Charter schools. Tallahassee Democrat columnist Byron Dobson takes issue with last week’s DOE press release about charter school performance, which was headlined, “Report shows charter school students outpace traditional public school students.” “Somehow the DOE headline comes across as a slam against public schools,” he writes.
School choice. The Escambia school district is set to offer more public school options within geographic zones, prompting School Board Chairman Jeff Bergosh to say:“What we’re doing is the logical next step in public education. Because of this ancient system of geographic boundaries, it shuts out students from being able to go to a better school. This moves the ball forward and allows parents an opportunity.” Pensacola News Journal.
Career education. The Tampa Tribune likes where the Legislature is headed with career education.
Parent trigger. Authentic parents vs. authentic lobbyists, writes StateImpact Florida. An update from SchoolZone. Privatization, says this op-ed in the Ledger.
Digital learning. The conversion in the St. Johns district is welcome but challenging. St. Augustine Record.
Private schools. The Tallahassee Democrat profiles a 40-year-old Episcopalian school whose alumni include the children and grandchildren of Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee.
Jeb Bush. Patricia Levesque responds to a recent Tampa Tribune story about the conspiracy.
Don Gaetz. StateImpact Florida profile.
Gerard Robinson. Florida’s former education commissioner tells Atlanta Journal Constitution columnist Kyle Wingfield that Georgia should not impose income eligibility limits on that state’s tax credit scholarships.
Cyberbullying. Sen. John Legg , R-Lutz, is fast-tracking a bill by Sen. Dwight Bullard, D-Miami, to put a bigger spotlight on this – and perhaps give schools more power over off-campus incidents. Gradebook.
Gays and lesbians. The Lake County School Board votes 3-2 to open the door to a Gay-Straight Alliance at a middle school. Orlando Sentinel.
Teacher conduct. A Broward high school teacher is suspended without pay for a week for calling a black student a “little chocolate boy” in front of class. Miami Herald. More from the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
School recognition money. Gov. Rick Scott hands out $15 million to Broward schools. South Florida Sun Sentinel. Bay County schools get some too, reports the Panama City News Herald.
School spending. No easy way to remedy the St. Lucie school district’s budget deficit, writes Scripps columnist Anthony Westbury. Polk continues to wrestle with potentially dropping a class period to save money, reports the Lakeland Ledger. Duval Superintendent Nikolai Vitti proposes cutting about $2 million from a center that does professional development for district teachers, reports the Florida Times-Union. Some Alachua teacher turn to donorschoose.org, reports the Gainesville Sun.
School safety. Accidents involving school buses are on the rise in Okaloosa. Northwest Florida Daily News.
Common Core. Polk teachers prepare. Lakeland Ledger.
