Fiscal Rangers

SEIU union funded group in Wisconsin preaches hate against police

Tavares, FL March 17, 2015 Here in Lake County, FL, the School District has two unions: The LCEA and the SEIU. One of their national affiliates, the SEIU, funded a Wisconsin group preaching hate against police, and the other union, the LCEA parent organization of AFT did not. The teacher's LCEA Union is pretty moderate in this right to work state, and works with the School District Administration and is focused on the kids. They are affiliated with the national AFT (American Federation of Teachers) , NOT the NEA (National Assoc. of Teachers) which always seems to be more radical. HOWEVER, the video says this same group, Wisconsin Now, received $700,000 from the SEIU national union, which is the union for non-teachers in Lake County Schools. I think the local SEIU needs to break off from SEIU and become independent. This news report shows one of the NEA & SEIU FUNDED groups, Wisconsin Now, preaching hate vs police. I am glad that Lake County's LCEA is not affiliated with the NEA and I hope AFT is not funding such activities. But, I think the local SEIU should drop out of the national and become an independent union to not be... Read more →

APUSH Update: Oklahoma House approved bill to DEFUND AP US History and have State Ed Dept create separate US History course to replace it

Tavares, FL (Lake County, FL) Feb. 18, 2015 Yup, that APUSH (Advanced Placement US History) issue is still out there. The College Board, who creates, distributes and tests high school students on AP US History revised the 2015 curriculum to be "unpatriotic and negative" about the US, and conservatives have objected. So, unlike Florida, the Oklahoma House has listened to parents and acted on the issue with a new bill "that keeps the state from funding AP U.S. History unless the College Board changes the curriculum. The bill also orders the state Department of Education to establish a U.S. History program that would replace the AP course." Additionally, the Republican National Committee published a resolution condemning the new APUSH changes HERE. I wonder if more parents and School Board members in Lake County will start to act on this, since the SAME College Board produced AP US History http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/oklahoma-ban-ap-us-history Vance Read more →

The whole truth about Common Core math standards and why they will be an un-mitigated disaster.

Tavares, FL FEb. 5, 2015 A well known K-12 math education standards designer, Dr. James Milgrim, provided clear background on why Common Core math standards will result in students never being able to recover vs non Common Core students after four years under Common Core. Milgrim was the ONLY math curriculum designer on the official Common Core validation committee, and he refused to sign off, so his name was removed from the list of participants. In this audio interview from Jan. 4, 2015, Milgrim explains a clear overview of how Common Core math standards were developed. The interview focuses on new Texas TEKS math standards, but they are very close to Common Core standards and apparently from the same development source, the Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin. (The audio was on the Alice Linahan Soundcloud.com channel HERE). You can listen to the 25 minute audio recording, or read our overview below. - Milgrim was the only math expert on the validation committee for Common Core. After seeing the final standards, he refused to sign off on them, and was removed from the Committee member list. - He helped design California math standards implemented in 1997 that... Read more →

Lauren Ritchie, Orlando Sentinel Columnist, Blasts Lake County School Admin for Class Size Fiscal Fiasco

Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015 Tavares, FL Columnist Lauren Ritchie blasts Lake County, FL school administration and some board members for the latest class size fiscal fiasco. This is the latest in the sad management by School Board member Debbie Stivender and Supt. Susan Moxley. Ritchey is right on with this one. You would think that after last year's fiasco over class size reporting that the administration, after hiring a $48,000 per year specialist to ensure class size reporting to the State of FL was accurate, that they actually would provide supervisions and management direction to ensure accuracy of data sent to the state. But, NO, NO, NO, they did not. That is what will keep happening with Stivender and Moxley in their positions. More reactions, lack of planning, lack of accuracy and lack of action. Reminds me of Nissan Motor Corp. when I worked there in the 90's. They were the same way, and not soon after I left, the French firm, Renault, bought controlling interest in Nissan and turned them around after firing the leadership. vj Read more →

Will Lake County School fines of $1.2-million for exceeding class size be waived, or required?

Tavares, FL Jan. 6, 2015 Note: See also separate issue below of Lake Schools reinstating courtesy busing The State of Florida just posted potential fines for all 67 school districts for exceeding class sizes, and Lake County is 2nd highest on the list, with potential fines over $1.2-million. You can see the list of fined due from each Florida school district HERE on the TampaBay.com website. Very specific class size limits exist due to a State Constitutional Amendment passed in 2002. Thanks go to Stuart Klatte, head of the Lake County teachers union, LCEA, who sent me this list. So, Lake County, due to class size limit overages, has a fine due over $1.2 million, the second largest in Florida school Districts Now last year, LCSD had large fines when they were caught manipulating data, but the fines were waived. Now, this year, they exceeded class size limits based upon Board direction so as not to disrupt kids in the middle of semesters if new kids caused a class size to go over required limits. But, will the State accept that as an answer and waive the fines? Will parents support the Board and Superintendent for making the decision to... Read more →

Bill Gates Common Core Update - He admits being naive - was the public guinea pigs?

