Charter school scarcity: A new report concludes that Florida has one of the highest number of charter school "deserts," which are defined as three or more contiguous census tracts with poverty rates above 20 percent and no charter elementary schools. The charter-friendly Thomas B. Fordham Institute identified about 20 such areas in and around Miami, Orlando and Tampa/St. Petersburg. "Despite the thousands of charter schools opened [nationally] over the past twenty-five years," the report concludes, "many more are needed if low-income students in every part of America are to have the options they need." Gradebook. redefinED.
H.B. 7069 lawsuit: Duval County School Board members vote against joining an appeal of the latest decision against 13 school boards that are challenging the constitutionality of the state's 2017 education law, H.B. 7069, saying they can't afford to continue. Lee and Bay county school boards have already committed to an appeal. School boards in Alachua, Broward, Clay, Hamilton, Orange, Pinellas, Polk, St. Lucie, Volusia and Wakulla counties have yet to decide. Florida Times-Union.
School shooting defense: The Broward County School Board is trying to limit its liability by having a court label the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre as a single incident with many victims. The board's liability for each incident is $300,000. Seventeen were killed and 17 wounded on Feb. 14, and a lawyer for one of the wounded victims wants the court to declare each victim a separate incident. Sun-Sentinel. (more…)
Student activism: Hundreds of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students, parents and teachers are traveling to Washington, D.C., for the March For Our Lives rally Saturday. Another 800 or so marches calling for stricter gun laws are planned in cities around the world, and more than a million people are expected to participate. Miami Herald. Associated Press. Other Florida students will take part in local ceremonies. Sun-Sentinel. Orlando Sentinel. Gradebook. Palm Beach Post. Daytona Beach News-Journal. Bradenton Herald. Naples Daily News. Florida Today. Fort Myers News-Press. TCPalm. Five Stoneman Douglas students who have become national figures in the #NeverAgain movement to change gun laws make the cover of the April 2 Time magazine. Sun-Sentinel. Miami Herald.
Schools of Hope operators: Two charter school companies apply to become Florida's first "Schools of Hope" operators. Somerset Academy, which recently took over the Jefferson County School District, and the Texas company IDEA Public Schools were approved by the Department of Education, and the Florida Board of Education votes on their applications Tuesday. Hope operators get a streamlined process to open schools in areas with persistently low-performing schools, and access to low-cost loans for facilities and grants to pay for things such as longer school days. redefinED.
School security: The Miami-Dade County School Board is considering a pilot program giving schools the option of requiring students to wear clear backpacks. Miami Herald. Hendry County schools will require students to wear clear backpacks for the 2018-2019 school year, but Charlotte and Lee counties will not. WZVN. Charter schools are struggling to find money for school security. There's no road map for agreements between local public districts and charters on finding guards for schools, who those armed guards will be, or who will pay for them. redefinED. The Sarasota County School approves spending more than $1 million beyond what it will receive from the state to place armed law enforcement officers in each of the district's 21 elementary schools. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. The Monroe County School Board is considering asking voters to approve a tax increase to pay for police officers in schools. Key West Citizen. At a town meeting, Hillsborough County parents quiz school officials on what's been done and what's being planned to keep students safe. School officials say their plans hinge on funding. Complying with state laws will create a $16 million deficit in security costs for the district, they say. Tampa Bay Times. (more…)
State budgeting: The Senate and House pass budgets that are close in size, but at odds on how to pay for education, among other things. The House's $87.2 billion budget includes tying the changes in education proposed in H.B. 7055 to the overall budget. But senators used a procedure to force the House to uncouple the education bill from the budget, and passed its own $87.3 billion budget. H.B. 7055 will now have to pass through several Senate committees. Tampa Bay Times. News Service of Florida. Associated Press. Politico Florida. A discussion of the House education bill, its chances of becoming law, and how it's connected to the overall state budget. Gradebook.
Senate moves bills: Bills that would provide scholarships for bullied students and increased oversight of private school choice programs are approved by the Senate Education Appropriations Subcommittee. S.B. 1172 would allow victims of bullying and violence to transfer to other public schools or receive a state scholarship to attend a private school. The House also passed its version of the bill, known as the Hope Scholarship. S.B. 1756 calls for tightening state oversight of those private schools that accept state scholarships. It also requires those private schools to employ only teachers with degrees. But that stipulation has run into some resistance, so Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, is proposing that the language be amended to apply only to teachers hired after July 1, 2018, and who are assigned to grade 2 or higher. Those teachers with experience but no degrees would be grandfathered in. Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog, helps administer the tax credit and Gardiner scholarship programs. redefinED. Gradebook. WFSU. Naples Daily News.
Teacher-student romances: Two bills being considered in the House would crack down on romantic entanglements between teachers and students. H.B. 515 would make any such relationships, regardless of the age of the student, a second degree felony for the teacher. Another bill, H.B. 1391, would hold schools and school officials accountable if they fail to report certain misconduct to law enforcement officials or to other prospective employers checking references. Both have been approved by the House Education Committee. Miami Herald.
Budget and Bright Futures: Florida House leaders introduce what they call an austere state budget of about $85 billion, which is about $2.5 billion less than Gov. Rick Scott has proposed. One of the areas the House would cut back on is higher education spending, in part by not expanding the coverage to 75 percent of tuition and fees for "medallion scholars" in the Bright Futures program, which the Senate has approved. Rep. Larry Ahern, R-Seminole, says the cuts are intended to force colleges and universities to use their stockpiles of unspent funds. News Service of Florida. Tampa Bay Times. Politico Florida. The proposed House budget also includes a spending boost of $100 per K-12 student, a provision that would eliminate a requirement that the 300 lowest-performing schools use the extra funding they get from the state to add an hour per day of reading instruction, and would allow any district in the state to participate in the principal autonomy program. Gradebook. Politico Florida. redefinED. The House budget includes a specific cut of $381,000 for Broward College that is directly related to the college's decision to pay the outgoing president his $381,000 salary for a year after he leaves, calling it a paid sabbatical. WLRN.
Motto at schools: The motto "In God We Trust" would have to be prominently displayed on every school building in Florida under a bill that receives unanimous approval from the House PreK-12 Innovation Subcommittee. The measure was filed by Rep. Kimberly Daniels, D-Jacksonville, and Rep. Mel Ponder, R-Destin. The phrase became part of the seal on the state flag in 1868, and was adopted as the state motto by legislators in 2006. News Service of Florida. Associated Press. WCTV. Gradebook.
Personalized learning: A bill that would make the personalized learning pilot program available to all state school districts is approved by the House PreK-12 Innovation Subcommittee. If approved by the Legislature, the bill would broaden the use of the mastery-based learning method, which allows students to advance to higher levels in subjects when they can demonstrate mastery of a topic. The bill would also give districts the freedom to decide how to award course credits. redefinED.
