Save Our Schools
Protect our public schools
It's time to halt this hasty campaign to take our public schools from our community
When we make decisions for our children we want it to be thoughtful and careful. Forcing parents and teachers to make this enormous, life changing decision without the needed information and no time to understand is a slap in the face of the care we should be giving our children.
We call on the politicians leading this effort to halt this initiative, and if they won't we call on the the parents and teachers of Newberry High, Oak View, and Newberry Elementary to vote no until these critical details are worked out. We do not oppose creating Charter schools in Newberry, but taking our existing schools and forcing charters onto us with little notice is wrong. Many of us moved where we did because of the schools. It is time to halt the Newberry Education First Initiative and find REAL solutions for our children's education.
Vote NO in April to protect our children, teachers, and community from this hasty and poorly planned initiative.
No Transparency
Without any community input or discussion politicians and a small group of people rolled out a slick campaign to be decided in 60 days to fundamentally change our childrens education. There was no study, no engagement, just a sales pitch. We don't know who is paying for this splashy campaign or who will benefit from it being passed. We deserve input and study for big decisions like these.
Few Answers
There are big, unanswered questions like how children will be transported, how this will be paid for, and who will be able to go. The information the non-profit put out on their website is directly contradicted by the Alachua County School Boards FAQ. The plan is half-baked and needs more input before we can take a vote on it.
Hurts Our Schools
According to the school district, this plan will mean deep cuts to our school funding. It will strain the pay of teachers, force kids out of the schools they were zoned for, reduce or end bus transportation, eliminate magnet programs, and more. Until sure answers are given on how these will be addressed we urge a HALT to this hasty plan.
The real answers:
If this passes, when will the change start?
The new charter schools would begin operations in the 2025-26 school year.
The 2024-25 schools would continue to be operated by the Alachua County School Board during the 2024-25 school year while the transition is prepared.
Who will pay for this?
In Pembroke Pines, the city had to cover a $2.1 million dollar shortfall for the school district in 2013. According to this article, “That meant lower pay for two-thirds of teachers. Some teachers at the high-end of the scale saw pay cuts of $18,000 to $20,000. It came as a financial and emotional shock for teachers who always considered Pines charters financially stable.”
Who will be the school board or leadership for this new “district?”
City of Newberry voters would only have an indirect say in the majority of who sits on the governing board. While the City of Archer would get token representation on the governing board. Of note, donors to the political group promoting the charter schools would also get a seat.
Will Newberry be an actual school district?
Technically, no. But all three schools would be under the total control of a governing board that is mostly appointed by the Newberry City Commission and a political group (Education First for Newberry, Incorporated.
What is the role of the City of Newberry in all this?
The City of Newberry will effectively control the majority of the schools' governing board by appointing 3 of the 5 members (the Archer City Commission would appoint 1 member and the political group (Education First for Newberry, Incorporated) promoting the group would appoint 1 member, and therefore the schools will be under the administration of a governing board mostly controlled by the City of Newberry.
What role does the City of Archer Commission have in this?
The City of Archer would get to appoint 1 member of the schools' governing board. But they could be outvoted by the 3 members appointed by the City of Newberry and the 1 member appointed by the political group (Education First for Newberry, Incorporated) promoting the charter schools.
While the proponents have said that they will accept students who live within the city limits, the city commission itself has no say in this and they were not involved or even asked about it.
Importantly, at the quickly scheduled Archer meeting, presumably in response to the outrage of the Archer community, the Yes Newberry campaign announced that they would be forming an official advisory board that would be composed of two residents from the City of Archer, two residents who are not residents of Archer or Newberry, and five residents from the City of Newberry. So, in a nine member board, Newberry residents would have five votes. It’s unclear how those members will be chosen and what if any qualifications they will need.
It is important to note that contrary to what was claimed, governing boards can ignore advisory boards without consequence, otherwise they wouldn’t be called advisory. Just ask anyone who has ever served on a government advisory board.
Will we be able to regulate class size?
The mayor has floated the idea of removing portable classrooms, which the city will likely have to pay to lease, and could result in overcrowding classes even more.
Class size is measured by either individual class or school wide average. Schools of choice, which includes charter schools, may use the school wide average approach. Therefore, most school districts and most charter schools alike use the school wide average for determining class size compliance.
What about the overcrowding?
When the school district tried to do redistricting, the Mayor went to the SBAC and pleaded with them to stop the process. Redistricting would’ve balanced out the student populations so that we wouldn’t have schools that are over capacity while others that are under capacity. Now, the Mayor cites overcrowding as a reason for his plan - a problem he has twice refused to fix when solutions were proposed.
Who is behind the Yes campaign?
Newberry residents may remember a similar Springs County initiative, where a small group of residents wished to turn its small community into its own county. Many of the same supporters wish to remove the public schools from ACPS’ management so that it can have more say in which books are banned and what lessons are taught.
What about the facilities? (The Infamous AC)
Additionally, when employees of schools are hired and allowed to go into a school they are subject to a strict background check to ensure they are safe to be around children. Simply letting on campus any handyman who offers to fix things is a recipe for disaster or tragedy.