Dec. 3, 2014 Bill Gates Common Core update: You have to ask yourself why the Lake County School Board and Administration are not aware of this information about Bill Gate's grants and act on it. We all know that Bill Gates was behind much of the funding for Common Core, but this in-depth Jan. 3, 2014 Washington Post article describes how he has admitted he was naive in his education and grant programs "Gates then poured hundreds of millions of dollars into helping develop and promote the Common Core State Standards, as well as hundreds of millions more in creating and implementing educator assessment systems that incorporated student standardized test scores into individual teacher’s evaluations. The fact that assessment experts repeatedly warned against using student test scores as part of a teacher’s evaluation because the method isn’t reliable or valid did not stop the foundation from making these grants. He and his foundation just thought it would work" "There is indeed a big place for philanthropy in American society, but there are consequences for replacing public policy with the dreams of the super-rich, not the least of which is that public institutions become testing grounds for philanthropic experimentation. Given that... Read more →

Lake County Schools and Common Core (Florida Standards ) Issues Described by Daily Commercial

Jan. 4, 2014 Tavares, FL An article on Lake County Florida Standards (Common Core) from the Daily Commercial. Some good quotes but not much on a major issue, which is the child abuse caused by too complex standards for K-5 which is called "developmentally inappropriate" due to kids brains not developing yet to handle the concepts being taught. Many, many videos on YouTube by psychologists about this, plus others by early childhoold development specialists. Additionally, it seems several quotes focus on eliminating "high stakes" tests which are used to evaluate teachers and set their compensation. Teachers don't want to be measured, so the two new teachers on the Board bring it up. However, not as much about the excess testing of KIDS, and parents need to speak out. vj Read more →

Florida Commissioner of Education announces two initiatives regarding Commmon Core (Florida Standards) in Florida.

Dec. 22, 2014 Tavares, FL The Florida Commissioner of Education announced two initiatives regarding Commmon Core (Florida Standards) in Florida. Many parents are objecting to Common Core for many reasons. Commissioner Pam Stewart is taking on two of the issues, probably because Gov. Scott said he would conduct more reviews of the Florida Standards. The two initiatives are: 1) Conducting a review of standardized testing, which is a hotpoint with both parents and teachers. 2) The new Keep Florida Learning Committee will review further deregulation opportunities for the school system; review instructional material review processes used by school boards; identify strategies to increase parental involvement; and review the implementation of the Florida Standards and the Florida Standards Assessment over the next year. The problem is lack of credibility, since the last time the Bd. of Ed had hearings on Common Core, they ignored hundreds of opponents, and only dabbled at making a few inconsequential changes. Will they actually act this time on public feedback? AND, they are taking applications from the public to be on the committee. The deadline is January 31 to apply. APPLY NOW Lake Countians. Click here for the full FL Dept. of Education press release and... Read more →

Daily Commercial Discloses Capabilities of County Inspector General Bob Melton

Tavares, FL Lake County, FL Dec. 7, 2014 For eight years I have attended Lake County School Board meetings, and attended County Board meetings for 6 years. As a former Certified Internal Auditor I have preached the need to have competent Internal Auditors in both County Government and for the Lake County School District. During that time, each agency went through three auditors and now both have very competent Certified Internal Auditors (CIA) who focus on efficiency, effectivenes and economical operations reviews. I also was a CIA for 20 years. Today the Daily Commercial published a front page story by Livi Stanford on the County's Inspector General, Bob Melton. Livi is the reporter covering both the Lake County Board and the Lake County School District, and has recently been writing articles on the detailed audit reports from each agency's audit departments. Hooray. Now they need to do a story on School District Internal Audit Director Tom Mock, another Certified Internal Auditor. Read the Daily Commercial story HERE. You can find internal audit reports from Melton's website as well as the Lake County internal audits of Tom Mock at these two links: http://www.lakecountyclerk.org/internal_audit/default.aspx and http://www.lake.k12.fl.us/site/Default.aspx?PageID=114 And for more background on why... Read more →

Lake County FL School Impact Fees Increased but growth costs still 25% Unfunded

Tavares, FL Dec. 7, 2014 The Lake County Board of Commissioners approved an increase in the Lake County School Impact Fees, raising it from an average $2500 per NEWLY constructed home to $7500. The fee is paid by the homebuilder at time of construction completion. HERE is the Orlando Sentinel story on the fee increase. Impact Fees are based upon the amount needed to generate new student stations (i.e. schools and classrooms) due to growth caused by new residents buying the new homes. Existing homes are not taxed, only new ones. The current rate is based upon a consultant's study required by Florida State that defines the average funds needed per home, and the current rate is about $10,200. However, the school district has no received full funding for years, due to waivers by the School Board and the County Board. Thus the approved increase will still not fully fund the added classroom space and facilities needed due to population growth. Here is the comment I posted on the newspaper Facebook page about the impact fee increase: " Well, this really means that the Schools need about $10,200 for every new house to build schools for the new kids from... Read more →

Video of Common Core Opponents Ripping into Lake County Legislators' Delegation Forum

Common Core Opponents Rip into Lake County, Florida's Legislators' Delegation Forum at a 3-hour meeting in Leesburg, FL on Dec. 2, 2014. A total of 35+ public input speakers presented different issues to the Legislators, with about 10 of them opposing Common Core in Florida. Read more →

Lake County, FL Rep. re-files bill to increase school bus service subsidies

Lake County FL Rep. Larry Metz has refiled his bill to increase school bus subsidies for school districts for "courtesy busing" with local Senator Alan Hays as a Senate co-sponsor. http://www.dailycommercial.com/news/article_684df495-3adf-5151-9e6d-f1433f37a996.html#user-comment-area Read more →

Local Government Fraud Alert: County Finance staffer in Tennessee embezzled $145,000 from Jefferson County, TN funds from 2011 to 2014

Local Government Fraud Alert: County Finance staffer embezzled $145,000 from Jefferson County, TN funds from 2011 to 2014 Read more →

