For the past week, my students have been working on a synthesis essay.  They read five short stories, watched a movie and looked at an excerpt from a “Declaration on Human Rights.”  The texts they read and analyzed focused on an Essential Question:  Why is it important to accept others who are different?  This Essential Question (EQ) has been on my wall the entire school year.  It was printed on almost every handout or worksheet.  As a class, we analyzed the question itself, looking at the various meanings of the word “accept” and how the phrase “others who are different” might interpreted in different circumstances.  They used outlines, graphic organizers and note-taking/highlighting strategies.  My students knew the material, and they understood the Essential Question.

Then came the task of writing the essay.  After looking at several essays (on similar topics) to examine format, use of citation and how to support of the Essential Question, the “usual suspects” of writing angst slowly began to emerge.  “How long does it have to be?”  “How many sentences should we have in each paragraph?”  “Does it have to be five paragraphs?”  “Do you want us to mention all the stories?”  “Do we have to write about _____________?”

As a teacher, I have always balked at giving students definitive parameters for writing.  I’ve tried to give my students enough latitude and leeway to allow for creativity and genuine response while providing enough structure to ensure they have the requisite writing skills.  It’s a sticky wicket, and students are often frustrated with my responses such as, “I can’t tell you how long it should be.  Just answer the question.”  “If I say 700 words, and you only have 500, you’ll keep repeating the same things until you get to 700.”  “Address the topic, support your ideas, use good transitions and the rest will take care of itself.” This week was no different except the frustration over length and format were greater. 

They were not asking these questions to be indifferent, obstinate or difficult.  These were honest questions.  Questions that lurk in the writing soul of most middle school and high school students.  They are questions that were cultivated early in their educational lives.  Questions whose seeds were planted by “standards” that create concrete checklists for student achievement as early as kindergarten.  Seeds that flourished and grew until, by middle school, they became deeply-rooted, mighty oaks.

This is the first generation of students I call High Stakes Kids.  Most of their education has been under the auspices of quantitative high-stakes testing.  In simple terms, these students have been the lab rats of an educational agenda that has sought to “reform” schools by holding teachers and students to standards that can only be quantified by testing.  The early results are starting to come in (though most educators predicted their outcomes years ago), and they are not good.  We’ve created a generation of students who can regurgitate facts but struggle to apply them in meaningful or real-world ways.  And it’s not their fault.  They are not stupid.  We are.

We’ve created classroom environments in which teachers are assessed not on the value of the lessons they are teaching, not on their abilities to make abstract ideas more concrete, not on the relationships they develop with students, and not on the ways in which they make their content more meaningful and applicable.  We assess teachers on whether or not Essential Questions are posted, whether or not standards are highlighted, whether or not ID badges are worn and doors are locked at all times, and whether or not written lesson plans exceed a 3 X 5 box in a lesson plan book. 

Appearance has become reality.

Years ago, the daughter of a friend of mine was in my 5^th grade class.  During Open House, she looked around my room and disapprovingly said, “There’s not much on your walls, Mr. Mucci.”  She was right.  I turned to her and said, “It’s not what’s on the walls that matters.  It’s what happens within these walls.”  Einstein put it better when he said, “Not everything that counts can be counted; not everything that can be counted counts.” 

If you’re still not buying this argument, let me change the subject area from English to Art.  An art teacher teaches her students about landscapes.  At the end of the unit, she assigns them to paint a sunset.  The students hesitate, and then the “usual suspects” being to emerge.  “How many colors do you want us to use?”  “Do we have to use blue?”  “Can my sun be three quarters of the way set or do you want it to be half way?”  “Can the setting be the beach or does it have to be an image of a horizon?”

If you’re comfortable with a future with paint by numbers art museums and novels with the same plot and outcome, then do nothing.  If you can find beauty in both a Jackson Pollock and Claude Monet painting, if Thomas Pynchon and Tom Clancy both deserve space in the library, then allow a new group “usual suspects” to emerge.  “Why are we doing this?”  “What is my child really learning?”  “How much is too much?”  “What are the test results used for?”  “Is there another way to do this?”

