than now for city officials to help take civics education to the next level.
Why?Because civics education builds stronger cities and a brighter future for Florida. And because there is a great need for civics knowledge as recent polls, surveys and voter turnout have confirmed.
What about the cost?The Florida League of Cities has many ideas for no-cost and low-cost civics education programs and partnerships – and many are very easy to implement.
What do you have to lose?More than you think. The passage of several constitutional amendments and various legislative initiatives that were damaging to city governance show the need to educate Floridians about the services provided by their municipal governments and how those services are funded. With a better understanding of city issues, would these proposals even have an audience?
Every city can do something – don’t miss the opportunity to make a difference.
Florida League of Cities President Carmine Priore has launched the “Building Citizenship in the Community: Back to Basics” campaign to help increase civic awareness and participation. He encourages each Florida municipality to support this initiative.
The Florida League of Cities encourages each city to adopt the “Back to Basics” resolution supporting President Carmine Priore in his efforts to improve civic education in the State of Florida.
Sample Resolution
“Educating our citizens on the fundamentals of city services and what it takes to effectively run a city is going to be essential as we continue to be forced to ‘tighten our municipal belts,’ do more with less, and still maintain the level of service demanded by our citizenry,” Priore says.
Current ProgramsThe Florida League of Cities has several resources ready to help. They were developed to increase Floridians’ understanding of city government and the services they provide. These materials will help with civics outreach efforts for people of all ages.
Related Articles:
· Back to Basics Resolution Request Source: Casey Cook
· Civic Education Best Practices Source: Casey Cook
· Civic Education
· A Guide for Creating a City Youth Council Source: Casey Cook
· A Guide for Creating a Citizens' Academy Source: Beth Mulrennan
· Florida Municipal Officials' Manual Source: Gail Dennard
· 2008 Municipal Brain Bowl Source: Estella Gray
· FLC Donates $25,000 to Florida Joint Center for Citizenship Source: Sharon Berrian
· ABCs of City Government Source: Beth Mulrennan
· "Getting to Know Your Florida Cities" DVD Source: Sharon Berrian
During the League's Legislative Action Day, President Priore testified before the House Pre-K Policy Committee in favor of Rep. Charles McBurney's bill on Civics Education in the Classroom.
When Carmine Priore became president of the Florida League of Cities he pledged that he would spend his tenure implementing a statewide campaign to increase knowledge of civics and promote greater public participation in our political process. Since then, he has traveled around the state speaking to students, civic organizations and other elected officials about the importance of civics.
President Priore believes that " City officials must be teachers in classrooms, in city halls and in our communities. We will all benefit if more citizens understand what services cities provide, how we pay for those services, and how residents can impact their city's quality of life through active participation in their government."
(ed. Note: Representative McBurney’s bil, H0013, has recently been amended to assess only Civics in grades six – eight in Florida in order to lessen the overall fiscal impact of assessing all of social studies.) From: http://www.floridaleagueofcities.com/News.aspx?CNID=657
President Priore's Civics Education Initiative
There’s no better time than now for city officials to help take civics education to the next level.
Why?Because civics education builds stronger cities and a brighter future for Florida. And because there is a great need for civics knowledge as recent polls, surveys and voter turnout have confirmed.
What about the cost?The Florida League of Cities has many ideas for no-cost and low-cost civics education programs and partnerships – and many are very easy to implement.
What do you have to lose?More than you think. The passage of several constitutional amendments and various legislative initiatives that were damaging to city governance show the need to educate Floridians about the services provided by their municipal governments and how those services are funded. With a better understanding of city issues, would these proposals even have an audience?
Every city can do something – don’t miss the opportunity to make a difference.
Florida League of Cities President Carmine Priore has launched the “Building Citizenship in the Community: Back to Basics” campaign to help increase civic awareness and participation. He encourages each Florida municipality to support this initiative.
The Florida League of Cities encourages each city to adopt the “Back to Basics” resolution supporting President Carmine Priore in his efforts to improve civic education in the State of Florida.
Sample Resolution
“Educating our citizens on the fundamentals of city services and what it takes to effectively run a city is going to be essential as we continue to be forced to ‘tighten our municipal belts,’ do more with less, and still maintain the level of service demanded by our citizenry,” Priore says.
Current ProgramsThe Florida League of Cities has several resources ready to help. They were developed to increase Floridians’ understanding of city government and the services they provide. These materials will help with civics outreach efforts for people of all ages.
Related Articles:
· Back to Basics Resolution Request Source: Casey Cook
· Civic Education Best Practices Source: Casey Cook
· Civic Education
· A Guide for Creating a City Youth Council Source: Casey Cook
· A Guide for Creating a Citizens' Academy Source: Beth Mulrennan
· Florida Municipal Officials' Manual Source: Gail Dennard
· 2008 Municipal Brain Bowl Source: Estella Gray
· FLC Donates $25,000 to Florida Joint Center for Citizenship Source: Sharon Berrian
· ABCs of City Government Source: Beth Mulrennan
· "Getting to Know Your Florida Cities" DVD Source: Sharon Berrian
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