School vouchers: House Speaker Will Weatherford is among Republicans looking to expand school choice efforts this year, including beefing up the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program. Palm Beach Post.
Charter schools: A new state law that requires a “model” contract between school districts and charter operators is not stopping Orange County from requiring new charters to meet performance standards. Orlando Sentinel.
Faith-based schools: Parents are shocked after learning a Palm Beach County Presbyterian church is closing its school. Palm Beach Post. Hundreds of low-income students at Duval County private or parochial schools will likely lose tutoring and other academic help because the federal money paying for it is drying up. Florida Times-Union.
School choice: The city of Hollywood is pushing its public schools to better market themselves this year, in hopes of luring new students — and new families. Sun Sentinel. Pasco County students and parents face a broader array of education options as the district’s 2014-15 school choice application window opens. Tampa Bay Times.
Digital learning: A proposed bill to expand school technology could lead to more tablets and computers, more professional development for teachers and more opportunities for K-12 students to take classes in subjects like computer programming. The Tampa Tribune. More from Tampa Bay Times. StateImact Florida asks teachers how they learned to connect technology to learning.
Education budget: While Gov. Rick Scott’s suggested a $542 million bump in K-12 funding is no small chunk of change, few people believe it’s anywhere near enough to meet the ever-growing demands of the state’s public schools, writes Rick Christie for the Palm Beach Post.
Biometrics: State lawmakers take up a proposal this week prohibiting school districts from collecting biometric information, including the characteristics of an individual’s fingerprints, hands, eyes and voice. The Buzz.
Barry Manilow: The singer gives $10,000 to Santa Rosa County public schools for music programs. Pensacola News-Journal.
Superintendents: Hillsborough County schools Superintendent MaryEllen Elia turns 65. But like a lot of Americans, she’s not looking to retire. Tampa Bay Times.
Pay raises: Most of Central Florida’s teachers received raises months ago, but Orange County’s nearly 13,000 teachers are still waiting more than six months into the school year. Orlando Sentinel.
Common Core: A proposed bill in the Florida House deletes the words Common Core State Standards in favor of more generic, and less controversial, terms. Orlando Sentinel. Education Commissioner Pam Stewart recommends nearly 100 tweaks to the Common Core — including the revival of cursive handwriting. Tampa Bay Times.
Early warning: Florida lawmakers propose a bill that would create an “early warning system” for middle schools to identify students who are failing classes, struggling on standardized tests and missing too much school. Orlando Sentinel.
School safety: Instead of arming teachers with guns and risking more accidents, schools could purchase several inexpensive handheld security wands to perform random searches on backpacks, gym bags and purses, writes Terri Friedlander for Florida Today.
Teachers: Patrick Connolly, a Land O’ Lakes High math teacher with 38 years of experience, has been named Pasco County’s Teacher of the Year. The Tampa Tribune. More from Tampa Bay Times.
School boards: The three Leon County School Board candidates vying for District 1 have collected more than $109,000 between them in monetary contributions. Tallahassee Democrat.
TiViTz: TiViTz Tuesdays brings a math game growing in popularity among school districts to kids in 13 counties. Tampa Bay Times.
Conduct: An Orange County school bus driver is jailed after he told authorities he had an inappropriate relationship with a child who rides his bus. Orlando Sentinel. A West Hernando Middle School language arts teacher faces the possibility of losing her job after she allegedly was at work while under the influence of alcohol last month. Tampa Bay Times. Duval County Public Schools fired one of its teachers recently after she was arrested in May 2013 leaving her baby granddaughter alone in her van for too long. Florida Times-Union.
