The FSBA 2014 Legislative Session Summary is now available on the FSBA website at www.fsba.org — click on “2014 Session Resource Center” or use this direct link: https://fsba.org/legislative-resource-center/. Our Summary is divided into two Parts — Part I provides details of the education related funding provided in the 2014-2015 General Appropriations Act and includes budget highlights and…
ORLANDO — Three hundred elementary schools — and likely at least a handful in Central Florida — will have to add an hour to their day next year, using the time for extra reading instruction, under the budget the Florida Legislature just approved. For the past two years, 100 schools with low FCAT reading scores had to extend their…
The American Civil Liberties Union is challenging single-gender schools and classes in Hillsborough County. The ACLU claims the programs reinforce gender stereotypes and that the evidence supporting single-gender schooling is based on “junk science.” So what does the science say? The results are mixed, as is often the case in education research. Two large reviews…
TALLAHASSEE — Though the Legislature declared that Florida’s community colleges cannot add any new four-year degree programs for a year, the moratorium likely won’t do much in the long run to curb the popular programs. The state Board of Education agreed to spend the next 14 months reconsidering how they approve programs. But it didn’t…
Florida’s new teacher evaluation system is arguably unfair but it is not unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled today, as he dismissed the claims made by seven teachers and their union. The case was the Florida Education Association’s second legal attempt to halt implementation of Florida’s controversial 2011 teacher merit pay law. The teachers union filed…
For the second year in a row, a handful of states experienced significant disruptions in online testing, creating such a high level of distrust with the technology-based process that some districts chose to revert to paper-and-pencil tests in an effort to avoid problems. Florida, Kansas, and Oklahoma all suspended online testing at some point during…
TAMPA — Gov. Rick Scott will bring his re-election campaign to Tampa on Tuesday to tout a new state budget with $574 million in increased education spending along with $500 million in tax cuts. What Scott isn’t mentioning is that while the new budget cuts some taxes, it includes an increase of almost as much,…
When they’re not taking exams, some South Florida students watch movies and play board games because of the logistics of administering the state’s high-stakes tests. It’s testing season at Dr. Michael Krop High School. Which means it’s also movie season. Each morning for the last three weeks as teachers prepare to administer Florida’s standardized tests,…
The Legislature adjourned, sine die, at 10:40 pm on Friday evening after the usual flurry of last minute amendments and bill swapping. Today’s most compelling education related bill activity revolves around SB 1512 relating to the expansion of the Tax Credit Scholarship Program and the creation of a new voucher program for students with disabilities. …
In the last Video Update for this Legislative Session, Dr. Wayne Blanton discusses the highlights of the education budget and the status of key bills that have passed, failed, or are still in play. Dr. Blanton noted that SB 1642relating to the transition to new state standards and assessments and SB 864 relating to adoption…