In the Legislature: As the legislative session closes today, a variety of items are still uncertain as they head to the governor's desk. The state Department of Education could soon be responsible for preparing academic standards about the history of communism to be taught in grades as low as kindergarten under a bill that received final approval in the Florida House. The House voted 106-7 to pass the measure, SB 1264. Under the bill, the curriculum would begin in the 2026-27 school year and would have to be "age appropriate and developmentally appropriate" for all grade levels. The lessons would also be required to cover particular topics. Public-school students currently can get lessons about communism in high-school social studies courses, and in a seventh grade civics and government class. Tampa Bay Times. Orlando Sentinel.  State lawmakers walked back a proposal to restrict how families can spend their state-funded education vouchers. Instead of restricting state-funded scholarship spending to core subject areas as originally introduced, the bill that cleared the Legislature on Thursday only requires organizations that administer the vouchers to produce “handbooks” that detail what expenses are allowed and prohibited. Politico. Tampa Bay Times. While some legislative leaders are highlighting record levels of education spending during the legislative session, the state's largest teachers union says that won't remove Florida from low rankings for teacher pay or per-student spending. The budget plan included $1.2 billion toward teacher salaries and a boost in per-student spending. “We are increasing K-12 per student funding to an unprecedented level, including raising the base student allocation, which we know provides important, needed flexibility for our districts,” said Republican Sen. Keith Perry, Chair of the Senate Education Appropriations Committee, in a prepared statement. Florida Politics. K-12 students are a step closer to getting lessons from designated "patriotic" groups. Florida Politics. The Florida Senate gave final approval to a measure designed to keep "identity politics" out of teacher preparation programs that lead to educators getting their professional certificates, preparing the bill to go to Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Senate voted 28-12 to approve HB 1291 a week after the House passed the measure. CBS Miami. WFTV. Politico.

Miami-Dade: A 14-year-old girl had her shoulder dislocated and her thumb broken during an altercation with a Miami-Dade schools police officer at a Miami Gardens school, her family's lawyer announced. Miami Herald.

Palm Beach: An elementary school teacher in Palm Beach will not be disciplined after she sent a letter to School Board officials asking them to "publicly recognize the Palestinian community" in their communications about the Israel-Hamas war and posted a photo that featured the slogan "from the river to the sea" on her personal Facebook page. Palm Beach Post.

Broward: Fifth-grader Jasmine Perez from Bayview Elementary won the Miami Herald Broward County Spelling Bee held in Ft. Lauderdale on Thursday. Miami Herald.

Hillsborough: The school district here is urging commissioners to maintain the district's sales tax funds. The Community Investment Tax or CIT has funded schools since 1996, but county commissioners are debating whether to keep the district in its tax plan. The tax is set to expire in 2026. WUSF.

Sarasota: Tashaun Bryant, a senior at Sarasota Military Academy, is recipient of the 2024 STRIVE Award. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Alachua: The organization attempting to convert three public schools in Alachua into charter schools announced their proposal governance structure. There is a split opinion on whether schools in Newberry should turn into charter schools. The new structure would create governing board seats appointed by the Newberry and Archer city commissions. WCJB.

College and university news: Earlier this month, the University of Florida eliminated 13 full-time employees and 15 administrative positions connected with diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives on campus. On Wednesday, the Steamboat Institute Campus Liberty Tour made the first of five national stops at the University of South Florida for a debate on the use of public funds for DEI in higher education. WUSF. The University of Florida is poised to acquire 2,658 acres of land just west of Gainesville after a state appropriations list released this week included funding for the purchase. Main Street Daily News. Florida Politics.

In the Legislature: During a hearing on Tuesday, freshman Sen. Corey Simon introduced a proposal to make private school vouchers available to all Florida students, and the Senate Education PreK-12 Committee voted 9-3 along party lines to approve SB 202. The bill would end current eligibility requirements for vouchers, such as limits on household income. Under the bill, families could qualify to receive vouchers if "the student is a resident of this state and is eligible to enroll in kindergarten through grade 12 in a public school in this state." The bill would also allow families of home-schooled students to receive vouchers. Orlando Sentinel. Pensacola News Journal. TC Palm. Citrus County Chronicle. The state Legislature, after financing a University of Florida study, will consider financing twice weekly music classes for kindergarten through second grade students in a proposal brought forward by state Sen. Keith Perry.  The Early Childhood Music Education Incentive Program helps elementary schools host music classes by paying $150 per student enrolled in the class. Main Street Daily News. Rep. Michelle Salzman is filing legislation to help military families in state schools. HB 633 removes the ability for school districts to limit access for military families to certain types of schools, and would also remove some penalties for exceeding class size. Salzman is presenting HB 633 to the Escambia County School Board at their Tuesday night meeting. WEAR. Asian American and Pacific Islander studies could become mandatory in Florida schools. SB 294 would require Florida schools to teach the culture and contributions of AAPI people. The Legislature could consider the bill during the upcoming March session, and if passed, it could be implemented by the fall. Spectrum News.

