Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Florida

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Miami-Dade County School District is a school district in Florida. The school system has a total attendance of 340,227 students project for the 2009-2010 school year. The Florida Department of Education provides a list of past, current, and future school enrollment totals for each district.

[edit] Website evaluation

Main article: Evaluation of Florida school district websites

[edit] The good

  • School board members are listed with contact information.[1] Meeting schedule, minutes and agendas available.[2]
  • Testing information and calendar provided.[3] Student progression plan details evaluation of academic performance.[4]
  • Information on background checks is provided.[5]
  • Labor[6] and vendor contracts posted.[7]
  • Administrative officials are listed with contact information under respective department.[8]
  • Audits are available.[9]

[edit] The bad

  • Budget documents posted, but full budget does not appear to be published.[10]
  • Does not provided information on taxes, background checks, or making public records requests.

[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. [11]

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.

The Miami-Dade County School Board is made up of nine members, each serving four-year terms. The board went from seven to nine members after a court ruling which sought to ensure equal representation among the County's ethnic groups.

Below are the school district board members:[12]

School board member District Term Term expires
Wilbert Holloway District 1 2012
Solomon Stinson, Chair District 2 2010
Martin Karp District 3 2012
Perla Tabares Hantman District 4 2010
Renier Diaz de la Portilla District 5 2012
Agustin Barrera District 6 2010
Ana Rivas Logan District 7 2012
Marta Perez, Vice-Chair District 8 2010
Lawrence Feldman District 9 2012

Alberto M. Carvalho serves as Superintendent.

[edit] School Budget

The district currently retains the largest general operation budget in the state, at $2,147,483,647. The money is split up to bolster an organized distribution process. They are:

  • Instruction: $1,750,830,000
  • Teacher Salaries: $1,112,602,000
  • Pupils: $149,674,000
  • Total Support Services: $1,010,205,000

Additionally, there are currently 362,070 students enrolled in Miami-Dade County public schools.[13]

[edit] Lobbying

Main article: Florida taxpayer-funded lobbying
Reported lobbying expenditures, 2000-2009 [14]
Year Amount spent on lobbying
2009 $40,000
2008 $80,000
2007 $80,000
2006 $80,000
2005 $80,000
2004 $80,000
2003 $80,000
2002 $80,000
2001 $60,000
2000 $80,000

The school board of Miami-Dade County Public Schools actively lobbies and has spent $740,000 since 2000 (see table).

The school district pays membership dues to the Florida School Boards Association, a taxpayer-funded lobbying association.[15]

Taxpayer-funded lobbying, public entities using funds to lobby for special interests, happens in cities, counties, and other entities. These activities are hard to track. The issues lobbied for may 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. [16] The results are included in Florida school districts lobbying totals. (For information on the project or to start your own, see the project page.)

[edit] Representation

The School Board of of Miami-Dade County has had a contract for lobbying representation with Ronald L. Book P.A. since at least 2005.[17] Currently, for the period January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009, the school has Akerman Senterfitt, Becker & Poliakoff, Florida School Services, and Ronald L. Book P.A.. For representation of all of these firms, their legislative services can not exceed $294,000.[17]

Miami-Dade school lobbyists, since 2002[17] [18]
Firm Contract start Contract end Amount
Alcalde & FayJan-2009Dec-2010$156,000
Alcalde & FayJan-2007Dec-2008$156,000
Akerman SenterfittJan-2009Dec-2009$16,999.28
Akerman SenterfittJan-2007Dec-2007$4,306.01
Akerman SenterfittJan-2006Dec-2006$7,095.36
Akerman SenterfittJan-2005Dec-2005$22,508.56
Akerman SenterfittJan-2004Dec-2004$91,877.90
Becker & PoliakoffJan-2009Dec-2009$15,000
Becker & PoliakoffJan-2008Dec-2008$1,000
Becker & PoliakoffJan-2006Dec-2006$34,999.92
Florida School ServicesJan-2009Dec-2009$62,499.96
Florida School ServicesJan-2008Dec-2008$177,000
Florida School ServicesJan-2007Dec-2007$177,000
Florida School ServicesJan-2006Dec-2006$110,004
Ronald L. BookJan-2009Dec-2009$57,083.33
Ronald L. BookJan-2008Dec-2008$54,000
Ronald L. BookJan-2007Dec-2007$171,416.66
Ronald L. BookJan-2006Dec-2006$109,999.92
Ronald L. BookJan-2005Dec-2005$364,999.92
Ronald L. BookJan-2004Dec-2004$364,999.92
Ronald L. BookDec-2002Dec-2003-
Tew CardenasJan-2006Dec-2006-

The school district, for most of its work with lobbyists, sets aside an amount for legislative services that it will spend for the year.[17] Whatever expenses acquired must fall within that amount, and it has the same contract amount agreed upon by all of the firms for that year. For example, the school board agreed on $294,000 to be spent on lobbying in 2009, meaning the firms providing legislative services for the school during that time, Akerman Senterfitt, Becker & Poliakoff, Florida School Services, and Ronald L. Book, P.A., would all be paid from this $294,000 ceiling.

Miami-Dade school lobbying budgets
Year Payment
2006$365,000
2007$354,000
2008$354,000
2009$294,000

The lobbying firm Alcalde & Fay has specific funds set aside for the services it provides, as opposed to the other firms which are paid from the same pool of money. For the school years 2007-2009 and 2009-2011, the firm has had two-year agreements with the school district for $156,000. [17]

The lobbying firm of Ronald P. Book has represented the school district since at least 2002.[17] Where it was once the sole representation Miami-Dade schools used, the firm began receiving less money as the school district added other representation, as seen by the table below.[18]

Miami-Dade schools have used the services of Akerman Senterfitt since 2004, although the relationship seems to have been inactive for 2008. [18]

The school district has had representation from Becker & Poliakoff since 2006, although the relationship seems to have been inactive for 2007. [18]

[edit] Legislative priorities

The school district's main concern for the 2008-2009 school year is declining revenues. [17]

[edit] Most recent

The school board of Miami-Dade has spent $269,583 on lobbying in 2009. This is the total of contracts with Alcalde & Fay (one year), Akerman Senterfitt, Becker & Poliakoff, Florida School Services, and Ronald L. Book, plus $40,000 reported on lobbying activity forms for 2009.

[edit] Academic performance

[edit] 2007-2009

Below is a chart of the school's grade based on the student's performance of the statewide test called the FCAT.[19] To see results, click "show".

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

Working for accountable government now


  1. ↑ Board Members
  2. ↑ Meetings
  3. ↑ Testing
  4. ↑ Student Progression Plan
  5. ↑ Jobs
  6. ↑ Labor Contracts
  7. ↑ Procurement
  8. ↑ District Offices List
  9. ↑ Management and Compliance Audits
  10. ↑ Financial Affairs
  11. ↑ School board powers and duties, Florida statute
  12. ↑ School board members
  13. ↑ Miami-Dade County School District Information
  14. ↑ Open Secrets
  15. ↑ Florida School Boards Association members list
  16. ↑ Online Sunshine - Lobbying Information
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 17.6 Miami-Dade lobbyist agreements
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 Lobbyist Team payments
  19. ↑ Florida School Accountability Reports


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