Hmmmm......

I didn't see geography on his list of favorite classes.

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Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

Wow, my first time checking back on this thread since my last post. I didn’t return after I gave the guy who started this thread the information he was looking for. It seems that this thread has now turned into a bash DCPS thread. Since I’ve worked in education for over a decade including small/medium districts and larger districts like Duval, and since I have very close friends/colleagues who work in St. John’s and Clay I guess I’ll add my two cents in some defense of Duval.

 

 

First, IMO comparing Duval to St. John’s or Clay isn’t fair at all. They aren’t similar is enrollment size, budget, socioeconomic stats, footprint, diversity, etc., etc., etc. Only people who don’t understand the big picture would make comparisons based only on proximity. A more fair comparison for Clay and St. John’s would be to rank them against their peer districts around the state. To be honest, when doing this, St. John’s will still rank as among the best if not the very best and Clay will be slightly above middle of the pack. Duval’s peers would be the likes of Orange, Hillsborough, Broward, etc. When making this more fair comparison, Duval does pretty OK. Yet, it still has a ways to go to get to the top of the pack amongst the large districts.

 

 

Some people here dump on DCPS as if it has no success stories when I know it has many. Though I personally have some issues with them, no one could argue that Duval has one of the best magnet programs around. I’m also not a big fan of school rankings but for this discussion it should be noted that two of Duval’s high schools are in the top 100 for the nation and three are in the top 20 for the state. The same can’t be said of any of the other districts in this region of the state. D.A. was ranked as the #1 performing arts high school in the whole nation recently. And you don’t have to be magnet either, as there are a number of A & B rated elementary, middle, and high schools in the districts that are regular comprehensive neighborhood schools. So if you live on the “right side(s) of town” you can have your child go to highly rated neighborhood schools just like you can in Clay and St. John. Duval also has more teachers with advanced degrees, and more who are nationally board certified.

 

 

Unfortunately, the successes of Duval are too often over shadowed by the issues it still face, many of which aren’t issues in the surrounding counties either at all or to the same degree. Also, the media here does an awesome job reporting negative stories in the district while a poor job covering its achievements. I blame DCPS for this in part.   

 

 

As far as personnel, as with any large company/agency you’re going to have some who are dynamic, most who are good, some who aren’t very good, and a few who should be fired. I can tell you I’ve worked with people who left to go to Clay, St. John’s, and Nassau. Many wanted to go because they thought the grass would be greener, some left because they lived in those counties and wanted to be closer to home, etc. While some of them have said they liked their new districts more, at least half said it was no better/worse and some said it was better in Duval. There also are teachers who leave Clay and St. John’s and come to Duval so it works both ways.

 

In a nutshell, the best way to sum this up is individual results WILL vary. There are delighted, pleased, content, unsatisfied, and very unsatisfied parents, students, and employees in every district. Just because one of you had a great or a horrible experience doesn’t mean that someone else will.

 

 

Lastly, public education policy and funding in this state is atrocious. It irks me to no end that someone running as the “education governor” has cut per-pupil funding to levels below his predecessor, played a shell game with teacher pay, and supported unfunded mandate after unfunded mandate and the general public is mostly clueless to his exploits. For all the ills, large districts like Duval, and small districts like Nassau may have, fixing them starts at the very top which in this case is Tallahassee. Until they listen to the needs of the districts (which vary) and pass policy and funding to satisfy those needs they can’t be surprised when they get unspectacular results. Still, Florida is the best in public education in the Southeast, which should tell you something about the state of public education in the Southeast. 

 

 

Sorry for the long post. A lot was said since I last posted in this thread last week I wanted to touch on as many points as possible.

 

 

Peace.

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# EVEN IF HE'S RELEASED

Wow, my first time checking back on this thread since my last post. I didn’t return after I gave the guy who started this thread the information he was looking for. It seems that this thread has now turned into a bash DCPS thread. Since I’ve worked in education for over a decade including small/medium districts and larger districts like Duval, and since I have very close friends/colleagues who work in St. John’s and Clay I guess I’ll add my two cents in some defense of Duval.

 

 

First, IMO comparing Duval to St. John’s or Clay isn’t fair at all. They aren’t similar is enrollment size, budget, socioeconomic stats, footprint, diversity, etc., etc., etc. Only people who don’t understand the big picture would make comparisons based only on proximity. A more fair comparison for Clay and St. John’s would be to rank them against their peer districts around the state. To be honest, when doing this, St. John’s will still rank as among the best if not the very best and Clay will be slightly above middle of the pack. Duval’s peers would be the likes of Orange, Hillsborough, Broward, etc. When making this more fair comparison, Duval does pretty OK. Yet, it still has a ways to go to get to the top of the pack amongst the large districts.

