Black suspensions: An investigation of more than 600,000 punishments in Pinellas County schools from 2010-2015 shows that black children are suspended at a much higher rate than in the other six large Florida districts, and four times the rate of other children based on their share of the school population. And more than half of those suspensions are for loosely defined offenses such as "not cooperating" and "class disruption." Tampa Bay Times.
Homeless students: More than 71,000 students in Florida public schools were homeless in the 2013-2014 school year, or 3.74 percent of the total. Orange County has about 7,000 homeless students, and Brevard, Seminole and Volusia each have about 2,000. Florida Today.
K-12 funding: State Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, wants fellow legislators to consider other options to boost spending for K-12. Gaetz has been critical of Gov. Rick Scott's education budget, which puts most of the burden of raising additional dollars on Florida residents through property taxes. Miami Herald.
Vouchers in courts: Several school voucher advocate groups are lobbying the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a Colorado case to determine the constitutionality of spending public dollars for tuition at private, religious schools. Many states, including Florida, have so-called Blaine Amendment prohibitions in their constitutions against spending state tax revenue on religious institutions. Education Week. (more…)
A screenshot of a cached copy of Acclaim Academy's website, dated May 5.
The Florida Times-Union takes a deep dive this morning into the collapse of the Acclaim Academy charter school network.
We took a look at the chain's unraveling here, but the newspaper adds important details, including one that appears to have gotten the attention of Duval County school board members. Dennis Mope, Acclaim's CEO, had previously filed for bankruptcy.
That raises the question: Why didn't this come up when Acclaim applied to open its first charter school? Shouldn't districts take this kind of information into account when they vet prospective charter school operators?
The Times-Union reports:
Bankruptcy. Acclaim Academy, the troubled operator of shuttered charter schools, files for bankruptcy. Orlando Sentinel.
Testing. Orlando Sentinel columnist Beth Kassab skewers the state of affairs on testing. Orlando Sentinel. The state's testing vendor says it will help with a review of its validity. Gradebook.
Lawsuits. Editorials in the Panama City News Herald and Leesburg Daily Comercial praise the recent ruling on tax credit schlarhsips.
Charter schools. A charter school network under fire in Escambia County has also come under scrutiny in Bay County. Panama City News Herald.
Longevity. Three educators at Tampa's Jesuit High School have worked together for 44 years. Tampa Bay Times.
High achievers. Twins finish at the top of their class at a Catholic high school. Tampa Bay Times.
Attendance. Three Broward students celebrate perfect attendance for their entire school careers. Sun-Sentinel.
Mentors. Jacksonville clergy back a major mentoring initiative. Florida Times-Union.
Charter schools. Students scramble for other options - and say emotional goodbyes - as their charter school shuts down late in the school year. First Coast News. An Alachua charter school's principal and some of its board members resign. Gainesville Sun.
School choice. Schools should have to compete for students, and students should be free to choose, an Orlando Sentinel guest column argues.
Career academies. Demand is high for a new Okaloosa machining academy. Northwest Florida Daily News. Duval launches an aviation program. Florida Times-Union.
Lawsuits. Florida Virtual School takes its supporting foundation to court over alleged financial mismanagement. Orlando Sentinel.
Magnet schools. Duval offers students a museum-themed magnet. Florida Times-Union.
Virtual school. Palm Beach's virtual school will celebrate its graduating class. Palm Beach Post.
Testing. What will testing reductions mean for teacher evaluations? StateImpact. North Florida students seem OK with the switch to computerized testing. Northwest Florida Daily News. Students have to retake geometry exams after they were improperly given calculators. Fox 13.
Remedial courses. Remedial reading and math classes will no longer be mandatory for struggling students, though schools will be required to offer them support. Orlando Sentinel.
Special needs. A program helps students with unique abilities cultivate practical skills. Naples Daily News.
Employee conduct. A Mavericks High principal caught with a student in a pot-filled car had a history of issues at a charter school where she previously worked. Palm Beach Post. Sun-Sentinel. The issue has gotten the attention of outlets like Gawker. A Jacksonville teacher faces allegations of an improper relationship with a student. Florida Times-Union. A school staffing specialist is arrested for forging a doctor's note to get out of work. Keynoter.
Summer. Some Lee County schools plan to extend the school year to help combat the summer slide. Fort Myers News-Press. (more…)
Charter schools. Jacksonville's Acclaim Academy charter school closes its doors ahead of schedule, angering parents. WJXT. First Coast News.
Testing. Schools often interrupt their normal flow of classes to make way for computer-based testing. Miami Herald. Pasco parents seek clarification on testing rules. Tamp Bay Times. Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell goads lawmakers on testing and says parents should do the same. The Palm Beach Post looks at the student who fueled a TV comedian's anti-testing diatribe.
Employee conduct. A Mavericks High principal is caught with a student in a car full of marijuana. Sun-Sentinel. Palm Beach Post. A high school teacher is suspended after being arrested for assault. Bradenton Herald.
Turnarounds. Volusia school officials plan big changes at a struggling middle school. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Private schools. A Bradenton Episcopal school plans a major marine science center. Bradenton Herald.
School lunch. An audit finds some schools in Florida and elsewhere are giving free or reduced-price lunches to students to students who do not qualify. McLatchy. (more…)
A screenshot of a cached copy of Acclaim Academy's website, dated May 5.
As of last fall, three military-style Acclaim Academy charter schools enrolled more than 1,100 students in North and Central Florida, according to state Department of Education records. A fourth school was set to open in Palm Beach County this coming August.
Acclaim's Osceola County charter school was forced to shut down earlier this semester after receiving two consecutive F grades from the state, though the school district stepped in to keep it open through the end of the school year.
On Wednesday, news spread that its remaining schools, in Orange and Duval Counties, would be shutting down this week, before the end of the school year. Media reports indicate the impending closures took parents and teachers by surprise.
In Orange County, Dennis Mope, Acclaim's CEO, ducked questions from WESH TV news reporters who followed him to a black SUV.
In Duval, Nikolai Vitti, the district's superintendent known for having nuanced views on charters, responded by calling for changes to the state's charter school laws, according to the Florida Times-Union:
“All charters are not created equally,” he said. “As a state we’re not differentiating among proven charter organizations and upstarts ... who do not have the financial and educational infrastructure to ensure sustainability.”
From Acclaim Academy's facebook page: Students at the Duval school participating in a cadet promotion ceremony.
Like they are in other states, military-style charter schools are gaining a foothold in Florida.
There are new ones in Broward, Sarasota, Osceola and Duval counties – and more on the way. With a focus on rigor, structure, responsibility and respect, supporters say such schools experience fewer behavioral problems and better academic success.
Acclaim Academy, a fairly new charter schools outfit that embraces that formula, opened its first school in 2012 in Kissimmee, followed by another in August in Jacksonville. Local school boards, which authorize charter schools in Florida, recently approved three more academies to open next fall with one each in Duval, Orange and Palm Beach counties.
The schools feature high-tech equipment, with SMART boards for every teacher and take-home laptops for every student. But organizers defer to an old-school philosophy of discipline and rules, looking to the Army’s JROTC program as a format to promote structure, character and confidence.
Students are known as cadets. They wear Army fatigues. They participate in drills. It’s an experience that may lead some participants to the armed forces, but that’s not the academy’s mission.
“We’re not creating little soldiers,’’ said Bill Orris, Acclaim Academy’s director of education. Instead, the school is working to change the learning habits of 600 of the state’s most struggling students, he said. (more…)
