Florida School Boards Association
Florida school districts dramatically increased their use of a loophole in the state’s class size law last year, according to newly released Department of Education data that’s bolstering lawmakers’ call for changes to the rule. By the numbers, districts identified 56 percent more of their schools as “schools of choice” in 2014-15 than a year…
We have been waiting for a member of the media to ask the Democratic and Republican candidates. Finally it happened, though not on national television. Journalist Roland Martin in South Carolina asked Hillary Clinton about her views on charter schools. Her answer suggests that she realizes the issues surrounding private management of public dollars. “The original…
Students in virtual charter schools fare significantly worse than their peers in traditional schools, and the picture in Florida looks especially bleak, according to a new study by Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO). Virtual charters provide flexibility that might benefit some students, the report concludes, but right now, “Academic benefits from online charter…
The charter school movement has been expelled from Washington state’s public education system, with a Supreme Court ruling late Friday that the privately run schools are not public schools under the state’s constitution. Meanwhile, the quick fix for that sizable hurdle sought by the state’s charter school proponents—a special legislative session—does not appear likely because Washington’s public education…
Florida school districts will have a new way to track the financial and academic records of charter school operators. For the first time, a new database is connecting charter schools to who runs them. The goal is to reduce the number of charter schools that close. The National Association of Charter School Authorizers wants to…
ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35 ORLANDO) – Statistics show that charter schools in Florida fail at a greater rate than traditional public schools, but they also show that charter schools earn more “A” grades than traditional public schools. FOX 35 started examining the statistics after Acclaim Academy in Orange County shut down in May, without…
Christina Waters’s cellphone rang, and she looked down to see that the number was blocked. She knew immediately it was U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, just calling to check in. It has been that way since Waters attended a 2009 church picnic in Chicago and came away with a bullet lodged in her head from…
Pointing to choices made by parents, a state judge has ruled that a Southeast Florida school district cannot require a charter school to provide bus transportation to students. Administrative Law Judge Darren Schwartz, in a 45-page order issued last week, sided with Renaissance Charter School at Tradition in a long-running dispute with the St. Lucie…
A recently released state audit shows that 76 of 615 Florida charter schools ended 2013-14 with a financial deficit, while 31 charters had material weaknesses with their internal financial controls. Broward County had the highest prevalence of troubled charters, with 25 percent. But it’s not the only district with struggling schools. The audit listed six…
TAMPA — The State Board of Education took steps Wednesday to prevent charter school applicants with poor past performance from opening new schools. Saying the state should not “pass the trash” from one district to another, board members unanimously approved a rule to require applicants to disclose their past charter school affiliations for the most…