Election Recommendations and News of School and County Board meetings this week

Tavares, FL Nov. 3, 2014 This post covers several issues: ( Updated at 2pm to fix some typos and add clarifications) - Election recommendations. Tomorrow is election day, so my recommendations are at the BOTTOM of this document - If you have NOT voted, be sure to do so tomorrow. I also include the Lake County Republican Party voter guide as an attachment. - Tomorrow's Lake County Board meeting is canceled: The Lake County Board of Commissioners (BCC) website today showed a meeting scheduled for tomorrow on their website, but it was canceled at a prior meeting. However, they did not send out update notices to their email list nor did they post the cancellation on the website. So, no meeting tomorrow, and I let them know in clear terms they need to keep the website updated and should ALWAYS send out update and cancel notices when they occur. I also told them about a programming error where if staff remove a linked document, there is no "error trapping" and the user gets an cryptic technical error notice rather than one written for users with a contact for solving the problem. The problem is there is an outside software firm... Read more →

School Districts Need to Arrest Parents of Absent students like Jacksonville Just Did

Most school districts in Florida have major problems with student absenteeism and tardiness, which results in failing students and schools being ranked poorly. But Jacksonville, FL school administrators arranged warrants for parent of chronically absent and tardy students and had them arrested with a bail of $1500+. All school districts, including the Lake County FL School District, should follow Jacksonville's lead and ENFORCE truancy regulations. Read more →

Lake County School District Recess Committee meeting today resulted in decision to be forwarded to the School District Board

The Lake County, FL School District recess committee meeting (#2) was held today, Oct. 23, 2014 and a decision made. They voted to NOT create a district wide mandate on recess but allow school flexibility. They recommended that recess issues be taken by parents to the SAC (School Advisory Committees) at each individual school where parents can submit recommendations. Read more →

Common Core Update: Lee County, FL School Board votes 3 to 2 to opt out of FL State Standards (aka Common Core) testing

Yesterday evening the Lee County, FL School Board voted 3 to 2 to drop out of the Florida Education Standards (aka Common Core renamed) “assessments” (or exams) and develop their own. Read more →

FiscalRangers School Alert: Los Angeles Unified School System suspends contract for iPads due to "conflicts" and poor performance

Aug. 26, 2014 The Los Angeles Times reports questionable conflicts in iPad and Pearson publishing purchases at Los Angeles Unified School District (my mother taught there). http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-deasy-ipads-20140826-story.html "The suspension comes days after disclosures that the superintendent and his top deputy had especially close ties to executives of Apple, maker of the iPad, and Pearson, the company that is providing the curriculum on the devices. And an internal report that examined the technology effort showed major problems with the process and the implementation." "Last week, a draft report of a district technology committee, obtained by The Times, was strongly critical of the bidding process." Apparently there are questions about conflict of interest, including both Apple, and Pearson publishing, a well know monopoly provider of education products including software on the iPads. "In one email, from May 24, 2012, Aquino seems to strategize with higher-ups from Pearson on how to ensure that it got the job. "I believe we would have to make sure that your bid is the lowest one," wrote Aquino, who was an executive with a Pearson affiliate before joining L.A. Unified." (Talk about conflicts... rotating execs is a big red flag) I would hope there are no such... Read more →

VOTE - Tomorrow - Here are our FiscalRangers.com Election Recommendations

Tavares, FL (Lake County, FL) Monday, August 25, 2014 Update Aug. 26, 9am: We have corrected 3 bloopers as noted below. If you haven't voted yet, below is our reminder and fiscally conservative recommendations for Lake County, FL (no cities). Forward this to anyone who you think could use the information. But first read this NOTE: DID you get your property tax TRIM notice this week and see how high the proposed tax is? The Lake County Board is having a workshop tomorrow (Tuesday) on the pending budget and proposed 18% tax hike. If you want to give them your opinion, call, write or go to the meeting and give public input. You will have to do that at the BEGINNING of the 10am meeting (not 9am) when public input is allowed. The workshop could be 1-3 hours later. This is a workshop, and not the TWO required public hearings which are the final votes on Sept. 9 and Sept 23rd at 5pm in the County Admin building. Plan to be at BOTH meetings. Here is where you can find a copy of the proposed budget Update: 4pm: We got this superb 5 page analysis of all the alternatives to... Read more →

Tod Howard, Bill Mathias & Nancy Muenzmay win Leesburg, FL Elections HobNob Straw Poll

A Lake County, FL area elections HobNob was held Aug. 14, 2014 in Leesburg, FL and here are the results and links to pictures. Read more →

FiscalRangers Call for action - Orlando Sentinel's Lauren Ritchie column has attacked fiscal conservative Leslie Campione and you need to post comments XX

If you object to the way proposed Lake County, FL property tax increases of 18% are being "justified" or you think they are too high, send this to your friends. You can keep up with details on this proposed tax hike by visiting our new FiscalRangers.com blog page HERE focused on just the tax hike issue. Bookmark that page to get updates. As you remember from our prior July 21 warning article, the Lake County Board later voted 4 to 1 on July 22 to approve a tentative property tax millage rate increase of 18% which will appear on your TRIM notices for property taxes in mid-August. Lake County Commissioner Leslie Campione is the one who said there were alternative methods to pay requested wage increases and some expenses without tax increases. But the Orlando Sentinel's Lauren Ritchie just wants taxpayers to throw money at the "budget needs" without considering alternatives. Lauren's tax and spend attack column appeared today, and is here. She even used the liberal name calling technique and attacked "Tea Party anti-tax extremists". This is not an anti-tax issue (but I couldn't help using this picture), or against salary increases, but a challenge to the method used... Read more →

Will the arrival of possibly diseased illegal immigrant students affect Lake County schools?

