- April 18, 2024
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Justification for school tax is lacking
Dear Editor:
I have been puzzled as to the justification for adding 45 minutes back into the school day. If the time was cut as a cost-saving measure, I fail to see the reasoning. Teachers are paid on an annual contractual basis, so whether they teach for 45 minutes less per day does not change the bottom line. The abundant administrators, when you take into account the ratio of administrators to pupil enrollment, also are on an annual contractual basis. They are the ones who seem to have benefitted from more free time, since the students leave the premises 45 minutes earlier each day.
The plea for more funding is even more puzzling when I evaluate the conclusions of the Accreditation Board, touted so glowingly by School Board member Colleen Conklin and others on the board and Superintendent Janet Valentine, along with her recently hired assistant with a salary of more than $100,000 per year.
According to AdvancED, the “school system pays an accreditation fee as required, and accreditation is bestowed for a period of five years.” This would seem to be a fee for service.
He did make note of the fact that our schools are “big.” He said he wasn't necessarily criticizing this but merely noting this as an observation. Another observation of the accreditation: In some classes, the teachers were fully engaged in modernized approaches, thereby getting a top score of 4. In many others, teachers got only a 1, as they were not, during the visit anyway, implementing technologies and strategies the accreditors were looking for. The explanation: “The disparity may have merely shown that, at those very moments of observation, the strategies were not being used which did not necessarily mean that the teachers were averse to them.” He actually appears to be making excuses for the poorly rated teachers.
When I assess this namby-pamby conclusion I am left totally agape. What does accreditation mean anyway?
Now to add more fuel to the fire, I want to re-address the achievement levels of our student population in reading and math. Not only is there a disparity in achievement between races, but nowhere does the top score in reading or math exceed 77%. Sadly, the reading scores are as low as 24% and the math as low as 26%. It is a pity that, with such numbers, our School Board members and administrators revel in having received accreditation. It seems that this is a reward, for which we paid, that has no merit.
One can only wonder if those students on the lowest rung can become successful members of our society. And now that the student population has declined from is high of 13,100 in the 2009-2010 school year to 12,674 in both the traditional and charter schools presently, the electorate is being asked to approve a .5 mill tax for operational needs of the school district.
Conklin wrote that even if the school district's population is decreasing, it doesn't mean that we don't need the same number of teachers, administrators, etc. I beg to differ. We certainly don't need the same number of administrators.
All the verbiage, both oral and written, regarding the need for the .5 mill tax in order to achieve better planning and attention to student achievement, plus re-instating the 45 minutes of instruction time should not be taken capriciously. The proof is before you. The reading and math scores are deplorable.
In business, one evaluates the success of an enterprise by looking at the bottom line on the balance sheet to see either the profit or loss. In our school district, we many be employing many technological advances, but the end result is that we fall far short of turning out students who will be competitive in the business or academic marketplace.
Think wisely when casting your vote at the special election on Friday, June 7. Become active and ask for accountability as to what our taxpayer dollars are doing for our children.
Phyllis Scheffler
Palm Coast
Why I’m voting yes on the school tax
Dear Editor:
I’m writing this to respond to Mr. Hibbard’s ill-informed letter in last week’s edition and to explain why I will be voting for the school tax on June’s referendum.
First of all, I really take offense to Mr. Hibbard’s statement about Flagler County Public School employees lacking professionalism and common sense. I guess he doesn’t spend much time reading the Palm Coast Observer.
Our high schools have recently been ranked in the top 10% in the nation. Florida public schools are sixth in the nation. This is something the whole community should be very proud of. Does he read the numerous articles about all the wonderful things going on in our schools every week?
Mr. Hibbard, just open the paper any time and read about all the academic and athletic awards our kids are winning every week. We have some of the best teachers and students in the nation, and the U.S. News and World Report proves that. Mr. Hibbard, let me guess, you are retired and your kids are grown up. You moved here to Florida to golf and you don’t think you should have to pay tax for schools because it has nothing to do with you. Well, someone paid taxes so that you could go to school, and someone paid taxes so that your kids could go to school, and now it’s your turn to contribute to the greatest republic the world has ever known. A high-ranking school system will attract good teachers, families and businesses to our great state. There is something in it for you.
Secondly, where is Mr. Hibbard getting his figures? I have been teaching in this county for 10 years, and I don’t make anywhere near $3,500 a month. I wish. I bring home exactly what he said most “jobs” in this county pay: $600 dollars a week, and I have a family of five. Believe me Mr. Hubbard, I know how to “make do” with less.
I can’t even afford to pay for health insurance for my wife and kids. The premium is over $700 a month. We haven’t received a pay raise for the past five years. In fact, I took a 3% pay cut last year. All this talk of teacher pay is really irrelevant to the referendum in June. The school tax we are asking for is not for teacher pay. We have been “making do” ever since the cuts started a few years ago.
For example, I used the same out-of-date social studies books for seven years. We have to ration copy paper and turn off half our lights in the classroom to save money. The wall map I use to teach geography looks like it’s from the 1980s, and all the supplies we use in the classroom are donated by parents or purchased from my own money.
Our kids can’t go on field trips anymore. The money for field trips must be raised by fundraising, and the cost of transportation is too expensive. Mr. Hibbard’s statement about how teachers are clueless about “making do” and that we are overpaid public servants feeding at the trough is completely false and infuriating to me. I love my job and my students, and believe me, I don’t do it for the huge paychecks.
Last, Mr. Hibbard is once again uninformed on the curriculum being taught in our county. My students spend 90 minutes a day in math and 90 minutes a day in reading. They have studied and been tested on more than 600 spelling words this year. Every student in Flagler County spends the whole year in eighth grade learning about U.S. history. Just take a look at the math our kids are doing these days. My ninth-grade son is learning algebra that I wasn’t exposed to until college. Our curriculum is extremely rigorous.
I suggest that Mr. Hibbard put his money where his mouth is. Come to our schools and volunteer. Try spending seven hours a day with 22 kids in a portable classroom. Put down the golf club and spend some time with some truly wonderful kids in our community. I am sure that after spending some time in our schools, Mr. Hibbard will see how hard our students and teachers work and experience the awesome gains we are making on the meager budget.
If your busy schedule doesn’t allow you to volunteer, then the least we can do is support their efforts by voting yes to the school tax this June. The average household will pay about $2 a month. It’s the best investment we can make in our county, state and country.
Matt Nemec
Sixth-grade teacher
Belle Terre Elementary School
