Florida School Boards Association
After weeks of committee conversations, Florida Senate Education chairman John Legg is ready to take the debate over student testing and teacher evaluations to the next level. Legg is filing a bill today that tackles concerns and complaints he and colleagues have heard from educators and parents over the past several weeks and months. The…
DetailsFlorida debuts a new standardized test for students next month, in a year when testing is a hot-button issuein public education. The Florida Standards Assessment is expected to be tougher than its predecessor, the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Uncertainty about the new exams has stressed out many because results will be used to judge students,…
DetailsThis week is National School Choice Week, self-described as “an unprecedented opportunity to shine a spotlight on the need for effective education options for all children.” Ironically, “opportunity” for America’s schoolchildren is what National School Choice Week places at risk. The further irony is “choice” can mean public tax dollars siphoned away from community schools…
DetailsThe newly renovated planetarium is the centerpiece of the school’s Astronomy Magnet program that will offer students a challenging curriculum exposing them to critical thinking, technology, STEM, research opportunities and Advanced Placement, while earning college credit through Florida International University. The quarter-million-dollar, high-def. digital projector has the latest sound and lighting systems that will take…
DetailsEducation Commissioner Pam Stewart says students can not skip state-required tests, and teachers and schools can be punished for refusing to administer required exams. Stewart’s letter is a response to questions from Senators as they prepare for the upcoming legislative session. Senators wanted to know if students could opt out of state-required exams and how…
DetailsIn the opening bid to reauthorize the federal K-12 education law, No Child Left Behind, the Senate education committee took up the divisive issue of testing, in which the overwhelming recommendation to the committee was to maintain the current law’s annual-testing regimen. In fact, only two of the six witnesses who testified at Wednesday’s hearing…
DetailsLots of people think there’s too much testing going on in schools right now. It’s one of the most contentious issues in education. Lawmakers want to scale back the amount of time Florida students spend taking tests. But at the same time, Florida is rolling out a new test tied to new math and language…
DetailsThe Florida Education Association today lost an appeal in one of the cases it had filed challenging the legality of the teacher merit-pay law (SB 736) the Florida Legislature passed in 2011. The controversial law overhauled how Florida’s public school teachers are evaluated and paid and required that student test scores be used in instructors’…
DetailsDarcey Addo practiced with her son, Sammy, after dinner and again before school, coaching him on what to say. She had kept Sammy home during a district reading test earlier this month, and wanted him to be prepared when he was asked to take a make-up exam. She gave Sammy a letter explaining her decision…
DetailsTALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott on Thursday proposed spending $23.5 million to expand Bright Futures scholarships, but did not address recent criticism of the program — namely, that new eligibility standards put in place to control costs have kept thousands of low-income and minority students from receiving the awards. Scott’s plan would direct new money…
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