What percentage of education funding should Florida’s state government provide?

The dispute could not be more stark.  Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Senate have pushed to allow local tax collections to rise with the increasing value of property, as a way to grow education funding. Just leaving the tax rate alone looks to generate about a half-billion dollars more for local coffers.  House leadership…

Proposals on school board term limits, elected superintendents move ahead

Despite pushback from the people who would be most affected, two proposed constitutional amendments aiming to change the governance of Florida public school districts gained support from a second committee of the Constitution Revision Commission on Thursday.  The proposals to limit school board members to eight consecutive years in office, and to end the election…

FSBA Session Spotlight — December 11, 2017

The Legislature held a sixth, and final, round of Interim Committee Meetings last week. Please click on the link below for a report on the bills and issues that were considered.  Also, the Constitution Revision Commission Committees will meet this week to consider several education related presentations and proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution.  Please…

Rene Plasencia bill seeks to turn teacher evaluations back to school boards

Republican state Rep. Rene Plasencia is pushing a bill that would return control to local school boards to decide how to evaluate teachers.  Plasencia, of Orlando, is rallying support for his  House Bill 427, introduced in late October and referred to the House PreK-12 Innovation Subcommittee, PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee, and Education Committee. Read More

FSBA Session Spotlight — December 4, 2017

The Legislature will hold a sixth, and final, round of Interim Committee Meetings this week. Please click on the link below for a preview of the bills and issues will be under consideration.  Also, last week the Constitution Revision Commission Committees considered several education related proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution.  Please click on the…

Term limit proposal gets Florida school board members talking

House Bill 7069 was all the talk when the Florida School Boards Association held its conference in Tampa this past summer.  At this week’s conference, the controversial bill remained a discussion subject. But the buzz really was about the Constitution Revision Commission proposals to limit board members to two consecutive terms, and to eliminate their…

Pinellas superintendent Mike Grego named Florida Superintendent of the Year

Pinellas County school superintendent Mike Grego has been named the 2018 Florida Superintendent of the Year, in part because of his efforts to attack the achievement gap between black and non-black students.The announcement by the Florida Association of School District Superintendents came Wednesday morning during the organization’s joint meeting in Tampa with the Florida School…