Hello. My name is Megan Hendricks, Alachua County public school parent and proud graduate of Hawthorne High School and the University of Florida.

I’m here today to talk about the impact of test-based accountability on our schools and our community.

Florida’s public schools are under attack. The focus seems to be on accountability, with the primary measurement being standardized tests (namely, the FSA).

There is an assumption that these tests are accurate measurements of student learning, teacher effectiveness and overall school quality. Research and real world experience has challenged those assumptions. Studies have shown that standardized tests do not translate into long-term learning gains or better cognition. I have provided you with more information about that in your packets.

The impact of Florida’s test-based accountability system is profound.

1. Families are making decisions about where to send their children to school, or even where to purchase a home, based on school grades – which use a formula almost entirely based on test scores.
2. College readiness has been shown to decrease when emphasis is placed on test scores.
3. The teacher shortage in our state is reaching crisis levels. In 2011/2012 in Alachua County, there were 3,440 applications for teaching positions. In 2017/2018, there were 584. This isn’t an Alachua County issue. In August, 2018, there were 4,000 vacancies statewide, which is up from 3,000 the same time last year. This is equal to 1.4 million students without a teacher for one or more of their classes.
4. Billions of dollars of funding have been funneled into the creation and evaluation of tests that could have been used to provide much-needed resources to help children succeed.
5. Children are spending an inordinate amount of time taking tests and preparing for tests that they could be spending on authentic learning.
6. Schools are being threatened with closure based on test scores. My own high school was at risk of closure this past year. As the largest employer in the city, closing this school would have not only impacted the school, but dismantled the community. I’ve visited Terwilliger Elementary recently, which is currently at risk of closure or turnover because of test scores, and talked with their staff and parents. Schools like Terwilliger need more resources and support from our state, not closure threats and scrutiny of their teachers.
7. The stress created by high stakes testing is effecting our children’s mental health. A recent study even showed that the stress associated with tests has a disproportionate effect on children of poverty.

At the end of the day, we have to decide what’s most important. Do we keep up the philosophy of “If it can’t be measured, it doesn’t exist?” Or, do we look at what really matters for our children, our teachers, and our schools.

Thank you.

School Board members:

I’m here tonight to ask for your help fighting education reform. Thank you, in advance, for listening.

My husband recently left his job after teaching elementary school in Florida for 22 years. Like many teachers before him, this was a decision that was not made in haste. He stayed in the system for years after education reform began, but there came a time when he simply could no longer continue. When I asked him the main reason he left his chosen profession after so many years, he responded with “I can no longer make a difference, because my hands are tied.” He didn’t leave because of the low pay (he knew about that when he entered the profession). He didn’t even leave because of the benefits that have slowly disappeared over the years. He left because of the politicians and others with no business making decisions thinking they know better than teachers who have studied pedagogy, created curriculum and lived the profession for years.

Some of those in the education reform world might respond with “he’s just one of those old school, veteran teachers who needs to leave anyway.” Well, by the state’s own measurement, he is “highly effective.”

I’m telling you this so that you will know that this is personal to me. You see, the negative effects of the state’s accountability system on teachers’ jobs not only affected my husband, but they affected my family as well.

As a result of my husband’s new position, we will be leaving Pasco County at the end of the school year. I’m deeply saddened to be leaving this district, where we have created a life and most importantly have found a public school that is a second home for our children. I will continue my fight to save public education, just from another place.

And speaking of fighting, I’m sure you are aware of the recent research produced by the Central Florida Public School Boards Coalition indicating that teacher merit pay doesn’t work.  Orange County is asking the Florida legislature to remove merit pay from the Florida statutes, and I’m here tonight to ask you to do the same. I know the decision is made at the state level, but you do have the ear of our legislators, and I’m asking you to speak to them. Let’s remove all of those tests that were only created to evaluate teachers, and restore the autonomy that was taken away from our classrooms. We have to do this to keep even more teachers from leaving, and address the teacher shortage that we know is such a problem here in Pasco County.

Florida Senate Bill 964 was filed recently, which removes several high stakes tests, changes the timing of the testing window and eliminates tying a teacher’s evaluation to test scores. Please reach out to our legislators in the Senate and the House, as individuals and as a School Board, and ask them to support this initiative.

