Teachers losing jobs: More than 900 Florida teachers – many of whom were rated effective on their evaluations – are out of a job because they couldn’t pass the Florida Teacher Certification Exam. The exam, which includes a variety of subject area exams and general knowledge tests, was toughened three years ago and the number of teachers failing continues to rise, despite state officials’ belief that scores will improve over time. The failures are putting a strain on districts that are already struggling to hire teachers. “Yes, these are good teachers,” says Gail Williams, director of the Palm Beach County School District’s Department of Retention and Recruitment, about the 148 her district is losing. “It’s frustrating because we would have loved to have kept those teachers.” WFTS.
GOP backs Amendment 8: The Republican Party of Florida is donating $100,000 in support of constitutional Amendment 8, which would impose term limits on school board members, require civics education for all Florida students and allow entities other than local school boards to approve charter schools and other public education initiatives. The Florida League of Women Voters and the Southern Poverty Law Center recently filed a lawsuit alleging that the proposal is misleading and is asking a court to remove the amendment from the ballot. News Service of Florida. The Sarasota County School Board squabbles over a resolution to oppose Amendment 8, eventually voting 3-2 in favor of it. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Florida League of Women Voters president Patricia Brigham talks about her group’s lawsuit to try to have Amendment 8 removed from the November ballot. Gradebook.
School security: The Palm Beach County School District now has contracts with the sheriff’s office and all but two municipalities to guard schools that don’t already have a resource officer. Negotiations are ongoing with West Palm Beach and Boynton Beach. The district expects its own expanding police department to take over security in all schools in August 2019. Sun-Sentinel. The Lee County’s Sheriff’s Office will pay half the costs to put resource officers in Bonita Springs, Estero and Fort Myers Beach schools. Fort Myers News-Press. Hernando County school officials and county commissioners are considering an extension of their current agreement on putting resource officers into schools. The proposed deal calls for the district to pay 80 percent of the costs, and the sheriff’s department 20 percent. Tampa Bay Times. The Groveland City Council agrees to contribute $38,000 toward the cost of a school resource officer at Groveland Elementary School in Lake County. Orlando Sentinel.
New Florida PTA president: Linda Kearschner, a longtime PTA official in Pinellas County, is elected president of the Florida PTA. Her goals are to convince the Florida Department of Education to allow English-language learners to take state tests in their native languages, and to maintain local control of schools, including charters. Gradebook.
Mental health counseling: The Manatee County School Board will consider a proposal next week for free mental health counseling for at-risk students from Motivational Coaches of America. The offer came two weeks after a lawsuit was filed by former employees against MCUSA, who alleged they weren’t being paid by the company. The proposed contract would put a therapist in every secondary school except Johnson Middle. Bradenton Herald.
Struggling schools: The Marion County School Board backs off an earlier threat to close the Marion Military Academy after the charter school received a D grade from the state for the sixth straight year. Board members also discuss ways to turn around Evergreen and Oakcrest elementary schools. Ocala Star-Banner.
School board elections: Candidates for the District 6 seat on the Hillsborough County School Board discuss charter schools, courtesy busing, staffing cuts, asking the voters for more tax money and more. Gradebook. Profiling the race for the District 2 and District 5 seats on the Manatee County School Board. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Candidates for the District 4 seat on the Manatee County School Board debate the issues at a community meeting. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Districts sued: A former teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is suing the Broward County School District to hand over emails he says he sent in 2008 warning the then-assistant principal that the school would be vulnerable to a gunman. Richard Mendelson, who brought the suit, now teaches at Keiser University professor and is running for a seat on the school board. Sun-Sentinel. Two members of the Sarasota County School Board are being sued for violating the state’s public records law for not providing text messages requested by the nonprofit watchdog group Transparency for Florida. Named in the suit are school board members Shirley Brown and Jane Goodwin, and Gabriel Hament, who is a member of the district’s financial advisory committee. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Teachers and second jobs: Almost 18 percent of the nation’s public school teachers work a second job to boost their income, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s 2015–16 national teacher and principal survey teacher questionnaire. The average teacher in Florida makes $47,267, while the national average salary is $59,660, according to a recent National Education Association analysis. Florida Phoenix.
Personnel moves: Tallahassee City Commissioner Curtis Richardson is hired into a coordinator position at the Lively Technical Center. His job will be to recruit students who aren’t planning to go to college Tallahassee Democrat.
Notable deaths: Nick DiMaggio, who was the athletic director at Tampa Catholic High School for 36 years and one of the first five members to be inducted into the Florida Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1988, dies at the age of 86 from complications related to a stroke. Tampa Bay Times.
School getting therapy dog: When Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School reopens next month, it will have a therapy dog to help students who need emotional support. Fourteen students and three staff members died in a shooting at the school Feb. 14. Associated Press.
Opinions on schools: Increased school policing could lead to increased student arrests for misbehavior better handled by school administrators. Cassandra Brown and Tachana Joseph, Orlando Sentinel. Some Orange County School Board candidates get what most board members don’t – that early-morning high school start times are bad for learning. Scott Maxwell, Orlando Sentinel.
Student enrichment: South Florida high school students get a taste of legal careers at the Miami-Dade Youth Legal Education Summit. Miami Herald. Hillsborough County students are being offered free immunization shots by the Back-to-School Coalition. WUSF.
