Florida roundup: Charter schools, state chiefs, school boards and more

florida-roundup-logoCharter schools. Florida gets good marks for its charter school policies (and its teacher pension system). Gradebook. Charter Schools USA is growing as a company. Sun-Sentinel.

State chiefs. Turnover is on the rise at the top of state education departments around the country, and Florida has recently been no exception. Education Week.

School choice. The Daily Caller and Watchdog.org take new looks at Florida’s most recent school choice legislation and programs. Naples celebrates School Choice Week. Naples Daily News.

Testing. Opting out is not an option in Florida. Florida Today. The Pinellas school board joins the chorus calling for state testing changes. Tampa Bay Times.

Finance. The Lee County School Board plans a tax referendum to finance the construction of new schools. Fort Myers News-Press. The Broward school board approves a panel to oversee spending of the proceeds of a bond referendum. Sun-Sentinel.  Polk’s bond rating improves. Lakeland Ledger.

Special needs. Specialized library programs help children with autism. Orlando Sentinel.

Superintendents. The Palm Beach superintendent saga continues, as Wayne Gent is named a finalist for the top job in a nearby district. Palm Beach Post. More from the Post here and here. Volusia’s superintendent retires ahead of schedule. Daytona Beach News-Journal.

Recess. Families picket and protest for recess. Orlando Sentinel.

School boards. Hillsborough high school students grill local school board members. Tampa Bay Times. Tampa Tribune. The Duval school board holds a joint meeting with the Jacksonville City Council. Florida Times-Union.

Teacher conduct. Two Broward educators accused of misconduct have their licenses revoked for misconduct. Sun-Sentinel. A Sarasota teacher is accused of pawning district-owned computers. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Department of Education. The Florida DOE’s new general counsel has ties in other parts of state government. Miami Herald.

Crime. Three Pensacola schools are robbed. Pensacola News-Journal.

Reading. Florida’s First Lady reads to students in Naples. Naples Daily News.

Safety. Leon County teachers get a lesson in sexual abuse prevention. Tallahassee Democrat.

Student voices. Sarasota students weigh in on district policies. Sarasota Herald-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.