Florida Roundup: Tax credit scholarships, extracurricular activities, testing and more

Tax credit scholarships. Revived legislation expanding the program clears a House-panel on a party-line vote. Florida Times-Union. Capitol News Service. News Service of Florida. Times/Herald. Palm Beach Post. Associated Press. WFSUThe legislation could extend scholarships to middle-class families. Sun-Sentinel. A Washington Post blogger seizes on inconsistent uses of the term “waiting list.” Answer Sheet. A Palm Beach Post columnist likens the bill to a “zombie that won’t die.” The program is administered by Step Up for Students, which co-hosts this blog.

florida-roundup-logoCharter schools. Hillsborough schools officials raise questions about the non-profit organizations that hired Charter Schools USA to run three charter schools in the county. Tampa Bay Times. Charter schools compete with school districts for limited construction funds in the state budget. Times/Herald.

Extracurricular activities. The Florida Times-Union writes up a bill that would expand access for students in school choice programs.

Testing. School administrators say they need more time before the state switches standardized tests. Tampa Tribune. Duval’s superintendent pledges to pare back the number of tests given in the district next year. Florida Times-Union.

Teachers.  A Lee County Schools program aims to bring new teachers into high-need areas. Naples Daily News. Collier schools turn to recent retirees to make up for a substitute shortage. Naples Daily News. A recent statewide teacher of the year criticizes the use value-added scores to judge teachers, among other state education policies. Tampa Bay Times.

Advanced Placement. Orange County administrators probe inconsistencies in the way AP results are applied to students’ grades. Orlando Sentinel.

Facilitates. Polk schools are dealing with over-crowding, so the district plans to build two more. Lakeland Ledger.

School lunch. Students behind on their lunch bills get a cheese sandwich and juice instead of the full meal. Florida Times-Union.

Wraparound services. A judge takes part in a push to create a community school in Pasco County. Tampa Bay Times.

Administration. Manatee school district officials fight to get their finances in order. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Hernando schools consider raises for administrators. Tampa Bay Times. Hillsborough County Schools’ new facilities chief prepares to take over. Tampa Tribune.

Jeb Bush. Republican heavyweights are trying to pull him into a presidential run, but his support for Common Core standards could become a liability. Washington Post.


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BY Travis Pillow

Travis Pillow is Director of Thought Leadership at Step Up For Students and editor of NextSteps. He lives in Sanford, Fla. with his wife and two children. A former Tallahassee statehouse reporter, he most recently worked at the Center on Reinventing Public Education, a research organization at Arizona State University, where he studied community-led learning innovation and school systems' responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. He can be reached at tpillow (at) sufs.org.