Florida School Boards Association
TAMPA — With students already preparing for the first round of standardized tests for 2016, state officials are set to finally decide what to do with 2015’s test scores. Despite calls from the state’s superintendents to do without schools grades for 2015, the Florida Board of Education is poised to vote Wednesday in Tallahassee on…
DetailsHigh school testing is on the brink of a profound shift, as states increasingly choose college-entrance exams to measure achievement. The new federal education law invites that change, but it comes with some big caution signs and unanswered questions. The questions are hanging over a provision of the Every Student Succeeds Act that lets states…
DetailsTALLAHASSEE — Amid the dozens of school choice bills filed for the upcoming legislative session, one that aims to expand a program for the parents of children with disabilities is on a fast track for early approval. The bill would increase by 37 percent the amount of scholarship money for thousands of parents of children…
DetailsTwo Florida lawmakers are looking to open Florida to a private funding model for social services that Utah has used to expand its prekindergarten programs. Rep. Chris Sprowls and Sen. Aaron Bean have filed legislation (HB 1049/SB 1200) to create the “pay for success” system that led to major investment banks putting millions toward Utah’s…
DetailsAs the days get shorter, first grade teacher Esmeralda Jiménez watches the dimming afternoon sky outside her classroom window the way her pupils watch the clock at dismissal time. The studio apartment Jiménez rents for $1,783 a month, or 43 percent of her salary, is located in one of San Francisco’s sketchiest neighborhoods. Getting home…
DetailsThis November in Austin, Texas, voters will pick a president during their regular trip to the grocery store. Maine residents who have never voted will register on Election Day. Every Colorado voter will get a ballot in the mail that they can mail or drop off anytime before the polls close. And some Alaskans will…
DetailsIt has been a high-stakes year for high-stakes standardized tests. The debate over renewing the big federal education law turned, in part, on whether annual testing would remain a federal mandate. Republicans initially said no, Democrats said yes. Ultimately the overhaul passed with tests still in place. On the other hand, this fall President Obama…
DetailsA billion dollars. That’s a lot of money. That’s Gov. Rick Scott’s goal for cutting taxes in 2016. But with each passing day, it looks more obvious that Scott is headed for defeat because the Legislature is not sold on the idea. It all comes down to one word: recurring. Simply put, Scott wants most…
DetailsIn public classrooms across the country, the corporate name that is fast becoming as common as pencils and erasers is Google. More than half of K-12 laptops or tablets purchased by U.S. schools in the third quarter were Chromebooks, cheap laptops that run Google software. Beyond its famed Web search, the company freely offers word…
DetailsAs Florida’s 2016 legislative session fast approaches, lawmakers keep filing education-related bills even during the holiday lull. The latest: Rep. Reggie Fullwood’s proposal to create a social services oriented pilot program for the state’s poorest, most academically struggling schools. One highly anticipated measure, though, remains conspicuously absent. On the heels of spring testing troubles, and amid calls to…
Details