Palm Beach County schools: Parents are rebelling
Protests against Palm Beach County schools' new policies are getting pretty intense.
The city of Boca Raton is considering converting schools in the city to charter schools so they can be free of the Palm Beach County School District. Websites and Facebook groups are popping up all over the place, including For Our Kids, United, Palm Beach County Parents for Educational Reform, and Testing is not Teaching. Parents are dressing their kids in orange this week to support teachers and show their disapproval of district policies.
The protests stem from several radical new practices implemented this year, including "embedded assessments," or frequent testing of skills learned, and "departmentalization," in which elementary school kids change classes like they are in middle school.
My kids are tired of all the testing, so I hope these parents can get the school district to allow schools more autonomy. Why not give principals the discretion to decide what's needed for their students? Unfortunately, I have little hope my fellow parents will be able to rock this bureaucracy.
Gretchen Day-Bryant has a son in high school and a daughter in middle school. She’s lived to tell about the struggles of juggling little kids and work.
Joy Oglesby has a preschooler...
Cindy Kent Fort Lauderdale mother of three. Her kids span in ages from teenager to 20s.
Rafael Olmeda and his wife welcomed their first son in Feb. 2009, and he's helping raise two teenage stepdaughters.
Lois Solomon lives in Boca Raton with her husband and three daughters.
Georgia East is the parent of a five-year-old girl, who came into the world weighing 1 pound, 13 ounces.
Brittany Wallman is the mother of Creed, 15, and Lily, 7, and is married to a journalist, Bob Norman. She covers Broward County government, which is filled with almost as much drama as the Norman household. Almost.
Chris Tiedje is the Social Media Coordinator and the father of a 7-year-old girl, and two boys ages 4 and 3.
Kyara Lomer Camarena has a 2-year-old son, Copelan, and a brand new baby. 
South Florida Parenting is your guide for local events and things to do with your family. Our site offers resources, features and insightful columns on all types of parenting issues.
Parents and their children can access a multitude of free educational resources.