Bright Futures: A bill that would make the expansion of Bright Futures scholarships permanent passes a Florida Senate committee and is headed to the Senate Appropriations Committee next month. S.B. 4, filed by state Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, provides full funding for tuition and fees and summer classes to Bright Futures academics scholars, plus $300 for books. Bright Futures scholars must have a 3.5 GPA and score a 1,290 on the SAT test or a 29 on the ACT. The bill also covers 75 percent of the expenses for medallion scholars. Sunshine State News.
Help for states: The U.S. Education Department is making $2 million available for Florida officials to help students and educators who were affected by several devastating hurricanes. The money will go to the Florida Department of Education for mental health assessments; overtime pay for teachers, counselors and law enforcement; substitute teachers; and emergency transportation. The U.S. department has already awarded the Texas Education Agency $2 million, and the Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands education departments also will get $2 million each. U.S. News & World Report. The 74.
ESSA plan questioned: Civil rights and education groups are lobbying U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to reject Florida's plan to comply with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). In a letter to DeVos, the groups allege Florida's plan does not protect minority, disabled and low-income students and those who are learning English. "ESSA plans that allow schools to shirk their responsibility to all children, especially groups of children who have been shortchanged for too long, fail to meet the intent of the law and should be rejected," the letter states. Gradebook. Politico Florida. Education Week.
A call for reform: Legislators and local school officials are calling for better oversight of private schools that get millions of dollars from the state's three scholarship programs. A series in the Orlando Sentinel last week detailed how some of those schools hired uncertified teachers with criminal backgrounds and submitted falsified fire reports for years without the state taking action against them. State Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, remains a supporter of the tax credit, Gardiner and McKay scholarships, but agrees that "there's some place between no regulation and over-regulation.” Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog, helps administer the tax credit and Gardiner scholarship programs. Orlando Sentinel.
Teacher pay: Gov. Rick Scott has pushed for higher teacher pay in the past, but now is saying that the decision is out of his hands. "The way our system is set up in our state those decisions are made at the local level," Scott said during a discussion with teachers. "What I tell everybody is, 'You have to be active with your school board members, your superintendents.' " Associated Press. Scott did say that his budget proposal will include $63 million for teachers to help buy classroom supplies, an increase of $18 million over last year. That would bump the $250 a year teachers receive for supplies to $350. WTLV.
'Schools of hope': The Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) charter school network is working on establishing a "school of hope" in the Liberty City area of Miami. The tentative agreement calls for the Miami-Dade County School Board to provide KIPP Miami with a facility, and KIPP would receive a state grant to help disadvantaged students and share its training programs with the district. The "schools of hope" program was set up by the Legislature to offer financial incentives so charter companies could move into neighborhoods with persistently struggling schools. KIPP is the nation’s largest nonprofit charter school network. redefinED.
