Recently, Rosanne Wood, a member of the Leon County School Board, released a proposal to expand school choices in her community.
Americans love choice; walk through the cereal or toothpaste isle at any store if you’re not convinced. All parents want the very best for their children. Many are willing to make sacrifices of money and convenience to enroll their child in what they perceive as the best available school. The fact that this year Leon County Schools had nearly 3,700 new choice requests for a school outside of their home-zoned school proves this point. Another 1,000 parents are homeschooling their children and 5,000 are choosing our 41 private schools, not including FAMU or FSU Developmental Research Schools.
Growth. The Hillsborough district puts off plans for a new middle school to focus its resources on accommodating enrollment growth at high schools. Tampa Tribune. Manatee schools will have to add portable classrooms to accommodate enrollment growth next school year. Bradenton Herald.
School choice. An add for presidential candidate Jeb Bush features a former school choice student. First Cost News. A Tampa Tribune columnist looks at vouchers' track record over the years.
Budgets. Sarasota schools officials say they're getting less funding than they'd expected. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. What's in the state education budget? Gradebook. redefinED.
Superintendents. Alachua's Owen Roberts gets a positive evaluation. Gainesville Sun.
Job security. Hillsborough teachers who failed to pass a state certification exam are set to lose their jobs, and a majority of them are assigned to low-income schools. Tampa Bay Times. All but seven annual teacher contracts are renewed in Brevard County district schools. Florida Today.
Teacher pay. Palm Beach teachers and support staff approve a pay raise. Sun-Sentinel. (more…)
Funding. Gov. Rick Scott calls for a "continuation" budget, with potential implications for school funding, while legislative leaders say they intend to assemble a full state spending plan. Times/Herald. The Lee County school board votes unanimously not to ask voters to levy a sales tax for school facilities. Naples Daily News. Fort Myers News-Press.
Charter schools. The Palm Beach school district appeals a state Board of Education decision overturning its denial of a charter school application. Sun-Sentinel. Palm Beach Post. The district and a shuttered charter point fingers over missing records that could cost the district millions in funding. Sun-Sentinel.
Magnet schools. A pair of highly regarded Palm Beach magnet programs land high in national rankings. Palm Beach Post.
Awards. Florida selects its principal of the year. Palm Beach Post.
Lawsuits. Florida Virtual School wins access to its supporting foundation's records in a court case. Orlando Sentinel.
Charter schools. Students scramble for other options - and say emotional goodbyes - as their charter school shuts down late in the school year. First Coast News. An Alachua charter school's principal and some of its board members resign. Gainesville Sun.
School choice. Schools should have to compete for students, and students should be free to choose, an Orlando Sentinel guest column argues.
Career academies. Demand is high for a new Okaloosa machining academy. Northwest Florida Daily News. Duval launches an aviation program. Florida Times-Union.
Lawsuits. Florida Virtual School takes its supporting foundation to court over alleged financial mismanagement. Orlando Sentinel.
Magnet schools. Duval offers students a museum-themed magnet. Florida Times-Union.
Virtual school. Palm Beach's virtual school will celebrate its graduating class. Palm Beach Post.
Testing. What will testing reductions mean for teacher evaluations? StateImpact. North Florida students seem OK with the switch to computerized testing. Northwest Florida Daily News. Students have to retake geometry exams after they were improperly given calculators. Fox 13.
Remedial courses. Remedial reading and math classes will no longer be mandatory for struggling students, though schools will be required to offer them support. Orlando Sentinel.
Special needs. A program helps students with unique abilities cultivate practical skills. Naples Daily News.
Employee conduct. A Mavericks High principal caught with a student in a pot-filled car had a history of issues at a charter school where she previously worked. Palm Beach Post. Sun-Sentinel. The issue has gotten the attention of outlets like Gawker. A Jacksonville teacher faces allegations of an improper relationship with a student. Florida Times-Union. A school staffing specialist is arrested for forging a doctor's note to get out of work. Keynoter.
Summer. Some Lee County schools plan to extend the school year to help combat the summer slide. Fort Myers News-Press. (more…)
Charter schools. The boards of three schools threatened with losing their charters offer to meet with Hillsborough district officials. Gradebook.