Around the state: Bus issues abound in Pinellas, Gov. Ron DeSantis rolled out a list that includes more than a dozen school board members he plans to target in 2024 to protect Florida students and parents from particular ideologies, the Martin county schools superintendent resigned, options are being discussed for a school in Lee that was badly damaged by Hurricane Ian and a statewide demonstration is planned on college campuses. Here are details about those stories and other developments from the state's districts, private schools, colleges and universities:

Miami-Dade: A group of parents from North Beach Elementary pleaded with city officials to help them pressure the school district to make crucial repairs at a recent Miami Beach Commission meeting. Issues include exposed rebar, mold and peeling paint, among others. CBS Miami.

Orange: Support continues to grow for a sixth-grade teacher placed on administrative leave last week. District officials accused him of using students as "political pawns" in videos posted on TikTok. WESH.

Pinellas: Buses running on time remains an issue in the school district here. Superintendent Kevin Hendrick unveiled several steps to the school board that are designed to reduce the need for additional drivers and make routes more efficient. Tampa Bay Times.

Lee: School officials here will discuss options Wednesday for Fort Myers Beach Elementary. The school was severely damaged during Hurricane Ian. Options range in cost from under $5 to nearly $25 million, and include sending students to other schools and restoring the campus, a phased rebuild and a portable campus with an option to rebuild, according to the meeting's agenda. Fort Myers News-Press.

Seminole: Seminole State College of Florida and Seminole County Public Schools partnered to give 700 high school seniors the stools needed to take the next step in their education. Students throughout the district attended Decision Day earlier in February. WKMG.

Martin: Superintendent John Millay resigned Tuesday after less than two and a half years in his position. Millay, who was appointed in 2020, told the school board he would work until June 30.  "I love the students, I love the families and I love the professional staff," Millay told the board. TC Palm.

Target list: Gov. DeSantis on Tuesday rolled out a list of more than a dozen school board members he plans to target in 2024 to protect Florida students and parents from ideologies that are seeping into classrooms across the state. DeSantis met with Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, Moms for Liberty co-founders Tina Descovich and Tiffany Justice in addition to leaders from the state's school board reform movement. During the meeting, DeSantis unveiled his 2020 school board target list, which includes 14 school board members across the state. Fox News.

Walkout planned: Students of the Florida College Democrats and Dream Defenders are organizing a demonstration at college campuses statewide in response to recent education-related efforts by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The "Stand for Freedom" movement and walkout will be held Thursday on Florida college campuses with the intent to request the restoration of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in colleges across the state. Tallahassee Democrat.

Earthquake funds: National Junior Honor Society members at a school in Tallahassee found a way to give back to loved ones in need of aid in Turkey and Syria after two earthquakes hit resulting in the loss of over 30,000 lives. Students at the Tallahassee School of Math and Sciences began fundraising with the encouragement of faculty and staff. Tallahassee Democrat.

Best school hero: Nominations were sought to find people in South Florida school communities who make big impact in the lives of students. The field is now narrowed down to the Sweet 16. Miami Herald.

University and college news: Former UCF president John Hitt died at the age of 82, less than five years after retiring from the university where he spent 26 years at the helm. Hitt oversaw tremendous growth at the school including the addition of a medical school, on-campus football stadium and more than 100 new buildings. Orlando Sentinel. WESH. Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy stuck shovels in the dirt at Palm Beach State College for the ceremonial groundbreaking of an indoor tech golf league. Palm Beach Post.  Meanwhile, Palm Beach Atlantic University is investigating whether a professor was "indoctrinating" students with discussion about racial justice. Palm Beach Post. Students at the University of North Florida called out the school's president and the state's governor during a demonstration on campus. They demanded that diversity, equity and inclusion programs on college campuses be protected, and said school officials should take a stand. First Coast News.

Opinions on schools:  Vermont's school voucher program — which is 154 years old — is in jeopardy because of a new bill introduced in the state Senate this month. The legislation offers a unique way of circumventing a string of U.S. Supreme Court victories that have expanded school choice over the last two decades.  Patrick R. Gibbons, reimaginED. Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa recently signed the nation's third publicly funded education choice program for all K-12 students, following Arizona and West Virginia. This represents a stunning reversal, since a smaller proposal failed to clear the Legislature last year. Jason Bedrick, reimaginED. To be honest, listening to other teachers often makes me feel a bit guilty about how much I still enjoy teaching after more than 10 years as an early childhood educator. Margi Bhansali, Chalkbeat.

Bills to enhance the Gardiner Scholarship program were filed in the House and Senate this week.  HB 1051 and its companion SB 1380 were filed by Rep. Elizabeth Fetterhoff (R-DeLand) and Sen. Keith Perry (R-Gainesville) respectively.

If passed by both chambers and signed by the governor, the changes in the bill would allow parents to apply for the scholarship the day their child turns 3, and permit parents to use the scholarship to pay for tuition and fees associated with art, music or theater programs.

