Education in Florida: From the Sociologist's Perspective

 Last month, Sage released Sociology of Education: An A-to-Z Guide, edited by James Ainsworth. I had the opportunity to write the chapter on Education in Florida. I have included an excerpt from the chapter below. 

The book is intended to be purchased by college libraries and used as a college textbook.

http://www.sagepub.com/books/Book237016 

On the state level, in Florida, education reform efforts have historically outpaced national trends.  Between 1976 and 1984, the Florida Legislature initiated more educational reform than the legislative body of any other state (McCloskey et al., 1987).  In fact, by 1984, Florida had enacted laws in sixteen of the twenty categories recorded in A Nation at Risk (Cohn and Kottkamp, 1993).  Additional legislation enacted during these years implemented performance-based provisions for certification and evaluation of teachers and principals as well as an individual-level merit pay mandate (Florida Meritorious Teacher Program) and a school-level merit pay mandate known as the Quality Instruction Incentive Program (Cohn and Kottkamp, 1993). 

Since the 1980s, Florida has led the nation in several areas of education reform.  In the area of school governance, for example, Florida has implemented deregulatory strategies such as a policy strategy that allows some schools to become charter schools that, via a waiver process, can request exemption from some aspects of state control (Herrington, 1998).  Charter school proponents believe that the schools offer “an evolutionary solution to educational problems by providing a framework grounded in a comprehensive and clear understanding of societal needs and the role of education in meeting those needs” (Evans et al, 1999, p. 20). In Florida, charter schools, along with the more controversial voucher system, form part of the larger school choice policy framework promoted by the state’s governor (Herrington and Weider, 2001; Elam, 1999; Evans et al, 1999).

While the state has implemented deregulatory strategies with one hand, it has increased the emphasis on performance-based formulas for funding with the other hand (Herrington, 1998). For example, by implementing such programs as the 1999 Florida A+ Plan, Florida policymakers have linked school choice and performance-based accountability within the same plan (Cohen-Vogel, 2003; Herrington and Weider, 2001).  Florida’s A+ Plan, in this instance, predated the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Similarly, No Child Left Behind (NLCB) combines choice and accountability. The federal legislation holds schools to stricter standards of accountability for student results, gives districts increased flexibility and greater local control to achieve those results, provides expanded school choice options for parents, and places a strong emphasis on proven instructional methods (Chapman, 2005). 

In Florida, voter referendums in the form of constitutional amendments have represented one recent strategy for implementing reforms in education policy. In 2002, for example, two education policy initiatives were presented to the Florida electorate as referendums. One referendum allowed Floridians to pass a constitutional amendment that would require the state to institute universal Pre-K education by Fall 2005 (Kirp, 2004). On the same ballot, Florida voters also approved a constitutional amendment to limit class size (Rose, 2003).

Policy initiatives such as the universal Pre-K program and the class size amendment have exacerbated the ongoing teacher shortage in the state.  Florida, in response to the combined impetus of the growing teacher shortage and the federally mandated No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), began to allow school districts to offer a “competency-based, alternative professional preparation/certification program” to bring new teachers into the profession (Brewer, 2003, p. 3). 

Florida, like many states, has increased teacher recruitment efforts while also examining ways to keep current teachers in the classroom. Recent research in the area of teacher retention indicates that induction programs play a key role in retaining teachers (Watlington et al, 2004; Monsour, 2003).  In Florida, teacher retention efforts have been implemented in the form of induction programs such as Broward County’s New Educator Support System (NESS) (Watlington et al, 2004).  A district-level initiative, NESS’s key components include “district-wide mentoring, staff development, and technological assistance for all new hires” (Watlington et al, 2004, p. 56).  The next section of this chapter will examine teacher induction programs and the roles such programs can play in how teachers construct their work lives. 

I will be doing some related writing this summer on Education issues - including a look at the evolution of Florida's anti-bullying laws and also an analysis of recent changes in the governance of early learning programs.