When Edgardo Ortiz boarded a flight from Puerto Rico to Florida on Oct. 7, with his wife and 9-year-old daughter, he didn’t have a concrete plan for what would happen next. He planned to stay with his aunt in Kissimmee, enroll his daughter in school, and look for a job. Read More
A bill that won’t likely be filed for another 30 days rose to the top of the Florida House’s education priorities Wednesday, as Speaker Richard Corcoran and the chairmen and vice chairmen of all education committees gathered to announce the “Hope Scholarship.” Modeled after the corporate tax credit scholarship, which allows donors to contribute to…
Long before Florida entered the deadliest hurricane season in a decade, auditors at the state’s Division of Emergency Management sent out a warning: the state was ill-prepared for a major disaster. A 23-page annual audit completed in December 2016 by the agency’s inspector general detailed a lengthy list of deficiencies needed to prepare and respond…
Aiming to reward the state’s top performing schools with fewer mandates, the Florida Legislature added a section into HB 7069 last spring creating the “Schools of Excellence” designation. This week, 640 schools from 44 counties, including Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco and Hernando, will learn that they landed in that new category. Three lab schools also will…
This issue of the FSBA Session Spotlight provides information and updates on a variety of issues including hurricane preparedness and response, Legislative Interim Committee Meetings, legislative special elections and changes to key legislative committees and subcommittees, state budget development, the ongoing work by the Constitution Revision Commission, and federal issues. [toggle title=”Hurricane Preparedness and Response Resources“]…
A coalition of nearly all Florida lawmakers is pushing for nearly $27 billion in additional hurricane relief money, underscoring the tremendous financial toll this year’s storms have had. The request covers the gamut, from money for citrus and livestock losses to funds for the Herbert Hoover Dike to the need for schools that could see…
The Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, along with seven Florida teachers are suing the state, the Florida Department of Education and all 67 public school districts. That includes university lab schools, Florida Virtual School and the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind. At issue: whether the state’s “Best and Brightest” teacher…
by Peter Schorsch In a Tuesday memo, House Speaker Richard Corcoran announced his leadership for the 2018 Legislative Session, including the committee weeks that lead up to the annual session. Current Majority Whip Dane Eagle keeps that post, but now…