Fresh off a year spent snared in gridlock over redistricting and the state budget, the Florida Legislature returns Tuesday for its annual 60-day session with fresh optimism that it will restore harmony to the process and put a halt to taxpayer-funded overtime. The session, set two months earlier than normal, is expected to open with…
AS HE OFTEN DOES WHEN DISCUSSING the merits of education bills before the Legislature, state Sen. Don Gaetz is drawing heavily on his days as a school board member and district superintendent from 1994 to 2006. “For way too long, children with intellectual and physical disabilities have been pushed to the margins of education,” he…
BRADENTON — School impact fees will be collected in April for the first time since 2009 after Manatee County Commission voted 5-2 on Thursday to allow the Manate Conty School Board to reinstate them. School impact fees are collected on new residential development, and can only be used for projects related to building new schools…
TALLAHASSEE — Although Florida lawmakers don’t plan to revamp the beleaguered Florida Standards Assessments this session, they’re likely to consider a related proposal to let students take other standardized tests — like the ACT or SAT — instead. State Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, this week filed a highly anticipated plan to let students make use…
1. Cut Scores and School Grades approved by State Board of Education http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/testing/state-education-board-to-make-key-decisions-today-on-florida-school-grades/2260120 2. Florida high school graduation rates improved http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/floridas-graduation-rate-soars-0?utm_source=Constant%20Contact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=News%20Alert 3. Legislative session starts next week: issues to watch http://miami.cbslocal.com/2016/01/04/10-issues-to-watch-during-the-2016-session/ 4. Tallahassee downtown public parking (see you soon!) http://www.tallahasseedowntown.com/sites/default/files/dntwn_parking_2014.pdf 5. Just for fun: NEW elements added to periodic table http://www.huffingtonpost.com/melanie-fine/our-ephemeral-periodic-table_b_8921490.html Have a great weekend!…
The Constitution Revision Commission is a big deal, and voters should pay attention. This group of unelected appointees will have the power to put constitutional changes directly on the ballot. The CRC is required to meet every 20 years to review and recommend changes to the Florida Constitution. That’s pretty heady stuff. The politically well-connected…
Marion Brady is a veteran educator who has long argued that public education needs a paradigm shift. Brady says schools need a complete transformation in what and how students learn — not the Common Core State Standards, standardized tests and other elements of corporate-influenced school reform. Here’s his latest piece, on efforts by some reformers…
Experts on K-12 education offer their reasons for optimism and pessimism going forward. It’s been a tumultuous year for America’s schools—one marked by an expanding minority-student population, an increasingly discontent teaching force, a backlash against standardized testing, and shifting understanding of education reform. It’s seen greater attention on areas traditionally dismissed as nonessential: things like…
TAMPA — Graduation rates for Florida’s class of 2015 are the highest the state has seen in 12 years, according to data released today by the Florida Department of Education. Statewide, the percentage of students who completed high school within four years of enrolling in ninth grade increased to 77.8 percent – 1.7 percentage points…
TALLAHASSEE — It may sound like a simple process, but the Florida Senate’s random renumbering of all its districts statewide Tuesday touched off a series of complicated twists that one key lawmaker said only adds more chaos to a continuing redistricting saga. Among the impacts: • Pasco County’s chances of having its first ever Florida…