Jeb Bush was bold with his education plan

This article is a nice overview of Jeb Bush's impact on public schools in Florida.  These are extraordinary statistics -- I wonder if there's been even one other state that's improved so much over this time period...

Though Bush's education plan has been a bull's-eye for his critics, statistics show Florida students have been improving the last eight years.

The percentage of fourth-graders scoring at grade level or above on FCAT reading rose from 53 percent in 2001 to 66 percent in 2006...

Bush made it a priority to narrow the gap between white- and minority-student achievement, though he was heavily criticized for eliminating affirmative-action admissions programs at Florida universities. Critics cite that action as a factor in shrinking black enrollment, though Bush has made efforts to improve those figures.

The Department of Education recently released graduation-rate statistics that showed black student graduation rates improved from 49 percent in the 1998-99 school year to 57 percent in the 2005-06 school year. Hispanic graduation rates improved from 53 percent to 64 percent during those same years.

The department also said Florida's overall graduation rate was 72 percent in the 2005-06 school year, compared to 60 percent in the 1998-99 school year.

Vouchers were one important tool in this success story (for more on vouchers, see www.tilsonfunds.com/Personal/Voucherslides.pdf), yet some will deny this until they're blue in the face.  John Kirtley's entirely correct comment: "It's amazing to me the academics can still deny the indisputable effectiveness of the Opportunity Scholarship Program on failing schools, as clearly shown by studies done by Harvard and The Manhattan Institute."

''Florida has gone much further than any other state in the program,'' said Doug Harris, assistant professor in education and economics at Florida State University who has studied Florida's voucher program. ''There is not a lot of evidence about the effectiveness of vouchers. It may have a modest effect but not a large effect to improving public schools, but the jury is still out on it.''

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Bush was bold with his education plan

But many of his ideas faced criticism

By Stephen D. Price, 12/26/06

FLORIDA CAPITAL BUREAU

Gov. Jeb Bush swept into office in 1998 with a bold platform on education - reading initiative, school-voucher program, testing and accountability - and when he leaves office Jan. 2, much of what was (and was not) accomplished will define his legacy.

''The biggest credit goes to the governor for focusing on education,'' said Mark Pudlow, spokesman for the Florida Education Association.

But from the beginning, Bush's education policies were heavily criticized.

He has battled legislators, educators and even voters on how he thinks Florida students should be taught and tested. He's suffered casualties, such as the Florida Supreme Court's ruling against Opportunity Scholarship vouchers earlier this year and failing to convince lawmakers to weaken the class-size amendment.

Though some credit Bush for having a great vision for education, others say he failed at executing his initiatives and by his second term failed to get many of his cornerstone education plans passed.

''He will leave a legacy of education in Florida that includes the importance of high standards and accountability,'' said Bill Montford, former Leon County School District superintendent and chief executive of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents.

Bush said recently he wants standards to continue to be raised in education.

''Along with making it relevant and interesting so kids aren't bored, we need to raise our expectations,'' Bush said. ''Our competitors aren't the South or even the Midwest, or anything like that. We should be measuring or benchmarking ourselves to world-class standards.''

A-plus is born

Bush unveiled his A-plus plan the first month he took office. It required annual statewide testing of students in grades 3 through 10 - requiring passage for promotion from one grade to the next, designed to stop promotion of unprepared students.

Students in the worst-performing schools would be able to attend private schools, with public money, or what Bush called ''opportunity scholarships.''

A large component of that promise was to make the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test a measuring tool to grade schools.

Bush set out to put public schools to a test, using a carrot-stick approach by giving every school a grade, rewarding top performers and offering vouchers for private schools to students in failing schools.

Critics complained Bush relied too much on the FCAT.

''The vast majority of teachers say too much emphasis is put on FCAT, but they don't say it shouldn't exist,'' Pudlow said.

Florida is the only state that scores its schools on a grade system, said Jim Warford, executive director of the Florida Association of School Administrators.

Getting the most criticism in his education plan has been vouchers, and it's sure to continue to be a battleground after Bush leaves office.

The vouchers are worth about $5,800 and become available when a school receives an F grade for two out of four years.

''Florida has gone much further than any other state in the program,'' said Doug Harris, assistant professor in education and economics at Florida State University who has studied Florida's voucher program. ''There is not a lot of evidence about the effectiveness of vouchers. It may have a modest effect but not a large effect to improving public schools, but the jury is still out on it.''

Besides the hit to the voucher program, Bush failed in his stated aim of revising the details of the voter-approved class-size amendment.

The Florida Department of Education put the total cost of implementing the plan to lower class sizes at $25 billion, of which the state has dedicated about $7 billion over the past four years.

By 2008, school districts will have to start calculating their class sizes on an actual classroom basis instead of a school-wide average. By fall 2010, no classroom can have more than 25 students, and pre-kindergarten through third grade will be capped at 18 students.

Republican lawmakers, led by Bush, tried in vain last spring to take the class-size mandate back to voters to diminish its mandates. But the effort failed by four votes in the Senate, and now state leaders are resigned to the fact that Florida will have to pay for the mandate voters approved in 2002.

Warford said the failure to change the class-size amendment means a train wreck will hit Florida schools in 2008.

''Bush tried and failed'' to avert that deadline, Warford said.

And the A-plus-plus

Earlier this year Bush proposed an ''A-Plus-Plus Education'' program in which he again tried to rally lawmakers to support his school-grading and tuition voucher efforts, while also calling for tougher curricula in middle and high schools and a renewed emphasis on getting young people ready for the work world.

Although the new education program passed, ''it's more noticeable for what it didn't include than what it did,'' Warford said. ''He was not able to get his vouchers and performance pay, cornerstones of his initiative.''

What did get passed was Bush's plan to have Florida high-school students declare major and minor areas of study, like college students, the first state in the nation with such a requirement.

Though Bush's education plan has been a bull's-eye for his critics, statistics show Florida students have been improving the last eight years.

The percentage of fourth-graders scoring at grade level or above on FCAT reading rose from 53 percent in 2001 to 66 percent in 2006.

Montford said Bush's push to have students read at or above their grade level has been one of his most effective strategies.

''That will have a long-range impact on education in Florida,'' Montford said.

Bush made it a priority to narrow the gap between white- and minority-student achievement, though he was heavily criticized for eliminating affirmative-action admissions programs at Florida universities. Critics cite that action as a factor in shrinking black enrollment, though Bush has made efforts to improve those figures.

The Department of Education recently released graduation-rate statistics that showed black student graduation rates improved from 49 percent in the 1998-99 school year to 57 percent in the 2005-06 school year. Hispanic graduation rates improved from 53 percent to 64 percent during those same years.

The department also said Florida's overall graduation rate was 72 percent in the 2005-06 school year, compared to 60 percent in the 1998-99 school year.

Bush raised the accountability bar in education and it has netted results, but some debate who deserves the credit.

Warford said more than 85 percent of the state's schools are now graded B or better, even with Florida having some of the toughest accountability standards in the country.

''The legacy (of Bush on education) is that it showed public schools will rise to whatever standards a politician sets for them,'' Warford said.

However Bush is viewed in the coming years for his education platform, few could argue that his plan either changed education in Florida or its dialogue.

Montford said it's not about winning every battle.

''Any leader who takes bold initiatives won't bat a thousand,'' he said. ''When you're aggressive, you won't get everything.''