A wide-ranging education bill dealing with everything from funding for high-performing universities to high-school membership in athletic associations made it through the final day of the legislative session Friday, despite the long odds that such policy “trains” often face. But in the process, lawmakers cut a provision aimed at ensuring that taxpayer-provided construction dollars for…
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TODAY’S HAPPENINGS The Legislature has adjourned, sine die, after passing the state budget and related appropriations bills as well as a lengthy list of education related bills. With regard to the education budget, we are working on our detailed analysis of the education portions of the budget but, in the meantime, we have prepared a…
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1. Harvard’s multiyear initiative to transform K-12 education: http://edredesign.org/by-all-means 2. Increase in bomb threats? You are not alone: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/03/08/schools–computer-bomb-threats/81489322/ 3. Heard of the “Stop Swatting in Our Schools Act”? http://www.chron.com/news/article/Proposed-federal-bill-would-combat-swatting-in-6873330.php 4. SXSWedu takeaways: https://www.the74million.org/article/3-things-we-learned-about-the-future-of-education-at-south-by-southwest-education 5. John B. King, Jr. closer to being confirmed as Education Secretary: http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2016-03-09/senate-committee-votes-to-approve-new-education-secretary
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TODAY’S HAPPENINGS In the Senate Session: Bills on 3rd Reading: HB 189 – Teacher Certification by Diaz – READ 3RD TIME; PASSED THE SENATE; PASSED THE LEGISLATURE Providing alternative requirements for earning a professional educator certificate that covers certain grades, etc. HB 1147 – Character Development Instruction by Latvala — READ 3RD TIME; PASSED THE SENATE; PASSED THE LEGISLATURE Requiring…
DetailsTALLAHASSEE — Florida voters will be asked to vote on three constitutional amendments dealing with taxes. The Florida Legislature on Wednesday approved three amendments for the ballot. One of the amendments (HJR 1009) would grant a property tax break to any first responders who were disabled in the line of duty. Another one of the…
DetailsTALLAHASSEE — A proposed law that cleared the Florida Legislature on Wednesday should give local government entities — such as Miami-Dade Public Schools — faster access to their tax revenue and the ability to more accurately plan their annual budgets. Officials with the Miami-Dade school district have, for years, complained that lengthy delays in tax…
DetailsTALLAHASSEE — A wide-ranging education bill with more than a dozen significant policy proposals passed the Florida Senate without any debate Wednesday on the measure’s most consequential components. HB 7029 deals with capital funding for charter and traditional public schools, accountability measures for charter schools, open enrollment in K-12 public schools, high school athletics and…
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TODAY’S HAPPENINGS In the Senate Session: Bills on 3rd Reading: HB 1157 – Postsecondary Education for Veterans by Raburn – READ 3RD TIME; PASSED THE SENATE; PASSED THE LEGISLATURE Directing the Department of Education to award postsecondary course credit for specified examinations and tests; providing that specified programs and test scores meet certain educator certification requirements, etc. HB…
DetailsTALLAHASSEE — The Legislature plans to spend a total of $31.8 billion in state and local funds on education in 2016-17, according to the final state budget introduced on Tuesday. That includes $20.2 billion for K-12 public schools distributed through the state’s funding formula, the Florida Education Finance Program. The sum is made up of…
DetailsFlorida education commissioner Pam Stewart, among other state education leaders, has repeatedly stated that all public schools and their students are required to participate in annual state testing. She’s relied on the Florida statute that sets forth the rule as a way to bat back parents who say they wish to opt out of the system. Participation,…
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