Florida's School System (Sarasota, Venice: schools, relocating, area)

[October_Pumpkin]

Originally Posted by Boston2Florida

One more thing to add. I did find it encouraging/interesting that there is a cap on class size in Florida. I believe it was 18 students. As a teacher I can say class size matters greatly and 18 is my ideal number.

It is great, but it comes at a cost. When we had budget crunches 3 years or so ago, we had a lot of combo classed: k/1, 2/3, etc. Principals couldn't afford to have a 1st grade class with 7 kids and a kindergarten with 10, so they threw them together. Parents were worried their kids wouldn't get a good education, teachers were stressed about teaching two grade levels at once, etc. Of course, the best teacher was rewarded with the combo class (it pays not to be too good at your teaching job in Sarasota, trust me). It doesn't look like they do it anymore, but it'll be back when the money dries up again.

[craigiri]

In the end a good or bad education system is seen in the statistics of the area served....that is, if all the quality of life issues like

health
infant mortality
income
etc.

point to an educated populace, then the educational system is working. If they point the other direction, it's a failure.

This is not the fault of teachers or anyone else in particular. It's a combination of resources, wishes and dreams, parenting, environment and much more.

Florida is currently #28 in one ranking:
Florida drops to No. 28 in national ranking of public school systems | Tampa Bay Times

"It earned lower rankings for chance for success (34th) and school finance (37th)."

School and educational rankings are somewhat like that old saying "there are facts, statistics, lies and damn lies"....you can spin them any way you like. But that chance for success number is saying something....and it's well known the the school finances are lacking (statewide).

State officials touted the former higher rankings. Let's see if they do the same with the lower one from the same organization!

[InGateway]

Well I got news for you OP.. for schools avoid St Pete. They seem to be in despair out here. Sarasota has always had a pretty good vibe when it came to educated folks. St Pete only recently is starting to become this and still isn't fully there yet. But ya Sarasota in general when you feel how the community is, its more with it so ya you would also have a pretty good school system. Even Bradenton isn't half bad for schools.. They have IMG, Northeast HS I believe or Southeast. Braden River I'd say is one of the worst in the area though but for the most part Bradenton/Sarasota seem to own Pinellas with the schools.

[travelinldy]

Originally Posted by Fairfax Mom

We moved from Fairfax, Virginia which has one of the best school systems in the country. Luckily one of my sons is gifted and he got into the Pine View School in Osprey which is rated 6th in the country - children from all over the world come here. We could not have afforded a private gifted school and in Fairfax there are so many gifted children we would have to have applied to Thomas Jefferson Institute of Technology gifted school and the competition is so fierce and the chance to have gotten in would have been slim - so - it worked out for this son.

My other son has ADHD and other special needs - I have not been happy with the school system here in meeting his needs - even though Sarasota County is rated high in the state of Florida. We are on the schools case to meet his needs but we had to hire an attorney to get what is entitled to us.

So - it is a mixed bag - very lucky in one case and not so in the other as opposed to other state.
But - I really do believe that the teacher and particular school your child is in matters a lot no matter what the school ratings. I don't think Florida schools are as bad as their reputation is.

The major difference between the schools in Fl and Va is that Fl has adopted the Common Core! I have lived overseas for 12 years and my kids have an education second to NONE! I fear returning to the US anywhere, especially in the 45 states that have adopted Common Core, and I read daily of the teaching of Islam in the public school. I don't think any religion should be taught.

[craigiri]

Originally Posted by travelinldy

The major difference between the schools in Fl and Va is that Fl has adopted the Common Core! I have lived overseas for 12 years and my kids have an education second to NONE! I fear returning to the US anywhere, especially in the 45 states that have adopted Common Core, and I read daily of the teaching of Islam in the public school. I don't think any religion should be taught.

Hmm - teaching of Islam?
Do you also read daily of the teaching, financing and lawsuits filed by other religions?

Our school district spent millions defending teachers against Christian orgs that constantly filed suit against them....

Of course no religion should be taught with public money. But it is. And there is likely to be more of it due to vouchers, etc.

As a parent its up to you to make sure your children aren't indoctrinated. My dad was a skeptic and I am glad he was! It rubbed off.

Heck, I went to Military schools and we were forced to chapel and had to sing "onward christian soldiers, marching as to war". Talk about indoctrination! Not only were we forced into religion, but had to sing about the violent ends of it. I was 13 years old.