The bills also would make it easier for parents to renew their scholarship. Renewing parents would no longer be required to get a notarized “sworn compliance statement,” which is required to notify the Department of Education (DOE) of the parent’s intent to accept the scholarship and not enroll in other publicly funded educational options.

The bill would also require the DOE to create a secure website that allows parents to submit all required information in order to maintain program eligibility.

The Gardiner Scholarship is an “education savings account” program that gives parents of children with special needs a bank account to access in order to pay for tuition, fees, curriculum, school books, therapies, text books and more.

The scholarship is administered by non-profits such as Step Up For Students (which hosts this blog). Step Up funded 11,276 students with scholarships averaging $10,389 during the 2018-19 school year.

Step Up is currently accepting new and renewal applications for the Gardiner Scholarship. Parents may apply here. Step Up has already awarded more than 5,000 scholarships for 2019-20.

Teacher protests: The proliferation of teacher protests across the United States is a sign of a deepening dissatisfaction with the conditions of the educational system, such as low teacher pay, a sense of not being valued, violence in schools, budget cuts and funding inequalities, says Darleen Opfer, an education analyst at the Rand Corporation. "We've been seeing conditions in schools deteriorate, stagnate or increase school violence," she says. "The conditions are widespread enough we'd consider schools being in crisis." National Education Association president Lily Eskelsen Garcia agrees, saying, "We've never seen a brushfire like this." Agence France-Presse.

Texting troubles: A series of text messages between Sarasota County School Board member Eric Robinson and Sheriff Tom Knight show a collaborative effort to force the school district to pay the full costs for having a school resource officer in every school. The often-profane messages from Robinson also deride Superintendent Todd Bowden and board member Shirley Brown. Robinson acknowledged the messages were “inappropriate” and reflected his frustration with the board's unwillingness to consider cutting costs. Knight said the text messages were “bad judgment” and blamed Robinson for using him to criticize Bowden. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

School security: Palm Beach County school officials say they are concerned that as the trauma of the school shooting in Parkland fades, so will the resolve of political leaders to protect schools. Palm Beach Post. Town hall meetings on gun violence and school safety are held Saturday around the state. Sun-Sentinel. Palm Beach Post. Tampa Bay Times. WJXT. Citrus County sheriff's officials are urging the school district to reject hiring private security guards to provide school security. The school board meets Tuesday to discuss how to meet the state mandate of having a qualified armed person at every school. Citrus County Chronicle. The Monroe County School Board meets Tuesday to discuss the ballot language of a plan to increase property taxes to pay for having a resource officer in every school. Key West Citizen. (more…)

Trump's visit: President Donald Trump visits St. Andrew Catholic School in Orlando today to promote his support for broader school choice. St. Andrew is part of the Notre Dame Alliance for Catholic Education academies, a national network working to revitalize urban Catholic education. About 85 percent of the 340 students in the pre-K through eighth-grade school use tax credit scholarships. Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog, helps administer the program. redefinED. WFTV. Politico Florida. Myrna Saint-Juste, who sent two children to St. Andrew Catholic School, and her son Marcus Millien, now a student at Bishop Moore High School, were asked to meet with President Trump today when he visits the school. She declined, but Marcus accepted. Orlando Sentinel.

Legislature and education: Legislators want to reduce testing, change the teacher bonuses program and improve the higher education system, among other things, during the legislative session that begins Tuesday. Here are previews of some of the issues being debated. Tampa Bay Times. Orlando Sentinel. Sun-Sentinel. The major players in the legislative session are profiled. Tallahassee Democrat.

Bills about teachers: Two bills filed by legislators would change the criteria by which teachers are eligible for bonuses from the state. A bill filed by Sen. Keith Perry, R-Gainesville, would lower the SAT and ACT test scores level a teacher would need to be eligible for the state's teacher bonus, and add several other tests that could be used. A bill filed by Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, would expand eligibility requirements to college GPA and to those graduates who commit to teaching in critical teacher shortage areas. Both would also allow school administrators to be eligible for bonuses. Gradebook. A bill introduced by Rep. Rene Plasencia, R-Orlando, would expand the path to teacher certification, including allowing charter schools to set up their own training programs that would have to be approved by the Florida Department of Education. Legislators want to make it easier to hire people who have expertise in a subject and can prove competency in the classroom but don't have an education degree. redefinED. Sen. Debbie Mayfield, R-Vero Beach, files a bill that would prohibit teacher retirements during the school year. Exceptions would be made for illnesses and disabilities. News Service of Florida.

Charter district: Three charter schools companies are competing to take over operations of the Jefferson County School District. They are: Somerset Academy Inc., which operates 16 charter schools in Miami-Dade and Broward counties; Lake Wales Charter Schools Inc., which runs six schools in Polk County; and EdFutures, which runs two schools in Volusia County. Superintendent Marianne Arbulu said the school board could make its selection by next week. Politico Florida. (more…)