Public schools in Florida in general are far under par with public schools of other states.

I have three children who have transferred to Florida Schools from Texas and I have watched their grades, attitudes and behavior turn for the worse.

We started out in a charter school in Pinellas County. It had a lot of potential, but the curriculum was so far behind what my children were used to, they were only able to excel in their Greek, Spanish, and Art classes, because they were not being challenged in their academic classes.

Florida public schools focus on an FCAT curriculum that they study for the whole year like prisoners, and there is no room for "creative teaching methods" within that curriculum.

Also, if a child breaks the rules, they suspend them after several warnings, and even though it affects their grades, it does not keep them from passing up to the next grade level. This means that they can pretty much do what they want without concern for any consequences.

This year I had to take my kids out of the charter school and put them into a public school in Pasco County because the charter school does not provide a bus that will pick up more than 4 miles from the school.

This school is filled with cowards for teachers who by curriculum cannot challenge the kids in class.

At least the Charter school had foreign language, music and art, and a little PE.

This school does not provide anything other than a sad excuse for an art class.

I recommend private schools if you've got $5,000 - $10,000 per child to spend or homeschooling if you are a Florida parent transferring from out of state.

You can get a years curriculum from Barnes and Noble for around 25 dollars, there are resources on the web to fill in any gaps, and have your child take an art class or martial arts, or something else for social development.

The Florida public school work is enough to fill up less than an hour of their day, I know, my kids have taken their work home and finished in time to spend the rest of the day annoying my husband for something to do.

It's no wonder the teachers are having a hard time keeping their attention.

And BEWARE parents of out of state transfers! The school counselors are all about trying to convince you that your rambunctious child who is giving them grief is either Autistic, has ADHD, or is just plain stupid.

My sons teacher told me that he was only reading at a first grade level because he refused to complete some test for her because it was (to quote him) "stupid."

Then he read, out loud and damn near verbatim, an email that I was typing to her that had vocabulary far more advanced than a first grade level, and laughed at the sarcastic tone that I was using to address her.