Tag: Ashley Smith Juarez
Florida schools roundup: Hope Scholarship rules, security and more
Hope Scholarship rules: Florida school districts are asking the state to clarify the rules to determine how bullied students can qualify for Hope Scholarships to attend private schools. “The way the statute reads, we would have to make the scholarship [notification] available even if the allegations were not merited,” Santa[Read More…]
Florida schools roundup: Florida grad rate lags, legislative leaders and more
Graduation rates: Florida had the eighth-worst graduation rate among U.S. states and the District of Columbia in 2015, according to the White House. The state’s rate was 77.9 percent, its best ever but far behind the national average of 83.2 percent. The rate is measured by the percentage of students who[Read More…]
Florida schools roundup: Education budget boost, teacher shortage and more
Education budget: The Florida Board of Education is requesting that the state increase per-pupil spending from $7,183 this year to $7,359 next year, with the overall budget increasing about 3.4 percent to $20.9 billion. The proposal would kill the current teachers bonuses program and create a new $43 million plan,[Read More…]
Florida schools roundup: Superintendent jobs, suspensions, testing and more
Superintendent jobs: Duval County School Board chairwoman Ashley Smith Juarez says she asked Superintendent Nikolai Vitti to resign because she thinks his plan to gradually close the achievement gaps between white and minority students is too timid. “To accept these results is to accept the racism that has plagued our district for[Read More…]
Florida schools roundup: Anti-violence plan, superintendent’s job and more
School violence: The Miami-Dade School District becomes the first in the country to implement the Sandy Hook Promise in all its schools. It’s a violence-protection program started by parents who lost children in the Newtown, Conn., elementary school massacre in 2012. It emphasizes social inclusion by reaching out to isolated students,[Read More…]