FSBA LEGISLATIVE VIDEO UPDATE #2 Our Video Update for the 5th week of the 2015 Legislative Session has been posted on the FSBA website at www.fsba.org – you may access the video by clicking on the link to 2015 Legislative Session Video Update 5 under “Legislative Session Updates” (located below the pictures on our main page)…
School choice in the form of charter schools offers parents good options for their children’s education. But corporate welfare in the form of taxpayer-funded construction of private facilities is another matter entirely. Once again, the Legislature is on track to favor charters over public schools, with the House considering diverting tens of millions of dollars…
After nearly two months of negotiating behind closed doors, Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., the chairman and ranking member of the education committee, appear to be nearing consensus on major pieces of a bipartisan draft to overhaul the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, according to sources. In what seems to be a…
For the eighth time in 12 years, Florida lawmakers are looking to roll back voters’ wishes for smaller class sizes. Backed by school districts that struggle annually to meet the strict caps, the Legislature is poised to end penalties for school districts when classes get too big. Instead, fines would apply when schools don’t reach…
The state Senate vote 32-4 to approve a measure that aims to reduce the number of tests students in Florida’s public schools take each year. The move came after several hours of fiery debate and promises from lawmakers that they will continue to evaluate the state’s testing and accountability system. “Several colleagues have come to…
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Responding to the ongoing backlash about Florida’s standardized testing, the Florida Senate on Thursday passed a sweeping bill that would place limits on the use of tests in the state’s public schools. The vote followed two days of debate during which some leading Republican senators said that the state had gone too…
Florida’s public schools should be able to start new school years as early as Aug. 10 — two weeks earlier than they can open this year — Florida Senate leaders say, agreeing to a plan already approved by the House. The reason it changed was a grass roots effort in South Florida by a group…
After weaving its way through several committees and hours of debate on the Senate floor, a bill to limit standardized testing in Florida was finally approved by the Senate on Thursday, passing 32-4. SB 616, sponsored by Sen. John Legg, R-Lutz, cuts back on statewide standardized testing and would completely eliminate the required 11th-grade Florida…