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Rick and Keith Speak to Dr. Lawrence Gray about the new Florida B.E.S.T. Math Standards. What will they be like? How will it be different than Common Core Math? How will it affect teachers and how they educate our kids? Parents in the State of Florida have waited a long time for this moment. Find out EVERYTHING you need to know about the latest exciting news in the education of our kids in Florida! Dr. Lawrence Gray: https://math.umn.edu/directory/lawrence-gray Florida Citizens Alliance: https://floridacitizensalliance.com/liberty/

Often we talk about standards, but why are they so important and what should we look for? Mark Bauerlein joins Rick and Keith on the podcast! He is an English professor at Emory University and senior editor of First Things journal. There is exciting news about the new standards in Florida, but what should we be looking for and what will be the best for our kids? Find out more on today's show. Mark Bauerlein: http://english.emory.edu/home/people/faculty/faculty_pages/bauerlein%20emeriti.html Florida Citizens Alliance Website:https://floridacitizensalliance.com/liberty/  

When A Government Entity interacts with our children, we must know and understand what is happening. Rick and Keith speak with Erin Grall, Florida State Representative from District 54, about The Parents Bill Of Rights. They discuss why this is such an important bill moving through the House and Senate this legislative session. They talk about the details and how you can get involved in helping promote parental involvement and how we can bring families back to the center of decision making. HB 1059 : http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2020/1059/ByCategory Rep. Erin Grall: https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4637&LegislativeTermId=87    

The health of our kids is vitally important, both mental and physical. Rick and Keith speak with Bonnie Bee from The Mustard Seed Ranch of Florida. They work to foster positive mentoring relationships with youth that are in need of support. The purpose of each interaction will be to encourage the development of healthy self-esteem, self-respect and decision-making tools. Learn more about this great endeavor and how you can help. Visit Their Website - https://www.tmsrf.org/ Visit The FLCA Website - https://floridacitizensalliance.com/liberty/

Rick and Keith have been following the Parental Consent Bill on Abortion in Tallahassee with great interest. The concern is that too many people are not following what specifically is happening at the moment. Anthony Verdugo is with The Christian Family Coalition of Florida and he joins the podcast to discuss in detail what this bill is all about. Our children have to be held closely and carefully before the age of maturity. So why is there such pushback against parental consent before having an abortion? Who are the forces fighting this common-sense legislation? Find out on today's show. Christian Family Coalition of Florida "The Christian Family Coalition works to introduce pro-family legislation at the state and local levels of government. We inform and educate citizens on where candidates stand on the issues that affect the traditional family unit." Follow HB 265  

Rick and Keith are joined by Steve Vernon, an FLCA board member, to catch up on some of the bills in Tallahassee. The first is HJR 157 which is about term limits for school board members. Next, they discuss HB 265 regarding parental consent for abortion. Also, HB 341 which talks about the study of the Bible and Religion. These are very tough and controversial bills but what exactly are the details and how good a chance do they have of passing? Follow These Bills HJR 157 HB 265 HB 341

Rick welcomes Florida State Representative Bob Rommel to the podcast to talk about the Electoral College. There has been a discussion as of late to have a National Popular Vote to control the Presidential election. Is it a fair process? What would the founders think? They go into great detail about this debate and what Florida is doing to shore up election integrity on today's episode.   Learn more about Bob Rommel Florida Citizens Alliance From Archives.Gov: "The Electoral College is a process, not a place. The founding fathers established it in the Constitution as a compromise between election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens. The Electoral College process consists of the selection of the electors, the meeting of the electors where they vote for President and Vice President, and the counting of the electoral votes by Congress. The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President. Your state’s entitled allotment of electors equals the number of members in its Congressional delegation: one for each member in the House of Representatives plus two for your Senators. Read more about the allocation of electoral votes. Under the 23rd Amendment of the Constitution, the District of Columbia is allocated 3 electors and treated like a state for purposes of the Electoral College. For this reason, in the following discussion, the word “state” also refers to the District of Columbia. Each candidate running for President in your state has his or her own group of electors. The electors are generally chosen by the candidate’s political party, but state laws vary on how the electors are selected and what their responsibilities are. Read more about the qualifications of the Electors and restrictions on who the Electors may vote for. The presidential election is held every four years on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. You help choose your state’s electors when you vote for President because when you vote for your candidate you are actually voting for your candidate’s electors."  

