[ed Note: we will try using italics instead of quote marks to indicate lengthy quoted material in the posts]
An AP Wire story headlined "Study: Vouchers help struggling schools improve test scores" does a disservice to its readers. We are told that Florida's voucher system has helped low-performing public schools improve by forcing them to compete for students, a new study released Wednesday found. The study by the conservative Manhattan Institute compared test score improvements at schools facing the possibility of vouchers with similarly low-performing schools without the threats of vouchers. The study's authors said the potential of vouchers led to dramatic gains in test scores. While we are informed early on that the Manhattan Institute is "conservative", that hardly begins to reveal to readers the bias of the so-called "Institute" and "Jay P. Greene, a senior fellow with the institute and the study's lead author."
As we wrote last month:
[T]he Manhattan Institute, far from a neutral observer, is a right wing "think tank" with an overt political agenda. The front page of the group's own website announces that "The Manhattan Institute is a think tank whose mission is to develop and disseminate new ideas that foster greater economic choice and individual responsibility". The Sentinel should know know that "greater economic choice and individual responsibility" are code words for privatization and dismantling the government programs - including the public schools - Grover Norquist style. A little research discloses that the Manhattan Institute is primarily funded by wing nuts like Richard Mellon Scaife and related extremist groups. Indeed, the Institute essentially concedes its bias, noting that it "[i]n keeping with our focus on the voucher issue, in 2000 the Institute heard from many of the nation’s leading proponents of school vouchers."
The Manhattan Institute's reigning education expert is a Jay P. Greene, a former professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Houston, with his office in Davie, Florida. He has a vested interest in propping up education privatization because he "is co-author of the school choice programs in Milwaukee, Arkansas, and Cleveland, Ohio". Green is also the author of nutty articles like this and this. Curiously, the Institute's website says "part of our mission is to study Florida's ongoing experiments with education reform."
It would appear that the Manhattan Institute's education "research" component exists to prop up the right wing policies of the Governor, who of course plans to run for president before the decade is out.
Bars Or Rehab -Building more prisons without new drug programs doesn't make sense. Florida lawmakers could have addressed the rapid growth of the state-prison system with proven cost-effective means. Instead they've picked the most simplistic and expensive route of all -- building more prisons. "Prisons need more drug rehab".
News Flash! "Jeb!" Panders To The Extreme Right-A state appeals court was hearing arguments Thursday on whether the fetus of a mentally disabled woman should have a legal guardian. The hearing before the 5th District Court of Appeal is significant because the Florida Supreme Court in 1989 decided in a landmark abortion case that appointing a legal guardian for a fetus was "clearly improper." But Gov. Jeb Bush has said the case is unique, arguing that both the 22-year-old woman who cannot make her own decisions and her unborn child deserve separate guardians. See "Appeals court to hear arguments on fetus of disabled woman".
Florida's Real Health Care Crisis -Miami-Dade County is home to at least 539,328 people under age 65 who don't have medical insurance -- a nearly 20 percent increase in the past four years that signals a ''substantial worsening'' in an already pressing healthcare crisis, a new survey shows. Countywide, 26.7 percent of Miami-Dade residents under 65 are not insured, ranking the county among America's dozen worst metropolitan areas and far outweighing the national average of about 16 percent, according to the new and earlier findings. See "County's number of uninsured rises". You reckon "Jeb!"'s malpractice caps will help solve this?
Tallahassee Taliban -House Speaker Johnnie Byrd used a list of "Choose Life" license tag owners to promote a new parental-notice abortion law, an aide confirmed Wednesday. Byrd spent $14,000 in tax money on the mailing last month, days after he announced his bid for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination. A letter sent to about 30,000 holders of the tags, signed by Byrd and Rep. Sandra Murman, R-Tampa, criticized the Florida Supreme Court for ruling that a parental notification law violated the state Constitution's privacy clause. "Byrd bought Choose Life list".
They're Baaack . . . Maybe -A raucous political year marked by four special sessions could heat up again in October when lawmakers are likely to convene yet again, this time to tackle abortion, clean up the phosphate industry and settle a dispute between professional engineers. "Lawmakers consider fifth special session".
Corporate Voucher Scam -Florida's corporate voucher program has been appropriately criticized for standards so lax that, at one point, the state didn't even have a complete list of participating schools. Yet this program gives dollar-for-dollar tax breaks to businesses that send needy children to private schools. Gov. Jeb Bush says he will present a reform package to lawmakers. Meanwhile, a short-term oversight plan that he and Education Commissioner Jim Horne presented recently leaves much to be desired. It merely requires participating voucher schools to fill out a five-page notarized form covering such topics as enrollment, teacher certification requirements and adherence to safety and health rules. "Vouching for dollars".
Orlando Sentinel: Graham Should Drop Out Of The Race - For his sake and Florida's, he should drop out of the presidential race. Sen. Bob Graham and his senior political advisers face a choice when they meet this weekend to discuss strategy for his presidential bid: Try to fix a foundering campaign, or bow to political reality by bowing out. The second option is best for the Miami Lakes Democrat and his Florida constituents. It's time for him to quit the presidential race and declare his intention to run again for the Senate seat he has so ably filled for three terms. "Bow out, Bob Graham".
Malpractice Caps -With a massive overhaul of the state's medical-malpractice laws taking effect Sept. 15, attorneys say they expect to see a surge in potential lawsuits against doctors during the next few weeks. "Malpractice lawsuits may be on the rise".
Are you a Florida teacher wondering how you can get a decent raise this year? Consider a career change to: Jim Horne crony.
Education Commissioner Horne has endorsed budgets that send public education out with a beggar's cup. Teachers who get raises will be lucky to match inflation. Yet Mr. Horne decided last year that Larry Wood should enjoy a $42,000 raise. Mr. Wood used to be "deputy commissioner" making $107,220 a year. Now he's "chief operating officer" making $150,000. The increase is 40 percent. If that seems high, consider that Mr. Horne makes $231,000.
Mr. Wood has been in Mr. Horne's entourage stretching back to Mr. Horne's days in the state Senate. Mr. Wood told Palm Beach Post reporters he didn't ask for the raise and didn't know why he got it. He guessed it was because "the commissioner wanted to use a corporate model."
Looks more like the arrogance model. Mr. Wood apparently showed no signs of leaving, so there was no reason to entice him to stay. And if he did leave, it's silly to think no one else could do the job for a salary less insulting to educators being told to do without.