I wouldn't worry about common core or any other basic standards. What kids needs is teachers and parent that care and a system fungible enough to figure out what they may be best at. I was in a top-top-top system when I was raised (very wealthy main line outside of Philly) and I didn't learn a thing. That was in the 1960's. I was a hands-on type of learner and failed math because I could figure things out in my head and not prove them on paper. Turned out that served me well in the retail business and in the stock market.

I think Europe has the right idea - testing kids and figuring out what trades their aptitude fits. They end up happier and with better job prospects. Here we pretend everyone is professional material.

[Luby162]

the biggest thing i encountered here with my 9 yr old is that the teachers only have to have a bachelors degree and it does not have to be in any certain field, can have a forestry degree and teach Math if you pass the qualification exam, you do not need a masters degree to teach as is the case in NY. That being said, i also do not have any complaints about my daughters education either, great teachers in my opinion, Curriculum is right up there with NY and they are implementing Common Core...Awesome !!!
teachers do not get paid very well in Florida either, if you were looking to work down here ? My son is a HS teacher in NYC and came with us to tour the schools and was impressed with all the Technology they have here, at least in the Lakewood Ranch schools , didn't tour too many outside of LWR.. Stay on top of the kids and they will succeed in anything...

[NYC10022]

Originally Posted by bluewatergirl888

I have been researching the Florida School System, and it seems as though Florida is usually ranked in the top 20 (out of 50 states) if not the top 10.

Here in the Northeast, people like to look down on Florida and make negative statements about the school system.

We are considering a move to Florida (specifically the Sarasota area) and I want to know how the schools really measure up.

Could you provide insight into both Florida as a whole, and the Sarasota area.

Thank you

People in the Northeast look down on other regions' school systems because people in the Northeast have to justify the outrageous school taxes they are forced to pay.

[Nancy in Nokomis]

Look - my children attended one of the best school systems in the country up in Northern VA - and, yes everyone told me about how rotten Florida schools are - but that has not been the case for us - I think Sarasota County has a pretty good school system - on child is in Pine View School which is ranked 6th in the nation - the other child is in a highly ranked school too.

When we first moved here my sons attended Cranberry Elementary in North Port and many up here even look down on the town of North Port - Cranberry was great! It has high ratings on Great Schools and the teachers were excellent - many of the them had Masters degrees - don't believe everything you hear. I have seen the so-called "best systems" and I think Sarasota is doing just fine.

[loves2read]

Laurel-Nokomis elementary supposedly got higher ranking than PV elementary on some ranking system
My daughter who teaches at PV and her friend who has son in 1st or 2nd grade at Laurel-Nokomis were talking about it last month or at Xmas
Daughter said she would be happy if her toddler son went there vs PV, even if he did test gifted
It has lot of things to recommend it--one being it goes thru 7th--
And is local school with G/T program

So much of feedback about "great/good schools" has to do with personal perception, prestige, and personalization -- is your child getting what s/he needs to succeed and become (as the Army says) all s/he can be...
Some times parents are the biggest problem in that dynamic situation. Helicopter parents probably do their children more harm than good by not teaching them to be self-activating, responsible, and capable of standing on their own two feet.
I have no problem w parents of special needs child doing what it takes to get performance from the school/district to give that child a level playing field...
But 2nd graders that can't be assertive enough to sharpen their own pencil when the point breaks??? Get real -- nothing G/T about that

[ccgirl2019]

Originally Posted by Boston2Florida

I spent two years teaching in Seminole County Florida before moving back to Massachusetts where I have been teaching for 15 years.
When I moved back home I heard a lot of "uh I hear the Florida schools are awful compared to here." Every area is different, but at the time I felt the technology in the 2 schools I taught in in FL as well as the curriculum far surpassed my experiences in MA.

I am not thrilled with the direction the schools have been going in MA over recent years, but my understanding is that it nationwide and not isolated to MA,

We are now considering relocating to the Sarasota/Venice area. On a recent trip we toured a few schools. The thing that concerned me was that several of the TEACHERS we encountered all basically said, "Well you aren't going to get the same level of education that you are used to here."

My personal feeling is that the individual teachers determine the quality of the education as well as the amount of parental support, but I was very disheartened that the teachers were vocal about their belief that Florida schools were inferior to the northeast.

I know this is from a few years ago but was wondering if you ended up relocating as we are relocating from VA to Sarasota/Venice at the end of this school year.