The country’s most ambitious school choice program has been put on hold and potentially stopped permanently after a Nevada judge ordered the state to halt its implementation, just weeks before it was set to begin. In 2015, Brian Sandoval signed the ambitious law that allows any parent with a child who spent at least 100…
TODAY’S HAPPENINGS [NOTE: The bills listed below are linked to the each bill’s website where you can find information about the bill including the bill sponsor, committees of reference, and staff analysis. The committees/subcommittees are linked to each committee’s website where you can find information about the committee including the committee’s leadership, membership and staff,…
We’re back! Today, we resume our FSBA Daily Updates to report on activities each day during the 2016 Legislative Session. These updates are sent to school board members, superintendents, and district staff members as well as hundreds of state and local government officials, parent and citizen advocates, and others who have asked to be included…
Republican Sen. Don Gaetz wants to the Office of Vocational Rehab to do better when it comes to placing people with disabilities in jobs. Monday the Senate’s Higher Education Committee approved a bill requiring vocational rehabilitation to develop a performance improvement plan and submit an annual report card to the Governor and legislature. “Most of…
TALLAHASSEE — National and state advocates are pushing new legislation that would require suicide prevention training for public school teachers after a similar law was repealed as part of Gov. Rick Scott’s 2011 budget cuts. This week, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the Florida Suicide Prevention Coalition plan to hold a vigil at…
TALLAHASSEE — In the past five years, the Florida Legislature has taken $1 billion away from teacher salaries, early education programs and other educational programs to shore up a leaky school construction and maintenance fund. They’re poised to take millions more away this year because the main source for school construction money — a 2.5 percent…
TALLAHASSEE — Charter schools continue to blossom in popularity and in number throughout Florida, but the controversy surrounding them isn’t dissipating in 2016 — especially as “school choice” continues to dominate education policy coming out of the state Capitol. As Republican lawmakers consider plans to make it easier for charter schools to form and also…
Amid heated debate over what Florida Standards Assessment levels mean, the Florida Department of Education has offered up a revamped student score report. It aims to make more clear exactly what a Level 1 through Level 5 mark represents, commissioner Pam Stewart told State Board of Education members Wednesday. “It’s not just a number,” Stewart said,…
An issue that has bedeviled dozens of counties across Florida — including Miami-Dade and Broward — returns to the spotlight this legislative session thanks to a Clearwater senator who has filed a bill that would fix a shamefully inequitable state mandate. In 2004, the Florida Legislature forced 38 counties to pay a portion of the…
With two votes Wednesday, the State Board of Education put to bed a lengthy, heated debate over how difficult Florida’s student testing and school grading formulas should be. Board members made it harder to get a passing score on the tests, and easier for a school to earn an A, just weeks before students begin…