Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

In the news

Harvard study says 'A-Plus Plan' works

By wire services
Published April 6, 2005

TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Jeb Bush's education accountability plan is working a lot better than his brother's is in getting low-performing schools to improve, a Harvard University study concludes.

The stigma of receiving an F grade under the governor's "A-Plus Plan" combined with the threat of losing students to private schools has led to an increase in test scores, according to the study distributed Tuesday.

"At these schools, students performed at a higher level in the subsequent year than did students at similar schools not so threatened," the study said.

But President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act doesn't have the same impact, largely because the stigma of not making the grade isn't as strong and its school choice provision doesn't have as much of an impact, the study said.

Florida grades schools based on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. It rewards schools that improve their grade or consistently make A's. Students at schools that receive an F two years out of four can receive vouchers to attend private schools.

The study found that students in D and F schools made significant gains the next year while student performance in A, B and C schools continued to test at about the same level. Gains were highest in schools faced with losing students to vouchers.

"It has worked in Florida," said Martin West, one of the study's authors. "We'll be very interested in following this story and this particular program to see whether these gains that F schools are making at the moment will continue in the future."

GAINESVILLE - A University of Florida student is undergoing a series of antirabies shots after being bitten by a rabid bat.

Danny DePaz, a 22-year-old senior, took pity last week on the trembling mouse-size bat wedged under a classroom door at Weimer Hall. But when he tried to remove it, it bit him on a finger.

If not for a classmate, DePaz would not have learned the bat was rabid and his life was in danger. He threw the bat to the ground and left.

But Erin Tam, also a senior, called UF's College of Veterinary Medicine and delivered the bat for testing. She tracked down DePaz's name and telephone number.

"At the time I was concerned about the bat; I wasn't even thinking about rabies," Tam said.

DePaz has started a series of five shots to keep him from contracting rabies.

TALLAHASSEE - The state seized 16 tons of rotting pork, beef, chicken, duck, mussels and other food heading for Jacksonville-area Chinese restaurants and dumped it in a landfill, Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles Bronson announced.

State officers discovered the meat after noticing a smell coming from a truck stopped at the Department of Agriculture's inspection station in Suwannee Springs. They also noticed the truck's refrigeration unit wasn't working.

"The diligence exercised by our officers and food safety inspectors have prevented these unfit food items from entering the marketplace and possibly compromising the safety of the public," Bronson said Tuesday.

In all, 2,511 containers of food were dumped in the Hamilton County landfill. The food was to be delivered to about 30 restaurants before being seized Saturday, said Terence McElroy, a spokesman for Bronson.

[Last modified April 6, 2005, 01:06:15]