Ron DeSantis transition panels to meet
Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis’ Transition Team announced this week’s meeting schedule for his Transition Advisory Committees. A public conference call number will be made available on DeSantisTransition.com before the meetings for members of the public and news media who would like to listen in. Read More
DeSantis names wide-ranging education transition committee
While speculation swirls over who he wants to be Florida’s next education commissioner, Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis on Thursday announced his 41-person team to develop a plan aimed at implementing his education goals. The list includes a broad cross-section of the state’s education advocacy groups, representing everything from district public schools to home schools. Some of […]
Florida education commissioner Pam Stewart resigns
Pam Stewart, Florida’s education commissioner since 2013, announced her resignation Tuesday as speculation swirled that Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis sought to replace her with former House Speaker Richard Corcoran. In a letter to State Board of Education chairwoman Marva Johnson, Stewart said she would return to her original plan to retire on Jan. 8. Read More
Clock ticks down on GOP Congress
Lawmakers are facing an end-of-the-year traffic jam with legislation piling up and a tight schedule that leaves them little wiggle room. Leadership is juggling a backlog of must-pass bills and nominations as well as eleventh-hour requests from rank-and-file members as legislators try to cram as much as possible into the final days of the work […]
DeSantis quietly telling education leaders Corcoran likely next commissioner
Former State House Speaker Richard Corcoran is likely to be tapped by Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis as Florida’s next commissioner of education, according to an education industry source familiar with the conversations. Read More
Should Teachers Carry Guns? The Debate, Explained
The idea of arming teachers—or loosening state restrictions to allow concealed-carry permit holders to bring guns into schools—is often circulated after school attacks. It gained attention after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in 2012 and was revived in the wake of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High […]
Education fault lines separate Florida House, Senate
A fight over education policy is brewing at the Capitol. It pits supporters of traditional public schools against advocates for more school choice. With new leaders in place, the Florida House and Senate will be the battleground for the contest over the state’s educational future. Each chamber will have its own distinct ideas about how […]
Friday Five – 11/23/2018
Each week, Executive Director Andrea Messina selects 5 Things You Should Know in education news. Read. Learn. Share. Retweet. National Geographic’s first Thanksgiving resources: Learn more Task students with taking a topic, a lesson, or a unit they are interested in and turn it into a podcast: Learn more Top Tech trends for 2019 in education: […]
Nelson Concedes, Scott Wins Florida Senate Race
Three-term Senator Bill Nelson is conceding defeat to Republican Governor Rick Scott in the race for U.S. Senate. All of Florida’s 67 counties submitted final vote tallies to Tallahassee at noon on Sunday. Read More
DeSantis wins Florida gubernatorial race as Gillum concedes
Andrew Gillum, the Florida Democratic Party’s first African-American candidate for governor, officially called it quits Saturday and congratulated Republican Ron DeSantis as the governor-elect of Florida. Read More
Florida still failing kids with serious mental illness — 9 months after Parkland
Nine months after a mass school shooting in Parkland left 17 dead, an I-Team investigation found Florida still failing kids with serious mental illness – a broken system that top law enforcement bosses say is a threat to public safety. Read More
Friday Five – 11/16/2018
Each week, Executive Director Andrea Messina selects 5 Things You Should Know in education news. Read. Learn. Share. Retweet. To learn, students need to DO something (why engagement matters): Read about it How to identify and promote credentials of value: Read about it Will robots replace teachers in the future? Read about it School leadership: […]
Florida voters are saying yes when school districts ask for more money. Is that a good thing?
Hillsborough County school superintendent Jeff Eakins takes a clear message from last week’s election, which saw many Floridians vote to tax themselves more to help public schools meet rising costs. People see the challenges firsthand and “they know they want better,” he said, referring to tax referendums that won approval in Hillsborough and seven other […]
*PRESS RELEASE* Historic Voter Turnout in Florida Demonstrates Strong Support for Public Schools
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, November 9, 2018 CONTACT BillieAnne Gay, gay@fsba.org, 850.528.9104 Historic Voter Turnout in Florida Demonstrates Strong Support for Public Schools Tallahassee, FL – Florida experienced historic voter turnout with over 7 million Floridians casting their vote in the 2018 General Election on November 6. The 2018 election cycle has illustrated the public’s […]
Florida Supreme Court considers education funding challenge
Florida’s Supreme Court justices gave just a few hints Thursday of how they’re thinking about a 9-year-old case that contends, essentially, that the Legislature has shortchanged some students in the state’s public education system. The case, Citizens for Strong Schools vs. Florida Board of Education, focuses on the Florida constitution’s mandate that the state has a “paramount […]
Friday Five – 11/9/2018
Each week, Executive Director Andrea Messina selects 5 Things You Should Know in education news. Read. Learn. Share. Retweet. Florida TaxWatch has prepared a handbook for the newly elected Governor to help guide his transition. You should read it: Full Article School Bus Drivers can play a role in combating human trafficking: Full Article […]
Recounts loom larger, legal action begins as margins tighten in key Florida races
As the Senate race between Gov. Rick Scott and Sen. Bill Nelson appears headed to a statewide recount, both candidates are mobilizing teams of lawyers and legal skirmishes are well underway. Thursday dawned with Scott leading Nelson by just more than one-fourth of a percentage point. The candidates for agriculture commissioner are much closer, divided […]
Facing national microscope again, Florida braces for several recounts
Florida’s chief legal officer, Secretary of State Ken Detzner, told county election supervisors Thursday to plan for statewide recounts and for extraordinary public and media scrutiny in the state with the singular status of unusually close elections. Read More
No issue is more important to Florida’s future than education, influencers say
The key to solving the wide array of policy challenges facing Florida starts with one thing: education. That was the takeaway from the final 2018 survey of the Florida Influencers, a group of 50 leaders from across the state. Asked to rank five issues by order of importance to Florida’s future — education, the environment, […]
St. Johns County schools already getting tips through FortifyFL app
A new app designed to keep students safe in school by letting them submit anonymous tips about suspicious activity is already getting results in Northeast Florida. FortifyFL was created by Attorney General Pam Bondi, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Department of Education in response to the Valentine’s Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman […]