Gates Foundation: Hillsborough County’s school district will dismantle the complex teacher evaluation system it developed six years ago with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Tampa Bay Times. School testing: This week’s Board of Education hearing reveals a perception gap among parents, school officials and business leaders on school testing and accountability. Miami[Read More…]
Tag: Don Gaetz
Bill targets educational choice, college for Florida special needs students
A bill filed Thursday by a powerful Florida lawmaker would cement the expansion of the state’s newest educational choice program for special needs students, and create new college programs aimed at giving those students a “meaningful campus experience.” Earlier this year, state lawmakers expanded the state’s Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts* for[Read More…]
Expansion of Florida special needs accounts caught in legislative standoff
An expansion of Florida’s newest parental choice program for special needs students may be among the casualties of the standoff between the state House and Senate, despite versions of the bill passing both chambers unanimously. The Senate today rejected the House’s version of legislation expanding access to Personal Learning Scholarship[Read More…]
Why not let parents decide if charter schools are ‘innovative?’
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel recently reported, the Palm Beach County school board is considering new rules for charter schools. Some appear to make sense. The proposed changes, discussed at a workshop Wednesday, include conducting more thorough background checks on charter school applicants and requiring new charter schools to offer an innovative curriculum[Read More…]
Florida Senate expands opportunities for special needs children
It was an emotional day in the Florida Senate, as lawmakers approved a suite of bills aimed at creating what Senate President Andy Gardiner described as a “pathway to economic independence” for children with special needs. Part of the package, approved unanimously today, would expand the state’s newest educational choice[Read More…]
A higher bar and dedicating funding for Florida’s charter schools, but how?
Raise the bar for charter schools that want to open in Florida, and give them access to predictable funding for facilities. That was the bargain school district and charter school leaders suggested to the state Senate’s main budget panel on Thursday, but questions remain about the best ways to achieve both of those things. The[Read More…]
Bill would give younger children access to Florida special needs accounts
Parents of three- and four-year-olds with special needs would be able to enroll their children in Florida’s newest educational choice program for special needs students under changes approved by a legislative panel on Wednesday. The state Senate’s education budget committee approved tweaks to legislation expanding the state’s new Personal Learning Scholarship[Read More…]
Senate panel approves expansion of Florida special needs scholarships
A Florida Senate panel on Wednesday unanimously approved legislation making tweaks to the state’s second-in-the-nation program that provides scholarship accounts for students with special needs. Key changes in SB 602 would make Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts, which were signed into law eight months ago, available to more children with conditions on[Read More…]