Understanding Point of View – a teacher’s point of view

One of the most commonly assessed reading competencies is Point of View.  Point of View is often used interchangeably with Perspective, which requires the consideration of both a value system and a belief system.  Point of View is especially hard for some teenagers to grasp because for the 13 – 18 years they have only ever considered one point of view – their own!  As a teacher, I am not a strict disciplinarian.  Because I am not over-the-top when it comes to rules and discipline, I often find myself at a loss when students react –overreact – when I do call them on the carpet for certain behaviors.  I am even more flabbergasted when parents question my decisions and actions over what I consider “common courtesy” in the classroom – and life in general.  Recently, it dawned on me that students (and parents) often react to things I do and say because they lack an understanding of a teacher’s point of view.  More specifically, they fail to apply an educational value system to what educators are trying to achieve in the classroom.  In short, they lack an understanding of both Point of View and Perspective.

I am sure every profession has its own examples or stories of how customers, clients, coworkers, managers, subordinates, etc. fail to consider point of view in various situations. Because everyone has had a “school experience”, and most people look at teachers and what they do with a modicum of contempt, I believe there is an even greater lack of perspective and understanding of point of view in our profession.  Therefore, in order to illustrate why some teachers react the way they do to parents and student behaviors, I’ve devised this little lesson on Point of View and Perspective.  Highlighted are three scenarios – two student and one parent. After each, I’ve provided the teacher’s point of view and perspective in the form of some common analogies.  Enjoy!

Scenario #1:  A student is sitting in a classroom and is given an assignment to work on.  Rather than doing that class work, he/she is doing work for another class or doing something non-academic, such as drawing or, in today’s technologically advance world, texting or surfing the internet.  The student doesn't understand “what the big deal” is when he/she is asked to stop what they are doing and do the work that was assigned for this class.

Point of View:  This is comparable to sitting in a restaurant after a long wait to be seated.  Another table, who came in after you, sits down well after you.  The waiter walks by your table two or three times without acknowledging you are there.  He then goes over to the other table greets them warmly and takes their drink order.  After returning to the other table with their drinks, and takes their order. He finally comes to your table and says, “Do you all need more time?”

How this is analogous (perspective):  In both situations, the message is “I see that you’re there, but I don’t have time for you.  What you want/need is not worth my time or effort.  What I am doing right now is more important to ME, and I will get to you and do what you want when I can or when it is convenient for me.”

Scenario #2:  A parent calls the school and demands a parent-teacher conference right away.  The teacher re-schedules outside appointments and comes to work early (or stays at work late) to accommodate the parent’s schedule.  The parent does not arrive for the conference and does not call or email.  When contacted by the teacher, they are put off by the conversation and/or respond with something like, “Well, I had something I had to do that day.  Can I come in tomorrow?”

Point of View:  This is comparable to when the cable or internet service goes out in your house.  After navigating through voice mail, you finally get a ‘live person” who sets up an appointment to have your service checked.  You are given a 12:00 – 3:00 appointment window.  You take off work and stay close to the phone only to have the cable company call you at 3:30 to tell you that they “got tied up with another job” and won’t be able to fix your cable/internet.  When you tell them that you have been without the service for days and really need it back, they reply, “I can be there two days from now between 12:00 and 3:00.”

How this is analogous:  In both situations, the message is “My job and what I am doing is more important.  I don’t care that you are inconvenienced.  You can work around my schedule.  My time is more important than yours.”

Scenario #3:  A teacher creates a detail-rich assignment/handout.  The assignment has an outline with due dates.  It has step-by-step procedures for completing the work.  It has a rubric describing how the assignment will be graded.  It has a sample project or completed paper to serve as a model/exemplar.  You post the assignment on your web page and/or district web site.  The teacher posts the assignment on the front board in the classroom where it stays for the duration of the assignment.  On the day it is due, multiple students don’t complete it or it is done wrong.  When the teacher questions them about it, they reply, “I didn’t know it was due…You never told us you wanted…I wasn’t sure how to do it…I thought you wanted me to…”

Point of View:  This is comparable to going to a fast-food drive-thru window.  You state your order one item at a time – clearly and slowly.  After each item, the fast food employee says, “Is that it?”  You reply, “No” each time and calmly go through each item in the order.  As your order is entered into the computer/register, it shows up on the screen in front of your car.  When you finish, the employee reads your order back to you and again says, “Does that complete your order?’  You say, “Yes” and proceed to the check out.  When you get home and open your bag, there is a missing item, another item has mustard on it (which you loathe) and a grilled chicken is replaced with a fried chicken.

