 | |
MEMBER MICRONEWSSUMMERLIN ACADEMY'S FIRST 5K FUN RUN COMING UP!Sign up today for Summerlin Academy's first ever 5K fun run on Saturday, April 16, on the historic Fort Fraser Trail! Sponsorships available! All monies will offset the JROTC costs for operations - next school year, allowing them to compete in county, state and national levels, parades, Flight to Honor; and to purchase awards to recognize outstanding Cadets at Summerlin Academy. For more info, call the school at 519-7507; or email steven.davis@polk-fl.net PAINT YOUR WORLD PURPLE! Sara Drumm, a reporter with the Ledger, is hosting a panel on Florida K-12 testing Monday, March 28, from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at the Polk State College Public Safety Center on Winter Lake Rd.The bulk of the panelists will be opponents of annual statewide testing, like Florida has been doing with the FCAT and now the FSA since 1998, and A-F school grading, which tells communities and businesses how well our schools are performing. Their positions are entirely at odds with those generally held by statewide business community and organizations like the Florida Chamber and Associated Industries of Florida, both of whom actively support our state’s approach to measuring student achievement and reporting school performance transparently for the public to understand via school grades.
We know that in order for Florida’s business community to be successful, we have to continue raising standards so that high school diplomas are meaningful to employers. We also know that annual testing helps us know how our students are doing, and that way, communities and schools can organize around boosting student achievement. We also know Florida schools have improved dramatically since 1999, thanks to reforms like annual testing and A-F school grading. One panelist who understands and believes this will be former Polk principal and current Florida Southern adjunct professor, Eileen Castle, who recently had this op-ed published in the Ledger touting the importance of annual testing.
The Ledger will be running stories on this event and other matters related to testing, and I think it would be important for the local business community to express that returning to the status quo of no accountability is not acceptable and truly communicate the importance of ensuring all students graduate with meaningful diplomas that do not leave them in need of remedial coursework or unable to join the military.
Do you know if any Lakeland area business leaders or Chamber members who share these same concerns about ensuring students are prepared to meet challenges of the 21st century economy and might want to attend and lend support to panelists like Eileen who are bravely standing up against those who oppose these important measures?
Kate Wallace
Community Engagement Director
ExcelinEd | ExcelinEd in Action
Kate@ExcelinEd.org | 904.304.9577 (C)
| |
| Newsletter1 - March 21, 2016 |
