Sales tax holiday: Florida's back-to-school sales-tax break weekend begins today and ends Sunday. Buyers will not have to pay the sale tax for some clothes, footwear and accessories costing less than $60, and most school supplies up to $15. WFLA. Florida Today. Florida Department of Education. Orlando Sentinel. Palm Beach Post. Daytona Beach News-Journal. Gainesville Sun. Panama City News Herald. Keynoter. Highlands Today. Sunshine State News. WUSF.
Resource officers: The Marion County School District will begin looking for options on providing resource officers in schools in 2017-2018 and beyond. The school board approved a deal this year with the Ocala Police Department to share costs for officers. But next year the district would have to pay the full cost for officers in middle and high schools, which would increase the district's bill by almost 50 percent to $1.25 million. Ocala Star Banner.
Zika and schools: Miami-Dade school officials worry that the spread of the Zika virus is going to cause disruptions as about 400,000 students return to school Aug. 22. Health officials have advised people to wear long-sleeve shirts and use insect repellant. But long sleeves aren't popular in Florida in August, and districts regard insect repellant as a medication, and not to be brought to school. Miami Herald.
That extra hour: Only the highest-achieving students at the state's 312 lowest-performing schools will be exempt from the state-mandated daily extra hour of reading instruction. Students who scored at Level 5 on the Florida Standards Assessments are permitted to opt out. All other students are required to participate. Gradebook. Orlando's Carver Middle School is finalizing its turnaround plan even while those who work there don't accept the Florida Board of Education's assessment that the school is in crisis. Carver has received D's and F's in each of the past five years, and almost 80 percent of its students failed the Florida Standards Assessments math and language arts exams. Orlando Sentinel. (more…)
Tax credit scholarships. A growing option for families in Pinellas. Tampa Bay Times.
Charter schools. The proposed charter school at MacDill Air Force Base sparks a debate over charter school governance. Tampa Tribune. Polk State College aims to help high school dropouts with a new charter school. The Ledger.
School choice. The Pinellas County School District kicks off its application process this week for district school choice programs such as magnets and career academies. Tampa Bay Times.
Virtual schools. Florida Virtual School and other quality online providers are innovative, accountable and getting good results, writes FLVS President & CEO Julie Young in an op-ed for the Fort Myers News Press.
Testing. What's going to replace the FCAT? Education Commissioner Pam Stewart is expected to shed some light on that this week. Florida Current. More from the Tampa Bay Times.
Common Core. Common Core critic Sandra Stotsky is right that Common Core won't prepare students for college majors in science engineering and math, writes FSU Physics Professor Paul Cottle, but saying it shouldn't be implemented because of that is "like saying that you shouldn’t purchase an automobile because it can’t fly." Bridge to Tomorrow. Common Core is among the top issues to watch in 2014. News Service of Florida (via The Buzz).
Tony Bennett. How the charter school grading story unfolded in Indiana. Indianapolis Monthly. (Hat tip: StateImpact Florida).
Teacher pay. The Pasco County School District gets criticized by state auditors, again, for failing to establish differential pay for teachers and administrators. Gradebook. (more…)
