Department of Justice Awards More than $85.3 Million in Grants to Address School Violence

Today, the Department of Justice announced it has awarded more than $85.3 million to bolster school security — including funding to educate and train students and faculty — and support first responders who arrive on the scene of a school shooting or other violent incident. Read More Fact Sheet Listing Award Recipients

FSBA Session Spotlight – October 21, 2019

The Legislature will hold a third round of Interim Committee Meetings this week. Education related Committees and Subcommittees will receive information on educator professional development, health concerns for student athletes, workforce development issues, and teacher compensation.  Committees also will consider a few bills of interest, including bills relating to public records, athletic trainers, homelessness, and…

Florida House looks for ways to boost teacher pay

A House education panel on Thursday began delving into the issue of raising teacher pay, with a key lawmaker saying that while “everything is on the table,” the panel still needs to figure out where the money would come from.Rep. Chris Latvala, a Clearwater Republican who chairs the House PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee, said his panel…

School boards urge justices to decide education fight

Saying the case involves protecting “local control over local schools by local representatives answerable to local voters,” nine county school boards urged the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday to take up a battle about a 2017 state law that sought to bolster charter schools. Read More

FSBA Friday Five – 10/18/2019

Bee has been declared most important living being on the planet What productive talk looks like in elementary schools Some students go further faster depending on policies leaders put in place Is student transportation headed to ride sharing programs?  Customer service important for districts BUT few resources

Florida’s Post-Parkland Experiment: To Deter Mass Shootings, Some School Districts Are Creating Their Own Police Departments

By his own admission, Kenneth Wagner isn’t “a super-religious person.” But the police chief in suburban Jacksonville recently found himself pleading with God — praying enough people would apply in time to fill close to 50 job openings.  Earlier this year, after lawmakers in Florida required school districts to heighten security following a mass school…

Environmentalists mostly welcome Florida’s plan to spend VW settlement money on cleaner buses

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced this week that it will use most of the $166 million it received in Volkswagen settlement money to replace diesel buses and shuttle vans with electric models  . . . Some $5 million of that $116 million will help districts replace older diesel school buses with electric…

FSBA Session Spotlight — October 14, 2019

The Legislature will hold a second round of Interim Committee Meetings this week. Education related Committees and Subcommittees will receive overviews on educator professional development, the state system of school improvement, teacher compensation, and the FDOE’s Legislative Budget Request (LBR).  Other Committees will consider a few bills of interest, including bills relating to public records,…

Fifth time in 24 years. Why Florida is changing school standards, again

Florida education commissioner Richard Corcoran didn’t hide his enthusiasm during a “listening session” Thursday in Gainesville, where a crowd showed up to discuss proposed changes to the state’s education standards.  “We’re going to end up with the world’s best standards,” he said. “We’re going to end up with an education that’s going to transform our…