Around the state: School board races heat up, teacher shortages statewide, a boost in spending on school safety in St. Johns, resignations at a high school in Pinellas and new presidents at Saint Leo University and University of North Florida. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Broward: Citing almost a dozen mass shootings that occurred over the Fourth of July holiday, Broward County school teacher and gun violence prevention activist Tracy Merlin said she will use her new role with the Florida Commission on the Status of Women to amplify demands for common sense gun laws. Florida Phoenix.
Palm Beach: Three candidates are vying for the lone school board seat here that's not guarded by an incumbent. Debra Robinson, a school board member for more than 20 years, decided not to run for re-election, opening the door for Edwin Ferguson, Christopher Persaud and Corey Michael Smith. Candidates will face off on Aug. 23 in a primary election. If no one receives 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters will face off in the general election on Nov. 8. Palm Beach Post.
Pinellas: Four assistant principals resigned from Tarpon Springs High School over the past year, with the latest being a week ago. Three of them began the 2021-22 academic year at the campus. One joined in January as a replacement. In addition, about two dozen teachers departed, including the current Teacher of the Year. Tampa Bay Times.
Duval: The number of teachers entering classrooms in Florida this school year continues to dwindle, including in Duval. A new survey released by the Florida Education Association shows over 9,500 teaching and staffing vacancies statewide. This time last year, the FEA reported about 5,000 shortages. As of this week, Duval County Public Schools reported 529 vacancies for certified teachers, which is up 23% compared to the start of last school year. The vacancies are are almost double the number Duval saw at the beginning of the 2020-21 school year. The Florida Times-Union.
Volusia: There are hundreds of openings here, and the teachers union presidents say with the level of shortage they're facing this close to the start of the school year, there won't be enough teachers for the number of enrolled students. That also means there could be more students this year per classroom. There are currently 365 openings for teachers. The county raised the base pay for new hires to $47,500, but there hasn't been an increase in the state budget for those who are already working. WKMG.
Pasco: The Pasco County School Board has three of its five seats up or consideration. Steve Meisman (District 1), Matt Geiger (District 3) and Charles Touseull (District 5) share talking points on issues that include their opposition to the district's property tax referendum and what they call "woke" curriculum. Two incumbents, Cynthia Armstrong (District 3) and Megan Harding (District 5), are defending their records on the school board. Allen Altman retired after four terms in District 1. Meanwhile, newcomers Al Hernandez and James Washington are vying for Altman's spot. Tampa Bay Times.
Collier: A new high school will be opening in North Naples in 2023. Parents, meanwhile, have been pushing for more information — specifically on zoning. The school district plans to hold meetings for naming the school in September. Naples Daily News.
St. Johns: Officials here are boosting spending on school safety. A plan presented on Tuesday morning to the school board calls for more than $1 million more than last year to be allocated toward protecting schools, which includes increasing pay for armed guards. The increases will cost the school district a total of around $4.7 million. With state assistance, the district only has to pay $1.9 million, officials said. That's a district budget increase of more than $668,000, compared to last year. All 43 schools in St. Johns will have an armed guard on campus when the new school year starts in the fall. Some high schools, when available, will have two guards available. News4Jax.
University and college news: A professor at the University of South Florida is studying whether college students diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, can use a technology called "brain painting" to improve attention spans and reduce the need for prescription drugs. Tampa Bay Times. Saint Leo University announced a new president on its website this week. Edward Dadez, formerly the school's provost, was selected by the board of trustees to succeed Jeffrey Senese. Tampa Bay Times. Meanwhile, the University of North Florida has also lined up its next president. The Board of Governors approved Moez Limayem, a former USF business college dean, as University of North Florida's seventh president. Florida Times-Union. For the third year in a row, the University of West Florida led the state in finding success after school. UWF had more combined success at finding additional academic opportunities or employment during their first year out of college than did graduates from any other university within the Florida State University System. More than 72% of the UWF students who graduated at the conclusion of the 2020-21 school year are now furthering their education or are employed. Pensacola News Journal.
