FSBA Session Spotlight — April 5, 2017

The Senate and House Appropriations Committees reviewed and amended their respective proposed state budgets today. In the Senate Appropriations Committee meeting, there were more than 120 amendments filed with about 30 of these proposed amendments relating to education. The majority of the education related amendments revised non-FEFP allocations and the remaining few focused on post-secondary…

Senators’ homework pays off in progress on reducing student assessment tests

A sweeping plan to reduce standardized testing in Florida’s K-12 schools cleared its first state Senate committee on Monday, after lawmakers struck a compromise to blend competing reform proposals.  Despite political drama last week that delayed the policy discussion, senators breezed through vetting SB 926 and passed it unanimously after considering most of the amendments…

Are ‘schools of hope’ the solution to perpetually failing public schools?

Fed up with traditional K-12 public schools that perpetually fail, often in Florida’s poorest communities, Republican lawmakers in the state House have proposed a bold — and costly — idea to help those students.  They want to spend $200 million in 2017-18 to entice “the best of the best charter schools in the entire country”…

House education committees flesh out Corcoran’s plans to boost charter schools

House leaders have revealed detailed plans for boosting charter schools after pledging for weeks to invest heavily in alternatives to traditional public education. House education committees this week approved three proposed committee bills that would ease the proliferation of charter schools, including giving them access to significantly more public money. Read More