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Florida achieves consistency in education

Florida’s new pre-K plan is being assaulted by critics for its lack of quality.

A leading children's advocacy group gave Florida's new prekindergarten plan a failing grade Thursday, saying the standards fall below those of almost every other state that offers pre-K.

The program meets just four of 10 quality marks established by the National Institute for Early Education Research, said Linda Alexionok, prekindergarten director for the Florida Children's Campaign. And that's being generous with two, she said.

Georgia met six of the standards and South Carolina met eight. Arkansas hit all of the measures, which include such items as curriculum requirements, class size and teacher qualifications.

The 2002 constitutional amendment mandating universal pre-K in Florida called for "a high-quality program as defined by professional standards," Alexionok said.

But lawmakers chose to ignore the standards, she said. If they had listened to recommendations from the Children's Campaign and others, she said, the program would be stronger.
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Steve Barnett, executive director of NIEER, was less charitable than the Children's Campaign. He said Florida's plan attains just two of the 10 measures.

The Children's Campaign gave lawmakers the benefit of the doubt on curriculum and teacher training, saying the law was unclear but appeared to lean toward attaining the goal.

"We don't make judgment calls," Barnett said. "If you don't meet one of the criteria by just a little bit, we don't say, "Well, you mostly made it."'

Attaining just two of 10 standards would place Florida at the very bottom of all states offering prekindergarten, Barnett said. Its low rating would be matched only by Pennsylvania, "and they at least require a teacher to have a four-year degree."

Yeah, but people like Barnett are completely ignoring the good news: the level of quality for pre-K is on a par with other grades, so there should be no culture shock for kids graduating into the elementary system. After all, Florida spends more than Mississippi, so what’s the problem?

Florida ranked 47th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in spending in 2001-02, the latest year in which data is available allowing national comparisons.

Adjusted for regional cost differences, Florida spent just under $6,500 per student -- more than $1,200 short of the national average.