Parental choice. The parent of a child expected to benefit from a Personal Learning Scholarship Account criticizes the Florida Education Association's lawsuit against parental choice legislation in a Tallahassee Democrat guest column. The Naples Daily News looks at Charlie Crist's past positions on charter schools and tax credit scholarships.
Campaigns. A district manager for Florida Virtual School is mounting a viable campaign against a Broward school board incumbent dogged by controversy over a racial slur. Miami Herald. The Tallahassee Democrat endorses the challenger in Leon County's only contested school board race. A Hillsborough candidate faces an ethnically charged attack. Gradebook. The Daytona Beach News-Journal catches two Flagler candidates plagiarizing.
CAPE. Walton High School adds aeronautics lessons through a dual enrollment program. Northwest Florida Daily News.
Early learning. Pinellas prepares to open a district-run early learning center. Tampa Tribune.
Turnarounds. The Volusia school district focuses on three schools identified as needing intervention. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Back to school. Manatee teachers are overhauling their lessons as they get ready for new state standards. Bradenton Herald. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.The Orlando Sentinel runs down what's new in Central Florida. Tampa children prepare for the new year. Tampa Tribune. A picnic helps prepare homeless students for the school year in St. Johns. St. Augustine Record. The Bradford school district is staggering start times to help kindergarteners adjust. Gainesville Sun. Duval officials christen the renamed Westside High School. Florida Times-Union.
Charter schools. In the first ruling of its kind, an administrative law judge rules the Miami-Dade school district unlawfully retaliated against administrators who backed a charter conversion. Miami Herald. A Gainesville charter school will close after learning it will likely receive another F. Gainesville Sun. A Palm Beach Post guest columnist questions a proposal to let charters share in tax revenue earmarked for arts programs.
Facilities. Leon County Schools spent more than the state average on recent additions to district schools, which, statewide, frequently exceed the statutory threshold for projects funded through the Public Education Capital Outlay. Tallahassee Democrat. An engineering report finds a Hernando middle school needs its roof fixed. Tampa Bay Times.
Tax Credit Scholarships. Catholic school principal Todd DeClemente explains the benefits of the program in a St. Augustine Record guest column. The author of a column to which he was responding is back with another item that flubs basic facts, confuses the First and Second Amendments, and makes false allegations about Step Up For Students, which helps administer the program and co-hosts this blog.
Growth. Pasco schools prepare for new construction to accommodate growing enrollment. Gradebook. Walton district officials expect to build two more schools. Northwest Florida Daily News.
Private schools. A Tampa private school listens to residents' concerns as it looks to add a performing arts center. Tampa Bay Times. A Montessori school in the Keys faces opposition to a planned new location. Keynoter.
Homelessness. A Central Florida teacher pledges to live on the streets for a month. Orlando Sentinel.
Teacher conduct. A Broward teacher is set to be fired after 15 years of problems. Sun-Sentinel. A teacher is suspended for failing to report child abuse. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Nutrition. Some school districts offer free breakfast and lunch in schools with a high density of low-income students; others do not. Orlando Sentinel.
Tax credit scholarships. A Miami Herald guest column attacks the program for not being subject to the same regulations as the public school system. Students in the program should be assessed in science, FSU professor Paul Cottle writes in the Tallahassee Democrat.
Migrant students. The Miami-Dade school board plans to seek more federal funding to accommodate an influx of migrant children fleeing from Central America. Miami Herald.
Whistleblowers. The Palm Beach school board tosses a retaliation complaint against its inspector general. Palm Beach Post. Sun-Sentinel. More here. More school district employees become whistleblowers in a Leon County contracting scandal. Tallahassee Democrat.
Campaigns. An Orange County teacher whose speech blasting school reform spread around the Internet is now running for school board. Orlando Sentinel. Fields are set in many Southwest Florida school board races. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Charter schools. How does Florida's sector stack up? Perhaps not so well. Flypaper.
Employee conduct. One Manatee school administrator is acquitted, and another convicted, in a high-profile sex abuse case. Sarasota Hearld-Tribune. Bradenton Herald.
