Are Florida schools THAT bad?

[lovethattink]

We live in Polk County. I found understanding the school system to be very confusing when we moved here. There are zoned schools, then there are magnet schools, and there are charter schools, private schools and umbrella schools. Certainly a lot of choices so you are not stuck with just one option.

There has been a recent trend, due to the 10% unemployment here, for people to be opting for public school instead of private school. This has placed an unexpected burden on the public school system. One which they are trying to figure out.

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

My son could have gone to Ralph Williams but we still picked Ascension and paid for it! I would have done Suntree but we didn't live close enough. Ralph Williams kind of scared me despite its better rankings, but that might just be my own issue after seeing the school.

Ralph Williams just dropped out of the top 10% in the county because they bused from Cocoa. Go figure. Luckily mine is still the surrounding neighborhoods so my son wont be bused. I her Ascension was really good. I hope that is going well. Suntree is awesome!! We boarder Quest and Manatee but Manatee is our feeder pattern and I am happy with that.

 

[vicki_c]

Ralph Williams just dropped out of the top 10% in the county because they bused from Cocoa. Go figure. Luckily mine is still the surrounding neighborhoods so my son wont be bused. I her Ascension was really good. I hope that is going well. Suntree is awesome!! We boarder Quest and Manatee but Manatee is our feeder pattern and I am happy with that.

Ascension was good (and we're not Catholic so didn't choose for that reason at all) and I would still have my kids there I'm sure if we still lived in Melbourne.

Yes, Ralph Williams just sort of gave me a not so good feeling when we visited.

 

[kbelle8995]

This is an interesting discussion. I grew up in Florida so I've had a few experences both good and bad. I went to a private school and then was switched to a public school which was a real eye opener. My high school was physically falling apart. I had good tough teachers and teachers who didn't care. It realy is mixed bag with the school system here in Florida. The private school wasn't much better than the public school

You can still find teachers who care and want the students to do well. The community college system is great offering courses to full time students and members of the community just looking to learn the latest software such as excel. The school system is better in North Florida.

 

[Beauty908]

Hey! I'm planning on being a teacher, so this discussion has been really interesting to read and follow.

I'm from IL and we have e-reportcards for every school in the state that you can compare. I'm sure Florida (along with the other states) have something similar. I would remind you to consider how much money the school has to work with because higher economic status does make a difference on the students and school districts.

 

[kathrna]

I can see your point a little there. I went to school in Michigan and my sister in Florida. She was learning things her senior year I had done my freshman year. I think they could accelerate the curriculum a bit, but we both went to college and picked up from there.

I wasn't reference any one post, so I hope you didn't think I was saying anyone wasn't involved with their kids education.

My main point is, any school will have people that love it and hate it. Any child will be successful not because of what he learned in school, but what he learned at home. Too many parents expect the schools to do it all and that is too much to ask. Its unfortunate, but it seems the majority have taken that route and teachers are over tasked trying to work with the kids that have no home support and the kids that work hard and excel don't' get pushed in their education.

A-greed! Parents HAVE to take an active roll in their child's education. If you are unhappy at what you are seeing come home, set up a conference. Don't just go in and say that you're unhappy, have a plan; what you'd LIKE to see your child be doing. You are as much part of the solution as the teacher and student are.

It depends on the area. Orlando area has some really good schools and good teachers and it has some really BAD administration & policies.


One word (or is it two??) F-Cat
The F-CAT is all important in Florida; it rules EVERYTHING to do with education.

My kids go/went to private schools. This way they learn more than what is taught for the F-Cat.
At least in private school if there is a teacher absent, they get a sub. Unlike my friends kids who go to a gym and the kids sit there all day, because there is no money to hire a sub.

I also agree with this statement. When we were getting ready to move to South Florida, I couldn't find a school that I felt comfortable with. I toured them. Once while waiting for our tour, my son was looking at a wall board with notices on it and got yelled at to get back to class. "Um, no thanks, we'll pass on the tour." YIKES!!
I feel that the schools are required to teach too much to the F-Cat. The charter school around the corner no longer has recess because they needed to teach to the test. Shouldn't the test be WHAT they are all teaching about not teaching TO??!!
I've seen what a fourth grade gifted child's work looks like. I was NOT impressed. Grammatical errors, misspellings, she had no idea how to write in cursive (not that that is important, I mean, when do we really use it??!!). I just wasn't impressed at her writing skills at all.
But I digress...

It may have changed but the last report I read on the Florida school system was that it ranked 49th in the nation. There was only one state that ranked lower than Florida.

I have no idea what the criteria was or how the system was set-up for the ranking - but that's a pretty scary number.

With that said there are also some school districts within the state that are very highly sought after - I can only assume it's because they have a better ranking of some some sort.

We talk about these on the show from time-to-time - Dr. Phillips area and Celebration area schools seems to be the ones people want to send their children to.

I don't know what external influences make one school better or worse than another. I assume it has to do with funds but all over this state I see signs that say XX Billion of Dollars has gone to schools so far from the Lottery.

Makes you wonder what exactly is going on.......