A version of this was sent directly to Lake County FL School Board members & Lake County Legislators on July 27, 2014. If you have not been following news of the rapidly expanding Ebola epidemic in Africa or the diseases being brought into the US by all the illegal immigrants and kids crossing the southern borders without medical screening, I suggest the Lake County School Board ensure a plan of action exists to do full medical reviews of any undocumented new students arriving now or in the future. Of course, that may already be in place, but I haven’t seen any updates on this issue at School Board meetings. HERE is a video from Arizona on illegal immigrant kids with contagious diseases being dumped in Arizona. The event below is in South Florida, but brings up the issue as a catalyst for Lake County. It may be partially hype to gain publicity for the event speakers documentary. This issue of preparation for possibly diseased new students should be a workshop topic before school starts. Will Lake County be prepared, since Homeland Security is transporting the immigrant kids to their relatives all across the country? Vance Jochim From: Palm Beach County... Read more →

Monday's Lake County School Board Workshop was controversial and here are TWO opinions

Two opinions of issues discussed at the June 2nd workshop of the Lake County FL School District Board. How the Board voted DOWN a Federal income redistribution scheme, and how staff manipulated data to justify wage increases. Read more →

Common Core Update: 'We Will Not Conform': Glenn Beck Announces 'Call to Action' on July 22 to Take on Common Core This Summer

Glenn Beck recently published a book “Conform” about the dangers of Common Core.Now he is planning an action event for later this summer on July 22. Get on his mailing list and watch for more news. SEE Jim Krakowski’s notice BELOW. From: Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2014 6:43 AM To: Undisclosed-recipients: Subject: ‘We Will Not Conform’: Glenn Beck Announces ‘Call to Action’ to Take on Common Core This Summer | TheBlaze.com FYI ... "Glenn Beck on Thursday announced a “call to action” that will take place on July 22, which he said will arm Americans with the knowledge to speak out against Common Core education standards." Go to http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/05/29/we-will-not-conform-glenn-beck-announces-call-to-action-to-take-on-common-core-this-summer/ for more information. Jim James A. Krakowski Read more →

Lauren Ritchie's Column on Benefits of Moving from "Block" K-12 Class schedules to 7 periods a day

Lauren Ritchie's Column on Benefits of Moving from "Block" K-12 Class schedules to 7 periods a day http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/lake/os-lk-high-school-scheduling-lauren-ritchie-20140604,0,2993734.column She mentions the EngageLCS program which uncovered this issue and asks why the analysis was not done years ago. The savings were $4.6-million and should have been known years ago with competent management analysis skills. That is because teachers that move up to Administration are Administrators and NOT Managers who do analysis. Everything they do is for the kids and teachers and they have no analysis or emphasis on methods to ensure operations are efficient. That lack of management skills is a major weakness in School Districts, and a reason to never elect a School Board member who has not worked in business and has mostly teaching in their background. Vance Jochim Lake County Fiscal Rangers Chief Fiscal Watchdog Volunteers Searching for Ways to Improve Local Government Fiscal Management, Efficiency & Effectiveness Tavares, FL 32778 (Lake County) Mobile: 352-638-3578 [email protected] www.FiscalRangers.com TWITTER: @FiscalRangers "FiscalRangers" page on Facebook YouTube: NEW 6/2012 - Videos of local political candidate forums and other meetings, like North Lake County Hospital District & Lake County Legislators' Delegation annual forums - visit the youtube channel "FiscalRangersFlorida" CLICK HERE to... Read more →

Lake County Schools Meeting Update - TWO Audit Reports Indicate Mis-Management

Tavares, FL - May 5, 2014 Update May 6 - The Daily Commercial's Livi Stanford wrote a good article on this issue here: http://www.dailycommercial.com/news/article_69b8347a-f60f-52af-8f67-bfb0a8621331.html 2nd Update - May 6th 5pm: The Orlando Sentinel published excerpts from the CRI report below: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/lake/os-lk-class-size-report-released-20140506,0,3781557.story My original May 5th article and opinions you WON'T find in the Daily Commercial (The Orlando Sentinel has stopped most coverage of Lake County schools): Today (May 5th), the Lake County School District had a 1pm workshop, which means they discuss several items, but can't vote or make official decisions. This is where the good stuff occurs - not at the evening meetings. This is a shorter, edited version of a summary I sent to FiscalRangers readers: - The School Board today had several important things on the Workshop agenda, and some were postponed. The agenda is attached (but items 3.04, 3.06 & 3.07 were postponed). I was at the meeting and recorded it on video but it may take 1-2 days to upload it. Download the Agenda 2014 05 05 The agenda items that seemed important to me were: - Agenda item 3.01 - CRI Report – An independent audit firm reviewed class size reduction problems at the... Read more →

Florida Dept. of Education Budget Blunder costs local School Districts $51-million.

Tavares, FL (Lake County, FL) Monday, Apr. 21, 2014 by Vance Jochim www.FiscalRangers.com Pam Stewart (center), head of the Florida Dept. of Education, should be held accountable for this $51-million budget blunder. School Districts in Florida have been fiscally shafted by the Florida Dept. of Education to the tune of $51-million. (FLDOE). Lake County Schools received a surprise cut in budgeted Florida revenues of $916,000. Note: I will be seeking more information on this, and will post updated to THIS page. Update Apr. 23, 2014 - Orlando's Channel 9 TV reporter Berndt Petersen picked up this story and interviewed me: http://www.wftv.com/videos/news/video-lake-county-schools-wont-get-expected-1m/vCYKrQ/ This story was also published on the national news service, WatchDogWire here: http://watchdogwire.com/florida/2014/04/22/fl-budget-blunder-costs-local-school-districts-51-million/ and on April 24th, it was published in the Daily Commercial: http://www.dailycommercial.com/news/article_465a42d2-2b3e-5e4d-83a0-f875e09cecdd.html#.U1j_pxlp3_o.facebook What did happen? How did Lake County get cut $916,000 and all Florida schools get cut $51-million? Monday night, April 21, 2014, around 5:30 pm, the CFO of the Lake County School District told Lake County School District Board members their CURRENT year budgeted revenues from the State of Florida were being chopped by $916,000 over the next two months, and all 67 Florida School Districts were getting surprise, immediate revenue cuts totaling $51-million.... Read more →

Common Core Update: Missouri Teacher Tearfully Testifies Why Common Core is NO GOOD!