Attacks increase: About one in three school leaders noticed an uptick in student fights or physical attacks this past school year that are believed to be brought on by the pandemic and its lingering effects, new federal data shows. Also, more than half of school leaders reported an increase in classroom disruptions from student misconduct for the same reason. Chalkbeat.
Opinions on schools: Defenders of discrimination in education received a well-deserved comeuppance last month. The first was a lesson in constitutional law, while the second was the creation of expansive opportunities for parents to choose how and where their children learn. This combination will define K-12 education for the next century. reimaginED. The Catholic school movement has been advocating for the position that the court finally endorsed in Carson v Makin, which is that you can't exclude a religious school from public benefit programs like school voucher programs because they're religious. There is a long history of Catholic schools seeking public resources and being rebuked both politically and legally. reimaginED.
Charter schools. A new Bay Haven charter might open in North Florida on time. It had faced hurdles securing startup funding. Panama City News Herald. Charles Pierce cites Duval County charter school test results in a rant against school reform. Esquire.
Virtual school. Bay County wants to give virtual students more in-person support. Panama City News Herald.
Facilities. An attempt to lease an under-used school building to a college for $1 per month comes under fire in Duval. Florida Times-Union.
Leadership. Volusia's district chief declines a performance bonus amid battles with unions, but inks a three-year contract renewal. Daytona Beach News-Journal. St. Johns County superintendent Joe Joyner recounts the last year's accomplishments, including grappling with two failed charters. St. Augustine Record. (more…)
Early learning. St. Johns County expands its full-day pre-K programs. St. Augustine Record.
Discipline. A student advocacy group plans a federal civil rights complaint against the Bay County school system, alleging discipline disparities that disproportionately affect African-Americans. Panama City News Herald.
Support services. Funding is in limbo for a Leon County center that provides after-school and juvenile-diversion programs. Tallahassee Democrat.
Elections. A teacher-turned-Hernando school board candidate bows out of the race after accepting a job in Pinellas County. Tampa Bay Times.
Information. Duval County announces a new online student information portal. Florida Times-Union.
State board. The Florida Board of Education meets next week in South Florida. Palm Beach Post. Charter school capital funding changes won't be on the agenda. Gradebook. (more…)
School assignments. Parents should have more say in where their kids go to school, rather than face felony charges for lying about their addresses, a Sun-Sentinel guest column argues. (The author works at Step Up For Students, which publishes this blog, and an earlier version of the piece ran here.) The Escambia school district starts implementing a digital school registration system. Pensacola News-Journal.
Elections. Florida's statewide teachers union is keeping a close eye on legislative races as they develop. Gradebook. Charter school operators make campaign contributions in school board races. Gradebook. The League of Women Voters weighs in here. Collier County School Board hopefuls debate. Naples Daily News. A Marion school board candidate drops out of her race, citing confusion over residency requirements. Ocala Star-Banner. A Leon County superintendent candidate may abandon his bid, and seek re-election to the Tallahassee City Commission instead. Tallahassee Democrat.
Collective bargaining. Hillsborough County schools look to rewrite teacher job categories after a Gates Foundation grant expires. A proposal would create three classes of teachers: Tenured teachers, one-year contract employees and probationary hires. Gradebook.
Charter schools. The St. Johns County School Board moves to take over a charter school plagued by financial problems. St. Augustine Record.
School boards. Alachua County's April Griffin is set to lead the Florida School Boards Association next year. Gainesville Sun. (more…)
Tax-credit scholarships. The Ocala Star-Banner looks at what an expansion of the program would mean for local private schools. The Scripps/Tribune Tallahassee bureau takes an in-depth look at the debate over the expansion, and separately reports that supporters are still holding out hope after a measure that would have expanded the program was withdrawn in the Senate. The bill's likely fate inspires both the "winner" and "loser" of the week for the Tampa Bay Times, while Jason Bedrick of the Cato Institute finds a "silver lining." Meanwhile, Joanne McCall of the Florida Education Association argues against the program in the Pensacola News-Journal. A Florida Today editor offers his take on the bill, and what he deems a case of strange bedfellows. The bill was withdrawn due to a dispute over how the state should test children who receive scholarships, Doug Tuthill writes. He is the president of Step Up for Students, which helps administer the program and co-hosts this blog.