It seems like many people talk about Standard Reform in our schools, but have a hard time understanding the details. Rick welcomes Ted Rebarber to the podcast. He is the CEO of AccountabilityWorks. They discuss how well-designed accountability and assessment systems are vital to raising student achievement and ensuring that all students receive the benefit of a high-quality education. What can standards reform really accomplish? What can we hope for with true reform? Learn how Common Core has truly affected our students and what we can do to remedy the situation on today's episode.   AccountabilityWorks   Theodor Rebarber, CEO trebarber@accountabilityworks.org Theodor Rebarber is CEO and founder of AccountabilityWorks. Before that, he was co-founder and chief education officer of a charter school management company that achieved high test score gains with disadvantaged students. Previously, Rebarber developed and passed standards and charter schools legislation as a legislative director in Congress, managed test development at a system of privately-managed public schools, developed policy on standards-based reform at the U.S. Department of Education, and researched education policy at the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies (VIPPS).               

This is a topic that Rick and Keith are incredibly passionate about. It's The Hope Scholarship. We all want the best learning experience for our children, but what if they are being harassed or bullied? More than 50,000 students are subject to what we call bullying! Beginning with the 2018-2019 school year, a student enrolled in a Florida public school in kindergarten through grade 12 who has been subjected to an incident of battery; harassment; hazing; bullying; kidnapping; physical attack; robbery; sexual offenses, harassment, assault, or battery; threat or intimidation; or fighting at school the opportunity to transfer to another public school with capacity or enroll in an approved private school under the Hope Scholarship. Find out what steps you need to take on today's episode.   The Hope Scholarship   Hector Manley sex abuse case, Collier schools' response angers parents From the article: Parents interviewed had little to no knowledge of the Manley case; a few had heard about it, and only from media coverage. “It’s not right,” Raina Antonio-Jose said in Spanish as she walked her child home from school last spring. “They should have informed the parents so that we are aware of what is going on with our kids at the school.”  Antonio-Jose heard about Manley’s arrest on a Facebook post linking to an article about him. “The school did not tell me anything,” Antonio-Jose said. Parents at Parkside Elementary School say they feel in the dark because of the lack of communication from the school district about a sexual abuse case.      

Things are beginning to accelerate leading into the 2020 Legislative Session! Rick and Keith have 29 meetings in Tallahassee working for you! They talk about 5 important issues facing teachers and parents, including the Governors' teacher pay raise, The Hope Scholarship, Novel content in school media centers, the DOE listening tours, and the AIR assessment on Common Core. Find out more about these critical issues and how YOU can help FLCA today on today's episode!   Florida Standards Listening Tour Florida Standards Review Info The Hope Scholarship

It's not the teachers, it's the unions! Rick and Keith welcome Rebecca Friedrichs to the podcast. She is a twenty-eight-year public school teacher who formed "For Kids And Country". It is a national movement of parents, teachers, students, faith leaders, and citizens uniting to restore our schools and culture. She talks about how the teachers' unions are the ones who have destroyed our schools and American values. Learn about how, by overpowering the teaching profession, state and national unions have transformed our schools. What exactly is happening and what can parents and teachers do to stop this? Find out on today's episode of The Florida Citizens Alliance Podcast!   For Kids And Country Buy "Standing Up To Goliath"

The season is ramping up towards the Legislative Session in Tallahassee, and sometimes people don't realize that the legislative season is almost all year round. Rick and Keith talk about the importance of Legislative Delegation Meetings. By Law, all of the legislators of each county have to come together and have a formal hearing. Along with the help of 3 of Florida Citizens Alliance volunteers, they describe the process of these meetings in detail. How can you get involved? What is the procedure and how can you address these legislators on behalf of FLCA? Learn the details of this very important process and how you can help on today's episode!  

Many people do not realize this, but the work of the Legislature starts long before they convene in Tallahassee! Rick and Keith talk about the beginning of committee week and what it means to the process. Together, they bring up the importance of our elected officials to hear from you before session begins. Plus, they lay out the 8 issues on the FLCA Legislative Agenda, including standards, school choice, bullying, school safety, instructional materials and much more. Learn the details of their agenda and how you can help to ensure the State of Florida succeeds in providing a World Class Education to our students! 2020 Legislative Agenda Support Governor DeSantis’ Executive Order 19-32 to write world-class standards and adopt aligned curriculum. These distinctively Florida standards and curriculum will focus on teaching the academic basics of reading, writing, math and civics while eliminating Social-Emotional Learning. Expand parental choice options and eligibility for the Gardiner, Hope, Tax Credit and Family Empowerment Scholarships. Make public schools safe for every child. Improve the legal definition of Instructional Materials used in public schools as textbooks and online, supplemental and library materials. Strengthen Florida’s statutes to protect minors in our schools from exposure to pornographic material. Our children must be legally protected from harmful materials. Incentivize failing school districts to adopt alternative models such as proven IDEA schools and Hillsdale’s Barney program. Advocate for alternate authorizers of K-12 public schools. Align teacher certification with Florida’s new world-class standards and curriculum.

