Florida School Boards Association
A Leon county judge ordered that Amendment 8, the amendment that would have created a pathway for the state to oversee charter schools and bypass local school boards, be removed from the ballot. Judge John Cooper wrote in a summary judgement Monday morning that the amendment should be removed “because its ballot title and summary…
A question about mental health service referrals on new student registration forms is raising concerns about privacy and worsening the stigma of mental illness. The new question is part of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, passed by the Legislature in the wake of the mass shooting earlier this year. Read More
It’s hard to imagine how toxic Florida’s political landscape might be today, had its legislature and governor been free to act over the past decade without the oversight of the judicial. Certainly Democrats tested their limits back when they were in power. But the GOP has pushed legislative trickery to all new levels. Read More
The Leon County Courthouse was the scene Friday for the first of what looks to be several showdowns over the fate of Amendment 8, a Constitution Revision Commission proposal to change portions of the state constitution’s education article. The proposal aims to do three things — set school board term limits, embed civics education in…
Retired Florida chief justice Harry Lee Anstead has asked his former panel to require justification for why six proposed constitutional amendments including Amendment 8 should remain on the November ballot, or to toss them out. Anstead, joined by former Florida Elections commissioner Robert Barnas, contend in their filing to the state Supreme Court that the six…
One group, describing itself as the “framers” of an education constitutional amendment, was largely appointed by former Democratic Gov. Lawton Chiles. Another group was appointed by 1990s-era Republican legislative leaders. But two decades after the groups served together on the 1997-1998 Florida Constitution Revision Commission, they are clashing in the state Supreme Court. The root…
It’s still a long way to November, when voters will be asked to vote up or down on 13 proposed amendments to the state constitution. But only a few so far have generated as much debate as Amendment 8, a measure that is the subject of a lawsuit filed by the League of Women Voters. Read…
As part of their efforts to prevent school shootings, Florida lawmakers mandated the creation of a centralized database that will combine individual-level records from the state’s law-enforcement and social-services agencies with information from people’s personal social media accounts. The provision, tucked within the 105-page law passed in March following the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas…
A Leon County circuit judge will hear arguments Aug. 17 in a dispute about a proposed constitutional amendment that calls for changes in the state’s education system. Judge John Cooper on Monday scheduled the hearing in the lawsuit filed by the League of Women Voters of Florida, which is trying to keep the constitutional amendment…
If you want an education in political flimflam, one needs to look no farther than Amendment 8, School Board Term Limits and Duties; Public Schools. Commonly referred to as the education amendment, it will be on the November 6 ballot along with 12 other constitutional amendments. Read More