Florida law governing the tax credit scholarship program gives vouchers to low-income families to use as tuition for their children in private schools but does not adequately protect the rights of English Language Learners (ELLs), shortchanging Latino students and other groups learning English as an additional language from receiving proper instruction. This flaw in Florida…
A Senate panel revived the proposed expansion of the school voucher program. But it did not give a second chance to the immigrant tuition proposal. By Kathleen McGrory Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau TALLAHASSEE — A Senate committee used a procedural maneuver Tuesday to put a controversial school voucher bill back in play. But the committee refused…
Thousands of students couldn’t take FCAT online on Tuesday, as problems with the testing company’s website prevented students from logging in. The glitch with the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test affected districts around Florida, including Orange and Seminole county schools. Orange County suspended testing for about 12,000 sixth, seventh, ninth and 10th graders, who were to…
Schools are suspending today’s FCAT testing because some school districts are having computer issues. The Florida Department of Education says the problem is with testing firm Pearson. The problem is not statewide, they said, but they’ve advised districts having issues to suspend testing. The Tampa Bay Times reports Pasco County schools have stopped testing. Pasco County schools’…
Monday (4-21-2014) we told you about activists who are educating parents about what their options are when it comes to FCAT exams. While state law doesn’t allow parents to withhold their children from the exam, the law does outline alternatives to required tests. But opting out might still come with some consequences. A parent forwarded…
A coalition of groups opposing Florida’s use of new math and language arts standards say they will try to force the Legislature to call a special session to address two bills which would put the standards on hold. The gambit is a long shot. Twenty percent of the Legislature must call for the special session,…
Decrying what they call an untested test, leaders in Duval schools and teachers union — and some parents — urged voters Wednesday to flood state legislators’ phones and emails this week, urging them to slow down on some of the punitive aspects of the state’s new tests. Duval teachers union president Terrie Brady, three school…
The final bell begins tolling today for the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Florida schools are scheduled to complete the switch to new K-12 math and language arts standards based on Common Core this fall. New standards will require a new test. So Florida is switching to math and language arts exams produced by the American Institutes for Research. Read…
An education-focused nonprofit has helped Duval County schools raise almost $20 million dollars to train and recruit teachers for 36 district schools over the next five years. Most of the money — $15 million — will be offered as incentives to teachers who switch to one of the 36 schools, or bonuses for teachers who…
The Plymouth High School Baseball Boosters in Michigan are stunned by a United States Department of Education (ED) decision under its Title IX authority requiring them to immediately tear down fund-raised improvements to baseball bleachers, reports The Huffington Post. The baseball booster club raised funds over six years to change the configuration of their bleachers…