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Broward County Public Schools, Florida

Broward County Public Schools is the school district in Florida associated with Broward County. It is the sixth-largest school district in the United States.[1] The school system has a total attendance of 255,203 students for the 2009-2010 school year; in 2010-2011, the projected number is 255,640.[2] The Florida Department of Education provides a list of past, current, and future school enrollment totals for each district.

For Fiscal Year 2010-2011, total revenues came to approximately $2.63 billion and total expenditures were $3.28 billion. With transfers and balances, revenues and expenditures were matched at $3.59 billion.[3][4] In 2008/2009, the school district employed 39,714 people. 23,477 of those employed were instructional staff.[4]

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Taxes Y
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Budget Y
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Meetings Y
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Elected Officials Y
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Administrative Officials Y
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Contracts N
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Audits Y
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Public records P
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Academics P
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Background checks Y
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School district websites
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Transparency grading process


[edit] Website evaluation

Main article: Evaluation of Florida school district websites

Last rated February 7, 2012.

[edit] The good

  • The district's budget and tax rates are posted online. [5] Mileage rates are also provided.[6] Additionally, a more accessible 1-page budget summary notice is available.[7]
  • The website has contact information for administrative officials. [8][9]
  • The website has some information available on academic performance.[10]
  • Contact information is provided for the school board. [11]
  • The website has information on school board meetings. [12]
  • There are some public records available online but Freedom of Information Act policies and request procedures are not posted. Inspection and Examination of Public Records district policies are included in the Board Policy Manual.[13][14]
  • The website has a list of school district departments. [15]
  • The website has audit information and reports. [16]
  • Background check requirements are provided in reference to the Jessica Lunsford Act; criminal offenses that preclude eligibility for hire are also listed.[17][18]
  • Employment information, including opportunities, benefits, and salary schedules, is provided.[19]

[edit] The bad

  • The website does not appear to have any information on contracts.

[edit] School board

The school board controls school property, establishes, organizes, and operates the schools of the district, including: establishing schools, adopting enrollment plans, providing for school elimination and consolidation, cooperating with school boards of adjoining districts in maintaining schools, maintaining the school year schedule and other more specific duties as outlined in the Florida statute. [20]

It operates, controls and supervises the district's public schools as well as determines the rate of school district taxes, with the option of two or more school districts operating and financing educational programs together.

Member District Title Term expires
Ann Murray District 1 Vice-Chair 2012
Patricia Good District 2 Member 2012
Maureen S. Dinnen District 3 Member 2012
David Thomas, NBCT District 4 Member 2014
Benjamin J. Williams District 5 Chair 2014
Laurie Rich Levinson District 6 Member 2014
Nora Rupert District 7 Member 2014
Robin Bartleman At-large Member 2012
Jennifer L. Gottlieb At-large Member 2014
[21]

[edit] Unions

Educators in Broward County Public Schools are represented by Broward Teachers Union.

The Broward Teachers Union was founded in 1975 and is located in Tamarac, Florida. It has more than 10,000 members, making it Florida’s largest teachers union. It represents teachers, school nurses, psychologists, social workers, media specialists and other education professionals. It also represents middle management employees of the district which includes engineers, information system technicians, and television production staff.

The Broward Teachers Union is affiliated with the Florida Education Association, American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association and AFL-CIO.

The Broward Teachers Union provides a general budget summary.

[edit] Previous teacher contracts

The county and the Broward Teachers Union had an agreement for the 08-09 school year that outlines salaries, conditions and other aspects of the employment contract.[22]

Even though the unions fought for months to make sure raises were included in the Broward county budget for the upcoming school year, by late March 2009 they were eager for members to vote on the contract "so all employees can be paid in a timely manner," according to the statement the union posted on its Web site. "Doing so will also allow the union's negotiations team and members to focus on the upcoming contract talks that begin shortly."

One thousand angry teachers rallied and shortly after the School Board voted 8-1 not to guarantee teacher raises for the 2009-10 school year, as Superintendent James Notter recommended. Phyllis Hope was only dissenting voter. Several of these board members said they will consider raises once they know how much money the state will give to the district.

The contract includes provisions such as:

  • An average 3.25 percent increase this year, including the increase teachers already received by moving to a higher step on the district's salary scale.
  • Cutting two levels out of the salary scale, so teachers can reach the top faster.
  • Giving teachers hired before July 1, 2001, full credit for their teaching experience. That will cost the district $4.5 million.