How this is analogous:  In both situations, the message is, “I was listening, but I really wasn’t listening.  While you were telling me what I needed to do or know, I was too busy listening to someone (who I value far more than you) tell me something meaningless and unimportant but still of greater interest compared to what you were saying.  I don’t really care that I got the instructions wrong or that the final product isn’t right.  It’s no big deal.  I can always fix it.”

Parents deal with their children for about 8 hours per day, and they drive them nuts.  Kids can’t deal with their own siblings for more than 5 minutes without arguing or disagreeing.  Here is the final lesson on Point of View:  think about dealing with over 100 kids for 8 hours a day – every day – and maybe give the teacher the benefit of the doubt every once and a while.  

When WE failed the test

On Monday, the Tampa Bay Times ran the following headline:  Florida Board of Education calls emergency meeting as FCAT scores tank.

I began writing this blog about a year ago.  After a feverish start, my fervor tapered off over the last few months.  I could blame  the crazy schedule I have in and out of school, but the truth is, for a while, I had taken a defeatist attitude.  I was beginning to think that not only did no one care what I was writing, something far worse was happening...no one cared what was happening to education.

Monday's headline shocked me back into action. I truly believe we are witnessing the systematic destruction of public education at the hands of politicians and an ignorant public who believe everything - including all government services - is better suited in the hands of greedy, private entities.

Here is how it is being accomplished:

Step 1: Bash teachers and attack their unions in the media under the guise of public accountability.

Step 2: Cut funding, placing even more pressure on an already "overtaxed" (pun intended) system.

Step 3: Demand higher student performance AND tie teacher evaluations and pay to that performance.

Step 4: Increase the level of achievement and/or mastery on all state assessments (while behind closed doors you increase funding opportunities to private and charter schools who don't have to meet the same standards) while implementing End of Course examinations and cutting funding to after school and enrichment programs.

Step 5: Exhibit shock and outrage at declining scores. Conduct "emergency meetings" to place blame - on teachers, of course! (See Monday's story in the Tampa Bay Times)




(Steps 6 - 9 have not been fully implemented yet)

Step 6: Eliminate tenure and right to collective bargaining (achieved during last year's legislative session). Turn money-sucking schools and their incompetent teachers over to private entities to "fix" the problems (because everyone knows businesses can fix everything - see Enron).

Step 7: Accept with a pat on the back (or a kick in the ass) the resignation of veteran teachers (who make too much money and are "suckling on the teat of taxpayers") who have committed their lives to helping kids. Hire a slew of college grads (at a reduced salary) who teach for three years before abandoning the "assembly-line" approach to teaching that cares more about the product (test scores and dollars saved) than the students they are suppose to be educating.

Step 8: Blame the "mess" left behind on the retired teachers (who are now collecting retirement benefits that the system can no long afford to fund because funds have been bankrupted by the "companies" that are running the schools) and demand even more accountability.

Step 9: Repeat Steps 1 - 8.

While some of this blog was written tongue-in-cheek, all of what I have written about has either already happened or is in the process of happening - not just in the State of Florida but around the country.  While I have never truly had a political agenda (supporting one party over another) in writing this blog, I do have a warning - for everyone.  If we don't do something soon, if we don't get vocal, if we don't speak with our mouths, words and vote, we are as much to blame as the politicians, for we will have become that ignorant public.  This is a test, and we are failing it.  More important, we are failing our children - in more ways than one.

There is a curiously funny children’s picture book titled, What Cows Do When No One is Looking.  The first four pages of this book read:  Do you know what cows do when no one is looking?  People think that cows just eat grass all day.  But when no one is looking…

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, I am writing an “open letter” of sorts titled, What Teachers Do When No One is Looking, for anyone who is under the delusion that teachers come in at 8:00 (when the kids arrive), leave at 3:00 (when the kids leave), copy pages out of a book for assignments, and don’t have to work nights, weekends or over the summer. 

There is an old Native American saying, “Don’t judge a man until you walk two moons in his moccasins.”  I encourage you all to walk two days in any teacher’s moccasins.

What Teachers Do When No One is Looking

Do you know what teachers do when no one is looking?  People think that teachers yell at kids, grade papers and drink coffee while sitting behind their computer all day.  But when no one is looking… 

Teachers:

Cut food, “loan” money, push swings, play kickball, fix glasses, dress up like famous people, write letters, tutor (for free), tie shoes, give “high fives”, open jammed zippers, draw pictures, make faces, create models, do voices or sound effects, dance, chaperone, attend games, encourage, argue, challenge, debate, mediate, counsel, come early, stay late, return emails, go to workshops, plan, integrate, differentiate, re-teach, revise, laugh, yell, and sometimes – cry.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

When multiple choice became the only choice

I am taking a break from my series entitled “How to fix it” in order to bring a little perspective to some other aspects of teaching that have been kicking around in my head for a while. I will continue with my three-part series over Christmas break. 

