'F' means first for help, funds

This week's summit on education is designed to provide aid to schools that are struggling with failing grades.

By STEPHEN HEGARTY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published July 12, 2002

TAMPA -- This time it was the principals who were called to the office.

Leaders from all 68 schools that got F's from the state last month were summoned to Tampa on Thursday for a meeting state education officials called the Assistance Plus Summit.

This was one conference invitation the principals didn't want. At least that was their initial response.

"The F Summit. Boy, that's something I'm looking forward to," principal Deborah Turner said with more than a hint of sarcasm.

Still, Turner and the other principals tried to keep a positive outlook, hoping they will learn something that will help them turn failure into success.

"Believe me, if somebody has a better idea, I'm willing to try it," said Turner, whose school, Blanton Elementary School in St. Petersburg, fell just two points shy of a D.

The conference began Thursday afternoon with an opening speech by Education Secretary Jim Horne, and runs through Saturday. Gov. Jeb Bush, who has made school grades an integral part of his education reform effort, speaks today.

The state requested that the principals be accompanied by their school superintendents and the chairman of their school board. Some are sending representatives.

"The way I see it is, I have about five minutes to get past the hurdle, and that hurdle is that I'm from Tallahassee and I'm going to tell these principals what to do," Horne said before his speech. "That's the last thing they want."

In his remarks, Horne likened the conference to a "Super Wal-Mart of education." He said he wanted the principals to connect with experts and specialists and "shop" for the help they need.

The summit comes just one month after the principals experienced one of the worst days of their careers, when they learned their schools had gotten F's. Many initially felt a sense of dread about the summit.

"I was wondering if it was going to be "Why aren't you doing your jobs?' " said Russell Queen, principal at Century Elementary in Escambia County. His school got its second F in four years, making his students eligible for vouchers to attend private schools.

"But now I'm taking the attitude that there are people here who can help me," Queen said. "We know we need help. We've known it for a while."

Now Queen has high expectations. The state has offered to pay for a reading specialist for every F school.

Queen's response? "Great. But I need two."

Summit organizers are attempting a balancing act: They don't want to be punitive and judgmental, but want to see some real change at these schools.

As soon as they walked in Thursday, principals were given a packet showing them how their school performed on the crucial Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, or FCAT. They also were given information on schools that have similar demographics, but scored C's or better.

The idea is to pair F schools with schools that can show them how to overcome poverty and other challenges that make learning difficult for kids.

For some of the schools, that pairing might be difficult. For instance, even if a school has as many poor kids as Century Elementary -- where more than 90 percent of the children are eligible for the federal lunch program -- Queen wonders how many are as rural and isolated as his school just south of the Alabama state line.

Thursday's portion of the summit was something of a pep rally.

Kathy Mizerek of the Florida Board of Education told principals that F doesn't mean failure.

"F means "first,"' Mizerek said, adding that these schools would be first in line for funding and help. "Double F's mean "first, and fast."'

Principals even got unexpected musical encouragement. Principal Louise Harms from North Twin Lakes Elementary in Miami ran through a verse or two of A Spoonful of Sugar and threw in an FCAT-themed mambo. Her school went from an F grade to an A in two years.

Much of today's session will involve principals meeting with specialists in such areas as math, reading, technology and parental involvement.

The idea is to connect with the more than 300 experts and form a team that will help them. The specialists -- some from the state, but many from school districts -- have volunteered to spend eight hours each month at the school for the next two years.

"I give them credit," said Duval County superintendent John Fryer. "The state has handed out all these F's. Now they have to do something. We'll take any help we can get."

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