The Florida Board of Education next week is expected to approve a rule outlining how a new scholarship program for bullied students will work. But while the Hope Scholarship program, approved by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott earlier this year, begins with the new school year, there will not be…
For years, education leaders in Florida have been ratcheting up standards and expectations for students in public schools. Policymakers have increased the passing scores on the state-mandated tests that determine whether students can graduate and the grades their schools receive. Just last month, they voted to hike the required scores for graduation for public school…
Now that private-school scholarships for bullied Florida students are a reality, public school district leaders want to know exactly who will qualify for the available funds. They made clear Wednesday their concerns that the program could be ripe for abuse by families more interested in getting vouchers than in protecting children who really were victimized.…
Your religious views matter, and don’t let anyone ever tell you differently. This goes for evangelicals and agnostics, and everyone in between. A lawyer might argue it’s a First Amendment right, but it’s also a courtesy we should all embrace. Even, or especially, when we don’t agree. I mention this because of a story I…
Some private schools in Florida that rely on public funding teach students that dinosaurs and humans lived together, that God’s intervention prevented Catholics from dominating North America and that slaves who “knew Christ” were better off than free men who did not.The lessons taught at these schools come from three Christian publishing companies whose textbooks…
Families of children who have been bullied or harassed in a Florida public school soon will have access to state scholarships to attend private schools instead. But first, the State Board of Education must set the rules for how the controversial “Hope Scholarship” program will operate. The Department of Education has issued a draft proposal…
When the members of the Constitution Revision Commission were appointed by Florida’s top political leaders, the list was full of prominent school choice advocates. It seemed the CRC was gearing up to amend Florida’s constitution to finally allow for the major expansion of school vouchers the Legislature has long sought. Instead, the 37-member commission dropped its two…
The 2018 Legislative Session adjourned, sine die, on Sunday evening with the passage of the $88.7 billion state budget, budget implementing bill, and a tax relief bill. On the same day, Governor Scott signed Senate President Joe Negron’s priority legislation relating to post-secondary education ( SB 4) and House Speaker Richard Corcoran’s priority legislation relating to…
Unfortunately, Senate President Negron and House Speaker Corcoran did not complete negotiations on the state budget today. As we have reported, in order for the Session to adjourn on schedule on Friday, March 9, the budget should have been printed before midnight today to allow for the constitutionally required 72-hour “cooling off” period before a…
As we begin the last scheduled week of the 2018 Session, please take a few minutes to view our Legislative Weekly video featuring Andrea Messina providing a recap of recent legislative events and focusing on the key bills and issues that remain to be resolved. One of those key bills – HB 7055 — was…