Diverse Congregations, Schools and Community Groups
Working Together for Fairness and Justice

PACT leaders believe that all children can succeed in school, and that our educational system should be accountable for ensuring this success. Since 1994, PACT has been working to improve public education in Miami-Dade.

Past Accomplishments
After completing hundreds of one-on-one visits with fellow parishioners in 1994, PACT members voted to make education reform a top priority of the organization. Parents and grandparents in PACT member congregations were specifically concerned that their children were not learning to read.

In the process of researching possible solutions to low reading performance, PACT found out about the Direct Instruction (DI) reading curriculum, which was helping students from a low-income area in Houston outperform their counterparts in suburban academies.

After a long and sometimes confrontational battle with Miami-Dade school administrators during 1995 and 1996, PACT secured a unanimous vote from the School Board that provided funding and permission for DI to be used in a five-school pilot project. The campaign included a 700-person community action meeting, individual meetings with School Board members, and mobilization of 150 PACT leaders for a key meeting of the School Board.

After positive reports from the five original schools, which began using DI in the 1997-98 school year, the program was expanded to seven additional schools in 1998-99. Test scores have improved steadily at the DI schools, and 92% of teachers surveyed in 1999 felt that their students were learning to read more rapidly using DI than with any other reading program they had ever used.

By February 2000, there was enough momentum to take DI to the statewide level. PACT partnered with sister organizations throughout Florida to hold a 1000-person action in Tampa. PACT brought 379 members on eight buses for the meeting, and the other DART organizations also mobilized their memberships. The campaign, which also included smaller trips to Tallahassee, ultimately delivered $7.25 million for DI, $2.3 million of which came to Miami-Dade schools. Fifteen new schools in Miami-Dade started using DI in the fall of 2001, bringing the total to 27 local public elementary schools that were benefiting from PACT's work.

Current Campaign Focus
All children deserve a high-quality public education. To achieve that vision, PACT is working to: a) support teachers and improve the quality of teaching in the district; b) ensure high-quality literacy instruction, especially for children who are struggling to learn to read; c) strengthen the state’s new Voluntary Universal Pre-Kindergarten (VUPK) program; and d) resolve breakdowns in communication and discipline in the school community.

Support Teachers and Improve Teaching Quality: There are 20,000 teachers in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and 6,000 of them have less than three years of experience. Half of all teachers leave the profession within five years. Many new teachers are recruited who have not had any student teaching experience, and who are unprepared for the challenges they will face. Additionally, most high-poverty, low-performing schools have two or three times as many new teachers as wealthy, high-performing schools. As the population in Miami-Dade continues to grow and as class sizes continue to be reduced, the district will be hiring thousands of new teachers over the next decade. PACT is advocating for the district to adopt a high-quality induction program that will train and mentor new teachers and improve the overall quality of teaching in the district. Investing in a high-quality induction program will be good for the teachers, good for the children, and good for taxpayers. A high-quality induction program costs about $6,000 per teacher. Teacher turnover costs at least $12,000 per teacher—more if you count the negative effects on student achievement. We can invest now, or pay later.

Ensure High-Quality Literacy Instruction: In 1997, PACT got the district to adopt a phonics-based reading program called Direct Instruction as one of four district-approved approaches to literacy instruction. Many elementary schools chose to use the program and improved their grade from “D” or “F” to “A” or “B”. In 2005, Superintendent Dr. Rudy Crew mandated one reading program for all schools and completely eliminated the use of Direct Instruction. What impact is this having on the children? PACT is advocating for the district to prepare a report showing what effect, positive or negative, the new program is having on the children. If the new approach is working well, PACT will support it. If the children are suffering, however, PACT will advocate bringing back Direct Instruction.

Strengthen the state’s new Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) program: Early childhood education is critically important, especially for children who start out behind their peers educationally or who face a disadvantaged home environment. PACT was a key player in pushing for high standards for the state’s new VPK program. We already won much of what we asked for. However, PACT is still pushing for the state legislature to adopt pre and post assessments for the program and to expand funding for the program, especially for children from low-income families. PACT is working with Speaker Designate Marco Rubio and other legislators on this issue.

Resolve breakdowns in communication and discipline: Today, Miami-Dade County Public Schools are facing incidents related to breakdown in communication and discipline. PACT is investigating the types and frequency of these incidents, and how they affect life in the classroom. In the past, PACT’s education committee researched and found that the implementation of Direct Instruction (DI) fostered in the schools allowed for positive student/teacher communication and caused indiscipline to decline. PACT is working with Dade County Public Schools, staff, Police, and the Miami-Dade Police Department on this issue.

Committee Co-Chairs
Hervé Bony (Norland Schools feeder pattern)
Marietsa Revales (Prince of Peace Moravian Church)