Desegregation case: The NAACP Legal Defense Fund says the Pinellas County School District is not complying with the 1964 court order governing the district’s anti-discrimination efforts. So the plaintiffs in Bradley vs. Pinellas County School Board are asking a federal court to intervene to force the district to give more help to struggling[Read More…]
Tag: Sen. Don Gaetz
Florida schools roundup: Budgets, testing, pre-K, tornado days and more
K-12 budget: The Senate and House make no progress on resolving their differences on education spending. Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, presented a final version of the bill to the House, but the cochair of the education budget conference committee, Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, apparently wanted to continue negotiating. So Gaetz ended the talks,[Read More…]
Florida schools roundup: AP exam success, charters, choice and more
AP success: Nearly 58 percent of Florida high school seniors took one or more Advanced Placement exams in 2015, according to a College Board report. That percentage was second in the United States, trailing only the District of Columbia (70 percent). About 31 percent of Florida seniors scored 3 or higher on one[Read More…]
Florida schools roundup: Bonuses, budget, sales tax, schedules and more
Teacher bonuses: State Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, says the reason the Senate has allocated no money for teacher bonuses is that the program has not yet been fully vetted. Miami Herald. Budget dissent: Senate Appropriations Chairman Tom Lee, R-Brandon, adds his name to the list of legislators who oppose Gov. Rick[Read More…]
Florida schools roundup: Black suspensions, homelessness and more
Black suspensions: An investigation of more than 600,000 punishments in Pinellas County schools from 2010-2015 shows that black children are suspended at a much higher rate than in the other six large Florida districts, and four times the rate of other children based on their share of the school population. And[Read More…]
Florida schools roundup: Testing, teacher pay and more
School testing: A Polk County teacher’s resignation over her frustration with testing is going viral. Wendy Bradshaw wrote, in part, “Like many other teachers across the nation, I have become more and more disturbed by the misguided reforms taking place which are robbing my students of a developmentally appropriate education.” Lakeland[Read More…]