Voting on the contract ran between April 27 and April 30.

"We really don't have an option," said Maureen McHugh, who teaches second grade at McNab Elementary School, in Pompano Beach. "At least ratifying it will allow them to go back to the negotiating table."

In March, district officials anticipated $160 million in cuts from the state for the upcoming school year, not including economic stimulus money.

"The whole thing is a big, fat question mark," board member Stephanie Kraft said during Tuesday night's hearing. "Maybe we can find the money. I think the board's position initially is that since we don't know if we can find the money, we don't want to stick our necks out."[23]

[edit] Impasse with Teachers Union Threatens "Race to the Top" Funds

Since 2009, the school district has reached an impasse with the Broward Teachers Union over salary negotiations. This 2011-2012 fiscal year, the school could lose $30 million worth of "Race to the Top" federal funds if an agreement is not reached on a new merit-based salary plan. Union officials, led by President Pat Santeramo, have refused to sign off on the district's "Race to the Top" proposal unless a salary agreement is made in their favor[24]

[edit] District Eliminates Teachers' Jobs Citing Cuts in State and Local Aid

On 23 June 2009, the Broward School Board voted unanimously to lay off almost 394 teachers. The board said it had little choice considering the three years of state budget cuts and lessening student enrollment. They had encouraged the audience to call and write state leaders in protest.

This was the first time in more than twenty years that the Broward School District has laid off teachers. Officials say they hope the teachers will be back at work with the district by Aug. 24, the first day of school. Superintendent James Notter hopes at least one-third of them will be back in the class room by the beginning of the school year.

"I pray we can bring every one of these teachers back," said board member Robin Bartleman. "I want you to have a job. I want you to work. I don't want you to have to worry about how you're going to pay your bills."

He said the state did not adequately fund schools' budgets, causing the board to follow through the lay offs.

Several board members said the district should negotiate with the union about factoring evaluations into future teacher cuts. But that wouldn't help any of the teachers whose jobs were eliminated tonight.

Schultz said the district should not be eliminating teachers' jobs, and should instead consider the $100 million in budget cuts suggested by the union. Board members said 2010 could be even worse.[25]

Unfortunately, Schultz's prediction turned out to be true. In response to cuts in state and local aid, Broward County is firing 1400 first and second-year teachers.[26]

[edit] School budget

The district covers some FAQs about the Broward County school budget as well as provide a historical summary of financial and demographic data in anticipation of the finalizing of the 09-10 school budget.

The School Board successfully sold $ 133.9 million of debt on June 5, 2009 as follows:

  • Qualified School School Construction Bonds $49.9 million
  • Build America Bonds $63.9 million
  • Certificates of Participation (tax exempt) $20.1 million[27]

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act allocates $50,452,282 to Broward County Public Schools.[28]

Operating budget expenditures for the 2010-11 year are 1.1% less than the previous year. This decrease was made in response to major cuts in state and local aid, which has declined by $123 million and $18 million respectively. This $141 million in cuts does not include the loss of an additional $33 million from a 0.25 mill property tax increase, which the State Legislature initiated in 2009 for "critical expenses." [29]

[edit] Millage

Taxable Valuations:

  • Prior Year final gross taxable value $176,457,014,624
  • Current Year Gross Taxable Value $159,086,130,336
  • Less Current Year Net New Taxable Value (new construction, additions, etc.) (1,619,070,736)
  • Current Year Adjusted Taxable Value $157,467,059,600

Required local effort:

  • Prior Year Required Local Effort (based on 100% of valuation of Gross Taxable Value) $885,637,756
  • Current Year Required Local Effort (based on 100% of valuation of Gross Taxable Value) 818,498,141
  • Total Increase/(Decrease) ($67,139,615)

The current year Adjusted Taxable Value of $157.5 billion is the current year value of the taxable property that existed at the end of the prior year (Prior Year FINAL Gross Taxable Value of $176.5 billion). As described below, Gross Taxable Values are used to compute the Millage Rate; current year Adjusted Taxable Value is used to compute the Rolled Back Rate. The Required Local Effort (RLE) is the amount that the School Board is required to contribute in order to participate in the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP). The amount of the RLE is determined by the state and is appropriated at 95%. For 2009-10, the School Board must contribute $818.5 million, which the state will appropriate at $777.6, in order to receive an additional $527.7 million from the state.

