Special needs. WTSP profiles a boy from Ethiopia who benefitted from a special needs scholarship in Florida. Step Up For Students, which publishes this blog, helps administer the Gardiner Scholarship program.
Desegregation. Plaintiffs demanding integration and equity in Pinellas County schools are unsatisfied with improved test scores at troubled elementary schools, and say they plan to continue lawsuits against the district. Tampa Bay Times.
Think global. Students at a Manatee County charter school make books for children in Honduras. Bradenton Herald.
Kicked out. A Sarasota Herald-Tribune columnist critiques a charter school's decision to oust a second grader.
Career education. A Pasco student helps promote a Ford Motor Company-backed education program. Tampa Bay Times.
Pay raises. Salaries for Florida school board members and district superintendents will rise, though not by much. Gradebook.
Testing. Miami-Dade Public Schools are paring back mid-year assessments to free up instructional time. Miami Herald.
Bad checks. A collection agency hired by the Palm Beach County school district to go after parents who write bad checks is now bouncing checks of its own, and a porous contract may prevent the district from recouping lost money. Palm Beach Post. Sun-Sentinel. (more…)
University Preparatory Academy in St. Petersburg, Fla. is quickly being rechristened as Midtown Academy, a district-run public school.
Four Florida charter schools face closure after receiving multiple F's under the state's grading system, but at least two will likely re-open under new management: Their local school districts.
The Tampa Bay Times has detailed the closure of University Preparatory Academy, a charter school that opened three years ago in an academically struggling neighborhood of South St. Petersburg, Fla. Its charter contract is no more, and in its place, its authorizing school district is working to open Midtown Academy, a traditional public school.
The move may not be entirely unprecedented. Pinellas County School district spokeswoman Lisa Wolf said the district has taken over charter schools in the past. But it's a rare occurrence for a school facing automatic termination under the state's accountability law, which says charter schools that receive consecutive F's must close immediately, unless they can show their students' academic progress exceeds that in surrounding traditional public schools — a standard University Prep was not able to meet.
Meanwhile, in nearby Manatee County, the school board tonight is set to decide whether to convert Just for Girls Academy, a single-gender charter school that catered to disadvantaged elementary school students, into a district-sponsored alternative education program.
The Bradenton Herald reports: (more…)
Tax credit scholarships. The legislation revamping the program could see a reversal of fortune – and get combined with a separate school-choice proposal. Times/Herald.
Capital funding. Both charter schools and traditional public schools stand to benefit from spending plans in the Legislature. Orlando Sentinel. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
State board. Gov. Rick Scott appoints an Orlando businesswoman to fill the latest vacancy on the Board of Education. Gradebook.
Funding. The overwhelming approval of a tax renewal shows school funding is important to voters, Jeremy Wallace writes for the Herald-Tribune.
Improvement. Blogger Mike Thomas, of the Foundation for Excellence in Education, responds to some of the fact-checks of the group's ad campaign touting Florida's progress in education. EdFly. Background from StateImpact.
School choice. Seats are still open for some Pinellas County programs. Gradebook.
Student Safety. The Hillsborough School Board is set to vote on a planned settlement for the family of a student with a neuromuscular disorder, who stopped breathing during a bus ride. Tampa Bay Times. Tampa Tribune.
Transportation. Hernando County schools officials prepare to revamp their bussing plans. Tampa Bay Times. Hillsborough school board candidates make transportation an issue. Tampa Tribune.
Biometrics. The Senate approves a ban on data collection that makes some accommodations for school districts. Florida Current. Gradebook.
Special guests. Jacksonville elementary schools students get lessons in life, and rap, from a civil rights activist. Florida Times-Union.
Politics. A Tampa high school becomes the latest backdrop for Gov. Rick Scott's crusade for lower college tuition. Tampa Bay Times.
