The Florida Constitution Revision Committee continues its quest of meddling in Florida’s Constitution rather than mending it. Monday, the group will consider three measures connected to county school boards and superintendents. Read More
State Sen. Dennis Baxley, who once said controversy about evolution being taught in public schools “will never be over,” wants to make Florida school districts teach “controversial theories” in science subjects in a “balanced” manner. Baxley, R-Ocala, filed a bill Friday that would alter Florida’s academic standards in several key ways. His bill would give…
As a public-school principal for 32 years, and now as an elected school board member, I consider protecting our students from violence and bullying our sacred duty. No child should ever feel afraid to attend our schools. Read More
Bolstered by new research and federal incentives, experts decided about a decade ago that better teacher evaluation was the path to better student achievement. A flood of states started toughening their teacher-evaluation systems, and many of them did it by incorporating student-test scores into educators’ ratings. Read More
With the 2018 legislative session just weeks away, key failures of the 2017 Legislature continued to frustrate local elected leaders at separate meetings Tuesday in Collier County. Two positive steps the Legislature could take in the next session that starts in January are to immediately repeal — then start over on components of — House…
Raising the prospect of “irreversible damage” to the public education system, nine school boards want the Florida Supreme Court to block a massive education law approved in May.The school boards late Monday filed a constitutional challenge at the Supreme Court to the bill, which has become known in the education world by the shorthand HB…
Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday called for a record-high state budget of $87.4 billion for next year, an election year that offers him one last chance to recast spending priorities before leaving office. It is by far the largest budget Scott has proposed since the Republican governor took office seven years ago, and it’s a…
The Legislature held a third round of Interim Committee Meetings last week and will hold a fourth round this week. Please click on the links below to access this week’s schedule and our report on last week’s education-related meetings, bills, and presentations that were considered. In addition, we have provided a link to our latest…
Rep. Joe Abruzzo, D-Boynton Beach, leaned into the microphone then stopped in mid-sentence and pushed away from the table. Rep. Bryon Donalds, R-Naples, had smoothly declined to answer Abruzzo’s question of whether the Naples businessman would like to give private school vouchers to all public school students. Donalds said that was a topic for another discussion.…
The Florida House plans to hold a hearing to explore how the state sends nearly $1 billion for scholarships to mostly unregulated private schools, the subject of the Orlando Sentinel’s recent “Schools Without Rules” series.“The goal of the House has always been a world class education for every child,” said Fred Piccolo, spokesman for House…