Back to school:Get involved
From Sunshine Review
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| About | Get involved | Press kit | ||
Most importantly parents should join the conversation on what is going on in their children's schools. This is why Sunshine Review has established the Parent 2 Parent network so that parents can engage in conversations about how their school is run and by working together through an easy-access social network.
[edit] Get involved
[edit] Requesting public records
According to Florida's Sunshine Law you are allowed to request public records. In florida school districts you can even form a Citizen Audit Committee which was initially developed by the Yankee Institute. According to the organization, one of the best ways to get a handle on your school is ask for the teacher master schedule and the school's checkbook register. Steps for filing a FOIA request include:
1) Figure out who you send the FOIA to.
- Each district has a different person in charge of FOIA requests, sometimes depending on the specific request. You can start with the superintendent of your district (you can find that information here at the Florida Association of District School Superintendents). Usually, there will be a Freedom of Information Act Officer, or the Communications Department will handle the requests.
2) Write a letter to the Freedom of Information Officer. Try this sample letter.
- Fill in the blanks where it asks for information specific to your request.
3) Let us know the response.
- Get back to us and let us know your experience:
- How long did it take to receive a response?
- What did this response consist of?
- Was your request fulfilled (Did you ultimately get the check register and master teacher schedule)?
[edit] Sign up for a webinar training
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| About | Contribute | Format | Discuss | Join |
If you'd like to learn more how to wiki or file for public records please sign up:
[edit] What happens during a webinar?
During the webinar:
- You'll be on a telephone conference call where you can hear the instructor, and verbally ask any questions you have.
- Meanwhile, you'll be looking at your computer screen after logging into the webinar's URL.
- What you'll see on your computer screen is a streaming video of what is happening on the instructor's computer screen.
- This enables you to see exactly what the instructor is doing on his or her computer, as he or she talks about the editing steps you'll be looking at.
- You'll learn basic wiki code and how you can research your district on the web.
[edit] Newsletter
You can also sign up for our monthly e-newsletter.
Or take our survey for a chance to win $250!
[edit] Completed projects
Sunshine Review completed Freedom of Information Act requests and sent these to the 27 Florida school districts with registered lobbyists. We requested contracts between the school district and lobbyists, and check register data for all payouts, checks or other disbursements to those lobbyists.
Notable findings include:
- Sarasota asked for $2,954.25 to fulfill the request.
- Palm Beach County School District has spent $326,700 on lobbying in 2009.
- Osceola County School District has representation from 5 different lobbying firms.
For more on this project, see Back to School: Florida school districts lobbying report.
