Florida has two groups advocating on behalf of school boards, and they are not always asking for the same things. They disagreed on vouchers — in fact, the Florida Coalition of School Board members split from the larger, more established Florida School Boards Association over that issue — and now they disagree over the 278-page HB…
Add the Florida School Boards Association to the growing list of groups calling for a veto of HB 7069, the mammoth $419 million K-12 public schools bill Republican lawmakers unveiled and passed in the final days of their annual session. In a letter to Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday, the FSBA — which represents 64…
The state Department of Education and school districts are asking the Florida Supreme Court to reject an appeal in a case filed by parents opposed to standardized tests — an issue that involves what is known as the “opt out” movement. The dispute stems from parents who told third-grade students to put their names on…
FSBA Friday Five – May 12, 2017 CLICK HERE
Tallahassee, FL – After a three day extension, Florida’s Legislative Session has come to an end. Watch this FSBA Legislative Weekly Update for highlights, and be sure visit the FSBA Session Spotlight Blog and 2017 Legislative Session page for in-depth summaries, resources, and analyses. Also, be on the lookout for FSBA’s online and face-to-face Legislative Summary events.
The Legislature adjourned the 2017 Legislative Session, sine die, shortly before 9:00 pm this evening having passed each of the budget Conference Reports and tax cut package. As expected, HB 7069 was the only education related Conference Report that generated significant debate, particularly in the Senate. The bill passed the House by an essentially party…
A swift outcry of condemnation came over the weekend from many parents, teachers and school administrators who want the Florida Legislature to reject a $419 million, 278-page K-12 public schools bill — which was decided behind closed doors, which lawmakers cannot change and which they’ll have had only about 72 hours to review when they…
The Legislature will return to work tomorrow — Monday — for the last day of the extended 2017 Legislative Session. The only items that are scheduled to be considered are a bill outlining the state tax cut package (HB 7109) and the Conference Reports on the budget, budget implementing bill, and the related conforming bills. …
Passionate parents, like Kate Asturias of Miami and Angela Browning of Orlando, have been fighting for years to get guaranteed daily recess for their children and the more than 1.2 million other kids in Florida’s public elementary schools. The two moms trekked to Tallahassee on Friday, for the countless time, hoping to see lawmakers finally…
At the insistence of House Speaker Richard Corcoran, numerous major changes to education policy for Florida’s K-12 public schools — from teacher bonuses and daily recess, to testing reforms and expansions for charter schools — were crammed into a single mammoth bill on Friday, with $414 million in spending attached. All of the policies in the…