When I first got into teaching, E.D. Hirsch had recently published his book Cultural Literacy:  What every American needs to know.  This book started a maelstrom of controversy about what was taught, not taught and/or not learned by students in American schools.  It fueled the debate – which is still raging today – about why American schools are in decline.

While I respect Mr. Hirsch, and I certainly have a deep appreciation for “cultural literacy,” I believe this very mindset – one steeped in tradition and outdated pedagogy – is crippling our schools today.

There is a palpable disconnect between students and schools because the educational system has failed to evolve beyond the style of teaching that was in place when Mr. Hirsch was a mere lad.  In a world where everyone’s mood, relationship status or what they had for breakfast can be tweeted, blogged or sent via IM around the world in a millisecond, we still expect kids to learn using many of the same tools, resources, and teaching styles that were in place nearly 100 years ago.

Although my curriculum focuses on project-based learning, I do, from time-to-time, require students to read from our state-adopted textbooks and answer questions.  I do it because students are expected to demonstrate comprehension by finding Main Idea, Author’s Purpose, etc. on district and state level assessments.  This type of assessment, based on reading short passages and answering a series of multiple-choice questions, was developed by a Kansas State Normal School professor in 1915.  Sadly, not much has changed since then.   

Recently, I had my students read a six-page passage from their social studies textbook about the early European explorers and answer the questions at the end of the passage.  One of the questions they had to answer was:  What records of their attempt to settle North America did the Vikings leave behind? 

Even with a great deal of background knowledge (we had recently read a book on the Vikings), most of my students did not understand the question.  First, they did not know what a record was.  More important, the wording of the question suggested that the Vikings actively sought – through multiple “attempts” – to colonize North America and deliberately left “records” behind.  Nothing in the book we had read or in the chapter from the textbook suggested that, so I re-phrased the question.  What types of artifacts have been discovered to suggest the Vikings may have visited or even settled in present-day North America? 

Since my students have access to a computer, we googled the phrase, “Viking artifacts in North America.”  In an instant, they saw hundreds of “records” of Viking remains in North America. After allowing them to “explore” a few web sites, I asked them to answer the question again.  Immediately, they wrote down parts of Viking ships, decomposed swords, tools, and bowls.  I showed them a web site that explained how carbon dating was used to figure out how old the artifacts were and another that showed were in North America these sites were located.  A collective light came on. 

To those who defend the use of chapter tests and pop quizzes, I offer this.  When in the real world do we ever expect anyone – a mechanic, a lawyer, an accountant or a doctor – to know all the answers on the spur of the moment?  Most doctors examine patients while typing information and symptoms directly into a laptop computer or iPad.  Lawyers often have a conference room filled with law books, legal reviews, and case studies.  Mechanics look up parts and settings on a computer.

Often students are not allowed the same “access to information”.  They are not allowed to “find” information or use resources to show that they understand concepts.  In short, we don’t teach the same strategies and skills they will need “in the real world” in the classroom. 

Much of the blame for our over reliance on this type of learning and assessments falls on the federal and state mindset that educational achievement can be measured through multiple choice assessments, and the belief that students (and teachers) should be assessed and evaluated based on a single test score.  A pop quiz of our schools.

Politicians will tell you the public wants accountability.  They will tell you that we need to hold teachers to higher standards so our students can achieve, grow and develop to meet the needs and demands of an ever-changing world.  Unfortunately, they do not abide by the same precepts.  They do not allow schools to develop curriculum that meets these needs simply because it cannot be measured. 

What are we really measuring?  That question is as perplexing to some as the one my students had to answer from their textbook.  Perhaps we need to re-phrase the question and take measurement and evaluation “outside the box” or least outside the textbook.

