Tampa Bay Times – Editorial: Listen to Gates on testing timetable

Bill Gates knows a thing or two about product development. So when the Microsoft billionaire’s foundation recommends that states wait at least two years before assigning high-stakes consequences to new Common Core State Standards testing schemes, Tallahassee should listen. Maintaining Florida’s already discredited school grading scheme simply for continuity’s sake makes no sense. A change…

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New report shows pros and cons in Florida’s high school graduation rate

A new Education Week report analyzing graduation rates shows that Florida remains among the lowest states in getting teens through high school, with a 75 percent rate for 2012 compared to 81 percent nationally. That places Florida 43rd, along with Alabama and better than Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, South Carolina and the District…

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Ethics: Current examples of accused violations of open meeting laws by elected officials

Two articles crossed my desk today regarding violation of open meeting laws. The first article http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-grand-jury-xway-20140604,0,7022859.story involves Grand Jury indictments handed down to three public officials in Orlando for violation of Florida’s public meeting law. The second article, http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/education/2014/05/28/kings-lawsuit/9681795/, cites improper public notice for a meeting by the board majority when they held a special…

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