Senate’s education budget: The Florida Senate’s $24.1 billion K-12 education budget was released Wednesday, and it closely follows the one proposed in November by Gov. Ron DeSantis. But there are some significant differences. The Senate includes an extra $239 per student in the Florida Education Finance Program for base school funding, $40 million for improved reading instruction, money to raise the minimum wage for school workers to $15 an hour, and $5 million for the Jefferson County School District, which is in the process of retaking control of the district from a charter school company. Both budgets propose $600 million for higher teacher salaries, $210 million for school safety and $140 million for student mental health assistance. Politico Florida. Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times. News Service of Florida.
Testing changes: A bill to change the state’s standardized testing process was introduced in the House on Wednesday. Like the Senate bill and Gov. DeSantis’ proposal, it would cut down on student testing and set up periodic progress monitoring. But it also proposes new accountability measures. A scale would be created that would adjust the grading if too many schools from a district receive an A or B from the state, and schools placed in “turnaround” status because of two straight years of D or F grades would have to post two years of C or better to shed that label. H.B. 1193 cleared its first committee hearing and has three more to go. Politico Florida.
School safety bill: The state’s major school safety bill was approved Wednesday by the House Secondary Education & Career Development Committee, but not before a controversial provision tying superintendent salaries with district compliance to state school safety rules was deleted. “This bill improves transparency around school safety and security as well as addresses student mental health by requiring district school boards and charter school governing boards to adopt a plan that guides family reunification when K-12 public schools are closed or unexpectedly evacuated due to natural or manmade disasters,” said state Rep. Fred Hawkins, R-St. Cloud, the bill’s sponsor. The bill is an update of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act that was passed after 17 students and employees were killed in the 2018 shooting at the school. Florida Politics.
Loans for charter schools: Members of the Senate Education Committee approved a bill that would make $10 million in state loans available to charter school companies to finance their school buildings, despite opposition from Democrats who questioned the need. “There’s a plethora of charter schools opening, and I don’t see a need or a reason why we should put another $10 million of our state money into an expansion of charter schools,” said state Sen. Lori Berman, D-Boynton Beach. “They are already growing on their own.” Florida Politics.
Also in the Legislature: A bill to fight hunger on college campuses passed its first committee hearing in the Senate on Wednesday. S.B. 1916 would designate certain colleges as “Hunger-Free Campuses” that would be eligible for grants from the state Department of Agriculture. “As a state that prides ourselves on being a higher education leader, it’s on all of us to make sure that students don’t go hungry,” said state Sen. Annette Taddeo, D-Miami-Dade. Florida Politics. Individualized education plans for students with epilepsy or seizure disorders would be mandatory under a bill approved by a House subcommittee. News Service of Florida. The Florida Department of Education has approved a civics curriculum for 4th-graders that includes drafting a mock bill for legislative action, trivia about the state, and more. Florida Politics. Creation of a public records exemption for college presidential searches is up for a vote by the full Senate today. News Service of Florida.
Around the state: Broward’s school board cuts the list of finalists for the superintendent’s job to two , Osceola’s school board sanctions one of its members for trying to intimidate a vendor and asks Gov. DeSantis if he should be suspended, the penalty phase of Nikolas Cruz’s trial for the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School has been delayed, Manatee school officials are planning to spend $786 million over the next five years to build new schools and repair existing ones, Pasco County School Board members approve nearly $1 million to help homeless students, a new school in Palm Beach County has been named Blue Lake Elementary, and five state colleges will receive $10 million to create career and technical education charter schools. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Broward: School board members cut the list of candidates for the superintendent’s job from three to two at a meeting Wednesday. Interim superintendent Vickie Cartwright and Michael Gaal, a former Washington, D.C., deputy chancellor received nine and seven votes, respectively. Quintin Shepherd, superintendent for the Victoria Independent School District in Texas, was eliminated after receiving two votes. The finalists will meet the public next Tuesday, and board members are expected to take a final vote Feb. 9. Sun Sentinel. Miami Herald. WLRN. WPLG. WFOR. Palm Beach Post. The penalty phase of the trial of admitted Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz has been delayed by at least two months to give prosecutors and defense lawyers more time to prepare. The trial to decide if Cruz is sentenced to die or spend his life in prison had been scheduled to begin Feb. 21. Sun Sentinel. Miami Herald. WPTV.
