House bill would limit schools’ construction spending

TALLAHASSEE – With resounding opposition from Democrats and school officials, Republican lawmakers in the Florida House are fast-tracking a proposal to significantly change how public school districts use taxpayer money to fund construction projects, while making it easier for charter schools to get capital dollars. Education budget committee Chairman Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, is spearheading…

FSBA Daily Update: Legislative Session 02-08-2016

CAPITAL OUTLAY FUNDING UPDATE Controversy has arisen from a presentation made at the January 21 meeting of the House Appropriations Committee.  The presentation, made by House Education Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Eric Fresen, provided information that compared actual school construction costs with the statutorily set costs per student station.  Among other things, this report applied statutory cost…

FSBA Daily Updates: Legislative Session 02-09-2016

TODAY’S HAPPENINGS [NOTE:  The bills and committees listed below are linked to their respective websites where you can find additional information.] In the House Education Appropriations Subcommittee: HB 793 – Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program by O’Toole – AMENDED; PASSED WITH A COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE (CS) Provides that initial award period & renewal period for students who are unable…

Florida’s funding for after-school and mentoring programs could change

TALLAHASSEE — Republican leaders of the Florida Senate want to drastically change how they dole out funding for after-school programs that provide homework help, mentoring and gang prevention services to thousands of children, often living in Florida’s most impoverished and vulnerable neighborhoods. Senators want to increase funding, provide it to more organizations and ensure the…

FSBA #FridayFive – Week of Feb. 1, 2016

1. What does a public health emergency due to Zika Virus mean?:  https://www.yahoo.com/health/florida-zika-public-health-emergency-140738703.html 2. More rigorous tests help to close “Honesty Gap”:  http://achieve.org/files/Proficient%20vs%20Prepared%202.pdf 3. Paper test takers scored higher than online test takers:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2016/02/04/report-kids-who-took-common-core-test-online-scored-lower-than-those-who-used-paper/ 4. US elementary and secondary education revenues and expenditures reported: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2015/2015303.pdf 5. Heard about micro schools?:  http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/01/27/micro-schools-could-be-new-competition-for.html?cmp=eml-enl-eu-news1-RM

Florida readies for a fight with Zika virus

MIAMI (AP) — Florida’s history of fighting off mosquito-borne outbreaks puts the state in perhaps better position than most when it comes to the Zika virus. In 2014, chikungunya, a virus spread by the same species of mosquito as Zika, infected a million people in the Caribbean. While 452 travel-related cases were documented in Florida…