Tavares, FL March 28, 2014 No matter what the FL Dept of Ed says, they are still using Common Core, and the testing firm they hired, AIR, is affiliated with liberal groups who may be even worse than PARCC. Since Florida Gov. Scott continues to support Common Core (under a rebranded name which fools no one), some conservatives are abandoning support for him. This experienced Missouri teacher was bullied by administrators and some other teachers for standing up to Common Core. She has a degree in early childhood development, and tells all to a Missouri legislative Committee – 11 minutes. Watch it. http://www.bizpacreview.com/2014/03/28/watch-teachers-tearful-testimony-on-being-bullied-and-intimated-for-opposing-common-core-108962 Gee, I might as well include some bonus links on recent Common Core issues: Here is political consultant Dick Morris on how Common Core Curriculum is Destroying local control of schools (hey, States rights are being killed too) http://www.dickmorris.com/common-core-curriculum-is-destroying-local-control-of-schools-dick-morris-tv-lunch-alert/?utm_source=dmreports&utm_medium=dmreports&utm_campaign=dmreports Here is a link to a 27,000 member Facebook page “Parents & Educators Against Common Core Standards”. It says 332,000 people are “talking” about this. https://www.facebook.com/ParentsAndEducatorsAgainstCCSS This is the most active FL group against Common Core: http://www.flstopcccoalition.org/about-us/ They just held a great one day conference opposing Common Core in Orlando attended by over 300 people. I was there.... Read more →

Common Core Update: Republican Party of Florida Passes Resolution Requesting Florida Governor & Leadership to CEASE implementation of Common Core Standards

The Republican Party of Florida just distributed a new resolution calling for Governor Scott and State officials and leaders to CEASE implementation of Common Core standards. Read more →

Lake County School Practices Social Promotion, Giving flunked students minimum of 50 rather than ZERO

Tavares, FL - Feb. 19, 2014 by Vance Jochim I sent out the video from Channel 9 earlier since they were the first to report it on Feb. 6th. http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/some-lake-county-schools-ban-teachers-giving-stude/ndF9q/ The practice of giving students passing grades when they actually flunk or have lower scores is known as “social promotion”. If you search on Social promotion grades on google, click here to see what you get – there are even research reports on how to reduce social promotion, and laws banning it: https://www.google.com/search?q=social+promotion+grades&client=firefox-a&hs=Y1K&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=JWgFU7_nKITXkQeSk4Fw&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAg&biw=1360&bih=631#channel=sb&q=social+promotion+grades&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch Now a national conservative blog, The Western Center of Journalism, has picked up the story… saying that Gray Middle School is doing it in Lake County, FL. So far, that is the only specific school in the District named for practicing social promotion. http://www.westernjournalism.com/dumbing-florida-schools-ban-low-grades/ If you go to their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/WesternJournalism and scroll to the article, you will find 1250 people have LIKED the article and posted 849 shares and entered MANY comments. The Lake County School District once again is a leader in a controversial issue. And, here is another report on Lake County’s social promotion practice : http://youngcons.com/welcome-to-america-schools-bans-teachers-from-giving-students-0s-on-assignments/ I expect to see it on Glen Beck soon. And, here, Detroit is going to... Read more →

Common Core Victim? Mom posts picture of her child struggling with complex Common Core homework PLUS link to yesterday's video of Common Core Hearing in Orlando

A picture of this child is circulating where she is crying while trying to cope with the illogical and excessively complex homework from Common Core. AND, the Florida State Education Board ignored many public complaints at a five hour public hearing and approved use of Common Core standards with only a few miniscule modifications. We have the video link to the five hour hearing. Read more →

Upcoming Renewal of Lake County FL Penny Sales Tax Might Pit County & Cities vs Schools

Tavares, FL - Sunday, feb. 16, 2014 For almost 15 years, the County Govt., the cities, and the School District received equal thirds of revenues from a Penny Sales Tax approved by voters. That tax is due for a public renewal vote in 2015, and the School Board is talking about instead launching a referendum for a different, and additional 1/2 penny tax just for their capital spending needs. But the County government leaders and League of Cities would rather stay with just renewing the existing tax and percentage splits because they are fearful the public won't support a renewal of the tax if the schools go for a separate, new sales tax. This story by Livi Stanford in today's Daily Commercial (see link below) provides all the details, so read it to get an idea of what could happen - either all three tax entities join together to renew the existing tax, or the School Board independently tries to get voter approval of their own half penny tax, which leaves the County & Cities to campaign for voters to also approve renewal of the existing penny tax which would be split only between the County & the cities. My... Read more →

Lake County, FL School District's Class Size Falsification Fiasco - an update

An independent investigation will be initiated over the Lake County FL School District Class Size Falsification Fiasco - here is an update with links to videos of a press conference today. Read more →

Common Core Update: Florida State tries to Deceive Public by Renaming Common Core

Tavares, FL Sat., Feb. 1, 2014 The Florida State Education Dept. decided to make minor, minor changes to the Common Core standards being rolled out to K-12 Schools, and then also rename it to flim flam the public and make them think Florida has their "own standards". The FL Board of Education will meet on Feb. 18th to finalize the proposed minor changes to Common Core. In my opinion, the State made minor changes and still is rolling out Common Core standards. Common Core is copyrighted, and the state agreed to implement it to receive federal funds. The state is allowed to modify or add 15% to the standards, but those components are NOT part of the state established tests that students must take, so it is all a shell game to avoid more public controversy. I personally don't understand why Governor Scott keeps supporting Common Core. It is the antithesis of sound, classic and conservative education philosophy. There are constant reports of liberal biases woven into the standards, and related textbooks. The only reason could be clout from former FL Governor Jeb Bush who is pushing it along with Bill Gates. Read this article with all the juicy details... Read more →

