FSBA Friday Five – 10/18/2019

Bee has been declared most important living being on the planet What productive talk looks like in elementary schools Some students go further faster depending on policies leaders put in place Is student transportation headed to ride sharing programs?  Customer service important for districts BUT few resources

Florida’s Post-Parkland Experiment: To Deter Mass Shootings, Some School Districts Are Creating Their Own Police Departments

By his own admission, Kenneth Wagner isn’t “a super-religious person.” But the police chief in suburban Jacksonville recently found himself pleading with God — praying enough people would apply in time to fill close to 50 job openings.  Earlier this year, after lawmakers in Florida required school districts to heighten security following a mass school…

Environmentalists mostly welcome Florida’s plan to spend VW settlement money on cleaner buses

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced this week that it will use most of the $166 million it received in Volkswagen settlement money to replace diesel buses and shuttle vans with electric models  . . . Some $5 million of that $116 million will help districts replace older diesel school buses with electric…

FSBA Session Spotlight — October 14, 2019

The Legislature will hold a second round of Interim Committee Meetings this week. Education related Committees and Subcommittees will receive overviews on educator professional development, the state system of school improvement, teacher compensation, and the FDOE’s Legislative Budget Request (LBR).  Other Committees will consider a few bills of interest, including bills relating to public records,…

Fifth time in 24 years. Why Florida is changing school standards, again

Florida education commissioner Richard Corcoran didn’t hide his enthusiasm during a “listening session” Thursday in Gainesville, where a crowd showed up to discuss proposed changes to the state’s education standards.  “We’re going to end up with the world’s best standards,” he said. “We’re going to end up with an education that’s going to transform our…

FSBA Friday Five – October 11, 2019

Boredom is better for kids than screen time Learn more about National Book Month.  Hint:  you are ½ way through it Parents worry about gadget use during children’s sleepovers Youth Truth student survey report—From Data to Action:  Resources to help educators strengthen school culture and address bullying Vibrant and Healthy Kids—Aligning Science, Practice, and Policy…

Florida’s Common Core standards: No need for ‘any great change,’ educators tell state

Florida’s Common Core academic standards are demanding but also are helping students make gains while the state’s proposed replacements are weaker, vaguer and represent a “step backwards” for public education, educators told state leaders at a “Florida Standards Listening Tour” event. Read More

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos Announces New Initiative to Support Opening and Expanding Charter Schools in Opportunity Zones

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced a new initiative to promote the creation and expansion of high-quality public charter schools in Opportunity Zones across the United States.Currently, more than 70% of Opportunity Zones do not have a public charter school option available to students. Read More

Six things to know about the U.S. Census and Florida

Census Tract 119.04 in Hillsborough County constitutes a perfect rectangle in a densely populated section of West Tampa just north of Al Lopez Park . . . . The Census Bureau defines a tract as “hard to count” if 73% or fewer residents return their Census questionnaires. In the 2010 Census, the mail-back rate for…