Kelly Lorbeer
Kelly Lorbeer
was
a candidate for the District 1 seat on the St. Johns County School Board in Florida. She was defeated by incumbent Beverly Slough in the general election on August 26, 2014.
Elections
2014
The August 26, 2014, general election in St. Johns County featured three seats up for election. Incumbent Beverly Slough defeated challenger Kelly Lorbeer for the District 1 seat. District 3 incumbent William "Bill" Mignon also won re-election, defeating challengers Karen Harvey and Ralph D. Klein. In the District 4 race, Kelly Dawn Barrera defeated fellow candidate Nicholas M. Graham.
Results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan |  Beverly Slough Incumbent |
70.6% | 2,884 | |
| Nonpartisan | Kelly Lorbeer | 29.4% | 1,203 | |
| Total Votes | 4,087 | |||
| Source: St. Johns County Supervisor of Elections, "Primary Election Official Results," accessed June 11, 2015 | ||||
Campaign themes
2014
Lorbeer stated the following issue stances on her campaign website. She emphasis was on her opposition to the district's participation in the Race to the Top Grant, and connected her issue stances to that central point.
Race to the Top Grant (RTTT)
| “ | In 2010, the St. Johns County School Board voted 3/2 to commit St. Johns County School District students, teachers, administrators and parents to the Obama Administration’s Race to the Top unfunded federal mandates in exchange for $1.1 million. Parents, students, teachers, administrators and the SJC community was unaware, and had no input in the decision to relinquish local control of education to the federal government and the Obama Administration.
The estimated initial expense to St. John County to implement the federal mandates is between $36 and $50 million. Annual expenses are estimated at $6 million. This means the local School Board or the State of Florida will have to pass massive tax increases to fund all the mandates in the RTTT grants that have been passed into state law. While the RTTT grants for $1.1 million have expired, the mandates live on until the Florida Legislature sends a repeal bill to the Governor to sign. I will work to get the bill repealed. The facts are simple, St Johns County school system wasn’t broken, isn’t broken and the majority of SJC students are performing at or above the standards we already had in place before the State Legislature forced Common Core and all the RTTT mandates on us against our will. Our community proudly wears the distinction of being “Number 1” in the state. If the public school system is not meeting the needs of our students, we need to address the best options for those whose needs are not being met. If the SJC School Board believes it’s a good idea to burden the community with a $50 million tax liability, we should have a discussion about that, a discussion that includes all stakeholders, and leave the Obama Administration out of local decision making.[1] |
” |
| —Lorbeer (2014)[2] | ||
RTTT and Common Core
| “ | Race To The Top grant money required accepting Common Core standards and dictates that curriculum be aligned. Accepting the federal Common Core standards and curriculum relinquished local control over education to the federal government. The Common Core standards and curriculum are not benchmarked, have never been tested and there is absolutely no evidence to indicate they will lead students to success.
This is why the federal government did all of the preparation for Common Core standards and curriculum behind closed doors with absolutely not a word to the public this was in the works. In fact, a language arts and math expert were asked to give their stamp of approval once the standards and curriculum was completed. Both refused to give an endorsement. Parents, teachers and administrators in SJC had no input in the development of Common Core standards or curriculum. This is an unfunded federal government mandate from the Obama administration, imposed on us now through Florida Law by the State Legislature.[1] |
” |
| —Lorbeer (2014)[2] | ||
RTTT and Charter Schools
| “ | Race To The Top mandates redistribution of financial and human resources from local public schools to fund Charter Schools. The mandates are based on the theory of “Social Justice” and requires redistribution of the educational resources of the local district on an arbitrary model solely based on the predetermination that test scores will indicate disparity in the allocation of resources. At its most absurd possibility, the federal mandate could require shifting all “highly effective” teachers to the lowest performing schools.
Parents, teachers and administrators in SJC had no input in the redistribution of financial and human resources to Charter Schools. This is an unfunded federal government mandate from the Obama administration, imposed on us now through Florida Law by the State Legislature.[1] |
” |
| —Lorbeer (2014)[2] | ||
RTTT and Teacher Evaluation
| “ | Race To The Top eliminates any sense of job security for Teachers when evaluating them on the Value Added Model. This should be called the VooDoo Added Model, because like all the mandates in RTTT, VAM has never been tested. Teacher assessments are tied to “student growth and student assessment scores” without any testing of the validity of the model. By law, the Teacher Evaluation mandates retention, hiring and merit pay decisions. Teachers will be evaluated and scored on students they have never taught.
Additionally, this will lead to teachers’ teaching to the test from fear of losing their jobs or losing pay increases. Today, Teachers and Principals fear losing their jobs if they speak against the federal mandates, especially Common Core. Parents, teachers and administrators in SJC had no input in the untested evaluation model tied to student performance. This is an unfunded federal government mandate from the Obama administration, imposed on us now through Florida Law by the State Legislature.[1] |
” |
| —Lorbeer (2014)[2] | ||
RTTT and Data Collection and Storage
| “ | Race To The Top mandates the collection and storage of over 400 data points on each student. The data will include student household income, religion, parental political affiliation, health records, behavior issues, finger and palm prints and retina scan to name just a few. It may even be used to track students DNA. Once collected, parents have no control over how the data collected is used or who can have access to the data.
In fact, the same year RTTT was adopted, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) was changed to allow almost anyone the federal government authorizes to have access to data collection records without parental consent. Parents, teachers and administrators in SJC had no input in the decision to collect and store data on our children. This is an unfunded federal government mandate from the Obama administration, imposed on us now through Florida Law by the State Legislature.[1] |
” |
| —Lorbeer (2014)[2] | ||
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Kelly + Lorbeer + St. + Johns + Schools + Florida"
See also
External links
Footnotes
| 2014 St. Johns County School District Elections | |
| St. Johns County, Florida | |
| Election date: | August 26, 2014 |
| Candidates: | District 1: • Kelly Lorbeer • Beverly Slough District 3: • Karen Harvey • Ralph D. Klein • William "Bill" Mignon |
| Important information: | Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
