Melissa Ross
As former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush continues to take heat over calling Common Core education standards “poisonous,” Duval County’s superintendent is taking a more positive spin about the new state curriculum being unveiled this fall.
“We’re going to see another level of instruction at the elementary level, especially when it comes to writing and reading,” Superintendent Nikolai Vitti says.
“In math, the curriculum will lead to the teaching of the new standards with more ease. That will lead to a higher level of engagement and believe it or not, enjoyment of math,” he said during an appearance on WJCT’s First Coast Connect.
The education standards adopted by 43 states that aim to ensure students’ proficiency in English and math remain controversial in Florida. This, even though most students across the state will be learning math and language arts in new ways when they head back to class this month.
In the Sunshine State, politics demand that Common Core isn’t even called Common Core, but Florida Standards. Yet school districts and the state have spent millions training teachers to implement the changes.
Vitti is bullish on Florida Standards, with its stronger emphasis on critical thinking skills that he argues students will need to compete in a wired global economy.
To that end, he announced that districtwide, all Duval schools will now have wireless connections. Tweaks have also been made to the Student Code of Conduct to reduce fighting among students.
And Vitti is partnering with Jacksonville Pastor John Guns on a male mentoring program in the school district.
“The partnership with Pastor Guns has led to our teachers and principals feeling that they’re not on an island. To see that many men show up at schools leaves them knowing people care. That extra support leads to mentoring and stronger relationships,” he said.
“We’re also going to have ‘Young Guns’ male mentors with at-risk students in elementary schools, and also roll out a ‘5,000 Role Models’ program focusing on mentoring in the upper grades.”
Vitti was hired away from Miami to be a change agent for Duval County Public Schools, and to stem the tide of parents fleeing for St. Johns County or placing their children in charters. With a deal that now extends until the end of 2019, he’s been given more time and a vote of confidence to implement reforms intended to improve student achievement.
At the same time, his blunt, take-no-prisoners style hasn’t always won the loyalty of the educators he leads.
Vitti acknowledges the criticisms, but only to a point.
“Every day I wake up and it’s about children.”
