Rep. Donalds, pictured with his family.
Editor's note: This profile is part of a series on Florida legislators who help shape education issues. See previous entries here, here and here.
Meredith Brown watched as her young son dismantled the clock on her nightstand and put it back together easily.
She knew that her 7-year-old son, Byron Donalds, now a Republican state representative from Naples, had a real hunger for learning.
Brown learned Donalds finished his math problems early and was progressing faster than the rest of his peers in public school.
She concluded her son, with his eye for intricate details, needed more intense coursework. And she was prepared to sacrifice to make sure he got it.
Brown, a single mother of three, made the decision to put her son in private school. She remembers the exchange with the public-school teacher.
“Where are you going to send him to school?” the teacher asked. “Do you know how expensive it is?”
In response, Brown simply said: “When one door closes, another one opens. I want to make sure that my child gets the proper education that he needs, and he is in an environment that will allow him to grow.” (more…)
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.
