At mid-day today, FSBA participated in a press conference announcing bi-partisan support for SB 964 relating to assessment and accountability. The bill is sponsored by Senator Bill Montford and co-sponsored by Senators Tom Lee, Debbie Mayfield, Rene Garcia, Linda Stewart, and Audrey Gibson. The legislation infuses common sense into our assessment and accountability system without…
A complicated and controversial measure to change how Florida’s 4,300 public schools get taxpayer money for construction and maintenance projects is limping through the Florida Senate, advancing even as lawmakers agree it needs a lot more work before it might become law. Senators behind the measure (SB 376) envision the final bill would have two…
Florida should inject “common sense” into its school testing system by scrapping some required state exams and providing “stressed out” teachers and students the relief they need, a bipartisan group of state senators said today. Read More
The School Board of Broward County became the first district in South Florida to pass a resolution that makes school grounds and education-related activities, such as sports tournaments or even prom, safe zones for immigrant students and their families. Read More
At the end of a 2-hour meeting dominated by discussion on charter school funding and mandatory recess, Senate PreK-12 Appropriations chairman David Simmons introduced one page of proposed cuts to public education. The $46.3 million list is “simply a starting point for our budget discussions,” which will occur over the next two weeks, Simmons told…
Nearly 9,000 young people were arrested last year in Florida instead of being issued a civil citation and released, even though they qualified for the lesser punishment. About half of all the juvenile offenders who qualified for civil citations statewide did not receive them, according to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, and the use…