Florida's ESSA plan: Florida has filed its fourth plan to comply with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. The first three were rejected because they didn't meet the standards of the school accountability system. The latest attempt, filed Aug. 24, calls for the continuation of an exemption from grade-level math exams to students in high school who successfully completed the courses in middle school. The state also is declining to give tests in languages other than English, and does not want to change the way it sets proficiency standards for students still learning the language or how it reports the academic performance of demographic subgroups. In Gov. Rick Scott's letter to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, he writes that "Florida's expectations is that our state is treated fairly and given full flexibility to provide the greatest return to our students." Florida is the only state whose plan has not been approved by the U.S. Department of Education. Gradebook. Education Week.
District's computers hacked: A cyberattack forces the Monroe County School District to shut down its computer systems this week. Officials say the hacker used ransomware called "GandCrab," with the goal of encrypting files in the system and then demanding a payment to unlock them. The district’s Internet security provider, Symantec, took the system down Sunday after the threat was detected and created a patch that was applied Tuesday. But the problems persisted and the system was shut down again. Keynoter. Key West Citizen. WLRN. (more…)
Financial issues: The Duval County School District again spent more than it took in last year, according to an annual report on the state of its finances. That spending - for unexpected expenses, climbing costs, underutilized schools and more - cut into the district's net financial position by 15.7 percent last year, and the general fund balance is now 21 percent less than it was a year ago. Florida Times-Union. The Leon County School Board is expected to vote tonight on a proposed $545.8 million budget that includes raises for teachers and a boost in the minimum wage paid from $9.50 an hour to $11. Tallahassee Democrat.
School overcrowding: Even with about 22,000 open seats in Palm Beach County schools, there's a space crunch at select schools. Schools in more desirable neighborhoods are jammed, and schools in low-income areas have seats to spare. District officials are trying to convince the state to let them build new schools to relieve the overcrowding at the crowded schools, saying moving students from them to half-empty ones would require so much busing that it would be unhealthy for students, unwelcome to their parents and unaffordable for the school system. Palm Beach Post. Here's what one Palm Beach County school is doing to weed out students who falsify addresses to attend. Sun-Sentinel. (more…)
Amendment 8 off ballot: A judge's decision that proposed constitutional Amendment 8 should be removed from the Nov. 6 ballot is upheld in a 4-3 vote by the Florida Supreme Court. A Leon County judge had ruled that the amendment is misleading and fails to inform voters of its “chief purpose and effect.” The amendment, put forward by the Constitution Revision Commission, would have created an entity other than local school boards that can approve charter and public schools, set term limits for school board members and required civics education in schools. The League of Women Voters challenged the constitutionality of the amendment, with president Patricia Brigham saying “the backers of this proposal on the CRC went to great lengths to hide the ball because they realized that Floridians would never knowingly forfeit their right to local control over their local public schools.” Associated Press. News Service of Florida. Tampa Bay Times. Miami Herald. Orlando Sentinel. Florida Phoenix. Florida Politics. Washington Post. Watchdog.org.
Scott rejected again: Legislative leaders officially deny Gov. Rick Scott's request to release $58 million from the armed school guardian fund to districts to help them pay for more security at schools. In a letter to the governor Friday, incoming Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, said, "For the guardian program to truly be vetted and ultimately embraced, I believe the program should maintain its own funding rather than having its funds commingled with other funds available for school safety. I respectfully disagree with your statement that the $58 million in available funding will go to waste if the proposed budget amendment is not adopted." Galvano did say he would be open to reviewing the program in the near future. Only $9 million of the $67 million set aside for guardians was claimed by districts, which preferred having school resource officers to arming school employees. Associated Press. (more…)
Religious schools and vouchers: Two U.S. Supreme Court decisions this week could have implications for the constitutionality of vouchers for religious institutions. Monday, the court ruled that Missouri could not exclude private religious schools from a playground grant program. Tuesday, the court ordered the Colorado Supreme Court to reconsider a decision that the state's Blaine Amendment prohibits public funding of religious institutions. redefinED. Education Week. Associated Press.
Voucher studies: Long-term studies in Louisiana and Indiana show that former public school students who keep private school vouchers for several years eventually catch up and sometimes pass their peers in reading and math tests. Earlier, shorter-term studies have shown that those students tend to lag behind their public school peers. redefinED.
Immunizations upheld: Parochial schools can require students to get immunizations to be admitted, the First District Court of Appeal rules. A parent filed the appeal after the Holy Spirit School in Jacksonville refused to admit his child without immunizations. News Service of Florida.
Teaching bonuses: The Manatee School for the Arts is offering bonuses of up to $3,000 fill two 6th-grade math teaching positions, plus higher than expected salaries. The district has sent recruitment letters to the most highly rated math teachers in school districts around the state. Bradenton Herald. (more…)