When we lost what was really important

In one of my recent blogs, I wrote about a teacher whose “intangibles” could not be measured by student test scores or a complex algorithm.  It read: His lesson plans are sketchy – at best. His record keeping leaves a lot to be desired.  He operates under the “it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission” mantra most of the time.  But he knows his subject area better than most college professors.  His vocabulary, writing and critical thinking skills are unparalleled.  More important, he knows how to relate to his students – from the nerd who sits alone in the back of the room to the loud-mouthed girl who is taking care of three younger siblings at home.  He makes learning meaningful and relevant, and they remember the life lessons he teaches them – as well as the subject area lessons – long after they leave his classroom.  His effectiveness cannot be measured by a protocol and certainly is not accurately reflected based on how his students perform on one test. 

That “teacher” was actually an amalgam of several teachers I have worked with over the past 20 years.  One of those teachers was Mike Martin.  This past week, Mike passed away.  He was only 66 years old and had just recently retired.  His death has caused me to consider (re-consider) my role as an educator, father and husband. 

Over the years, I have had many opportunities to leave the classroom and pursue other career opportunities.  To be honest, on more than one occasion, I was more than ready to close the book (pun intended) on my teaching career. 

What kept me coming back – and keeps me coming back each year – is the reason why so many teachers enter the profession and stay in it year after year.  It’s not the “cushy retirement” (30 years in the classroom for less than 50% of your top five years).  It’s not the “three months off in the summer” (which is really 11 weeks for kids and 8 weeks for teachers, which is really more like 5 or 6 weeks for dedicated teachers).  It’s not the “no weekend hours” (all teachers spend countless hours working over the weekend – in and out of school). The reason is simple.  For me, for my wife, for the teachers I work with, and for Mike Martin, there is (and only has been) one reason – our desire to share our love for learning with the kids.

Mike Martin’s career spanned 40 years in the classroom.  During those years, Mike witnessed (and endured) countless programs, assessments and educational pedagogies.  Despite working in a profession that was in a constant state of flux, Mike’s primary focus was making learning meaningful for kids.  His classroom was filled with models, magnets, rocks, compasses, fossils, puzzles and an array of “hands on” learning activities.  Mike was never concerned with the X’s and O’s of teaching.  That wasn’t important to him.  Relating material in ways that kids would remember and understand was.  Comments former students have made on Facebook are a living testament to his “old school” approach to teaching and learning.

Mike’s passing should be a wake up call to those who make policies and laws that affect our schools and children.  Losing Mike should be a reminder that the “old school” approach, one in which children were the primary focus, is dying too. 

We cannot bring Mike back, but it is not too late to bring back some perspective to teaching.  Do we need to assess students?  Sure we do.  Can test scores help us understand our students’ strengths and weaknesses?  Of course they can.  Should we monitor teacher performance and look for ways to improve instruction?  Absolutely.  Have we made student assessments (and now teacher evaluations) far too much of a focus in education?  If you would have asked Mike that question, his response would have been “heck yeah.”

Rest in Peace, Mike.  You will be missed in more ways than one.

When standing up for children became "childish" behavior

To those of you who receive my blog posts via email, I apologize for the multiple times I have published this particular post.  In my haste, I had several typos that I wanted to fix.  Here is the most recently edited version.

Over the past few months, I have engaged in series of personal letters with Florida State Representative William Proctor.  Representative Proctor is the Chancellor of Flagler College in St. Augustine and a life-long educator.  Mr. Proctor wrote a letter to me after reading an article (a Guest Column piece) I wrote in the Press Journal newspaper. In his initial letter, he challenged several analogies I made comparing how teachers will be evaluated (under the newly enacted Student Success Act) versus how other professionals are evaluated.  I returned his letter and answered his questions.  I further explained my analogies and presented him with a list of objections I (and other teachers) had with the new evaluation system, one that ties 50% of a teacher's overall job performance to student test scores.  Representative Proctor returned my letter with a second letter.  Sadly, in this letter, rather than present a logical, rational and lucid explanation of  the evaluation system in terms of validity and bias (two primary conditions for any educational assessment), he felt the need to educate me in terms of the state's budgetary shortfalls.  He closed his letter with the following statement, "If you have a parking space, and it is in the shade, consider yourself fortunate."

I have to be honest, I had never heard the expression he used, so I "Google it".  I got no references to the phrase.  I asked others - people I know and respect for their experiences and intellect - and none of them had ever heard the expression either.  They all agreed that it sounded like Representative Proctor was telling me to stop complaining because I had a job.

I took umbrage to several of the statements Representative Proctor made in his letter.  Namely, I was very disappointed that he turned a professional dialogue about issues facing Florida's students and teachers into a rhetorical diatribe.  I responded with a very pointed letter in which I told him how disappointed I was in his response and the condescending tone to his letter.  I told him that I was going to make it him rue the day he decided to question my intellect and integrity.