Open enrollment. Critics raise concerns about a district-wide school choice proposal in Duval County. Florida Times-Union.
Career Academies. Students try to cope as they await the results of an animal-welfare investigation into a veterinary medicine program in Okaloosa County. Northwest Florida Daily News.
Turnarounds. A Tampa elementary school battles to shake its F grade under close watch from state officials. Tampa Bay Times.
Testing. The Florida Times-Union looks at whether the state's new standardized tests will allow comparisons between Florida students and their peers in other states. Computers will grade the new state writing assessments. StateImpact.
Frank Brogan: The outgoing Florida university system chancellor talks about Common Core, state grades and Tony Bennett. TCPalm.
Common Core: Polk County's new teachers get a primer on the new education standards during their district orientation. The Ledger.
Florida Virtual School: About 6,000 Polk County students took classes last school year through Florida Virtual School. Recent drops in enrollment statewide have resulted in teacher and staff layoffs. The Ledger. More from the Associated Press.
Early dismissal: Polk County's early dismissal days will be 1½ hours shorter this school year than last. The Ledger.
Safety: St. Johns County schools wants to limit each school to one entrance. St. Augustine Record.
First day: Summer is over for 86,000 Lee County students who are back in school. News-Press. More from Naples Daily News.
School supplies: Lipman and Pacific Tomato Growers hand out 1,400 back packs to needy Immokalee families. Naples Daily News.
More Bennett: Two more Tony Bennett hires, Anna Shultz and Katie Stephens, leave their Florida Department of Education posts. Tampa Bay Times. American Federation of Teachers and its Indiana affiliate request public records from the Indiana Department of Education, seeking all communications between Tony Bennett, Foundation for Excellence in Education, ALEC and others since 2009. School Zone. (more…)
Parent trigger. Rep. Joe Saunders, D-Orlando, writes in this Orlando Sentinel op-ed that parents should have the choice to keep their child with a teacher with a bad eval. In this Tampa Bay Times letter to the editor, Carlos Alfonso with the Foundation for Florida's Future dispels parent trigger myths furthered by Times columnist John Romano.
Online learning. Both the House and Senate agree on a new way of calculating per-student spending that will result in an $8 million cut to virtual education, reports The Buzz. Study funding for virtual courses rather than cut it for Florida Virtual School, editorializes the Orlando Sentinel. St. Petersburg College creates a MOOC for remedial math, reports the Tampa Bay Times. Nine Hillsborough schools are experimenting with BYOD, the Times also reports. The Helios Foundation and SRI International are working to create a Center for Digital Learning in St. Petersburg, the Times also reports.
Charter schools. Parents fight the closing of the struggling Bradenton Charter School. Sarasota Herald Tribune.
Dual enrollment. Community college leaders say they may have to restrict the increasingly popular program if lawmakers don't better fund it. Orlando Sentinel.
Common Core. The Glenn Beck-fueled notion that Common Core is a leftist plot shows "we have officially arrived at Crazytown." Beth Kassab.
School spending. After convincing voters that the Seminole school district was in a financial bind, district leaders now aren't sure whether they need to collect the extra tax money. Orlando Sentinel. (more…)
Charter schools. Tampa Bay Times columnist John Romano uses the specter of for-profit charter schools to slam state lawmakers who support parent trigger: "They say tomato, I say morons." Times columnist Bill Maxwell, meanwhile, highlights the success of Urban Prep Academies, a high-performing, all-male, all-black charter school in Chicago where, for four years in a row, every graduate was accepted into a four-year college.
