Nearly all of Florida’s evaluated public school teachers continued to receive strong reviews in 2015-16, according to newly released data from the state Department of Education. As in previous years, about 98 percent of teachers statewide rated either “highly effective” (42.9%) or “effective” (52.0%), with a tiny 0.2 percent receiving “unsatisfactory” marks, 0.7 percent as…
The members of the 2017-18 Constitution Revision Commission are being named this month. The Commission’s proposals, if any, must be submitted at least 180 days before the 2018 general election. Florida has more methods for amending its constitution than any other state. Two of these have been in the Florida Constitution from the beginning (legislative…
There were several meetings of particular interest this week. Among them, the House Public Integrity & Ethics Committee discussed a strike-all amendment to a Proposed Committee Bill (PCB) — PCB PIEC-3 – relating to Local Government Ethics Reform. The bill makes numerous changes to Florida’s Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees (Code) as…
Project based learning in kindergarten can set the stage for success: read more Teaching how to spot fake news: read more Effects of greenspace on students: read more Teaching math through animation challenges: read more You won’t believe the talent these kids have: read more
How much Florida spends to recruit and keep quality teachers for its K-12 public schools could potentially quadruple next year — and maybe even reach as high as a quarter of a billion dollars — under tentative plans being crafted in private by Republican House and Senate leaders ahead of the 2017 session. Read More
In just a couple of weeks, Florida K-12 schools will begin the annual grueling three-month stretch of administering mandatory statewide student assessments. But next year, those tests might not happen until the end of the school year, if lawmakers pass a proposal this spring to reform Florida’s lengthy testing schedule. Read More
The membership of Florida’s Constitution Revision Commission continued to shape up Wednesday, as Senate President Joe Negron announced his nine appointments to the panel. Among his choices were two people with strong influence in state K-12 education matters over the past several years, Patricia Levesque and Don Gaetz. Read More
The 1st District Court of Appeal is considering a case that will determine several school boards’ obligations to students who wish to opt out of standardized tests. According to a Feb. 9 report by the News Service of Florida on TheLedger.com, parents of students who had been denied promotion to the fourth grade for their failure…
Among the key meetings this week, the Senate PreK-12 Education Appropriations Subcommittee held a Workshop on Public School Fixed Capital Outlay. The meeting included a presentation by DOE on the current funding and policies relating to capital outlay projects for traditional public schools and charter schools. This was followed by two separate panel discussions with…
Florida is spending more than ever on education, yet the amount of money dedicated to each student is barely higher than in 2007. The state would have to spend an additional $1.86 billion over the next three years to offset inflation and cuts that have ravaged education funding since the Great Recession, according to the…