Florida and county school districts are receiving $95.8 million in federal reimbursements to cover costs of taking in thousands of students from Puerto Rico who fled the island for Florida after Hurricane Maria last year, the office of U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy announced Tuesday. Under the plan, Florida will retain $47.7 million and distribute another […]
Bucking allies, school choice group favors IRS proposal on tax credits
A Florida-based advocacy group that pushes Georgia and other states to help fund private schools so more children can attend them is breaking ranks with allies over a controversial proposed federal tax rule. The proposal by the U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service would limit or eliminate the federal tax break for donors in state […]
Civil Rights Groups Weigh In On Florida’s Delayed ESSA Plan
Florida remains the only state that hasn’t received approval of a federally mandated education plan. Now, civil rights groups are weighing in on the delay. The Every Student Succeeds Act gives states latitude in creating systems for measuring student success, but they still have to be accepted by the U.S. Department of Education. Read More
School grades: How much do they matter?
Florida issued its annual batch of school grades last month. Each elementary, middle and high school got an A, B, C, D or F. Those grades certainly matter if a school consistently earns a D or an F. According to state law, such low performers risk being closed, converted to charter schools or turned over […]
Congress Sends Career-Technical Education Bill to President Trump
Congress passed a bipartisan overhaul of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act on Wednesday and sent it for signature to President Donald Trump, who has made career and technical education, or CTE, a priority for his administration. The $1.1 billion program, last reauthorized in 2006, provides funding for job training and related […]
Florida Risks Losing $1.1 Billion in Federal Funds Over ESSA Spat
When the Every Student Succeeds Act was first passed in late 2015, Florida officials pledged that they’ll do everything in their power to keep their long-standing accountability system mostly intact. That’s despite the fact that the federal law has several new requirements that states must abide by. They include factoring in the test scores of […]
Florida stands alone as sole state without federally approved accountability plan
What to do? President Donald Trump’s administration has in many ways held up Florida’s education system as a model for the nation. It’s hired many former Florida education officials to top jobs in its own education department. Yet Florida’s proposed plan to meet federal Every Student Succeeds Act standards is now the only one that remains […]
Does ESSA Require Teachers to Be Highly Qualified?
Question: Is highly qualified teacher still required under ESSA? The short answer: Nope, you can toss the phrase “highly qualified teacher” into the trash, as far as the law is concerned. The longer answer: ESSA got rid of the requirement in the law it replaced, the No Child Left Behind Act, that teachers must be […]
Counseling, Mental Health Access Dominate Federal School Safety Meeting
Students—especially those from vulnerable populations and children in remote areas—aren’t getting nearly enough access to mental health services. That’s according to a slew of experts who testified before the federal school safety commission Wednesday. The panel has been charged with making recommendations for combatting mass school shootings in the wake of the February 14 massacre at Marjory […]
Civil rights groups urge U.S. Education Secretary DeVos to reject Florida’s latest accountability plan
After several delays, the Florida Department of Education submitted its revised Every Student Succeeds Act plan to the federal government in mid April. Some civil rights group leaders want U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to do to the second version what she did to the first — reject it as noncompliant with federal law. Read […]