Florida roundup: Open enrollment, tax credit scholarships, charter schools and more

Open enrollment. Duval County’s plan for universal public school choice is now on hold indefinitely, the Florida Times-Union reports. More from WJCT. WJXT.

florida-roundup-logo Tax credit scholarships. The Florida PTA comes out against legislation expanding the tax credit scholarships program. Extra Credit. A Tampa Bay Times columnist rails against the program, seizing on the fact that students do not take the statewide standardized tests. More on the bill from Watchdog.Org.

Charter schools. Einstein Academies gain a foothold in South Florida. Sun-Sentinel. A Brevard charter school wins local recognition for its “green” practices. Florida Today. NBC Miami tackles facilities funding questions.

Common Core. Trouble finding quality textbooks aligned to the standards prompts Pasco schools to delay a round of textbook adoption decisions. Gradebook.

Textbooks. Scripps/Tribune writes up the bill that could soon remove the state from adoption decisions.

Transportation. Safety concerns and other complaints are mounting among Hillsborough bus drivers, and school board members are heating about it. Tampa TribuneTampa Bay Times. Officials look to make buses safer for disabled students. Tampa Tribune.

Student discipline. Advocates seek changes to zero-tolerance policies. Tampa Bay Times. The Senate advances the “pop-tart” zero-tolerance overhaul. WFSU.

Teacher conduct. Penalties for sexual misconduct could soon get steeper. Sun-Sentinel.

Athletic transfers. An internal investigation turns up no wrongdoing in Okaloosa County. Northwest Florida Daily News.

Politics. A Gainesville middle school teacher prepares to run against a controversial Congressman. Gainesville Sun.


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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.