Public Relations for School Districts Communication is at the heart of your school district’s success. School boards need students’ families, as well as the larger taxpaying community, to know about the educational initiatives being implemented; to be excited about the great things going on in their local schools; and to understand the challenges public school…
A state appeals court will hear arguments May 10 in a lawsuit led by the Florida Education Association challenging the state’s Tax Credit Scholarship Program. The 1st District Court of Appeal last week set the hearing date after Leon County Circuit Judge George Reynolds tossed out the lawsuit in May 2015 because he ruled the…
SHADY HILLS — Classical Preparatory School, a charter school founded by the wife of incoming Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran, has its sights set on expansion. Opened in 2014, its waiting list is twice the size of its 406-student enrollment. And its contract lets it grow to nearly 1,000 students through 12th grade. To explore…
The Florida Legislature’s massive education bill is a mishmash of good and bad ideas crammed into one hot mess on the last day of the legislative session. These issues, ranging from suicide prevention to prekindergarten readiness, from school choice to athletic recruiting, from construction money to charter schools, should have each been decided on their…
Like other Florida elected officials, school board members face strict guidelines about taking gifts from vendors and lobbyists that do business with their districts. But what if the board member is dating a vendor? Can she accept presents worth more than $100 from him? In a recent advisory opinion, the Florida Commission on Ethics says…
A handful of education policies were among the nearly six dozen bills Republican Gov. Rick Scottsigned into law today — including one that will test competency-based education in four Florida counties and another desired by the Miami-Dade school district to ensure tax revenue gets to public schools faster. HB 1365 sets up a five-year pilot program in certain Florida counties with the goal…
As expected, Gov. Rick Scott on Monday named Kim McDougal as his new chief of staff, effective April 2. McDougal, 53, most recently served as Scott’s legislative affairs director and education policy coordinator. She has been in state government for nearly three decades and has spent much of that time in the Department of Education.…
Gov. Rick Scott vowed to make steep spending cuts upon taking office in 2011. With an assist from state lawmakers, he’s done just that in the past six years. More than 13,000 state positions have been eliminated, which will save $152 million next year. The state has slashed more than $800 million in its mental…
By the end of her teaching career, Mulberry High English teacher Katherine Langford was expected to spend just three days teaching ”Moby Dick.” Langford, who retired last school year after 40 years of teaching in Polk, used to design her own curriculum, pacing and lessons. But the Polk County School District has increasingly tightened its…
When Polk residents ask School Board members why the School District is doing something, they often get the same answer: The state mandates it, or, the federal government mandates it. Protesters are vocal about their frustration with ever-increasing mandates that affect public education, especially when it comes to Florida’s standardized testing and accountability policies. Some…