http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-03-05/story/adam-hollingsworth-time-take-hard-look-duval-schools (http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-03-05/story/adam-hollingsworth-time-take-hard-look-duval-schools)
QuoteAdam Hollingsworth: Time to take hard look at Duval schools
Posted: March 5, 2012 - 1:48am | Updated: March 5, 2012 - 8:24am
It’s time for a candid conversation about public education in Duval County.
It’s not working.
Our kids and our community are suffering. Our businesses don’t have the educated workforce they need.
Parents are voting with their feet in search of better alternatives for their kids.
In the wake of the school superintendent leaving at the end of this year and with four School Board seats up for election in November, this community must take a hard look at our system.
Only by first having the courage to acknowledge and confront the problems facing us can we then move to the even more difficult task of driving transformational changes in our education system.
Before such statements draw the ire of school officials and teachers, let me say I have the deepest respect for those who dedicate themselves to educating our children. And I know there are pockets of success.
But it’s not enough.
State data show a majority of students in 14 of our 19 high schools are not reading at grade level â€" despite some of those schools receiving A, B or C rankings. It’s time for a dramatic improvement in student achievement.
Duval County’s population has grown by 11 percent in the last decade, but the population of our public schools hasn’t changed. Perhaps that’s why our county leads the state in home schoolers and is second in private school attendees.
Near the end of the Peyton administration, we were preparing a pitch to a company considering moving its headquarters to Jacksonville. The day before our presentation, I received a call from the company’s CEO, a former Jacksonville resident. He said to me, “Don’t come here and talk about Jacksonville’s above-average schools. I know better. Talk about Jacksonville’s private schools and the public schools in the surrounding areas.â€
Such a conversation is not acceptable.
Some have suggested it’s the state’s fault; that there’s not enough money to fund education. I’ll leave it to others to determine whether the $1 billion spent per year on our 125,000 kids is enough. Instead of using what some consider low funding as a scapegoat, I’d rather see our state and local leaders work creatively together to reduce the administrative or regulatory burdens placed on our schools and optimize the money we do have.
To be clear, I am a proud graduate of Duval County’s Terry Parker High School. When I graduated, 25 years ago, I received the best education available â€" not only in Duval County, but in the state.
Times have changed. Our children have changed. But our expectations for their success cannot.
Transformational change will improve our economic competitiveness as companies seek to relocate here. It will also increase property values as better schools drive housing demand in the surrounding neighborhoods.
Working families struggling to pay private school tuition will see what amounts to a tax decrease as they send their kids back to public school. And, most important, we will create unlimited possibilities for the next generation of kids.
However, we will only achieve these things by confronting our challenges with real candor. To that end:
- Every adult in Duval County should spend at least one day in a public school to see what’s working and what’s not.
- The Jax Chamber should put every resource behind educational improvement as the best way to create jobs and grow the economy.
- The Florida Times-Union should drive public policy change in education through relentless reporting the way it did on violent crime in 2006 and 2007.
The performance of our school system is a polarizing topic, no doubt.
However, the first step in fundamental change is the willingness to have a candid conversation. Only then can we work toward bold reform in our schools. Anything less and our community will suffer and our children will be left behind.
Adam Hollingsworth is a Jacksonville native, veteran politico and local businessman. He can be reached at @talkwithadam or adam_hollingsworth@comcast.net.
Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-03-05/story/adam-hollingsworth-time-take-hard-look-duval-schools#ixzz1oG7dXFfT
I sure hope he can do more than write editorials.