Florida School Boards Association
“In some places, tests — and preparation for them — are dominating the calendar and culture of schools and causing undue stress for students and educators.” The quote comes not from an angry parent or firebrand school leader but from Education Secretary Arne Duncan. Of course, he’s the guy currently in charge of a big…
Apparently, the new buzz word in education is customization. Jeb Bush used it the other day. So did state Sen. John Legg, who was the education committee chairman the past two years. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio wrote about customization, and so did Patricia Levesque, CEO of Foundation for Excellence in Education. It is part of…
Technology is here to stay. The question, state Sen. John Legg says, is how to make it work best for students and teachers in Florida’s classrooms. Hoping to amp up the conversation, Legg brought together close to 300 education and technology leaders on Thursday for a half-day symposium all about the issue. “Unfortunately, when many…
Title VI compliance from U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-resourcecomp-201410.pdf The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) at U.S. Department of Education issued the Dear Colleague letter on Title VI compliance with regard to equal opportunity and equitable resources in school districts. In other years, this has been a typically uneventful federal review…
The Florida School Boards Association’s legislative committee has crafted and approved a two-page list of priorities for the 2015 session, and perhaps it comes as no surprise that testing and accountability reform tops the list. The platform, which goes to the general membership for ratification in December, calls for a delay in the consequences associated…
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Governor Rick Scott recognized six educators who formerly served in various branches of the military with the Governor’s Shine Award for their service to our country and their contributions to Florida’s students. The Governor’s Shine Award is presented to Floridians who have positively impacted children through education. Governor Scott said, “It…
School districts aren’t the only ones raising concerns about a plan to standardize charter school contracts in Florida. Some charter school representatives have indicated they have concerns about the proposal, which is set to be taken up next week by the state Board of Education, and might consider challenging a state rule creating a standard contract…
Florida school boards are questioning the constitutionality of standard charter school contracts as the state Board of Education gets set to vote on rules creating them. Their objections appear in hundreds of pages of recent comments and letters to the state Department of Education. The Florida School Boards Association wrote in July: “We view this as an…
When the Lee County School Board voted recently to rid its classrooms of state-mandated tests, it backed off the next day after realizing the state could punish it if it stood firm. Last month, the Pasco County School Board said it wanted to end the first semester of 2015-16 before winter break. But state law…
Hoping to strike while interest remains high, groups advocating on behalf of Florida’s English language learners have begun circulating proposed changes to state law governing these children’s education. The organizations have begun working with South Florida lawmakers, whose constituencies include large numbers of non-English speakers, to promote rules they say would more fairly account for…