Jeb privatizes & schools may lose internet access!

Remember that this state Board of Education is hand-picked by Jeb now, just like our Secretary of State. He is in full control.

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2003308220379
SNIP...."Florida's two million-plus schoolchildren, teachers and principals may soon find that their path to the Internet has been shut down unless the state agrees to spend millions more during a tight budget year.

The problem is that federal authorities have refused to pay more than $7.6 million that is needed to pay to operate the massive statewide network that provides Internet access to all 67 school districts.

Federal officials have questioned a decision by Education Commissioner Jim Horne and the state technology office under Gov. Jeb Bush to privatize the network known as the Florida Information Resource Network......"

AND look who is the lobbyist for that company!
SNIP...."The department and the state technology office selected Hayes, a company whose primary lobbyist is J.M. "Mac" Stipanovich, the campaign manager for Bush's failed bid for governor in 1994. "We are excited about this development and we are confident it will benefit education in Florida," said Ruben Lopez, chief technology officer for DOE back in March. DOE asked for $7.6 million to pay for the service, which was a sizable increase over the $2.47 million that Florida had received the previous year from the Universal Service Administrative Co....." END SNIP

No favoritism here! I believe teachers have already been cut off from accessing the database from home. That is a shame. I hope the ones I know who still think Jeb is Jesus-like will wake up. I doubt it.

When will people wake up? Privatization=The screwing of the Nation. (For the benefit of the B*shies.)

How any teacher could think that Jeb is the second coming is beyond me. He's a jerk and the most anti-education Governor I have ever seen (besides his brother, I guess, but I've never had to live in Texas.)

:grr:

there are a few who like him, and a few who are neutral. But the vast majority of teachers with whom I speak, simply snort in dirision, at best, when Jebbie's name and his education policies enter the discussion.

Take the FCATS for example. This test determines whether or not third graders can pass into fourth grade and whether or not high school graduates will get a high school diploma. And yet, the schools and the teachers never see the corrected tests, they are only given scores. Given that mediocre and poor students have passed while straight A students have failed, and there are known cases where the wrong answer key has been used to correct the tests, no one (privately as opposed to publically) has any use for the FCATS which are Jeb's baby...

As one teacher states, tests, used for diagnostics are a great tool. A single test used to determine a student's future is useless.

Maybe there is hope after all. They have done so much harm though, that I wonder if it can be reversed.

Since I retired, I mostly see the same ones who would praise him for anything. I hope you are right, that those still on the battle lines are waking up.

I hope it is not too late for Florida.

Since I moved to Tallahassee in July, I have driven past many different schools in town. I am astonished at how run-down they look and how cheap and chinsy their construction is. If the disinterest in the buildings are any indication of what goes on inside the buildings, Tallahassee kids are in deep doo-doo.

On my way out the door to run some errands, but opened it anyway.

One thing that caught my attention really torqued me:

"It was USAC officials who in late June informed state officials that their request for $7.63 million this year had been denied. USAC officials concluded "price was not the primary factor" that Florida used in selecting Hayes.

Mel Blackwell, vice president of external communications for USAC, explained that FCC rules strictly require that schools and libraries consider the cost of service as the main factor in deciding which vendor to use in providing the Internet access services."



Oh, how rich that statement is.



Florida has a state prison "emergency."

Says who?

Jeb Bush, the state prison boss and a few number-crunchers in the bureaucracy, that's who.

That was enough for the Florida Legislature, which this week forked over $66-million to the Department of Corrections to build thousands of new prison beds. This at a time when crime is at a 30-year low and colleges were considering closing their doors to new students because of too little money.

Lawmakers will even let Corrections Secretary Jim Crosby go on a building spree without competitive bids. That means he doesn't have to accept the lowest price offered, and rival companies can't appeal his selection. Crosby says bidding slows everything down.
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/08/16/State/No_cash_for_colleges_.shtml

I have no words, so I will just spit in their general direction.

Didn't he sell Florida his Ignite educational software for millions? And now they have no way to access?

WhooooHaaaaaHooooHeeeeHeeee.

Reminds me of when my husband first got a computer in his classroom. A week later, they were forced to come install an electrical outlet!

Jeb get so much exposure on DU. A lot of us in Fla. are feeling isolated and alone in the fight. Jim Horn is the worst, right up there with Reiger who is in charge of Dept. of Family Services. Why is it everything they touch turns to S_ _T? However, fighting for schools is occurring in every state. We need more voices. Vouchers are a criminals dream. No-bid contracts are just another way to fleece the tax payers. Where does it end?

Altamonte Springs, Florida

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030819/APN/308190970

SNIP:...."Tapping into parents' frustration over failing schools and lawmakers' concerns over crowded classrooms, former Education Secretary William Bennett began a two-week statewide sales pitch Tuesday offering Internet-based education to children.

Beginning Sept. 2, Florida Virtual Academy and Connections Academy will teach as many as 1,000 pupils kindergarten through eighth grade. The pupils will never have to leave their homes for class.

The programs will be run, respectively, by the Bennett-chaired K12 Inc. and Sylvan Ventures, the research and investment division of Sylvan Learning Centers.

"Thanks to the values of a good technology ... we can now deliver a first-class education to every child in the United States," said Bennett, who served as the nation's top education official during the Reagan Administration....."

I have my doubts about the isolation arising from these schools for some kids, but I am so sure Bennett will do a magnificent job. (sarcasm on)

Why not embed the chip, plug the kid into the USB port and turn him into a computer?

Colleges all across the country have been jumping into the online instruction biz. Many are discovering its limited value. Without real face contact with real instructors and other students, completion rates for online courses are abysmal.

Anyone ever take math without classroom instruction? Just independent study and testing? Some people do well; most fail miserably. They lack motivation, get discouraged, overwhelmed, and they quit.

I am skeptical about computerized instruction replacing human teachers. I mean if it's such a good idea, why not give babies to computers to raise? Who needs human parents?

Let me get this straight--an agency of the state of Florida (FIRN) was running this system in the past, correct? To provide internet service to schools cost some indeterminate amount of money, but the Feds chipped in $2.47 million of that cost (and from the way the article is written, it suggests that if the costs are reasonable, the Feds will pay for most, or all, of the service--is that the deal?).

Now, Jeb privatizes the system and the costs more than triple (if the above is the case). Hayes asks the Feds to pay for it, just as they did before with FIRN. Suddenly, the Feds, seeing an excessive cost, now won't pay for any of it.

Have I sort of gotten the drift of this?

First, is it not wholly obvious, right from the start, that privatization is _not_ cheaper than the state doing it? Since that is obviously so, do not people see that if it does not save the state money, but costs the taxpayer three times as much for the same thing, that the object of the exercise is cronyism and graft?

Second, is it not also obvious that if the Feds will not pay any of the cost because the charges are excessive, that privatization has cost the taxpayers not an additional $5 million, but $7.5 million, total, including the lost Federal funds?

No wonder Jeb needs bodyguards....

That is how they have been privatizing most of the state stuff. It costs huge amounts up front. AND probably more down the road. He said he wanted to empty the government buildings. Looks like he is trying.

There is really no one who can stop him. He just barrels right along. The senate forced him to compromise on the malpractice, but when someone stands up to him.....it just makes him worse.

I despair for our state and for our country.


;(