RLE millage Rate:

  • Prior Year RLE Calculation ($885,637,756 / $176,457,014,624) * 1,000 = 5.0190
  • Current Year RLE Calculation ($818,498,141 / $159,086,130,336) * 1,000 = 5.1450

RLE prior period adjustment:

  • RLE Prior Period Adjustment Millage ($6,045,273 / $159,086,130,336) * 1,000 0.0380
  • RLE Prior Period Adjustment $6,045,273

Rolled back millage rate: Rolled Back RLE Calculation ($885,637,756 / $157,467,059,600) * 1,000 = 5.6243

Advertised decrease There is a 7.85% decrease when the RLE Millage Rate of 5.1830 (current year RLE Millage Rate of 5.1450 mills plus the RLE Prior Period Adjustment Millage Rate of .0380) is compared to the Rolled Back Rate of 5.6243 mills. If the Rolled Back Rate of 5.6243 mills was applied to the current year Gross Taxable Value of $159.1 billion, the School Board would generate $894.7 million, $70.2 million more than the $824.5 million RLE contribution (Current Year RLE of $818.5 million plus RLE Prior Period Adjustment of $6 million) required to participate in the FEFP. The Required Local Effort Millage Rate is calculated by dividing the Required Local Effort (RLE) by the Gross Taxable Value and multiplying the result by 1,000. The Rolled Back Rate is calculated by dividing the prior year's RLE amount by the current year's Adjusted Taxable Value. The result is multipled by 1,000 to obtain the Rolled Back Millage Rate. An additional RLE Prior Period Adjustment Millage Rate of .0380 has been calculated by the state for RLE funds that the District did not receive in the 2007-08 FEFP. The RLE amount at 100% is $6 million, and the amount appropriated by the state at 95% is $5.7 million.[30]

[edit] Academic performance

During the 2010-2011 academic year, just under 80 percent of district schools earned an A or B grade based on their students' scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). The percentage is an increase from last year, when 132 received an A and 33 earned B's. This year, there were 142 A's and 35 B's.[31]

Below is a chart of the school's grade based on the student's performance of the statewide test called the FCAT.[32] To see results, click on "show".

[edit] Completers in 2007-08

Diploma Sex White, non-hispanic Black, non-hispanic Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander American Indian/Alaskan native Multiracial Total
Standard DiplomasFemale2,6452,6871,824290151107,571
Standard DiplomasMale2,5452,0631,63127213986,622
Total 5,1904,7503,4555622820814,193
Special DiplomasFemale2770 28 2 0 2 129
Special DiplomasMale 64 122 33 5 0 2 226
Total 91 192 61 7 0 4 355
Certificates of Completion Female 38 266 125 7 1 6 443
Certificates of CompletionMale 43 224 96 11 1 4 379
Total 81 490 221 18 2 10 822
Equivalency Diplomas Female 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Equivalency DiplomasMale 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

[edit] School choice

Some school choice facts, provided by the Florida Department of Education, show that charter school enrollment has been consistently increasing since 1999.

Broward County Public Schools received $60,164,632 from Title I, Part A. Their 20 percent obligation was $12,032,926. Per-pupil allocation for Supplemental Educational Services was $1,405.

In the Broward County School District, students are assigned to a school in the neighborhood zone but may apply to transfer to another school in the district, called an intradistrict transfer. Charter schools are also available. Students with special needs may be eligible to receive a McKay Scholarship to attend a private school. There are 49 charter schools in the Broward County Public School system and they are all tuition-free, graded for academic performance and students may apply to attend them.

[edit] Teachers fired for inappropriate conduct

On May 5, 2009, two of the district's teachers were fired, one on charges of fondling the breasts of a 14-year-old girl and the other for allegedly creating a hostile environment for his students and co-workers.[33]

[edit] Lobbying

Main article: Florida taxpayer-funded lobbying

Taxpayer-funded lobbying is the practice of government entities using public funds to lobby. This occurs at all levels of government: it can be at the federal level or occur at local level with cities and counties, for example. These activities are hard to track because of the broad nature of lobbying, among other reasons. The issues lobbied for by governments can be diverse, but school lobbying typically deals with issues close to the school district or school board.

In July 2009, Sunshine Review submitted Freedom of Information Act requests to the 27 Florida school districts with lobbyists registered for 2009 with the Florida legislature. [34] The results of the information requests are included in Florida school districts lobbying totals. (For information on the project or to start your own, see the project page.)

