Florida roundup: Migrant students, whistleblowers, campaigns and more

Tax credit scholarships. A Miami Herald guest column attacks the program for not being subject to the same regulations as the public school system. Students in the program should be assessed in science, FSU professor Paul Cottle writes in the Tallahassee Democrat.

florida-roundup-logoMigrant students. The Miami-Dade school board plans to seek more federal funding to accommodate an influx of migrant children fleeing from Central America. Miami Herald.

Whistleblowers. The Palm Beach school board tosses a retaliation complaint against its inspector general. Palm Beach Post. Sun-Sentinel. More here. More school district employees become whistleblowers in a Leon County contracting scandal. Tallahassee Democrat.

Campaigns. An Orange County teacher whose speech blasting school reform spread around the Internet is now running for school board. Orlando Sentinel. Fields are set in many Southwest Florida school board races. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Charter schools. How does Florida’s sector stack up? Perhaps not so well. Flypaper.

Employee conduct. One Manatee school administrator is acquitted, and another convicted, in a high-profile sex abuse case. Sarasota Hearld-TribuneBradenton Herald.

Teachers. Most days, there are hundreds of substitutes teaching in Pinellas County classrooms. Tampa Bay Times. A report on a teacher prep paints an unflattering picture of Florida colleges. Extra Credit.

Summer. Pasco schools expand their summer course offerings. Tampa Bay Times. Parents don’t always make reading a priority after the school year ends, a survey shows. Orlando Sentinel.

 Attendance.  Hillsborough students are honored for 13 years of perfect attendance. Tampa Tribune.


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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.