Palm Beach: The district’s newest school is being named Blue Lake Elementary School, school board members decided Wednesday. The other options were Lakeview Elementary and Lakeside Elementary. The school sits next door to Don Estridge High Tech Middle School, and is scheduled to open in the fall. WPTV. Palm Beach Post. A candidate for the District 4 seat on the school board is defending her participation in the Jan. 6 protest at the U.S. Capitol. Angelique Contreras said she was peacefully assembled to support election integrity, and took no part in any violent activities. WPEC.
Duval: Jimmie Johnson, a former teacher, coach, athletic director, principal and member of the Duval County School Board from 1996 through 2004, has died at the age of 88. He was the longest-serving principal in the history of Raines High School in Jacksonville. WTLV.
Pasco: Homeless students will get some help from the school district after the school board approved spending nearly $1 million to provide them with extra services. About 1,350 district students are considered homeless, and will be eligible for emergency housing, transportation, food assistance, hygiene items and help with extracurricular activities. WTVT.
Osceola: School board members voted this week to sanction their colleague Jon Arguello after a district investigation showed he tried to intimidate a vendor who refused to donate to the school board campaign of his sister Jennifer Arguello. She’s trying to unseat District 1 board member Teresa Castillo. The board also sent a letter to Gov. DeSantis asking him if Jon Arguello should be suspended. WFTV.
Manatee: School officials plan to spend more than $786 million over the next five years to expand existing schools, build new schools and replace older ones to accommodate the more than 4,800 new students expected because of population growth. “Manatee County is experiencing historic growth, especially in terms of residential growth,” Mike Pendley, the executive planner for the school district, told city officials this week. “The school district is aggressively trying to keep up.” The first of the new schools will be the K-12 Lakewood Ranch Charter Academy, scheduled to open this fall for 2,100 students. Bradenton Herald.
Leon: Alva Striplin, who has been on the school board since 2014, has announced that she will run for re-election to her District 1 board seat in the August primary. The only other declared candidate is Anthony DeMarco. WTXL.
Alachua: Continuing school bus delays will get another review at the next school board workshop meeting Feb. 9. The delays in getting students to and from school because of a shortage of drivers is having an impact on their education, members of the PTA are telling school officials. “The board will help with deciding because some of these solutions require a more in-depth approach than others,” said Superintendent Carlee Simon. “I think we also know that we have some approaches that can occur simultaneously.” Among them, she said, were getting commercial driver’s licenses for more members of the staff, looking for help outside the district with transportation, and offering more pay and incentives for drivers. Gainesville Sun.
Monroe: School board members say if school tax measures are required to be held only during general elections, millions of dollars for the district could be put at risk because of the change in timing. Right now, a half-mill tax that generates $15 million a year for the district is up for renewal in March. If S.B. 1194 is approved, the renewal would have to go on the November ballot, and board members are worried they wouldn’t have enough time to get it on the ballot. Florida Keys Weekly.
Colleges and universities: A University of Florida professor testified against the state’s position Wednesday in a voting rights lawsuit. She had been barred by the school from testifying, a decision that led to a backlash over First Amendment rights and UF eventually relenting. Politico Florida. As part of an $89 million investment in workforce education by the state, $10 million will be shared by Miami-Dade College, Northwest Florida State College in Niceville, St. Petersburg College, Santa Fe College in Gainesville, and Tallahassee Community College to create career and technical education charter schools. St. Pete Catalyst. Gainesville Sun. Mainstreet Daily News. WTSP. Sun Sentinel. WTXL. A 21-year-old University of North Florida student was arrested this week and accused of threatening a mass shooting at the school. WJAX. WJXT.
STEM preparation: Seminole’s school district is the best in Florida at preparing its students for STEM majors in college, according to an annual career prep index. Brevard is second, Hillsborough third and Miami-Dade fourth. Bridge to Tomorrow.
Education podcasts: Rene Field, a mother of four, talks with Step Up For Students’ senior writer Lisa Buie about her family’s decision to move from Colorado to Florida to find an alternative to the remote learning that she said was making two of her children “miserable,” and how the state’s scholarship programs allowed her and her husband to find the best schools for their children. reimaginED.
Around the nation: State legislatures are increasingly expanding school choice options and giving students more flexibility to attend public schools outside their assigned zones, according to a report by Bellwether Education Partners. K-12 Dive.
Opinions on schools: School choice can be a hot-button political issue for some, but for me and students like me, it’s a celebration of being able to access an education that meets our needs. It’s a promise that children of all backgrounds can find a school that works for them. Ashley Elliot, reimaginED. Book suppression doesn’t make a book go away — it often accomplishes the opposite and in the process can make the would-be censors look like ineffectual rubes and intolerant ideologues. Mark Lane, Daytona Beach News-Journal.
