Leadership Learning Academy
Update: The Polk County School Board finally voted to cancel the contract
with the academy on July 24th, 2001.
Facts:
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The State of Florida gave $500,000 for Academy planning and start-up costs.
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The State of Florida pledged $2 million to the Academy if World
Class raises $2 million by July, 2000.
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The Polk County School Board has agreed to a 5 year contract with the Academy
to provide $1.5 million per year for a total $7.5 million in Academy operating
expenses.
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Publix has pledged $500,000, half paid when the World Class meets half
of it's goal from other sources, and the other half when World Class raises
the rest of the money. (I wonder if Publix counts the $2 million in state
money as part of this?)
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Berryman stated in April, 1999 that the Academy had $660,000 in pledges.
This probably counts the $500,000 from Publix (which they don't really
have yet, until it has been matched by other donors).
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By July of 2000, the Academy had only generated a total of $800,000 in
pledges (still counting the $500,000 pledge from Publix, which was contingent
upon being matched). That was a pick up of only $140,000 in over a year
toward a goal of $2,000,000 (required to get the additional $2,000,000
from the state).
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World Class has hired a professional fund raising company Alexander Haas
Martin & Partners of Atlanta (which has worked with the Polk
Museum of Art in Lakeland) to raise the money for the Academy.
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The 13 member board of directors for the Academy will consist of the School
Board chairman, the Polk school Superintendent, the president of the Polk
Education Association and 10 business and community leaders. This means
that $10 million in tax money has been allocated by the government (state
legislature and Polk County School Board), and so far at most $660,000
from the business community. This money from the business community includes
the $500,000 pledge from Publix that has to be matched before they actually
get it. Meanwhile, 10 members of the board of directors for the Academy
will be business (and community) leaders, one will be the president of
the PEA (teachers' union), one will be the chairman of the School Board,
and one will be the Superintendent of schools. (Aside - Hunt Berryman,
chairman of Polk World Class led the recent drive to strip the people of
their right to elect the Superintendent of schools.) This would result
in a board with only two elected representatives and 11 non elected members
(including up to ten from the business community) in control of $10 million
in tax money in addition to the $4.5 million (or even as low as $2 million)
raised by the business community. If Mr. Berryman had been successful in
converting the Superintendent to an appointed position, there would have
been only 1 elected official in control of $10 million in tax money!
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3 School Board members who voted to give $7.5 million in tax money to the
Academy are World Class members.
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World Class is a project of the Florida Chamber of Commerce.
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The Academy will be located adjacent to Travis Vo-Tech (which members of
the business community including Mike Stedhem of World Class want to convert
to a Technical High School).
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At least some teachers, including former School Board member Nancy Simmons
are opposed to the Academy. Ms. Simmons noted in her Oct. 25th ,
1999 editorial
to the Lakeland Ledger that underpaid, demoralized teachers have very little
time to attend the academy (especially on their own unpaid time) and that
some could make much better use of simple necessities - like a desk or
a decent computer.
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As was noted in a recent study
commissioned by the Central Florida Development Council, Polk has fundamental
problems with the home environment of students, not a problem with inadequately
trained teachers. If business leaders are really concerned about education
in Polk County, they need to direct their efforts towards this area - where
the problem is - instead of towards providing a "state-of-the-art" facility
for teacher training.
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In addition to teacher training, World Class intends for the Academy to
be used for "other school employees, parents, community leaders and business
people."
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The first classes offered by the Academy - "Managing to Teach", "High Performing
School Teams", "Tips for Recharging Your Leadership Battery", and "Culturally
Relevant Teaching Styles".
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Consultants will be paid $1,000 to $3,000 per day to teach these seminars.
Newspaper Articles that mention the Academy
Teacher Training Academy
Scuttled The Ledger, July 25th, 2001
Learning
Academy's Fate Could Come Today The Ledger, July 10th, 2001
Academy
to Reach Milestone The Ledger, July 8th, 2000
Teacher
Academy Sets 1st Classes - February 8, 2000
Training
for Teachers May Begin Soon - January 10, 2000
Reynolds
Has Big Plans for His Last Year - December 5, 1999
Teachers
Would Swap Academy for Desk - October 25, 1999
Corporate
Investments Have Helped Polk's Public Schools - September 24, 1999
Teacher
Academy To Get $2 Million - April 27, 1999
Tough
Standards Help Polk Students - April 5, 1999 (By Hunt Berryman)
Publix
Issues Challenge Grant for Facility - January 21, 1999
School
Year May Get Longer - December 9, 1998
Teacher
Academy Aims to Even Spending - November 12, 1998
Board
OKs Teacher Academy - October 28, 1998
District
3 Candidates Agree More Than They Disagree - October 21, 1998 (Minor
mention of the Academy - that both candidates (Vicki Ginda and Bob Macy)
support the Academy.