This Video Update features FSBA Interim Executive Director Bill Graham discussing how the current state budget impasse impacts school districts and proposed legislation relating to hazardous walking conditions — HB 41 & SB 154. In addition, FSBA Director of Board Development Andrea Messina discusses proposed legislation relating to government accountability — HB 1063 &…
Not much, actually. The Florida House and Senate have different proposals on 2015-16 school spending, each of which differs slightly from what Gov. Rick Scott requested. But discussions to reach consensus haven’t begun. Ruth Melton from the Florida School Boards Association described it best in her daily update to members: Normally, at this point in…
When the first session under Republican rule ended, House Speaker Daniel Webster and Senate President Toni Jennings sat at a tiny table in the Capitol rotunda and Gov. Lawton Chiles poured orange juice for their toast to a new political era. It wasn’t that everybody agreed with the two Orland Republicans presiding over the Legislature.…
In a calculated and largely fireworks-free markup of a bipartisan Elementary and Secondary Education Act rewrite, members of the U.S. Senate education committee approved the measure 22-0 Thursday amid much back-slapping and promises to continue working across the aisle. “The vote today is about how we conducted this markup,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., the chairman…
The Independent Benefits Council (IBC) earned high marks for its School Employee Saver campaign website and contests on Thursday at the annual Florida Public Relations Association (FPRA) Capital Chapter Image Awards, winning an Image Award and an Award of Distinction, respectively. The IBC brings together the Florida Education Association, the Florida Association of School Administrators,…