Corcoran appointed: Richard Corcoran, former speaker of the Florida House, is unanimously approved by the Florida Board of Education to replace Pam Stewart as education commissioner. Corcoran, who was recommended by Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis, is a combative supporter of school choice, scholarship programs and charter schools and was widely opposed by teachers unions and public school advocates. "We won't be concerned with tradition, or who has the power, or who has the might," Corcoran said. "What we're going to do is break down those walls and give kids an opportunity." Associated Press. News Service of Florida. Tallahassee Democrat. Orlando Sentinel. Gradebook. Florida Phoenix. Politico Florida. Orlando Weekly. WWSB. Florida Politics. Capitolist. WUSF. WFSU. WFTV.
Report cards and abuse: Child abuse reports spike on Saturdays after report cards are issued by schools on Fridays, according to a report published by University of Florida researchers in the Journal of the American Medical Association. There were almost four times more abuse cases reported on Saturdays a day after report cards are issued than on other Saturdays. “Anecdotally, we know a lot of parents will spank their children or use corporal punishment if they’re unsatisfied with their school work,” says University of Florida psychologist Melissa Bright. The report, which acknowledges its conclusions are speculative, drew its data from Florida’s 67 counties during the 2015-2016 academic year. New York Times. Associated Press. Fatherly. University of Florida. (more…)
Teaching alternatives: As more teachers retire and fewer are graduating from education schools, some districts that struggle to recruit teachers fill the gaps with technology. In Pasco County, for example, far-away teaching experts provide virtual instruction while in-class monitors set up the lesson, help prepare for the connections and police student conduct. "For a couple of years we’ve been really looking for a solution for, typically, when a teacher isn’t able to complete their assignment," says Vanessa Hilton, an assistant superintendent in Pasco. "It obviously is a whole lot better than a substitute not doing any instruction." Tampa Bay Times.
Politics kills safety forum: A Palm Beach County town hall meeting about school safety is canceled after the school district gets complaints that it appeared to be related to gun-control events organized by Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students and to the Democratic party. The organizers say they have no direct affiliation with the March for Our Lives events, and have received no funding or resources from that group. But deputy superintendent Keith Oswald canceled the meeting through an email to organizers that said, “the political tension around this topic is palpable” and that "we cannot risk losing hard earned trust and credibility with our parents by hosting what many are perceiving to be a partisan event." Sun-Sentinel. Palm Beach Post.
School shooting developments: Confessed school shooter Nikolas Cruz had been assigned to an alternative discipline program, Broward County school officials are now acknowledging. Superintendent Robert Runcie had previously denied that Cruz had been part of the program that is designed to find discipline alternatives to arrests and suspensions. WLRN. Students who were among the 17 killed in the shootings Feb. 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School are honored at the school prom. Associated Press.
School security: The Hendry and Suwannee county school boards adopt the state's guardian program and will have school employees carrying concealed weapons in all their schools next August. The school boards will decide who becomes a guardian, and the county sheriff's departments will provide the training. WBBH. Suwannee Democrat. The Pasco County School Board will be asked to approve a $2.8 million program to put armed safety officers instead of sworn school resource officers into county schools. Gradebook. Some Florida legislators predict the school safety act will be revised in the next legislative session. Florida Today. A majority of people responding to a Lake County School District survey say they do not want to arm school employees. Daily Commercial. Orlando Sentinel. A group of Duval County students share their safety concerns with legislators. WJCT. St. Johns County Superintendent Tim Forson talks about the financial challenges the district faces in adhering to the state mandate of having an armed person in every school. St. Augustine Record. Florida senators Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio introduce a bill to expand the Secret Service's National Threat Assessment Center as a way to protect students. Sun-Sentinel. Sunshine State News.
Education lawsuit appeal: School boards in Lee and Bay counties vote to appeal a judge's April 4 ruling that the 2017 state education law, H.B. 7069, is constitutional. The other 11 school boards in the suit - Alachua, Broward, Clay, Duval, Hamilton, Orange, Pinellas, Polk, St. Lucie, Volusia and Wakulla - have yet to decide whether they'll join the appeal. The plaintiffs say the law is unconstitutional because it takes power away from local school boards. Fort Myers News-Press. Panama City News Herald. WJHG. The ongoing legal fight reflects the tension between local school boards, which are given the authority to oversee all public schools in their counties, and the Legislature and Florida Department of Education, which have the power to regulate that authority. redefinED.
Private schools investigated: The Florida Department of Education will investigate three private schools that hired felons as teachers. Kingsway Christian Academy and Winners Primary School near Orlando and Southland Christian School near Kissimmee have been asked for records of the employees, including proof of their background checks. State law prohibits private schools that take scholarship money from hiring employees with certain convictions, but the state relies on the schools to conduct background checks. Orlando Sentinel. (more…)
K-12 funding: The Senate Budget Committee proposes a boost of $790 million in spending in the next school year for Florida's K-12 public schools. Almost 68 percent of that would come through higher property taxes for local districts. Gov. Rick Scott has proposed an $815 million increase for K-12 schools, also with 68 percent of the boost coming from local property taxes. House leaders, who have said they won't accept any tax increase, propose an increase of $251.3 million. The House budget's chief priority is $200 million to attract charter school networks into areas where traditional public schools have struggled. News Service of Florida. Politico Florida. Politico Florida. Florida Politics.
Recess bill: The Florida House K-12 Innovation Subcommittee makes significant changes to the mandatory recess bill, then passes it. The original bill called for at least 20 minutes of unstructured but supervised recess every day for the state's elementary school students. The amended bill changes the daily requirement to at least twice a week, lets schools count recess time toward physical education requirements, and removes the recess requirement for fourth- and fifth-graders. Miami Herald. Sunshine State News.
School choice: The House Education Appropriations Subcommittee approves a bill that would increase the money students can receive through the state's tax credit scholarship program. But removed from the bill was an expansion of eligibility and triple the money for Gardiner scholarships for students with disabilities. Step Up For Students, which publishes this blog, helps administer both programs. The subcommittee also stripped the bill of a provision that would have allowed McKay scholarships for students with special needs even if they hadn't attended a public school for an entire school year. redefinED. News Service of Florida.
Charter schools: The House PreK-12 Innovation Subcommittee approves a bill that could make it easier for high-performing charter schools to expand, give charter networks the ability to received federal funding directly, allow school districts an extra 30 days to review charter applications, and make public schools accountable for the academic performance of students who transfer to private or alternative charter schools. Ralph Arza of the Florida Charter School Alliance says his group supports nearly all the bill, but said alternative charters should be held responsible for students who transfer from traditional schools. redefinED. The committee also approves a bill that would require school districts to proportionately split local property tax revenues with charter schools after the money districts set aside for construction debts is deducted. The state’s 556 charter schools would receive about $148 million, or nearly double what they now get. redefinED. (more…)
