So far, all but three of Florida's school districts have submitted digital learning plans to the state Department of Education, allowing them to claim their share of $40 million in technology funding.
Hundreds of schools, however, haven't been as quick on the uptake.
Last year, legislation by state Sen. John Legg, R-Trinity, created a new pool of funding for school technology known as the Digital Classrooms Allocation. To qualify, school districts had to draw up detailed plans for how they would use technology to improve teaching and learning. Charter schools could share in the money, too, as long as they submitted similar plans to their local districts.
So far, 70 of the state's 73 school districts and university lab schools have submitted technology plans to the state, Ron Nieto, the department's deputy commissioner for innovation, told the state Board of Education during its Wednesday meeting.
He said 397, or less than two-thirds, of the state's charter schools had done the same.
As board member John Padget noted, "It looks like the charter schools as a group have left some money on the table."