Teachers. Most days, there are hundreds of substitutes teaching in Pinellas County classrooms. Tampa Bay Times. A report on a teacher prep paints an unflattering picture of Florida colleges. Extra Credit.
Summer. Pasco schools expand their summer course offerings. Tampa Bay Times. Parents don't always make reading a priority after the school year ends, a survey shows. Orlando Sentinel.
Attendance. Hillsborough students are honored for 13 years of perfect attendance. Tampa Tribune.
Middle schools. Choice options - including charter schools that compete with the district's offerings - come into play as Duval officials rethink their approach to middle school. Florida Times-Union. Hernando County plans to start a new academy for middle-school students who are falling behind. Tampa Bay Times. A military academy aimed at middle school students is close to its enrollment goal. Ocala Star-Banner.
Magnet schools. A science academy teachers youngsters about marine life during trips down the St. Johns River. Florida Times-Union. Graduation marks the end of a difficult year for a Palm Beach County magnet program. Palm Beach Post. A Palm Beach high school is offering space for students who could not find space in the Dreyfoos School of the Arts, the Post reports.
Charter schools. A charter school for students with autism leaves the school district behind and hopes to join forces with a nearby private school. Gradebook.
Alternative schools. The Orange and Seminole County school districts both plan to create new options for students who fall behind in high school. Orlando Sentinel.
Unions. The Florida Education Association endorses Charlie Crist for governor. Sunshine State News. The Pasco teachers union negotiates planning time with the school district. Tampa Bay Times. The Brevard teachers union stakes out positions on a range of statewide issues but has yet to take a position on a local school tax. Florida Today.
Funding. Some advocates are calling for a revamp of the formula used to distribute education funding to school districts. WTSP. School districts worry funding increases might not keep pace with spending demands. Tampa Tribune.
Tax credit scholarships. A vote to take up the House's school choice bill fails, leaving the issue to the final day of Florida's legislative session. Scripps/Tribune. Associated Press. RedefinED. It's one of five bills that could shape the sessions final hours, Gary Fineout writes.
Textbooks. The state adoption process remains alive in re-worked legislation bound for Gov. Rick Scott. Times/Herald. Scripps/Tribune. Reuters. Associated Press. School Zone. Palm Beach Post.
Whistle-blowers. A Leon County Schools administrator becomes a whistle-blower in an ongoing saga involving district construction contracts. Tallahassee Democrat. A Palm Beach County whistle-blower faced retaliation from the school district. Palm Beach Post.
Common Core. Supporters of the new standards tout their flexibility. Tampa Tribune.
Facilities. Broward schools consider an $800 million bond issue. Miami Herald.
Teachers. A Broward County man at the forefront of desegregation decades ago returns to the classroom to teach. Sun-Sentinel. Orange County teachers prepare to vote on raises. Orlando Sentinel.
Graduation. An FAU student could graduate before receiving her high school diploma. Sun-Sentinel.
Retention. Other countries have higher stakes than Florida's third-grade retention policy. StateImpact.
Budgets. The Pasco school district looks to rebuild support staffs after years of cutbacks. Tampa Bay Times.
Charter schools. A Miami charter school is under new management and getting a new landlord. Miami Herald. Pasco families fight to keep open a school for children with autism. Tampa Bay Times.
Tax credit scholarships. Don't blame poor science instruction on choice, Michael McShane of the American Enterprise Institute writes. Tallahassee Democrat. An Orlando Weekly article rails against the program. The debate over its effect on ESOL students continues.
Facilities. Polk County schools officials claim they lose out in the latest deal over capital projects. Lakeland Ledger. Leon County schools officials are accused of steering no-bid contracts to political supporters. Tallahassee Democrat.
School grades. Accountability transition legislation is poised to pass the House. News Service of Florida.
Special needs. The death of a special needs student casts a long shadow over Hillsborough County schools. Tampa Tribune.
Teacher conduct. A Pinellas teacher will retire after facing allegations of inappropriate conduct with female students. Tampa Tribune.
At-risk students. Pinellas schools give out college scholarships. Tampa Tribune.