The school district has been represented by lobbying firms Florida School Services, Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky & Abate, The Rubin Group, McKee Communications, and GS Consulting Group.[35] [36] [37] [38] [39] The following table shows the contract start and end dates, as well as the amount agreed upon.

Contracts with lobbyists
Firm Contract start Contract end Amount
Florida School ServicesJul-2002Jun-2004$196,600
Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky & AbateJul-2002Jun-2004$120,000
The Rubin GroupJul-2002Jun-2004$120,000
Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky & AbateJul-2008Jun-2010$60,000
McKee CommunicationsJul-2008Jun-2010$60,000
GS Consulting GroupJul-2008Jun-2010$152,100
GS Consulting GroupJul-2006Jun-2008$141,600
Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky & AbateJul-2006Jun-2008$60,000
Ruden McClosky ConsultingNov-2007Jun-2008$36,833
Ruden McClosky ConsultingMar-2007Nov-2007$40,000

From 2002 to 2010, Broward County Public Schools will have spent $987,133 on lobbying contracts according to those contracts. This does not include any information for the years between 2004-2006.

Payments to lobbyists[40]

The payments made to lobbying firms differ from the amounts agreed upon in the contracts, there are discrepancies for every year. It is unclear how to account for these differences. For Sunshine Review's estimates of school district lobbying, the contract amounts are used.

The school district pays membership dues to the Florida School Boards Association, a taxpayer-funded lobbying association.[41]

[edit] Federal lobbying

Reported lobbying expenditures, 1998-2002 [42]
Year Amount spent on lobbying
2002 $40,000
2001 $40,000
2000 $40,000
1999 $40,000
1998 $30,000

Broward County Public Schools spent $190,000 between 1998-2002 (see table) according to federal lobbyist expenditure forms. The district has not reported lobbying activity since 2002, although it has nine registered lobbyists for 2009. [43][44] Nine of these lobbyists work before the legislature and 5 of these before the executive. The school district lobbied for the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act and for educational television licensing. [45]

[edit] Most recent

Currently, the school district has contracts with GS Consulting Group, McKee Communications, and Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky & Abate. Together, these total $136,050 for 2009.

[edit] Public employee salaries

Main article: Broward County Public Schools employee salaries

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Additional reading

[edit] References

http://sunshinestandard.org
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  1. ↑ About Broward Schools
  2. ↑ enrollment totals
  3. ↑ 2010-11 budget
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 District overview
  5. ↑ Budget
  6. ↑ Mileage
  7. ↑ budget summary
  8. ↑ Administrative Officials
  9. ↑ Superintendent
  10. ↑ Academic Performance
  11. ↑ School Board
  12. ↑ School Board Meetings
  13. ↑ Public Records
  14. ↑ Inspection and Examination of Public Records
  15. ↑ District Departments
  16. ↑ Audits
  17. ↑ The Jessica Lunsford Act
  18. ↑ /pdf/2008-2009%20Personnel%20Hiring%20Guidelines.pdf Hiring Guidelines
  19. ↑ Employment
  20. ↑ School board powers and duties, Florida statute
  21. ↑ school board
  22. ↑ Collective Bargaining Agreement between the district and teachers
  23. ↑ "Teachers Union officials back schools contract: Broward County teachers urged to approve it despite no guarantee of raises in 2009-10," South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 26 March 2009
  24. ↑ salary standoff risks loss of federal funds
  25. ↑ "394 Broward County teachers lose their jobs," South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 24 June 2009
  26. ↑ teachers laid off
  27. ↑ Investor information
  28. ↑ Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies - FLORIDA
  29. ↑ final state budget fiscal year 2012
  30. ↑ Budget hearing information
  31. ↑ FCAT-based school grades
  32. ↑ Florida School Accountability Reports
  33. ↑ Miami Herald, "Two Broward teachers fired for inappropriate actions", May 5, 2009
  34. ↑ Online Sunshine - Lobbying Information
  35. ↑ Contracts 2008
  36. ↑ Contracts 2006
  37. ↑ Contracts 2007
  38. ↑ Contracts 2002
  39. ↑ Contracts 2008
  40. ↑ Check Register - Broward Schools payments to lobbyists
  41. ↑ Florida School Boards Association members list
  42. ↑ lobbying spending
  43. ↑ Florida Legislature - 2009 Registrations by Principals Name
  44. ↑ Florida Executive - 2009 Registrations by Principals Name
  45. ↑ Year end/termination report 2002
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