JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Duval County Public School board is shelling out thousands of dollars to send some of its board members to the School Board for Academic Excellence (SBAE) education, policy, and training summit.
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The event takes place in Orlando from January 22-24. Its website says sessions include curriculum development and audits, hot topics, strategic planning, and other sessions.
“It just seems like a waste of money,” Susan Aerker said. “The other thing is it seems like they’re pushing a political agenda.”
Aerker describes herself as an advocate for public education. She said growing up in a military family made her appreciate public education. She’s now a grandmother and wants that same appreciation to continue.
She said in listening to the November school board meeting she had concerns.
“They need to be working on balancing the budget. They need to be working on not closing neighborhood schools. They do not need to be focusing on more culture wars,” Aerker said.
On its website, SBAE’s mission is “to restore academic excellence and parental rights in the American education system by building a national network of state-based organizations and school board members dedicated to reforming policies and practices that improve student outcomes in America’s school districts.”
SBAE’s Executive Director, David Hoyt, was appointed to the historical commission by Governor Ron DeSantis, and his work often is featured on Fox News, American Thinker, and RedState. He is also a co-founder of Cornerstone Classical Academy in Jacksonville. The charter school has more than 900 students enrolled.
Five school board members have plans to attend this conference.
The board approved $2,900 to send board members April Carney and Charlotte Joyce to the SBAE conference, back in November. The board is slated to approve $4,350 to send board members Melody Bolduc, Reggie Blount, and Anthony Ricardo, at the December 9th meeting.
We reached out to all seven board members and the district for comment.
“I am not planning to attend SBAE in Orlando. I am not familiar with the organization and cannot comment on the objectives or point of view of this conference.” – Cindy Pearson, District 3.
“I am attending the SBAE Summit in January. Charter schools are also publicly funded schools, and I have not seen anything in the event’s agenda that shows it caters to charters over traditional public schools. This event is to support school board members, not promote a specific type of school choice option. This event is no different than any other non-partisan organization like FSBA, (which the board is attending this week) or the Council of Great City Schools conference which board members attended In October. It is simply another opportunity for our board to receive professional development to better serve the students of DCPS.” – Vice-Chair April Carney, District 2.
The current conference that some members are attending is the Florida School Boards Association. You can see its mission statement HERE.
“It is not uncommon for members of school boards locally and across the state to expend funds in pursuit of professional development and insight from organizations working to improve education. SBAE is a non-profit, non-political organization. See their website for details.” - Melody Bolduc, District 7.
The school district had a similar statement.
“It is not uncommon for members of school boards locally and across the state to expend funds in pursuit of professional development and insight from organizations working to improve education. SBAE is a non-profit, non-political organization.” - Tracy Pierce, DCPS spokesperson.
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