Florida School Boards Association
A study will go forward on the state’s redistribution of money from poorer to wealthier school districts in a funding formula a Volusia County critic called “backwards Robin Hood.” The formula has cost Seminole, Osceola and Lake schools tens of millions in local tax revenue being redirected to more affluent districts, including Orange and Miami-Dade.…
When Gov. Rick Scott signed into law the expanded use of medical marijuana in late June, public school districts found themselves with a new problem to solve: how to store and administer the state-sanctioned drug. Read More
A national coalition of civil rights groups want U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to reject Florida’s soon-to-arrive waiver request that will ask to be relieved from key pieces of the Every Student Succeeds Act dealing with the nation’s most vulnerable and historically disadvantaged students. Approving Florida’s request, activists say, will set a disturbing precedent…
A legal motion the Department of Education filed yesterday could have big ramifications for half a million teachers, social workers, police officers and other public servants. The motion asserts that there has been no final decision on whether these people will have their student debt forgiven, as they had believed. Read More
A new education law that has inspired lawsuits from school districts and derision from teachers’ unions nearly fell victim to an intra-party feud in the Republican-led state Senate, as detailed in a series of text messages exchanged by legislators and their staff during the hectic final days of the 2017 legislative session. Read More
The Sarasota County School Board voted unanimously not to join in a lawsuit against the state for passing legislation that will direct tax dollars to charter schools, among other changes, though some board members were quick to explain they still don’t support the bill. Read More
This school year, children who rely on medical marijuana for a variety of ailments may be allowed to use the drug at school. On June 23, Gov. Rick Scott signed legislation that established the framework for medical marijuana in Florida. In addition to legalizing cannabis oils, pills and edibles for eligible patients, the law allows…
The Miami-Dade School Board is one step closer to joining a growing number of school districts across Florida in challenging the constitutionality of a controversial new education law. Board members on Wednesday directed their attorney to draft a plan that they can vote on at their next meeting Aug. 9 as to how exactly the…
Two Republican senators Tuesday requested a study of a long-controversial part of Florida’s school-funding formula, arguing it helps urban school districts at the expense of suburban and rural districts. Senate Education Chairwoman Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange, and Sen. Travis Hutson, R-Elkton, sent a letter to Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, seeking a study of what…
Every year, new state laws hit the books that have to be implemented once they take effect. But House Bill 7069 isn’t your average new law. The sweeping, 274-page, $419 million measure that reforms Florida’s public K-12 schools spans dozens of changes in statute — some of which are complex and take effect at different…