Florida schools roundup: Graduation rates, testing standards and more

Graduation rates: Florida’s graduation rate is up to 77.8 percent, a gain of 18.5 percentage points since 2004-2005, according to a state Department of Education report. Graduation rates for minorities are also up. The rate measures the percentage of students who graduate within four years of starting ninth grade. Miami Herald. Tampa Bay Times. Tampa Tribune. Orlando Sentinel. Sun-Sentinel. Palm Beach Post. Tallahassee Democrat. Florida Today. Florida Times-Union. Pensacola News Journal. Fort Myers News-Press. Lakeland Ledger. TCPalm. Bradenton Herald. Naples Daily News. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Gainesville Sun. WFSU. Sunshine State News.

Testing standards: Business leaders are urging the Florida Board of Education to not lower the state’s standards for academic proficiency. The board meets today to decide on how to use test scores to grade students and schools. Tallahassee Democrat.

Tax-credit scholarships: National groups of minority education advocates are urging the Florida Education Association to drop its legal challenge of the state’s program that gives tax-credit scholarships that allow poor children to attend private schools. Step Up for Students, which hosts this blog, helps administer those accounts. Politico Florida. In Orlando, costumed children and camels acting as the three wise men who visited the infant Jesus after his birth march to protest the FEA lawsuit. Orlando Sentinel. WKMG.

School calendar: The Sarasota County School Board has rejected a proposal to start school a week earlier the next two years. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Branding criticized: The Polk County School District is spending $76,250 on a branding campaign, and some people in the community are unhappy about it. Lakeland Ledger.

Charter problems: The iGeneration Empowerment Academy of Broward County abruptly closed over the holidays, citing a lack of money to continue. Parents of the 138 students were notified Thursday that the school wouldn’t reopen this week. Sun-Sentinel. Plans for a new Montessori school in Pasco County are dead for now. The Garden Montessori School won a five-year contract from the school board and was supposed to open last August. But school officials say they can’t find an adequate facility, and won’t open at all. Gradebook.

Takeover doubts: Some board members of the Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County question if the agency is prepared to take over some services now provided by the county school district. Tampa Tribune.

Superintendent’s pay: The Hernando County School Board is split over how much money to offer Superintendent Lori Romano, who is a finalist for the same job in Osceola County. Tampa Bay Times.

Contract negotiations: Negotiations between the St. Johns School District and its teachers union are at an impasse, union officials say. At issue are pay for teachers and associate teachers, supplemental compensation for those with advanced degrees and guaranteed renewal for effective teachers.. St. Augustine Record.

Sex abuse scandal: A teacher who is named in a sex abuse scandal at a Rhode Island prep school in the 1980s was later hired at Tampa Prep and stayed there until he retired in 2008, even though one of the accusers says he warned Tampa Prep about him in 2004. Tampa Bay Times. New York Times.

Fraud trial begins: The fraud trial of former Broward Teachers Union president Pat Santeramo begins today in Fort Lauderdale. He’s accused of stealing more than $300,000 from the union. Sun-Sentinel.

Employees cleared: A report clears Lee County School District employees of wrongdoing in a GED scandal at Dunbar Community School that took place four days before the principal resigned. Fort Myers News-Press. Naples Daily News. Former Maplewood Elementary School teacher Tracey Newton has been cleared by an administrative judge of acting inappropriately during an incident with an unruly child. The Department of Education was trying to revoke her teaching certificate. Ocala Star Banner.

Employees in trouble: Lake Worth High School football coach and athletic director Jessie Hester is arrested and accused of domestic battery. Palm Beach Post. A 41-year-old Loggers’ Run Middle School teacher is arrested and accused of sending nude photos of himself to a 14-year-old student. Palm Beach Post.

Guns in school: Pensacola police are searching for two men with guns who entered Washington High School around 3 p.m. Tuesday, just as students were being let out. Pensacola News Journal.

Students’ hazing hearing: A hearing is today for two former West Florida High sophomores accused of hazing a football teammate on a school bus after a game Oct. 1. Pensacola News Journal.

Opinions on schools: Electing an education commissioner and adding the position to the Cabinet won’t solve education problems in the state. The real problem is the people running the system. Martin Dyckman, Florida Politics. The state must improve its financial scrutiny of charter schools. Daytona Beach News-Journal. I believe in public schools, computer coding classes, STEAM and the right to choose. Beth Kassab, Orlando Sentinel. Stricter enforcement and penalties are needed to protect students from traffic around schools. Scott Maxwell, Orlando Sentinel. Money for the Best and Brightest Teacher Scholarship Program should be aimed instead at hiring and retaining math and science teachers. Paul Cottle, Tallahassee Democrat.