I saw that "49" statistic when we were getting ready to move. Not at all impressive.
I KNOW that there are good schools there, but we have friends that are paying through the nose (20K a year for MIDDLE SCHOOL!) just so that their son can be in one of the three best schools in Miami-Dade County. This will ensure placement in one of the top high schools. Um, 20K for middle school is just beyond CRAZY!! But they truly feel that strongly about it.

Now that we are getting ready to move back to Northwest Florida, I am finding that their schools look outstanding! But it also has to "feel" good. You HAVE to tour, you HAVE to do your homework, like Liz (IWISHFORDISNEY) did and take your kids with you when you go meet with the school. In our case, my kids' opinions matter greatly. They don't rule the roost, but their "feelings" about the school, the tour and the sincerity of the teachers they meet is valued.

The Florida teachers are like any other in the country, overworked and underpaid. But I've not seen any group of teachers treated more poorly than the Florida teachers. We've lived up and down the east coast b/c of the military and have seen our share of school systems. These teachers are truly defeated.

In the end, while in South Florida, I chose to homeschool my children. I became the teacher and I was responsible for their education. I feel very good about their three year education under my tenure. Now in NC, they are both in Parochial school and two years ahead of their grade level (currently 2nd and 7th). I am very proud of that.

 

[6mouskateers]

Now that we are getting ready to move back to Northwest Florida, I am finding that their schools look outstanding! But it also has to "feel" good. You HAVE to tour, you HAVE to do your homework, like Liz (IWISHFORDISNEY) did and take your kids with you when you go meet with the school. In our case, my kids' opinions matter greatly. They don't rule the roost, but their "feelings" about the school, the tour and the sincerity of the teachers they meet is valued.

Kathy,

I'd be curious to hear which school system you are looking at. We have had kids in the Okaloosa County system for the past 12 years and we are quite pleased. We are one of the best if not the best, in the state. The schools were one of the biggest reasons we stayed here when DH retired from the AF.

And yes, some schools, in FL are just AWFUL like anywhere else, and don't get me started on the FCAT. But all in all, up here in the panhandle our kids do well on SAT, ACT etc and generally get into the colleges of their choice.

I am firm believer that if the parents demand more from the school systems and from their kids, they will get results. I think our successful public schools illustrate that.

 

[kathrna]

Kathy,

I'd be curious to hear which school system you are looking at. We have had kids in the Okaloosa County system for the past 12 years and we are quite pleased. We are one of the best if not the best, in the state. The schools were one of the biggest reasons we stayed here when DH retired from the AF.

And yes, some schools, in FL are just AWFUL like anywhere else, and don't get me started on the FCAT. But all in all, up here in the panhandle our kids do well on SAT, ACT etc and generally get into the colleges of their choice.

I am firm believer that if the parents demand more from the school systems and from their kids, they will get results. I think our successful public schools illustrate that.

We are looking at schools in the Niceville area. If you have suggestions, I am more than happy to hear them!!

 

[6mouskateers]

We have had kids in Bluewater Elemetary, Ruckel Middle and NHS --all this year I might add!! But it's not the first time we have done the 3- school-shuffle.

All 4 kids have gone to Bluewater, 3 to Ruckel (one more--the last of the bunch-- will go next year) and have son #2 graduating from NHS this year. NHS has some very innovative programs and both boys have been in Aviation Choice. Check them out at the Okaloosa school website. Can't speak to the other Choice Programs, but i'll wager they are on par with Aviation. They partner with Embry-Riddle and get college credits for some good classes--our boys actually did FAA Ground School in their senior year. GREAT sports if your kids are into that, GREAT bands, of course academics (most important), ROTC, etc.

Bluewater has an excellent track of gifted program called Team Quest. 3 of our 4 did this. Our soon to be graduate this year started that program in 5th grade (the year it began) and followed the path, so to speak, into middle and high school-has mostly AP classes (and scored well) has been acceptef to UFl (not his first choice) and is waiting to hear from USAFA and Princeton.

We were stationed here back in late 80"S early 90's before we had kids in school but we knew we'd probably come back here (Spec Ops--not many places to go) and came back to Niceville, and to Bluewater's area in particular for the schools. Plew Elem is excellent also, as is Destin Middle. We have a lot of good choices here.

I fear I have really highjacked this thread!! My appologies to the OP!!!!

PM me if I can answer anything else for you! A few houses for sale in our neighborhood...it's getting to be PCS season soon.

 

[Jitzy]

Does a state that spends more money per student get a better ranking? Remember that just because a state throws a lot of money at a problem, doesn't make the problem go away! Money can't solve the educational problems of students whose parents don't care to place a high value on education.

We live in St. Johns County in FL. My son's high school is ranked in the top 100 in the country. But, the funny thing is, it is a "B" school because according to NCLB the students with learning disabilities didn't show appropriate gains on their test scores.

Before we moved here, we lived in Va. Beach, VA. Again, great schools but they also had Standards of Learning, SOLs. What state doesn't require kids to pass a test to graduate? Pretty typical.