Daily Commercial Article on Common Core is an Example of Media Bias

Tavares, FL Jan. 23, 2014 Today's Daily Commercial touted a biased Florida Education boss's puff front page article on Common Core and is a great example of media reporting bias in avoiding alternative viewpoints. http://www.dailycommercial.com/news/article_c4ca0c1c-84bc-569a-a41f-0e1206c7b142.html#user-comment-area Here is the comment I posted about the one sided Daily Commercial article on their website (Please SHARE this if you agree): “The quotes in the article supporting FL State Education Dept. head Pamela Stewart on Common Core are one sided and use the old gobbledegook used by liberals like "state led". The reporter is using quotes around statements apparently taken from Stewart's talking points and they reflect mostly debunked reasons for Common Core. There was no attempt to quote opponents of Common Core or the reasons they cite. For instance, the reporter didn’t discuss the pending Florida legislation HB25 which seeks to prevent Common Core implementation until certain conditions are met. The article also did not discuss that the State is trying to escape visibility by renaming the Common Core standards to another name, even though by law they have to follow the copyrighted Common Core standards. Thus this front page article by the Daily Commercial was a puff piece for Stewart and the... Read more →

Video Explains Specifics of Common Core Dumbing Down K-12 Education

Tavares, FL Jan. 19, 2014 Links to this video are circulating among Common Core opponents, and the Local School Board members need to be aware of the described issues. The webpage title describes a scary quote from recommended teacher notes in the TEACHER’s version of a textbook telling her to instruct students that right wing groups are fascist. However, the speaker, Terrance Moore, also explains much of the other damaging work done by Common Core designers to reduce critical thinking, literature, math skills and Euclidian math concepts (aka logic). http://dailycaller.com/2014/01/18/teachers-instructed-to-teach-all-right-wing-extremist-groups-are-fascist-video/ Unfortunately Moore did not specify the textbook name so we can not determine if it is used in Florida or Lake County. (It apparently might be in his book “Storykillers” which is about the “Case against Common Core”). http://www.amazon.com/Story-Killers-Common-Sense-Case-Against-Common-ebook/dp/B00GB1QS9E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390142817&sr=8-1&keywords=storykillers “What is the Common Core? How will the Common Core English Standards affect the teaching of great stories in our schools? Will there be any great stories left in the minds of our children when the Common Core has controlled the curriculum and testing of both public and private schools for a few years? What are the real purposes behind the educational coup that has taken place with very little public... Read more →

Lake County FL area Florida District 31 House Candidates Need to Learn School Board Legislative Priorities

Tavares, FL Jan. 17, 2014 This was sent by email to the District 31 Candidates today: To: Republican Florida House District 31 Candidates (Apopka and northeast section of Lake County including Mt. Dora, Eustis & Tavares) (B. Grassel, Terri Seefeldt, Jennifer Sullivan & Randy Glisson) Attached are the long version of the Lake County School Board's Florida legislative priorities discussed on Oct. 21, then the shorter list approved by the Lake County School Board late last year on Nov. 4th. (Source is Natalie Challenger at the District office.) Download Board approved 2014 legis.priorities Download Legis.Priorities 2014-shortened list The priority lists will be used for discussions with Legislators in the upcoming legislative session. Lake County School Board member Tod Howard is the new legislative liaison for the School District and you might talk with him about the priority list and develop an understanding of them and have a position on their legislative priorities you will support. I am encouraging voters to ask you about your positions on these issues so you don’t appear to be one issue candidates. Vance Jochim Lake County Fiscal Rangers Chief Fiscal Watchdog Volunteers Searching for Ways to Improve Local Government Fiscal Management, Efficiency & Effectiveness Tavares,... Read more →

Highlights of tomorrow's Lake County Board Meeting agenda

Tavares, FL Mon., Jan 13, 2014 The Lake County Board of supervisors have been off for about a month, and you can find their agenda here, and also the detailed 600+ page “packet”: http://lakecountyfl.suiteonemedia.com/web/home.aspx <<< I find it doesn’t work with Firefox, so use Internet Explorer This is a quick overview of issues: This meeting includes an initial period for awards, which will probably take 15 minutes. Tab 5.03 and 5.05 - Two recent County audit reports are not described as such in the agenda. The Court Clerk’s Internal Auditor issued TWO audits of County operations, and magically they are not attached to the agenda and the descriptions don’t even say they are audits. One is an audit of “ARRA Grant Reporting” and you can find it here: http://lakecountyfl.suiteonemedia.com/web/home.aspx The other audit is about the BCC Web Server / Application Security, but is also not on the agenda or on the Court Clerk’s website, so I obtained it from the Auditor and attached it here: Download 2014-01-14 Audit BCC-112 BCC Web Server-Application Security I will write articles about these soon. This continues a pattern where staff and the Board are avoiding public awareness of recent audits and is a bad... Read more →

Issues from Agenda for tonight's Lake County, FL School Board meeting

Tavares, FL - Mon., Jan. 13, 2014 You can find the agenda and related attachments in the “Board Docs” section for today’s date under the “Board” tab or click here: http://www.boarddocs.com/fla/lake/board.nsf/Public Here are my selected issues on tonight’s agenda. These may not include items of concern to members of the public, since I focus on fiscal and performance issues. The Board will be asked to accept the annual audited financial statements, known as the CAFR - The auditors said at a recent audit committee that the District is very close (4%) to the statutory limit for reserves of 3%, and if they drop below that, the State initiates some actions. That happened at Manatee County School District recently and many people had to be laid off. - The auditors repeated last year’s recommendations that there be a perpetual inventory system for food services. I am amazed there never was one, which smacks of fiscal malfeasance. Without a perpetual inventory, food can be taken without discovery. Why did this never get implemented? Below are more details and other issues. Item and description 5.02 - An update on two school construction projects. Attachments on the agenda show routine progress. 7.01 - “Acceptance”... Read more →

