Homeschooling: A Florida woman who has been homeschooling her children is ordered by a judge to put them in public school after a guardian ad litem says she believes they would benefit from the socialization. Tampa Bay Times.
Charter schools: A Palm Beach County senator wants to narrow the mission of charter schools with a bill that would require charters meet “a specific instructional need or a need for additional educational facilities.” The Florida Current. Charter school administrators are now required to post the school’s annual budget and fiscal audit, the state grade and names of governing board members on their websites. Daytona Beach News-Journal. At Immokalee Community School, every parent has signed a contract to speak Spanish with their kids for at least 30 minutes a day, most days of the week. StateImpact Florida.
Magnet schools: With the opening of a new aviation academy, students at Clearwater High School soon will be able to graduate with a pilot’s license – and a jump into the growing field of aviation and aerospace. Tampa Bay Times.
Private schools: Academy Prep Center of St. Petersburg is looking for a new leader after an announcement that its head of school is stepping down. Tampa Bay Times.
College credit: Duval County’s strongest advanced high school programs may “seed” smaller accelerated or career courses at other district schools. Florida Times-Union.
Achievement gap: Escambia County School District officials will soon be forming a new task force to help close the achievement gap among the district’s students. Pensacola News-Journal.
Scholars: The “scholar” designation on a high school diploma, available for the first time to 2014 graduates, is causing some confusion. Naples Daily News.
Lawmakers: Rep. Marlene O’Toole discloses her job as chief operating officer of a nonprofit approved for millions of dollars by the House Education Appropriations Committee that O’Toole serves on as vice chair. The Buzz.
Common Core: Florida is implementing the new standards, but district superintendents are right to push to delay them, writes the Palm Beach Post.
Evaluations: Local school boards and state officials are still struggling to improve a state evaluation system that judges as many as two-thirds of teachers on the test scores of students they’ve never met or on subjects they don’t teach. Miami Herald.
Teachers: Brevard educators are being taught how to ask better questions in the classroom instead of providing answers all day long. Florida Today. Mother and daughter earn Teacher of the Year awards in Hillsborough County. The Tampa Tribune.
School boards: Lee County looks to increase the number of board members from five to seven. Fort Myers News-Press.
Sales tax: In hopes of building voters’ support for a sales tax increase, Palm Beach County officials and school district representatives are in talks about teaming up to make the sales tax hike push. Sun Sentinel. Orange County school officials will ask voters next year to extend a half-cent sales tax for a still-undecided number of years. Orlando Sentinel.
New app: Several Flagler and Volusia county teachers try out Class Dojo, a free website and app where students receive points for good behavior or lose points for misdeeds. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Security: The Hillsborough County School Board considers adding an armed officer at each of the 125 elementary schools that don’t have them now. The Tampa Tribune.
