Lawsuit dismissed: Florida has not failed to fulfill its constitutional mandate to provide a quality education for all public school students, a circuit court judge has ruled. Judge George Reynolds III dismissed the suit brought by Citizens for Strong Schools and others against the State Department of Education and legislative leaders. The plaintiffs charged that the state's racial achievement gap, emphasis on testing and lack of adequate funding kept the state from satisfying the terms of a 1998 constitutional amendment. Reynolds disagreed. "The weight of the evidence shows that the state has made education a top priority both in terms of implementation of research-based education policies and reforms, as well as education funding," he wrote. Gradebook. Palm Beach Post. Orlando Sentinel. Gainesville Sun. WFSU. Politico Florida. News Service of Florida. Associated Press. redefinED.
Bush is back: Former presidential candidate Jeb Bush is elected chairman and president of the board of directors of the Foundation for Excellence in Education. He replaces Condoleezza Rice. Bush formed the foundation in 2007 after two terms as Florida governor. He suspended his presidential campaign three months ago. The Hill. Miami Herald. Tampa Bay Times. Florida Politics. Sunshine State News.
Discrimination query: Federal grants are being withheld as the Polk County School District's harassment and discrimination policies are under review by the Office of Civil Rights and the Department of Justice. School Board attorney Wes Bridges says the move is most likely tied to the Obama administration directive saying transgender students should be allowed to use the restroom of their gender identity. Lakeland Ledger.
Bathroom rights: The Obama administration directive on allowing transgender students to use the bathroom conforming to their gender identity could lead to a boom in school bathroom construction. In an email to his colleagues, Sumter County School Superintendent Richard Shirley wrote: "Students will be expected to use group restroom facilities based on their birth gender until necessary remodeling takes place to insure the safety, privacy and comfort of all students in single unisex restroom facilities." Gradebook.
District sex survey: Citing teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases rates, the Hillsborough County School Board agrees to survey students about their sexual behavior. Parents can have their children opt out. Tampa Bay Times. (more…)
School testing: Is change ahead for the Florida Standards Assessments testing? The Every Student Succeeds Act, which gives states some leeway on how they use standardized testing, could be the catalyst. Lakeland Ledger. The Progressive. Teachers complain about the the pace they're expected to maintain in curriculum to clear the time devoted to testing. Lakeland Ledger. Testing in core subjects begins today and lasts through May for some students. Martin County school officials say they are not expecting a repeat of last year's "disaster." TCPalm.
Education bills: Gov. Rick Scott signs a handful of education bills into law, including one that starts a five-year pilot program in a few counties for competency-based education, in which students can advance through school if they can prove they've mastered what they should be learning. Miami Herald. Politico Florida. A look at trends in state spending under Gov. Rick Scott show that education spending is up 6 percent since 2010, but that hasn't kept up with the 8 percent growth in the state's population. Tampa Bay Times.
No-bid software deal: When Brevard County school officials decided to upgrade their business software systems, they bypassed the bidding process and ended up with a host of problems that administrators could have foreseen. Florida Today. School administrators didn’t get competing vendors’ proposals when they committed to spending $8 million on new software for payroll and accounting in 2013. Today, the district has frozen payments after spending $4.55 million on a product that is only partially functional and not officially delivered. Florida Today.
Open enrollment: South Florida school officials say it's hard to predict how open enrollment will affect public schools. Vern Crawford, a lobbyist for the Palm Beach County School District, said he hasn't heard of widespread change in states with similar laws. "It hasn't been an overwhelming stampede," Crawford said. Sun-Sentinel.
Fire-breathing act: The fire-breather whose act went wrong at Atlantic High School says the teacher organizing the event told him to include the stunt in his act. Ricky “Inferno” Charles accidentally ignited his face during the stunt in front of 2,000 students. Palm Beach Post. (more…)
Whistleblowers intimidated? Two students who complained about having unqualified substitutes for geometry class all year are being harassed and intimidated by the school's principal and the area superintendent, two teachers tell Palm Beach School Superintendent Robert Avossa. They say the principal, Cheryl McKeever, told the geometry students they don’t have a teacher because they ran off the job candidate. In a statement, McKeever says she was addressing the students as young adults. Palm Beach Post.
Teacher bonuses: Incoming House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O'Lakes, says he wants to expand the teacher bonuses program in the next legislative session. He says more money will be added, especially for teachers in low-income schools, and the program will be made permanent instead of proceeding on a year-to-year basis. Tampa Bay Times. Rep. Corcoran issues a survey to the 5,200 state teachers who qualified for the teacher bonuses, asking them how to improve the program. Gradebook. The Best and Brightest teacher bonuses are distributed in Miami-Dade. Each teacher who qualified receives $8,256.27 minus payroll and income tax. Miami Herald.
Pyrotechnics probe: Palm Beach County school officials will investigate who approved hiring a fire-breather for a pep rally Thursday at Atlantic High School. The act misfired and the performer's face caught fire. “When you put fire in a building, this is a problem,” says Superintendent Robert Avossa. Palm Beach Post. This was at least the third time fire-breather Ricky Charles has performed in Palm Beach schools in the past three years. Palm Beach Post. A new type of fuel and a lack of practice led to the accident, says Ricky Charles. Sun-Sentinel. Palm Beach Post.
Education bill: What was in the massive education bill that passed on the final day of the Legislature? Miami Herald. One thing not in the bill is money for City Year, a branch of AmeriCorps that places young adults in schools to help students one-on-one. Orlando Sentinel.
Money = results? Big donations to legislators didn't necessarily translate into big returns for the industries making the donations. But charter school supporters were among the winners. Miami Herald. (more…)
Scott signs budget: Gov. Rick Scott signs the $82.3 billion state budget. He vetoes projects totaling $256.1 million, including a few education items. Here's the full list of items Scott vetoed. Tampa Bay Times. Florida Politics.
After-school programs: The Florida Senate's early proposal to open up after-school funding to competitive bidding did not survive the legislative process. That leaves the current system in place, and groups such as Big Brother Big Sisters and the Boys & Girls Clubs are relieved. Miami Herald.
Act goes awry: A fire-breather's face caught fire during a pep rally at Atlantic Community High School in Delray Beach Thursday. The fire-breather, Ricky Charles, and seven students were taken to a hospital for treatment. Charles was hired to perform at the rally for Florida Standards Assessments testing. Palm Beach Post. Sun-Sentinel.
Free school store: The Hernando County Education Foundation has started a free store for teachers at Springstead High School. The Tools 4 Schools store provides school material for teachers who otherwise would have spent their own money. Tampa Bay Times.
Open enrollment concerns: St. Johns County school officials voice concerns over the details of open enrollment, and how it might affect their highly rated school district. St. Augustine Record.
Suit against board dismissed: The U.S. Middle District Court of Florida rules that the Seminole County School Board is not a person that can be sued under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The suit was brought by a man who received 537 calls from the school district shortly after he received a reassigned cell phone number. National Law Review. (more…)
