School Zone
Legislative actions affecting education, new FCAT resource for parents on next DCPS “School Matters” public affairs TV show
The impact of actions by the Florida legislature on Jacksonville’s schools and a new FCAT resource for parents are topics of discussion on “School Matters.” The next edition of Duval County Public Schools’ (DCPS) monthly question-and-answer program premieres Sunday, May 25, at 10 a.m. on WJCT-TV, over-the-air Channel 7 and Comcast Channel 8.
Duval County School Board (DCSB) chair Betty Burney and lobbyist Martin Miller join Superintendent Ed Pratt-Dannals to explain how the actions and inactions of the 2008 Florida legislature will impact classrooms in Duval County. Superintendent Pratt-Dannals details how the $70 million deficit in state funding to DCPS has forced the district to slice 100 support staff positions from the 2008-09 district budget. He predicts that further cuts are expected later in the school year, stating “Nobody really knows where this will end up.”
Chairwoman Burney explains how a hoped-for pilot program in Duval County to raise the mandatory school age from 16 to 18 would have provided an incentive for Jacksonville youngsters to stay in school. Lobbyist Miller reports on the failure of the bill, but praises the enthusiastic lobbying of District 16 Representative Charles McBurney who championed the drop-out prevention measure.
In the second program segment, Chief Academic Officer Dr. Amy Lingren and Tim Ballentine, executive director of Instructional Improvement and Support, announce a new resource for parents. They explain the schedule for the release of FCAT scores and how parents can access their students’ results online through the FCAT Parent Network.
The next segment reveals the benefits of beginning a dual language program that begins next year at two Duval County schools. Supervisor of World Languages Brenda Trimble explains that Beauclerc and San Jose elementary schools will each have two kindergarten classes that will be taught 50 percent in English and 50 percent in Spanish, which allows the students to become “bilingual, bi-literate and bicultural.”
The program ends with an examination of the district’s “turnaround schools.” Deputy Superintendent Pat Willis and Cheryl Quarles-Gaston, principal of Carter G. Woodson Elementary, explain the purpose of the designation, discuss the extra resources the schools receive and tell what the program brings to turnaround school classrooms.
The program is produced monthly by WJCT-TV and the Communications Department of Duval County Public Schools. Veteran interviewer Joyce Morgan Danford is the moderator. “School Matters” airs the fourth Sunday of every month at 10 a.m. on WJCT-TV, over-the-air Channel 7 and Comcast Channel 8. After its premiere, “School Matters” is televised each Wednesday at 5 p.m. on Comcast cable Channel 29.
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