Florida School Boards Association
Florida education funding could face tight times in the coming legislative session, with revenue low and competition for resources high. But key state senators told the state’s school board members this week that they remained staunch supporters of public schools, and they would work to direct as much money as possible into the system, while…
Florida education commissioner Pam Stewart has yet to present her ideas to replace the state’s controversial teacher bonus plan that’s based in part on educators’ college entry exams, well after she told the State Board of Education she’d give them a plan. Stewart told the board at its September meeting that she was working on details…
The Florida Legislature entered a strange new world Tuesday as the incoming House speaker condemned the power of lobbyists and demanded changes in spending that will face resistance from the Senate and Gov. Rick Scott. In his inaugural speech as speaker, Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’Lakes, railed against a Capitol dominated by lobbyists and politically wired…
Unhappy with the “world of mess” school her son was assigned to attend, Morna Atkins was thrilled when he won a spot in a magnet program at another campus. But the Orlando mother, who sent her son to private school for a time, too, doesn’t think parents unhappy with their local school should have to…
FSBA 5 ThingsFSBA #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. This could change the way legislators do business during sessions 2016 edition of the Local Government Financial Information Handbook is only…
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 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…
The Constitutional Revision Commission is required to meet every 20 years to review Florida’s Constitution and to recommend changes. Before it can meet, the 37 members must be appointed. The governor appoints 15 members. The Senate president and the speaker of the House each appoint nine members. The chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court…
A 16-year-old’s tweet saying he “can’t wait to shoot up my school” is not a criminal threat under current Florida law, a state appeals court ruled, noting the law at issue hasn’t been updated in over a century. Read full article
The impact of the state Supreme Court’s decision Thursday to kill Nevada’s controversial education savings account law is expected to ripple across the nation as more than a dozen states consider similar legislation. The justices ruled Senate Bill 302 violated a constitutional mandate by diverting money meant exclusively for public education into education savings accounts…