State education leaders target out-of-school suspensions that disproportionately impact black students

Florida education officials hope to tackle out-of-school suspensions, working with local leaders to limit the use of the discipline strategy in districts around the state.  State education commissioner Pam Stewart has begun talking with superintendents about cutting down on out-of-school suspensions and also addressing their inequitable distribution, she said at a Board of Education meeting…

Republican lawmakers have big plans for Florida’s unique process to revise Constitution

For the first time in 20 years, Florida embarks on a constitutionally mandated update of the state Constitution next year and, if Florida’s top Republican officials have their way, they will use the process to overturn the most controversial rulings of the state’s high court — on education spending, private school vouchers and political redistricting.…

FSBA #FridayFive – Week of October 31, 2016

FSBA #FridayFive – 5 Things You Should Know Each week, Executive Director, Andrea Messina, picks five of the top education news pieces to share with members. Read. Learn. Share. Retweet.   18 year old millionaire credits gifted third grade program for success  Should science be taught more hands-on? Is ESSA going too far?  High school…

Associated Industries seeks public comment on workers’ comp rates

Associated Industries of Florida moved Tuesday to build public support behind a fix for rising workers’ compensation insurance rates that business interests see as a threat to the state’s economy.  The lobby solicited comments from the public “on how Florida can restore a stable, self-executing, and affordable workers’ compensation system as the Florida Legislature intended,”…

Miami Beach city leaders urge Florida’s school officials to push for class size changes

Miami Beach city leaders have turned to Florida’s superintendents for help in trying to close loopholes in the state’s class size reduction rules.  The City Commission recently sent district leaders a copy of its September resolution that asks lawmakers to reverse the “weakening” of the 2002 constitutional amendment that occurred. Those include examples such as a…

State issues final order for workers’ comp cost increase

As expected, state insurance regulators have issued a final order jacking up the price of worker’s compensation insurance by nearly 15 percent.  The order was published Thursday.  The decision approves the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) request “for an overall combined statewide average rate increase of 14.5 percent,” the Office of Insurance Regulation said in a…

Significant Education Cases on Supreme Court Docket

The U.S. Supreme Court opened its new term Oct. 3 still feeling the effects of the February death of Justice Antonin Scalia. With the nomination of Merrick B. Garland stuck in political limbo, the eight members of the court have adopted a cautious approach to their docket for the new term, many legal experts say. …