The Palm Beach Post looks at lawmakers with charter school ties. The Lake Wales Charter School system is considering adding a second middle school, with the waiting list for the existing one at 360 and growing, reports the Winter Haven News Chief. The Athenian Academy charter in New Port Richey and the Pasco school district are clashing over whether the school has the right to expand, reports the Tampa Bay Times. A charter school in Miami Shores is getting better at private fundraising, reports the Miami Herald. The state's charter school appeals commission recommends approval of a proposed Orange Park charter school twice rejected by the Clay County School Board, reports the Florida Times Union. Lawmakers should limit charter school to districts with failing schools, editorializes the St. Augustine Record.
School choice lotteries. A lot of parents in Palm Beach County are about to get bad news: They did not get their children into the district school choice they wanted. According to the Palm Beach Post, "At more than half of the choice programs, less than 1 in 3 students that applied got a seat. At four of the 185 choice programs, fewer than 1 in 10 students won a seat."
Vouchers. The League of Women Voters asks if McKay vouchers and tax credit scholarships are constitutional in a Gainesville Sun op-ed.
Parent trigger. Former Board of Education member Julia Johnson responds to critics in this op-ed in the Tallahassee Democrat: "I don’t understand what a critic of parent empowerment meant when she recently wrote that it would use parents like “cheap napkins.’’ But I do know that low-income kids were used as a cheap paycheck and their schools were oftentimes used as a training ground for novice teachers and a depository for ineffective ones." The Tampa Tribune writes up the debate. Pensascola News Journal columnist Shannon Nickinson doesn't like it: "How about the state fulfilling its obligation to the public education system, rather than working to pass off that responsibility under the guise of “parental choice.”
Virtual schools. The Miami Herald writes up the bills that will expand digital education. (more…)
School security. The Legislature is looking at a range of school security proposals, including allowing teachers to carry concealed weapons on school grounds and allowing local voters to hike taxes to pay for school security measures, reports the Tampa Bay Times. Palm Beach Post columnist Frank Cerabino offers his take on the latter. Orlando Sentinel offers more on the latter. More from the Tallahassee Democrat.
School rankings. Asked whether they will be forthcoming this year, Gov. Rick Scott says he's working on it with Education Commissioner Tony Bennett. SchoolZone.
School closings. Tensions rise over Superintendent Kurt Browning's plan to close an alternative school, reports Gradebook. Then he changes his mind, reports the Tampa Bay Times.
School enrollment. Flagler and Volusia counties are seeing enrollment declines, reports the Daytona Beach News Journal.
School rezoning. The latest from Seminole. Orlando Sentinel.
School spending. The Brevard school board approves $30 million in cuts. Florida Today.
School prayer. Some in St. Johns County want it back in graduation ceremonies. St. Augustine Record.
School boards. The Lee County School Board asks the Department of Education to investigate ... the Lee County School Board. Fort Myers News Press.
Charter schools. The traditional media overlooks the good news in the state's new charter school report, writes EdFly Blog. The Pinellas school district is planning to sell a shuttered middle school building to a new charter school group, reports Gradebook. Two well-regarded charters that serve students with disabilities are expected to be renewed in Orange, reports SchoolZone. (more…)
Charter schools. Tallahassee Democrat columnist Byron Dobson takes issue with last week's DOE press release about charter school performance, which was headlined, "Report shows charter school students outpace traditional public school students." "Somehow the DOE headline comes across as a slam against public schools," he writes.
School choice. The Escambia school district is set to offer more public school options within geographic zones, prompting School Board Chairman Jeff Bergosh to say:“What we’re doing is the logical next step in public education. Because of this ancient system of geographic boundaries, it shuts out students from being able to go to a better school. This moves the ball forward and allows parents an opportunity.” Pensacola News Journal.
Career education. The Tampa Tribune likes where the Legislature is headed with career education.
Parent trigger. Authentic parents vs. authentic lobbyists, writes StateImpact Florida. An update from SchoolZone. Privatization, says this op-ed in the Ledger.
Digital learning. The conversion in the St. Johns district is welcome but challenging. St. Augustine Record.
Private schools. The Tallahassee Democrat profiles a 40-year-old Episcopalian school whose alumni include the children and grandchildren of Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee. (more…)
