Tax initiatives: About a third of Florida residents face increased taxes if voters in seven counties approve initiatives Tuesday to raise money for their school districts. Officials in those districts say the state put them in the position of asking for voter help by underfunding mandates for school security. “The[Read More…]
Tag: Gov. Rick Scott
Florida schools roundup: Teacher bonuses, trauma training and more
Teacher bonuses lawsuit: Forty-three Florida school districts have been dropped from the legal challenge to the state’s teacher bonuses program known as the Best & Brightest scholarships. Those districts successfully argued that the bonuses program wasn’t their idea and that they shouldn’t be held responsible for simply following the law.[Read More…]
Florida schools roundup: Stewart’s term extended, Schools of Hope and more
Another year for Stewart: The Florida Board of Education extends the contract of Education Commissioner Pam Stewart by a year to “help ensure Florida remains on this positive trajectory” of rising high school graduation rates, improved school grades and gains on national math and reading tests. She had been scheduled[Read More…]
Florida schools roundup: Some districts still closed, FEA vote, drills and more
Schools and the storm: School officials across north Florida are scrambling to get students back in school, but the devastation of Hurricane Michael is posing problems most of them have never faced before. Five school districts – Bay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Jackson – are closed until further notice because of[Read More…]
Florida schools roundup: Hurricane, teacher pay, A/C problems and more
Hurricane Michael: Hurricane Michael has claimed at least seven lives in the United States, and the first daylight look at areas hit show “unimaginable destruction,” according to Gov. Rick Scott. Mexico Beach and Panama City in Bay County were among the hardest hit. “So many lives have been changed forever,” says[Read More…]
Florida schools roundup: Huge raises, A/C crisis, retaliation report and more
Big raises for administrators: Eleven Broward County School District administrators received pay raises during the 2017-2018 school year ranging from 7 percent to 21 percent — far above the average 2.2 percent that most of the district’s 27,000 employees received. Six of the 11 raises were given after the massacre[Read More…]
Florida schools roundup: False alarms, grading concerns, bullying and more
Fixing fire alarms: Broward County school officials are asking the state for an exemption to fire alarm tests at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for the rest of the school year as a way avoid false alarms that students say are causing trauma to students. At least 10 alarms have gone[Read More…]
Florida schools roundup: Teacher bonuses suit, school security and more
Teacher bonuses: A legal challenge to the state’s Best & Brightest teacher bonuses program is scheduled for a mediation session Nov. 13 in Tallahassee. Teachers and a teachers union sued the Florida Department of Education over the program, claiming it discriminates against teachers by age and race in part because it[Read More…]