Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Schools

Agribusiness teachers feel squeeze

By HELEN ANNE TRAVIS
Published April 27, 2007

Jason Steward keeps an updated copy of his resume on the computer in his office at Durant High School. He knows he'll need it in the coming months.

Seven of the county's 72 agribusiness education teachers, including Steward, will be moved to other teaching positions within the school district, said Pam Peralta, general director of the district's career and technical education program.

Teacher reassignments happen every year throughout the district, but this is the biggest loss ever for the agribusiness department, said Jim Jeffries, district supervisor for agribusiness education.

Agribusiness is an elective, and many students simply don't have the room for it in their schedules anymore. In place of electives, more kids are taking FCAT remediation courses because they flunked part of the standardized test.

Only one-third of Florida's 10th-graders met FCAT reading standards last year. Students who didn't score high enough have to take mandatory remediation courses, often leaving them with no room in their schedule for many electives.

Shawn Crocker, president of the Hillsborough County Farm Bureau, worries that the county's education system is being driven by the FCAT and mainstream programs meant to send everyone to college.

He and other members of the county's agriculture community met with School Board member Jennifer Faliero last week to voice their concerns.

Faliero said she was excited about the meeting's outcome, which included plans to look into whether agribusiness programs could satisfy students' science requirement.

The low enrollment is also caused by a lack of student interest. Peralta says that students go through phases, and this year's hot classes are the culinary skills programs. Students are dazzled by celebrity chefs on TV, and the field offers many scholarship opportunities.

Also being considered is a collaboration with local agriculture businesses to raise awareness and interest, Faliero said.

High schools losing an agribusiness teaching position are Durant, Plant City, Sickles, East Bay, Lennard, King and Gaither.

Agribusiness teachers are guaranteed positions elsewhere in the district, and agribusiness positions will open next year at D.W. Waters Career Center and Young Middle School in Tampa.

Jeffries estimates that the seven affected teachers will be able to find jobs in the county's agribusiness field because of attrition.

Steward says that if he can't teach an agribusiness course, he will work for an agricultural company. His colleague Susan Mayo says that this would be a huge loss to Durant.

Unlike traditional classroom teachers, agribusiness teachers have to maintain a land laboratory - gardens, a livestock pasture or a crop field - that takes extra time in the afternoons and weekends. They're also heavily involved in FFA formerly the Future Farmers of America programs and activities. The extra work comes with a stipend of $2,200 to $2,700 per year.

Helen Anne Travis can be reached at 661-2439 or htravis@sptimes.com.

[Last modified April 26, 2007, 08:04:19]