April 16, 2008

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 Good News, Bad News, Please Act Now.

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The good news:   We have made tremendous headway with the House on Rep. John Legg’s “gifted bill” (HB 297), which should be passed later today by the full House.  I will follow-up with an Update for you on the very positive changes made to this bill since it was first introduced in November.

The bad news:  The Senate Budget reduces the funding for Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and AICE Programs by 1/3.  Because many of our high school gifted students are involved in one or more of these rigorous programs, their education could be adversely affected by these funding cuts. 

In addition, as you are aware, the budget situation is dire. This puts lots of things at risk and we have to work now to keep our key gifted “foundation” from getting lost in the shuffle as the House and Senate begin to “conference” their respective budgets this week.

Please. even if your child is in elementary or middle school, contact your two legislators as soon as possible:

            Contact your own senator with this message:

            Please restore the full funding for AP, IB, AICE.
            Keep gifted under the ESE umbrella with funding for grades K-12.

            Contact your House member with this message:

            Please hold firm during conference and fully fund the AP, IB, and AICE programs.
            Keep gifted under the ESE umbrella with funding for grades K-12.

Remember:

• If possible – please make a phone call and speak with the legislator’s assistant. If you don’t know the contact info for your Senate and House Members, you may find it HERE -  bottom left side of the page, using Zip +4.
• As always, start by stating your name and that you are a constituent.
• Be sure to be polite and thank them!.

 
Time is of the essence.  This is all going to move quite quickly because the Legislative Session ends in 2.5 weeks

Additional information:

• Senate Bill 1746 reduces funding for full-time equivalent (FTE) student membership for the College Board Advanced Placement Examinations (AP), International Baccalaureate Examinations (IB), and Advanced International Certificate of Education Examinations (AICE).

• These cuts are disproportional to the other education funding cuts and will potentially adversely affect virtually all of Florida’s gifted and academically talented public high school students.

• The AP/IB funding model is an excellent example of Performance Based Budgeting. They represent one of only two parts of the FEFP that allocates taxpayer dollars based on student achievement ----   teachers and schools are reward for their successes.

• Additionally, these programs are producing results and assisting in Florida gaining national recognition:   

       Four of the top 10 high schools in the US News & World Report’s America’s Best High Schools were Florida 
       public high schools:  Polk County’s International Baccalaureate Program, Sarasota County’s Pine View School
       for the Gifted, Miami-Dade County’s   Design & Architectural Senior High, and Duval County’s Stanton College
       Preparatory. These rankings were based upon a measure of College Readiness determined primarily by participation
         in and successful completion of AP exams.

• The College Board Florida Partnership has been an unqualified
  success. In 2007, Florida had the greatest number of Black or African
  American AP Exam Takers, the greatest number of AP Exams administered to
  Black or African American students, and the greatest number of 3-5 AP
  Grades received by Black or African American students when compared to
  all other states.
   
• Florida has the second greatest number of Hispanic AP Exam
  Takers, the third greatest number of AP Exams administered to Hispanic
  students, and the greatest number of 3-5 AP Grades received by Hispanic
  students when compared to all other states. 
   
• In 2006, Florida saw the greatest one-year increase in public
  school AP Exam takers compared to all other states.

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Terry WIlson
Florida Gifted Network
Excellence in Education
twilson    @    floridagiftednet.org