Rick and Keith had a chance to visit with Florida state legislators and talk about education at the Christian Family Coalition Family Legislative Breakfast in Doral. It was an exciting and informative day! Together, they had a chance to speak with Florida State Senator Dennis Baxley, Florida State Rep. Ana Maria Rodriguez and Dr. Karen Gushta about the upcoming legislative session and some of the important educational issues we face. Plus, one Florida teacher has a surprising start to the new school year for his kids!  Park Vista Community High School teacher sings a song to help shake first day jitters Learn More About FLCA  

Rick and Keith felt it was so important that parents realize the Florida educational scholarships available that they decided to spend a full episode on it! They talk to Drew Steele from 92.5 Fox News radio in Fort Myers and Naples. Together, they discuss some major changes in the reading curriculum that the Governor announced recently. Do you know about the Gardiner Scholarship? Did you hear about the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship / Family Empowerment Scholarship? How about The Hope Scholarship? These are all available to you right now and can be a tremendous help for Florida families. Find out all about them on today's episode.   The Florida Citizens Alliance

Rick and Keith begin the podcast by talking about some amazing events coming up in education that you won't want to miss! Plus, they discuss an inspiring story from Dan Bongino. He is a former Secret Service agent, Fox News contributor, and host of "The Dan Bongino Show". He talks about how educational choice in his life allowed him to be where he is today. It's an incredible story that will explain more why choice in education is so critical today. Also, Keith updates us on Florida Educational Scholarships that you may not know about! It's all on today's episode.   Get Tickets to See Dan Bongino Step Up For Students

When it comes to education, is there an unhealthy obsession with standards? Mark Bauerlein joins Rick and Keith on the podcast! He is an English professor at Emory University and senior editor of First Things journal. Together, they talk about how progressive ideas came into education and became institutionalized in our public schools. It led to the deterioration of student learning. Why was a particular common core standard supported by the professor never included in the education system? They discuss the importance of teachers focusing on ELA and how students can thrive with the right reading curriculum. It's an incredible dive into school standards on today's episode! Learn More About Mark Bauerlein Buy "The Dumbest Generation"

We begin this week's episode with an update on Mason Classical Academy in Naples and the battle with the Collier County School Board.  Joining the podcast this week is Marion County Superintendent Dr. Heidi Maier.  We touch on a number of subjects ranging from embracing the Florida state motto "In God We Trust" in her schools, the details of Pathway A and how Marion County adopted their own curriculum, which has become extremely successful in a short amount of time.  Dr. Maier discusses the importance of supporting the county's teachers while the changes were implemented.  A fascinating discussion with a true trailblazer in our state.       Learn more about Dr.Heidi Maier

Across the country, there is a battle going on over Charter Schools. What is a Charter School and why are there certain individuals and groups who want to see them go away? Kelly Lichter joins Rick and Keith on today's podcast. She is the founder of Mason Classical Academy in Naples and she knows first hand about the battles that are being fought over charter schools. Mason Classical is the Number 1 public school in the county and one of the highest performing Charter Schools in the state. So why does the Collier Country Public Schools want their charter pulled? Kelly describes in detail the issues with the district and the facts behind their investigation on this very important episode of The Florida Citizens Alliance Podcast!   Learn more about MCA Florida Citizens Alliance

Have you heard about Social Emotional Learning? Well, it's been around for a while, but now it is getting repackaged. Why should you be concerned? Dr. Karen Effrem is with Education Liberty Watch and she joins the show.  Together, they talk about how social-emotional learning (SEL) should not be part of the new standards, despite the effort to make it so. How is it being presented now? Are Common Core and SEL linked? SEL would further erode the fundamental right of parents to control the education and upbringing of their children due to unjustified expansion of the schools beyond their basic mission of academics. Learn more about SEL plus an exciting announcement all on today's podcast! An Evening With Dan Bongino Read the White Page Summary How Common Core and SEL are already tightly linked Meet ‘Social-Emotional Learning’: New Education Fad, Same As The Old Fads