I have enjoyed getting to know you all through the years, and I thank you for all of your communication. I wish you all the best of luck.

The faces and fallout of poverty exist in every community. Images of the people and places suffering the consequences can be seen on busy city streets and in lonely back yard alleys, in rural, suburban and urban neighborhoods.

But the residents of one North Tampa community are working together to stamp out poverty for good by creating the environment and culture that will help move their neighbors in need toward self-sufficiency.

The University Area Community Development Corporation (UACDC) aims to transform the once mostly transient area near USF (formerly known as “Suitcase City”) into a place where all people can thrive. Their most effective weapon? Partnerships.

“We’re stronger together. It sounds like a cliche, but it gets repeated so much because it’s true,” says Dan Jurman, the organization’s new executive director.

Having grown up in poverty, Jurman knows firsthand what the community is going through. “When I started working with elementary school students in summer day camp, we’d be outside doing crafts and would hear gunshots in the neighborhood. This is what these kids experience every day,” says Jurman, who was hired in January 2012. This experience, coupled with a love for anything involving children and an extensive background in nonprofits, puts Jurman in an ideal position to lead the ongoing transformation.

Creating A Safe Place

Located on 22nd street near Fletcher Avenue, the UACDC has been a conduit for community gathering since its formation in 1998. The nonprofit’s mission is redevelopment and programming to help families in the surrounding neighborhoods. Offerings include a 50,000-square-foot community center that provides critical services to thousands of residents, including literacy programs, affordable housing, recreation and workshops for youth in issues such as problem-solving and anger management.

The center is a lively, welcoming space where residents can feel safe to learn and play. On a given day, you might see youth playing basketball in the gym. Or, walk down the hallway of classrooms to find keyboard lessons, guitars, art projects or poetry class. “I couldn’t think of a better place to go,” says Alexis Santiago.

Santiago has been visiting the center since she moved to Tampa 10 years ago. With her father in and out of jail, her mother moved her and brother here to start a new life. After learning about the center through word of mouth, she immediately enrolled in a poetry class, which helped her express herself and cope with hardships.

“Just the fact that they were there for support made you want to join different programs and be there all the time,” says Santiago.

The program that makes the most difference in her life, she says, is the Teen Empowerment Council, which aims to get youth off the streets and active in the community. The Council meets weekly and participates in projects such as Keep Hillsborough County Beautiful.

“The council helped me grow as an individual,” says Santiago. “It was an overall good experience; I couldn’t be more happy.”

It Takes A Village Plus Time

The driving force behind UACDC’s success, and what will take them to the next level in the near future, is partnerships. Eight different organizations joined together to make the community center come to fruition in 2000. The group brought Muller Elementary, a nationally recognized magnet school, to the area along with Bowers Whitley Career Center High School, which now has one of the highest graduation rates in Hillsborough County. The collaboration with brought health and other offices right down the street, creating accessible community space that provides services where they are needed most.

“We’ve got well over 20 partnerships that aren’t just lip service,” says Jurman. “That’s about to get kicked into high gear.”

The “high gear” Jurman speaks of is a new model for nonprofits called the Partners Committee. In what could be described as the “next evolution” for nonprofits, the goal is to change the way services are delivered, where organizations work in tandem to make sure people are assisted through every aspect of life. Take, for example, a child diagnosed with asthma. Doctors can provide treatment through medicine and education, but if the child goes home to a house with mold in it, the problem will perpetuate. Through a collaborative effort, free legal services are provided to the family to require their landlord to remove the mold.

Pastor Don Grantham from University Baptist Church on 22nd Street, a strong supporter and volunteer for UACDC for more than 20 years, will chair the Partners Committee. He realized the value of partnerships years ago, while trying to improve the safety of the intersection surrounding the church. While navigating the political system, he learned that if redevelopment is going to take place in the community, and if the county is going to support it, the residents need to speak up. In a sense, the discovery reflects the adage, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.”

“From that time on I appreciated the value in partnering with others of like-mindedness,” says Grantham. “Collectively we can do more than we can do individually.”

