Florida School Boards Association
They said it wouldn’t come close to being enough. Florida school district leaders fought during the 2017 legislative session for permission to increase their local tax rate for capital project funding, anticipating they would have to share with charter schools, knowing they had more projects than revenue, understanding the state’s portion had been low for…
Mor than half of the Florida traditional public schools eligible to vie for newly minted “Schools of Hope” grants submitted applications by Tuesday’s deadline, the Florida Department of Education reported. The program was a late add-on to a House proposal that set aside millions of dollars to support the creation of new charter schools to…
After a rocky start in which U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’ team was criticized for being too heavy-handed, confusing, or inconsistent in responding to states’ plans for the Every Student Succeeds Act, approvals of state plans are now coming at a fast clip. Read More
The Florida Department of Education says it will be up to each of the state’s 67 county school districts to determine which of their local teachers is eligible for the state “Best and Brightest” bonus program that lawmakers revamped as part of a massive education law that took effect this summer. Hershel Lyons, Florida’s chancellor…
Gov. Rick Scott, expected to run for U.S. Senate next year, wants lawmakers to put on the 2018 ballot a proposed constitutional amendment that would make it harder for future legislators to raise taxes. Scott appeared Monday in the Central Florida community of Lake Mary to announce the proposal, which would require “supermajority” approval from…
More than a third of U.S. states have created school voucher programs that bypass thorny constitutional and political issues by turning them over to nonprofits that rely primarily on businesses to fund them. But the programs are raising questions about transparency and accountability at a time when supporters are urging that they be expanded into…
Miami-Dade joined a growing number of school districts challenging the constitutionality of Florida’s sweeping new education law. At a School Board meeting on Wednesday, board members voted 8 to 1 to join litigation seeking to overturn portions of a bill some critics say was designed to boost the fortunes of the politically powerful charter school…
A new school year brings new challenges, and one of them is how to deal with students who may have a medical marijuana prescription. Ten months ago today, 71 percent of Florida’s voters said yes on Amendment 2. Governor Rick Scott signed the legislation June 23rd. Still, Florida’s 67 school districts haven’t decided how to…
When Gov. Rick Scott signed into law the expanded use of medical marijuana in late June, public school districts found themselves with a new problem to solve: how to store and administer the state-sanctioned drug. Read More
A national coalition of civil rights groups want U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to reject Florida’s soon-to-arrive waiver request that will ask to be relieved from key pieces of the Every Student Succeeds Act dealing with the nation’s most vulnerable and historically disadvantaged students. Approving Florida’s request, activists say, will set a disturbing precedent…