Education budgets: Differences in the Senate and House education budgets are a significant factor in the yawning gap in the overall spending plans between the two chambers. The House is proposing to spend $81.2 billion and the Senate $83.2 billion. But the Senate budget doesn’t include $2 billion that is factored into the House budget, widening the gap to $4 billion. Major differences are in school taxes, Bright Futures, teacher bonuses, tuition costs and a new initiative that would recruit charter schools to replace persistently low-performing traditional public schools. Sun-Sentinel. Tampa Bay Times. News Service of Florida. Several leading charter school companies say they are not interested in expanding into Florida, even if the $200 million incentive plan proposed by the House is approved. Politico Florida.
Charter school facilities: The Senate Appropriations Committee passes a bill that would require school districts to share local property tax revenue with charter schools. The bill would nearly double the amount of money that charter schools would receive to build and maintain facilities. But it add some restrictions that charter company representatives say could create a “chilling effect” on the expansion of charter schools. redefinED.
Expanding scholarships: The House Education Committee approves a bill that would expand eligibility to one state scholarship program, and the amount of money students receive for another. Eligibility for the Gardiner scholarships, for students with special needs, would expand to include the deaf or visually impaired and those with rare diseases or traumatic brain injuries. Meanwhile, the amount of money students would receive for tax credit scholarships would also increase. Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog, helps administer both programs. redefinED. Politico Florida.
Education bills moving: Halfway through the legislation session, just a handful of K-12 education bills have been approved by one of the chambers. Among them: a bill requiring daily recess (Senate), no job guarantees for teachers beyond annual contracts (House), an expansion of religious expression in schools (House), amending class size requirements (House), clarification of school grades for K-2 (House) and removing a cap on teacher bonuses for student test results (House). Gradebook.
Principal power: Can principals with greater autonomy and fewer governmental regulations produce better educational results? Seven districts in Florida may find out starting this fall. A new state pilot program gives principals in Broward, Palm Beach, Pinellas, Duval, Jefferson, Madison and Seminole counties more authority in hiring and firing and making curriculum and textbook decisions at three struggling district schools. Sun-Sentinel.
Undocumented students: U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos says the Trump administration is not actively trying to find undocumented students in schools. “The issue of DACA is one that was really addressed by the Supreme Court in the early 1980s,” DeVos said of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. “We have an obligation to take care of students that are in the schools and in the system.” DeVos was visiting Florida International University when she made the comments. Miami Herald. Politico Florida.
Code of conduct: Some Duval County schools are not following the district’s code of conduct, and principals and guidance counselors aren’t supporting teachers when they try to impose discipline on students, a teacher tells the Duval County School Board. Octavia Sloan, a second-grade teacher at Carter G. Woodson Elementary, cited a survey showing that many teachers don’t bother writing up students for infractions because they’re too busy preparing for tests, and because they know nothing will happen to the student anyway. School officials say the survey was completed by just 31 teachers, but they will follow up. Florida Times-Union.
School safety: Weeks before a 10-year-old boy was struck and killed as he was riding his bike home from the Odyssey Charter School in Palm Bay, parents had pleaded with the city, school and police to add safety precautions around the school. Florida Today.
Open enrollment: Just 10 of 58 Seminole County schools are accepting transfers under the state’s new open enrollment law. Applications are due May 15. Orlando Sentinel. Some parents in Polk County are frustrated to discover that open enrollment isn’t as open as they’d thought it would be. WFLA.
Options for schools: Four elementary schools in north Marion County need almost $14 million worth of renovations, but the district only has $1 million available. The deputy superintendent of operations, Craig Ham, told the school board that one option might be consolidation, since all four schools are under capacity. Board members asked Ham to compile options for discussion at the May 4 meeting. Ocala Star Banner.
Popularity of magnets: A record 82,000 Miami-Dade County students have applied for admission to the district’s more than 500 magnet schools. In 2006, the number was 34,000. While many schools have waiting lists, 13 schools still have openings. Miami Herald.
Industry certifications: Flagler County school officials are trying to bolster enrollment in programs in which students earn industry certifications. In 2015-2016, just 1.5 percent of students at Matanzas and Flagler Palm Coast high schools earned industry certifications. In neighboring Volusia County, that number was about 10 percent. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
First ladies visiting school: American and Chinese first ladies Melania Trump and Peng Liyuan will reportedly visit Bak Middle School in West Palm Beach today as their husbands meet at Mar-a-Lago. Palm Beach Post.
Guns at schools: Hallandale High School went into a lockdown Thursday when a student posted a photo on Snapshot showing him holding a gun at a school pep rally. The student was detained for questioning, but he no longer had the gun and would not talk to police. Sun-Sentinel.
Student arrested: A 17-year-old student at Westport High School in Ocala is arrested after making threats against the school on her Instagram page. The day after the threat, 630 students were absent. Ocala Star Banner.
Custodian arrested: A custodian at Chiefland Elementary School is arrested and accused of placing cameras in two school bathrooms. Roberteus Tampus Perez, 34, was suspended without pay by the Levy County School District. Gainesville Sun.
Substitute banned: The Lee County School District bans a long-term substitute teacher for five years after he loaned a female student his car to leave campus to pick up some food. Markihe Anderson, 29, was filling in as a social studies teacher at South Fort Myers High School. Fort Myers News-Press.
Opinions on schools: Our communities must accept the challenge to broaden autism education. Susan Kabot, Sun-Sentinel. All pre-K education isn’t equal, as the Early Learning Coalition of Duval County has documented, and a new study on Head Start shows it produces widely different outcomes. Florida Times-Union.
Student enrichment: More than 2,500 low-income students in eight south Florida counties will receive meals provided by the money raised by charity bike riders in the Pan-Florida Challenge for Hungry Kids. Naples Daily News. Students at several northwest Florida high schools get practical financial tutoring in the Hancock Bank Financial Cents program. Panama City News Herald. A program at Bayshore High School claims a 100 percent success rate at helping students get into college. AVID is a national organization that provides educational support for students who are considered unlikely to graduate high school and attend college. Bradenton Herald.