Well, I got another letter from Representative Proctor this week.  This letter, like the previous letters, was marked - in bold, underlined and capital letters  - PERSONAL.  In order to respect Mr. Proctor's desire to keep the exact contents of his letters "personal", I have resisted the urge (and the ardent request of others) to publish his letters in their entirety on Facebook or by copying them and distributing them to friends and colleagues.  I have published excerpted comments in order to give a context to my responses.  I am going to continue that practice in this post.  In his latest letter, Representative Proctor wrote the following:  "my having presentation of the facts of the state’s current financial position may have been so frustrating as to bring about what I consider to be a childlike response..."  He continued by stating that I had made "idle threats".

My return letter to him was not marked PERSONAL; therefore, I feel no moral or professional obligation not to post my response to him in this blog.  Here is my latest letter to him.  I welcome your feedback.

Dear Representative Proctor:

Again, I am both pleasantly surprised by your willingness to engage in discourse with me and disappointed in some of your tactics.  I was hoping – if you did return my last correspondence – that you would return to a discussion focused on the original topic – SB 736 and the subsequent Student Success Act – and its impact on the education of Florida’s children.  Instead, you regressed to calling me “childish” for chiding you for turning our discussion away from the topic and to one of taxes, funding and budgetary constraints.  I was not “frustrated” by the “facts of the state’s current financial position.”  I was frustrated by your attempt to turn the discussion away from the original conversation.  Since you seem to be focused on the facts, let me present you with the “facts”.

FACT – None of my Guest Column articles in the Press Journal, nor any of the posts on my education blog posts, have been about teacher pay or the new merit pay system in terms of how it will impact me directly.  They have been about how merit pay is not good for students and Florida’s school system because it is an unfunded initiative, and it creates a “competitive” system that unfairly rewards and punishes teachers.

FACT – You voted for legislation that cut funding to education and cut taxes to businesses and property owners.  Last week, it was reported that Florida’s education budget faces another $1.2 billion shortfall.  According to the article, the primary reason for the budget shortfall was a decrease in revenues from property taxes.

FACT – You supported a bill that was/is unfunded (although it calls for districts to “reward” top performing teachers) and is without the proper testing and assessment measures to do what the law now requires.  In other words, it requires school districts to implement a new teacher evaluation system and more student assessments but does not provide the necessary resources to do so.

Recently, a group of teachers from Indian River County Schools met with Representative Debbie Mayfield to discuss the concerns teachers, administrators and parents have with the new teacher evaluation system and the impact it is already having on student instruction.  After listening to our concerns, Representative Mayfield was asked, “Given what you now know about the impact of SB 736, would you still have voted in favor of it?”  Her response was, “Probably not.”

Representative Proctor, I offer two challenges for you to consider:  One, answer the concerns listed by teachers in our district – without digressing into any Republican rhetoric – in terms of how the Student Success Act will improve education in the State of Florida. Two, explain the mathematical algorithm used to calculate the Valued Added Model (VAM) used to evaluate teachers using student test scores.  In fact, have one of the math professors at your university evaluate it and give a logical, mathematical explanation of how it is unbiased, valid and reliable (The list of concerns and the mathematical algorithm are attached.).

If you accept both of these two challenges – in manner listed above – I vow to do the following:  I will cease to write to you.  I will stop publishing Guest Column pieces in the Press Journal.  I will stop writing my blog.  I will remove my Facebook page – Education is about children, not test scores.

If you decline to accept the two challenges I have presented to you, I vow to do the following:  I will increase my letter writing to you and other state legislators.  I will seek additional media outlets to publish my criticism of the Student Success Act.  I will increase the frequency of my blog posts. 

Nothing I have written or said should be construed by you or anyone to be an “idle threat.”  The word threat – in this political environment – is a poor choice of words on your part.  I have far too much respect for authority to “threaten” anyone.  It is, however, my constitutional right – and I feel my patriotic duty – to question and challenge laws that are not in the best interest of me, my family, my community or the children of the State of Florida.  Franklin, Adams and Jefferson were called traitors for challenging the laws and oppressive rule of the British monarchy.  They are now revered as patriots.  I will not allow you or any elected official to deny me of that right by calling me childish.

Respectfully,


Paul Mucci