There were several bills of interest considered in committee meetings today. These bills address public records and meetings, the McKay Scholarship program, students with disabilities, the Florida Price Level Index, graduation requirements, instructional materials, and impact fees. Please click on the links below for our report on outcome of action on these bills and to…
Sen. David Simmons, a veteran Republican lawmaker, is pushing for higher standards for the thousands of private schools that take nearly $1 billion in state scholarships, aiming to reduce potential waste and improve the quality of education at some schools. Among the most significant changes proposed by Simmons in a bill he filed Friday is…
Step Up for Students is not well known outside the school choice world, but for parents and private school administrators the nonprofit is so synonymous with the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship that they often refer to it as the “Step Up scholarship.” Read More
Florida’s plan to change its education accountability and testing system as little as possible, despite changes to federal rules, ran into a roadblock this week. The U.S. Department of Education told the state that it can’t simply adopt rules that run counter to the Every Student Succeeds Act, particularly without seeking waivers. That includes the way it…
Aiming to jump start the a controversial new charter school system for the fall, the Florida Department of Education has unveiled proposed rules for potential Schools of Hope operators to follow. The recommended rule, which is slated for Jan. 17 State Board of Education consideration, closely adheres to criteria from the legislation enacting the program to…
Florida’s First District Court of Appeal has agreed with the trial court against a group of parents who complained the state had violated its constitutional role to fund an “an efficient, safe, secure and uniform high-quality education.” The case, filed in 2009, questioned whether the Legislature and executive branch did enough to meet the “paramount duty” in…
President Donald Trump has tapped a former Martin County superintendent for a top national education post. Frank Brogan, superintendent here from 1988-1994 before moving on to stints as Florida’s commissioner of education and lieutenant governor, was nominated as assistant secretary of education for elementary and secondary education, the White House announced Monday. Read More
The U.S. Department of Education today released a question-and-answer document supporting the unanimous March 2017 U.S. Supreme Court opinion on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)-related case Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District clarifying the scope of a free appropriate public education (FAPE). Read More
Republican state Rep. Rene Plasencia is pushing a bill that would return control to local school boards to decide how to evaluate teachers. Plasencia, of Orlando, is rallying support for his House Bill 427, introduced in late October and referred to the House PreK-12 Innovation Subcommittee, PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee, and Education Committee. Read More
A parent in Florida is citing profanity and violence in trying to get the local school to ban Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451” — itself a cautionary tale on the banning of books. Another wants to remove Walter Dean Myers’ “Bad Boy” for using the word “penis” and a homophobic slur. Elsewhere in Florida, some say…