Grantham plans to make sure there are businesses that can support the workforce needs in the area. “In an ideal world, there should be enough work in our community so that people will want jobs,” says Grantham. He wants to develop a coalition of neighborhood landlords that will improve living conditions. He also envisions a partnership of local residents who will speak up for their needs.

Santiago, now 20, is now studying at Hillsborough Community College and ultimately wants to become a psychologist so she can help people in the same way she was helped. She offers advice for others in her situation: “Don’t give up. There are people out there who can help you do what you want to do. You’ll make it through.”

Jurman couldn’t agree more. “Positive activity is just as contagious and can build just as much momentum that poverty does in the other direction,” he says. The community will be the ones who ultimately create the transformation. UACDC provides them with the tools and motivation they need to do it.

One sexual assault is too many. One student can make a difference. Tampa Bay residents Kelly Addington and Becca Tieder have set out to bring this message to the masses, changing the culture of sexual violence in our society.

The two have been best friends for 23 years, going through high school, college, work and other life changes together. In college they were very involved on campus, took basic safety education and thought they did everything right. Their world literally stopped when Addington was the victim of a sexual assault.

They were surprised at how difficult it was to find resources in a crisis situation. It was that experience that led them to dedicate their lives to changing the way our culture views sexual violence.

“Once the recovery process began, we realized we had a responsibility to our healing — and to our community — to do something about it,” says Tieder.

In 2010 they formed a nonprofit organization called One Student. They travel to college campuses across the U.S. to educate students about sexual assault. The message is not one of sadness and gloom, but rather of empowerment, motivation and support. They address boundaries, choices and most of all respect. Addington’s calm, realistic demeanor mixed with Tieder’s natural sense of humor makes for a creative combination that connects with the audience and makes what is usually a touchy subject all of the sudden approachable.

They’ve reached more than half a million students since they began, and they don’t plan to stop any time soon.

“When we talk about it, that’s when we can begin to change the culture,” says Addington.

The team uses creative mediums such as videos, posters and real testimonies from survivors in their educational campaigns. One such medium is a documentary called “You are the One,” which is set to premier September 22 at the Reeves Theater inside the Vaughn Center at the University of Tampa.

The Film Maker

Local film editor and producer Barbara Rosenthal approached Tieder and Addington in the spring of 2011 with the idea of turning their story into a film. At first they were skeptical, knowing they didn’t have the money for funding. But, Rosenthal convinced them to go for it and ended up finding a grant from the Waterfield Foundation, as well as private donors to fund the piece.

A survivor of sexual assault herself, Rosenthal of Buzz Media felt close to the issues Tieder and Addington speak about and was drawn to the way they handle things with grace, humor and passion.

“I’m just blown away by what they do and how they do it,” says Rosenthal. Working on the film also helped her accept her own experience as a survivor.

Rosenthal has been living in the Tampa area since 1991 and started producing films locally in 1996. She made her first film at the age of seven, about how the Arabs stole Hannakuh (a pun on How the Grinch Stole Christmas). Her editing career began at Edit Suites in Tampa, where several former employees have gone on to larger film careers. To film the piece, a camera crew followed Tieder and Addington as they traveled. They also took their own camera to add some raw experience.

“The film is emotional at times, but there’s some really great elements of humor,” says Rosenthal, adding that she stays away from things that are too heavy handed in her films. “Life is like that — it’s full of good and bad things, but that’s what makes it real.”

Changing The World By Sharing Stories

Rosenthal’s goal in producing the documentary is, simply put, to change the world. She wants people to understand that this is a real issue. “If we want to build a better world, better culture, stronger culture, we have to stop hurting each other,” says Rosenthal.  Working on the documentary was “very humbling, surreal, strange and comfortable all at once,” says Addington.

The film includes testimonies of survivors and their loved ones. Stories of sharing and courage. Victims who want their voices to be heard. Like Sabrina, who didn’t want what happened to her to define her. “If I stop living my life, then they get the best of me,” Sabrina says in the film.

“The reason I’m able to tell my story over and over again is because I know it’s not just my story,” says Addington.

It’s a story Tieder and Addington hope no one else will ever have to tell.