Florida School Boards Association
Florida teachers’ unions are planning to sue the state over a new law that threatens their long-term survival. Unions’ right to collectively bargain for their members has been enshrined in the state constitution since 1968 and state law since 1974. The legislation followed a massive teacher walkout in 1968 — the first statewide teacher strike…
Looking at the new requirements coming down to school districts this year as part of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act and the amount of funding coming from the state for those initiatives, the numbers, according to School Safety and Security Chief Mike Jones, just don’t add up. Read More
Freshmen entering Florida high schools this fall will need higher scores on alternative tests to meet graduation standards in math and language arts, under a rule adopted last Wednesday by the state Board of Education.School districts warned the higher test scores could prevent more minority students and students learning to speak English from graduating. Read…
Donna Berghauser’s office at McLane Middle School is filled with inspirational pictures, quotes and fun posters designed to get students to open up. But the one kids relate to most is a poster that asks “How are you feeling today?” with pictures of faces displaying different emotions. There’s happy, sad, angry and right in the…
Once again, we’re talking about arming teachers as a solution to gun violence. After a student gunned down 10 people Friday at a high school in suburban Houston, some Texas elected officials are resurrecting the idea, which has been floated by President Trump and debated across the country since the Parkland, Florida, school shooting in…
When Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick responded to a school shooting in his state by calling on schools to reduce entrances as a safety measure, advocates of stricter gun laws panned his comments online . . . . But limiting and fortifying entrances to schools has been a school safety best practice since the 1999 shooting…
Families of children who have been bullied or harassed in a Florida public school soon will have access to state scholarships to attend private schools instead. But first, the State Board of Education must set the rules for how the controversial “Hope Scholarship” program will operate. The Department of Education has issued a draft proposal…
Some members of the 1998 Constitution Revision Commission are seeking to file a brief in the Florida Supreme Court as part of a legal battle about whether the state is meeting its constitutional duty to provide a high-quality system of public schools. Describing themselves as the “framers” of a 1998 ballot measure that put the…
School boards from across the state have gone to the 1st District Court of Appeal as they continue to challenge a controversial 2017 law that includes steps to boost charter schools. Eleven districts signed on to notices filed last week indicating they will appeal an April 17 ruling by Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper…
Classes officially end in most Florida school districts next week. Many students will finish up with local semester exams. They won’t have any more state exams to contend with. The assessment window for Florida Standards Assessments and end-of-course exams ended Friday. Education Commissioner Pam Stewart said earlier this week that students had taken more than 4.2…