 

 

Some people here dump on DCPS as if it has no success stories when I know it has many. Though I personally have some issues with them, no one could argue that Duval has one of the best magnet programs around. I’m also not a big fan of school rankings but for this discussion it should be noted that two of Duval’s high schools are in the top 100 for the nation and three are in the top 20 for the state. The same can’t be said of any of the other districts in this region of the state. D.A. was ranked as the #1 performing arts high school in the whole nation recently. And you don’t have to be magnet either, as there are a number of A & B rated elementary, middle, and high schools in the districts that are regular comprehensive neighborhood schools. So if you live on the “right side(s) of town” you can have your child go to highly rated neighborhood schools just like you can in Clay and St. John. Duval also has more teachers with advanced degrees, and more who are nationally board certified.

 

 

Unfortunately, the successes of Duval are too often over shadowed by the issues it still face, many of which aren’t issues in the surrounding counties either at all or to the same degree. Also, the media here does an awesome job reporting negative stories in the district while a poor job covering its achievements. I blame DCPS for this in part.   

 

 

As far as personnel, as with any large company/agency you’re going to have some who are dynamic, most who are good, some who aren’t very good, and a few who should be fired. I can tell you I’ve worked with people who left to go to Clay, St. John’s, and Nassau. Many wanted to go because they thought the grass would be greener, some left because they lived in those counties and wanted to be closer to home, etc. While some of them have said they liked their new districts more, at least half said it was no better/worse and some said it was better in Duval. There also are teachers who leave Clay and St. John’s and come to Duval so it works both ways.

 

In a nutshell, the best way to sum this up is individual results WILL vary. There are delighted, pleased, content, unsatisfied, and very unsatisfied parents, students, and employees in every district. Just because one of you had a great or a horrible experience doesn’t mean that someone else will.

 

 

Lastly, public education policy and funding in this state is atrocious. It irks me to no end that someone running as the “education governor” has cut per-pupil funding to levels below his predecessor, played a shell game with teacher pay, and supported unfunded mandate after unfunded mandate and the general public is mostly clueless to his exploits. For all the ills, large districts like Duval, and small districts like Nassau may have, fixing them starts at the very top which in this case is Tallahassee. Until they listen to the needs of the districts (which vary) and pass policy and funding to satisfy those needs they can’t be surprised when they get unspectacular results. Still, Florida is the best in public education in the Southeast, which should tell you something about the state of public education in the Southeast. 

 

 

Sorry for the long post. A lot was said since I last posted in this thread last week I wanted to touch on as many points as possible.

 

 

Peace.

 

All of that doesn't change the reality if the guys wife is moving to this area life will be easier if she lands a job teaching outside of Duval.

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All of that doesn't change the reality if the guys wife is moving to this area life will be easier if she lands a job teaching outside of Duval.

I tend to agree, but I appreciate generation J's thorough response. It certainly provides perspective.

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Do not overlook Georgia to the immediate North.

 

Camden County would be a good choice to apply to also.

 

I live in Nassau County in Florida and my wife is a teacher there, she concurrs with Camden, GA; St. Johns, Clay, Duval.

 

If you are not tied immediately to Jacksonville, Flagler County, FL would be a good prospect.

 

Good Luck and welcome to Duvalllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!

 

HeadSlap

 

ps;  why are you relocating from "Ratchet City" this Nawlins Native want's to know

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When they have no time,  they think about it!

When they go down hard, they think about it!

 

Just watch Peyton, Andrew, Caep even Mr. Bundchen.

Flagler County does have some excellent schools, I'd also advise anyone to stay out of Putnam County Schools. I believe Putnam county is rated as one of the worse counties for education in the state, it's pretty bad around here.

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I tend to agree, but I appreciate generation J's thorough response. It certainly provides perspective.

Very well, thought out response. I will also add that Duval has more nationally board certified teachers because of the sheer number of teachers compared to Clay and St. Johns counties. It was pointed out the district size being a hindrance in some aspects, but in this case, it inflates the number because of overall number of teachers in the county.

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TravC59, aka JacksJags. @TravC59 on Twitter
;
; "This is really good, you want a bite, Honey?"

Of the surrounding counties, if public school is the goal, Duval would be the last of the local counties I'd recommend applying to.  St. Johns is pretty much the top of the heap in this area, but as they continue to grow, they're going to start to struggle as well. 

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Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.