Chicago Schools Inspector General finds staff and Principal faking student attendance to hype attendance figures

Jan. 13, 2014 - Tavares, FL FYI - this is similar to the local Lake County case of the incorrect attendance figures provided by a charter school that resulted in a possible mandated return of up to $1-million from Lake County Schools to the Florida State Education Dept. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/education/ct-inspector-general-chicago-investigations-20140112,0,95296.story Some quotes: “Sullivan's (the Inspector General) latest annual report, issued earlier this month,revealed that a high school principal and her programmer created "ghost students" to pad enrollment so the school would be eligible for an assistant principal and additional non-teaching staff. Also uncovered was an elementary school principal who changed grades to allow children to graduate.” “The IG's report in the past two years has detailed cases of fraudulent applications for free and reduced-price lunch. Principals and assistant principals were found to have falsified data on their own children's forms. The data helped financially strapped schools earn extra state and federal funds.” The article is quite long and indicates many areas where school district controls were found to be lax. However, the Chicago School system has 650 schools, so more chances of wrongdoing to occur. The issue is that if data resulting in payments to the School District, Charter schools or... Read more →

Common Core Update: Many Conservative Groups Expanding Strategies to Kill Common Core

Tavares, FL - Jan. 10, 2014 Common Core Update: This is a great update on all the conservative groups and strategies fighting Common Core. You kinda wish that our elected officials and school administrators were educated enough to know this was going on and understand the concerns. The article points out that Common Core problems are so well known now they are being used to push expansion of school vouchers, end of teacher tenure and other education reforms. http://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/common-core-conservatives-education-101796.html Read more →

Common Core Update: Writer explains that now Common Core is a Damaging Monopoly

CCstop02FiscalRangers Update on Common Core - This is an excellent overview by the Chair of the Republican Party in a North Carolina County. He explains that Common Core is now a monopoly, without competition (remember, college entrance tests are now moving to be Common Core "aligned") and do you want your kid to be learning what radical, communist liberal Bill Ayers inserts into the standards and resulting curriculum. Read more →

Tavares, FL Dec. 30, 2013 To: The Lake County, FL School District Board and interested parties Common Core Update: Extremely good 7 Minute Video by 4th grade teacher on dangers of Common Core for Elementary Students & Why She Quit Public Schools This is a very clear 7-minute video explanation by a grade school teacher on why Common Core Standards are bad for young elementary school students, and why she quit public school teaching – “Common Core was the last straw”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGg8XXk8ArU She continues to support the idea that many mandated Common Core learning topics for grades 1-5 are not “developmentally appropriate” because their brain has not grown to the point to understand or remember the topics. It re-affirms the statements of others I have read that the developers of Common Core have no clue what young kids are capable of learning, and the excessive Common Core standards for elementary school students are disrupting the entire learning path for kids.l My Recommendation is that the Lake County school board should have some PUBLIC workshops with 1st through fifth grade teachers and specialists in early childhood learning just to hear if they think the CC standards are appropriate for young students.... Read more →

My Reponse to the New ACLU Legal Bullying Attempt to Sue Lake County Schools

Tavares, FL - Friday, Dec. 27, 2013 Update Dec. 28: Lake County School Board member Bill Mathias posted an illuminating comment to this article. Be sure to read it. Both local Lake County newspapers published a column or editorial this week supporting a second attempt by the ACLU legal bullies from Tampa to sue the Lake County School District & Board for not allowing an EIGHTH grader, in a MIDDLE school, from forming a Gay Straight Alliance student club. This is round two. I personally don't have a gripe with gays who live their own life. But I do resent having TV shows and movies constantly adding scenes to portray their lifestyle without warning, or the ACLU using legal bully tactics to force local school Boards to allow formation of clubs to indoctrinate Middle School kids in the gay lifestyle. I don't like legal bullies of any type, but ACLU has it down to a science. Another example is CAIR, which uses legal loopholes to sue in order to spread Islam. And, now that I mention it, there is the EPA who are also legal bullies who take land from owners for environmental reasons. Then there is Common Core, which... Read more →

Lake County School District Update: New Board Chair and Vice Chair elected, and upcoming Dec. 2nd workshop is OFFSITE at a different location.

Tavares, FL Sat., Nov. 23, 2013 Lake County School District Update: Last Monday the Board elected new Board officers, and Debbie Stivender moved up from Vice Chair to Chair, and Tod Howard was elected as Vice Chair. Congrats to both. A new policy will establish the Vice Chair, Howard, as liaison with the School District Audit Committee, and his appointee to that Committee will be the new Chair. So expect more action on the internal audit front, especially since they now have a new Internal Audit Director, Tom Mock, who will be presenting his audit "risk analysis" to prioritize future audits at an upcoming School Board meeting. It will be at a 2pm School Board workshop on Monday, Dec. 2 at a NEW OFFSITE ocation, the Institute of Public Safety, room 302, 1565 Lane Park Cutoff, Tavares. You can always get early notices of these issues by “Liking” our FiscalRangers Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/FiscalRangers Vance Jochim Lake County Fiscal Rangers Chief Fiscal Watchdog Volunteers Searching for Ways to Improve Local Government Fiscal Management, Efficiency & Effectiveness Tavares, FL (Lake County) Mobile: 352-638-3578 [email protected] www.FiscalRangers.com TWITTER: @FiscalRangers "FiscalRangers" page on Facebook YouTube: NEW 6/2012 - Videos of local political candidate forums and... Read more →

Should Lake County Schools Revise Gun "Zero Tolerance" Policies to reflect Common Sense?

