Some members of the 1998 Constitution Revision Commission are seeking to file a brief in the Florida Supreme Court as part of a legal battle about whether the state is meeting its constitutional duty to provide a high-quality system of public schools. Describing themselves as the “framers” of a 1998 ballot measure that put the…
School boards from across the state have gone to the 1st District Court of Appeal as they continue to challenge a controversial 2017 law that includes steps to boost charter schools. Eleven districts signed on to notices filed last week indicating they will appeal an April 17 ruling by Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper…
It’s not a secret: Florida’s school districts are struggling to find enough money to place armed security on each campus, as now required by law. What is new lately is many local governments have begun saying they will not help out with their law enforcement departments. In the past few days, both the Pinellas and…
Unwilling to turn school staff into gun-packing “guardians,” some officials across Florida are turning to a controversial alternative to meet the demands of a state law approved after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.The Duval County School Board has became the second in two weeks to approve hiring and training dozens of new,…
Nearly a decade after some Florida parents first argued the state Legislature does not adequately fund public education as the constitution requires, the Florida Supreme Court has agreed to take up the question. In a 4-1 ruling issued late Monday, the court accepted jurisdiction of the Citizens for Strong Schools case. It gave the plaintiffs until May…
In the aftermath of the Parkland shooting and the state’s new law that requires armed security on every campus, some superintendents worry districts will now be competing for the same personnel. For the 2016-2017 school year, Florida’s Department of Education counted about 1,500 officers. But there’s more than twice as many public schools — about…
Forty-seven cents. That amount — less than the cost of a postage stamp — is how much Florida lawmakers increased general education funding per student for the coming year. School district officials instantly declared the budget a crisis, and pleaded with lawmakers (unsuccessfully) for a special session to reshuffle the dollars. Otherwise, they insisted, public…
Rejecting arguments of school boards across the state, a Leon County circuit judge this week formally rejected a challenge to a controversial 2017 law that included a series of moves to boost charter schools. Circuit Judge John Cooper, who had earlier indicated he would turn down the challenge, issued an 18-page ruling Tuesday siding with…
The annual State of Preschool Report, released by the National Institute for Early Education Research Wednesday, found that Florida continues to have among the highest levels of 4-year olds enrolled in public preK programs while at the same time allocating roughly half the national average of per-pupil funding to those programs. Read More
We are pleased to announce that we have posted links to the recordings of our two Legislative Session Review Webinars – the first webinar focuses on education appropriations and the second focuses on education legislation. You may access our FSBA 2018 Legislative Session Summary and both of these webinars on the FSB website on our 2018 Legislative…