FSBA Session Spotlight – October 21, 2019

The Legislature will hold a third round of Interim Committee Meetings this week. Education related Committees and Subcommittees will receive information on educator professional development, health concerns for student athletes, workforce development issues, and teacher compensation.  Committees also will consider a few bills of interest, including bills relating to public records, athletic trainers, homelessness, and…

Details

Florida House looks for ways to boost teacher pay

A House education panel on Thursday began delving into the issue of raising teacher pay, with a key lawmaker saying that while “everything is on the table,” the panel still needs to figure out where the money would come from.Rep. Chris Latvala, a Clearwater Republican who chairs the House PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee, said his panel…

Details

School boards urge justices to decide education fight

Saying the case involves protecting “local control over local schools by local representatives answerable to local voters,” nine county school boards urged the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday to take up a battle about a 2017 state law that sought to bolster charter schools. Read More

Details

Florida’s Post-Parkland Experiment: To Deter Mass Shootings, Some School Districts Are Creating Their Own Police Departments

By his own admission, Kenneth Wagner isn’t “a super-religious person.” But the police chief in suburban Jacksonville recently found himself pleading with God — praying enough people would apply in time to fill close to 50 job openings.  Earlier this year, after lawmakers in Florida required school districts to heighten security following a mass school…

Details

Environmentalists mostly welcome Florida’s plan to spend VW settlement money on cleaner buses

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced this week that it will use most of the $166 million it received in Volkswagen settlement money to replace diesel buses and shuttle vans with electric models  . . . Some $5 million of that $116 million will help districts replace older diesel school buses with electric…

Details

FSBA Session Spotlight — October 14, 2019

The Legislature will hold a second round of Interim Committee Meetings this week. Education related Committees and Subcommittees will receive overviews on educator professional development, the state system of school improvement, teacher compensation, and the FDOE’s Legislative Budget Request (LBR).  Other Committees will consider a few bills of interest, including bills relating to public records,…

Details

Fifth time in 24 years. Why Florida is changing school standards, again

Florida education commissioner Richard Corcoran didn’t hide his enthusiasm during a “listening session” Thursday in Gainesville, where a crowd showed up to discuss proposed changes to the state’s education standards.  “We’re going to end up with the world’s best standards,” he said. “We’re going to end up with an education that’s going to transform our…

Details

FSBA Friday Five – October 11, 2019

Boredom is better for kids than screen time Learn more about National Book Month.  Hint:  you are ½ way through it Parents worry about gadget use during children’s sleepovers Youth Truth student survey report—From Data to Action:  Resources to help educators strengthen school culture and address bullying Vibrant and Healthy Kids—Aligning Science, Practice, and Policy…

Details