Lake County, FL - Nov. 14, 2013 by Guest columnist: Rick Riker (Rick attends many Lake County FL School Board meetings) Lake County Schools & Zero Tolerance Related to Students & "Guns" In response to a number of school shootings, the 1994 Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed the Gun-Free Schools Act which required every school district to establish a zero-tolerance policy for guns. If a district didn’t establish a policy they would lose their federal funding. Over the course of time zero tolerance expanded to drugs, knives, sexual assault, gang paraphernalia, and explosives. Sounds good but wait. When was it ever legal to bring guns or explosives to school? Was it for show and tell or something to while away your free time on the playground? IT WAS ALWAYS ILLEGAL TO BRING GUNS, DRUGS, KNIVES TO SCHOOL whether or not a school policy was in place. This meaningless, unnecessary top down act was implemented for one reason and one reason only. Like so many federal acts it was an easy way to show the federal government “felt your pain” and was going to do something about it, Somewhere between 1994 and 2013 these zero-tolerance policies became zero-tolerance policies... Read more →

Analysis: Regarding Orlando Sentinel article re "Lake Schools missing thousands of dollars in equipment"

Tavares, FL - Monday, oct. 14, 2013 I read Friday’s Orlando Sentinel article by Erica Rodriguez about the “Lake Schools missing thousands of dollars in equipment” and did my own research. The reports she used are items 7.03 and 7.04 of today’s evening agenda. Erica based her story on inventory reports attached to today’s agenda (attached). Although I like to disclose government fiscal fiascos as much as any watchdog or media writer, It is my belief that the inventory reports lack details that would reduce the overstated “$74,000” impact cited by Erica, and the reports are the problem. As a former internal auditors, I consider the losses cited are extremely low compared to the total inventory values (which are NOT disclosed), and they are shown at original cost, and not depreciated value or market value. Here is the article (which is also attached). http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/education/os-lake-school-property-missing-20131011,0,5217651.story The relevant Oct. 14, 2013 6pm agenda and documents for agenda items 7.03 and 7.04 can be found in the Board Docs section of the School District website: http://www.boarddocs.com/fla/lake/board.nsf/Public (Their stupid online BoardDocs software does not provide direct weblinks to pages, so you have to click the dated agenda to find them). I tracked the inventory... Read more →

Colorado school district inflames conservative parents over "Righty - Lefty" 6th grade questionnaire

Here is an article with a copy of the "Righty or Lefty" questionnaire on political leanings that was required of 6th graders in a Colorado school district, and sent home for parents to fill out. This is why Common Core and liberal educators inflame many conservative parents so much. As one commenter suggests, it is part of the socialist process to collect data on kids and parents for later actions by the government. Another commenter says he doubts sixth graders even know what they believe in at that level. I would hope nothing like this is used in Lake County Schools. I keep remembering that two former Lake County Commissioners and former Lake County teachers were extreme liberals once they were elected. Asking kids about personal issues like politics or religions and gathering the data is not acceptable. http://standupforthetruth.com/2013/10/colorado-6th-graders-parents-required-to-take-rightyleftysurvey/ Anyone seeing questionnaires like this or hearing about them from Lake County kids is encouraged to let me know. Read more →

Lake County, FL School District Board Discusses Effects of Florida Dropping out of PARCC Testing system for Common Core

Tavares, FL - Fri., Sept. 27, 2013 This document is in progress and not complete yet. Supporting documents will be attached and links to background articles will be provided by tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 28 Earlier this week, FL Gov. Scott issued a surprise executive order that Florida would drop out of the 15+ State testing consortium known as PARCC. PARCC was a new testing system that was to be used for K-12 classes being taught under the new Common Core standards. Due to many reasons, parents, teachers and others complained about PARCC, and after Gov. Scott called a forum on Common Core, he issued this Executive Order. So, today, three members of the Lake County School District Board and the Superintendent Dr. Susan Moxley had a workshop to discuss what would happen next. I taped the entire workshop discussion, and it is at: http://youtu.be/1vxFNqRpyyE Download 2013-09-27 LCSD PARCC Workshop supporting docs 10pgs Above are the documents (in one pdf file) discussed during the meeting, including: - Press Release issued by Gov. Scott's office - Letter to Gary Chartrand, Chair of the FL State Board of Education - Letter to US Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan - The Executive order #13-276... Read more →

Lake County Schools to Have Workshop Tomorrow on Common Core

Tavares, FL - Thursday, Sept. 26, 2013 The Lake County School Board is having a workshop tomorrow, Friday, Sept. 26, on how the School District will deal with the State of Florida dropping participation in the planned PARCC testing consortium for Common Core based classes. It will be at the School District HQ on HWY 441 at 2pm. The Calendar entry is HERE on the website. The agend has only one subject, the PARCC issue, on it. The meeting was only scheduled yesterday, and I confirmed that the purpose, as told to me by Board Chair Kyleen Fischer, was for the Board to discuss the issue. Gov. Rick Scott issued an executive order to drop out of the PARCC "assessment" (testing) system that would be implemented in the 2014-2015 school year, which was widely known to be controlled by liberals. At least 15 other states are still in the consortium. If they created tests with a bias, then teachers, whose merit raises depend on student rankings, would "teach to the test". The PARCC tests are not for this current new school year, but the 2014/2015 school year. HERE is an Orlando Sentinel article about the dropping of PARCC. HERE is... Read more →