With Mardi Gras and Pensacon heating up, you might have overlooked that education reform is also moving to the front burner.
Yesterday, I attended the signing of Memorandum of Understanding between Pensacola State College, University of West Florida and the Escambia and Santa Rosa public school districts.
The MOU memorializes their commitment to the Greater Pensacola Chamber’s Career Pathways, a new collaborative initiative designed to educate students, parents, teachers and administrators about the number of viable career opportunities and corresponding training located within our community.
The Greater Pensacola Career Pathways campaign outlines specific job opportunities, average wages and training programs within primary and support industries, including:
· advanced manufacturing
· information technology and cyber security
· aviation and aerospace
· construction
· business, professional and financial services
· healthcare
· energy
· hospitality
The campaign – which is the first of its kind to be implemented in the Greater Pensacola Region – will be used in middle and high schools, technical centers, community colleges, the local University and regional workforce boards to focus on creating a highly competitive and educated workforce. Components of the campaign include a website, industry flyers and a bi-annual newsletter.
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Yesterday’s school board meeting was a tough one Escambia Superintendent Malcolm Thomas who had to deal with parents upset about his move to close the PATS center. Mollye Barrows was there. Read her Superintendent discusses changes to Escambia’s gifted program.
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On Wednesday, local leaders met to discuss whether it’s time for Escambia County to move from an elected superintendent to one appointed by the school board – we covered the issue last month in Escambia County mulls appointed school superintendent. Expect to see more discussion on this.
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On the state level, Florida TaxWatch, the Tallahassee-based think tank, wants lawmakers to adjust the way class sizes are calculated. It’s latest report outlines options to reform Florida’s class size limits that, it says, have cost taxpayers more than $30 billion since voters approved them in a 2002 constitutional amendment.
“Adjusting the class size calculation to a school average would maintain small class sizes for Florida students and teachers without putting handcuffs on Florida principles and administrators,” said Dominic M. Calabro, President and CEO of Florida TaxWatch. “By adjusting the way our state’s schools calculate their class sizes, billions of taxpayer dollars would be freed up for use on proven tools to increase student learning gains. School districts would be able to invest in better teacher training programs, higher teacher salaries and more resources for students.”
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On lastly, the Studer Community Institute will be releasing its long-anticipated Education Report in a series of inserts in the daily newspaper over the next three Sundays. It should push the discussion of our public schools to new levels.