Trump’s visit: President Donald Trump visits St. Andrew Catholic School in Orlando today to promote his support for broader school choice. St. Andrew is part of the Notre Dame Alliance for Catholic Education academies, a national network working to revitalize urban Catholic education. About 85 percent of the 340 students in the pre-K through eighth-grade school use tax credit scholarships. Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog, helps administer the program. redefinED. WFTV. Politico Florida. Myrna Saint-Juste, who sent two children to St. Andrew Catholic School, and her son Marcus Millien, now a student at Bishop Moore High School, were asked to meet with President Trump today when he visits the school. She declined, but Marcus accepted. Orlando Sentinel.
Legislature and education: Legislators want to reduce testing, change the teacher bonuses program and improve the higher education system, among other things, during the legislative session that begins Tuesday. Here are previews of some of the issues being debated. Tampa Bay Times. Orlando Sentinel. Sun-Sentinel. The major players in the legislative session are profiled. Tallahassee Democrat.
Bills about teachers: Two bills filed by legislators would change the criteria by which teachers are eligible for bonuses from the state. A bill filed by Sen. Keith Perry, R-Gainesville, would lower the SAT and ACT test scores level a teacher would need to be eligible for the state’s teacher bonus, and add several other tests that could be used. A bill filed by Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, would expand eligibility requirements to college GPA and to those graduates who commit to teaching in critical teacher shortage areas. Both would also allow school administrators to be eligible for bonuses. Gradebook. A bill introduced by Rep. Rene Plasencia, R-Orlando, would expand the path to teacher certification, including allowing charter schools to set up their own training programs that would have to be approved by the Florida Department of Education. Legislators want to make it easier to hire people who have expertise in a subject and can prove competency in the classroom but don’t have an education degree. redefinED. Sen. Debbie Mayfield, R-Vero Beach, files a bill that would prohibit teacher retirements during the school year. Exceptions would be made for illnesses and disabilities. News Service of Florida.
Charter district: Three charter schools companies are competing to take over operations of the Jefferson County School District. They are: Somerset Academy Inc., which operates 16 charter schools in Miami-Dade and Broward counties; Lake Wales Charter Schools Inc., which runs six schools in Polk County; and EdFutures, which runs two schools in Volusia County. Superintendent Marianne Arbulu said the school board could make its selection by next week. Politico Florida.
After the tests: Pasco County school officials will now allow students to read a book after they finish their Florida Standards Assessments tests. The district, like many others around the state, had banned any activity for students who finish their testing earlier than the allotted time. Gradebook.
Signs of improvement: Pinellas County officials say they see signs of improvement at eight struggling elementary schools. Suspensions, referrals and absenteeism are down, and better teaching is leading to academic growth. Now, they say the question is whether the progress will translate to better test scores and grades for the schools in the “Transformation Zone.” Tampa Bay Times.
Black students sue: Lawyers for two black Pinellas County students are suing the school district for canceling a reading program aimed at black students. The suit says the program, called First 25, raised reading scores for 75 percent of the students using it. It accuses top school officials of killing the program because they had personal animosity toward the program founder, Todd Hoover. Hoover is representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. SaintPetersBlog.
Top U.S. superintendent: Matthew Utterback of the North Clackamas School District in Oregon wins the national superintendent of the year award. Orange County School Superintendent Barbara Jenkins was one of four finalists. She was named the state’s superintendent of the year in November. Orlando Sentinel.
Program move questioned: The Leon County School Board is asking Superintendent Rocky Hanna for more details on the proposed move of the Adult and Community Education program to Lively Tech. Special education students from the PACE Secondary School would move into the space vacated by the adult program. The proposal has been criticized in the community and by some board members. Tallahassee Democrat.
Diversity in hiring: St. Johns County school officials are making a push to diversify their teaching workforce. The district wants to boost its current minorities level of 4 percent. “Recruiters just like me are all looking for the same thing,” said Jewel Johnson, director of instructional personnel. “We’re all fighting over the same 12 people.” St. Augustine Record.
Personnel changes: Two new middle school principals are named in Pasco County. Cortney Gant moves from Trinity Elementary to Seven Springs Middle School, and Rachel Fowler takes over at Weightman Middle. Gradebook.
Plea deal for student: A 14-year-old boy accused of planning a Columbine-style attack on the Villages Charter Middle School has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge and is placed on indefinite probation. The other accused boy, who is 13, remains in custody. Daily Commercial.
Two teachers fired: Two Olympic Heights High School teachers are fired for engaging in sexual activity on campus during school hours. Palm Beach Post.
School removes student: A student is removed from Loggers Run Middle School in Boca Raton after school officials found a threat against the school on his cell phone. Palm Beach Post.
Kidnapping charges: A man is accused of kidnapping two girls in separate incidents as they walked to their bus stops recently in Lauderdale Lakes. Kevin Smith, 50, is also accused of sexually assaulting one of the girls. Sun-Sentinel.
Caterer faulted: The Florida Department of Health says 100 preschoolers at 10 centers took ill in November after the caterer served them food that was improperly prepared and monitored. The state says Healthy Children Catering likely exposed the children to staph bacteria due to the mistakes. Sun-Sentinel.
Opinions on schools: A new legislative proposal to move state tests to the end of the school year ignores a couple of practical issues associated with testing: computer access and the added stress of a never-ending break from the testing environment for our teachers and students. Martin Karp, Miami Herald. Florida and Miami-Dade County are making progress, but still lag in providing gifted classes to minority students. Adeyela Bennett and Bradley Bennett, Miami Herald. At St. Andrew Catholic School, we see ourselves as partners with public schools in a shared commitment to lift every child to a life that offers better opportunities. Principal Latrina Peters-Gipson, Orlando Sentinel. If our teachers can begin to feel as though they are once again full partners in the education of their students, maybe they will be able to tell their own best and brightest students that teaching is a profession worth considering. Paul Cottle, Bridge to Tomorrow.
Student enrichment: Top spellers from 14 northeast Florida counties compete Saturday in the Florida Times-Union Regional Spelling Bee Championship. The winner will move on to the 90th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee May 28-June 4 in the Washington, D.C., area. Florida Times-Union. Twenty-seven boys from the Aventura City of Excellence School are participating in the school’s One Million Men in the Making mentoring club. Miami Herald. More than 10,000 Miami-Dade students will see performances of The Taming of the Shrew in GableStage’s annual Shakespeare Tour through March 17. Miami Herald. More than 4,000 first-graders in Sarasota and Manatee counties receive Dr. Seuss books donated by nonprofits during an “Embracing Dr. Seuss’ Differences Day.” Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Renowned cellist Amit Peled gives a lesson to music students at the Benjamin School in North Palm Beach. Palm Beach Post. Peyton Jones, a sixth-grader at Sims Middle School in Pace, gets a helicopter ride as a reward for saving her brother’s life by calling 911 after he stopped breathing. Pensacola News Journal.
