Graduation path options: A Florida legislator files a bill that would offer alternative paths to a high school degree for those students who earn enough credits to graduate but don't pass the state algebra 1 and language arts tests. State Rep. Ralph Massullo, R-Beverly Hills, wants those students to be able to use an industry-recognized certification or a portfolio of school work to earn a standard diploma. Gradebook.
H.B. 7069 lawsuit: When 13 state school districts filed suit against the state's new education law, H.B. 7069, the largest district in the state was conspicuous by its absence. Miami-Dade County school officials have strongly criticized the law, but decided not to join the suit. Instead, school board members will lobby legislators to amend the law to address their concerns. "We made a very clear determination that ongoing dialogue, ongoing collaboration — until it was determined that it has been exhausted — is prudent," says board member Steve Gallon. If the options are exhausted, Gallon says, the board will take another look at joining the lawsuit. WLRN.
Schools of hope: Two Bay County schools that were named "schools of hope" by the state Board of Education this week have different plans for the extra money they will receive. Springfield Elementary will spend its $903,424 grant on mental health services and counseling, and classroom support for teachers. Lucille Moore Elementary officials plan to use their $1,022,048 grant to boost parental involvement and engagement in students’ education, among other things. Eleven schools of hope were designated by the state. Each receives an extra $2,000 per student to provide provide such additional services as tutoring, counseling, more teacher coaches and salary supplements for teachers to run student clubs. Panama City News Herald. WJHG.
Students from Puerto Rico: The Hillsborough County School District is throwing out the welcome mat for students displaced from Puerto Rico by Hurricane Maria. While school officials do not know how many students will arrive, or when, where they will live and where they will attend school, the district is well-equipped to handle the influx. There are 27,000 empty seats in the county's schools, and about 35 percent of the district's students are Hispanic. "We know these students have been through a tragedy and we want these students to feel welcome and safe in our schools," Superintendent Jeff Eakins wrote in a memo to all principals. Tampa Bay Times. Puerto Rican refugees have begun enrolling in some state schools. WUSF.
Testing changes request: Lee and Collier county school districts are asking the state to delay the standardized testing schedule, to suspend assigning letter grades to schools, and to not automatically retain 3rd-graders who fail the state's ready test. Both districts missed 11 days before and after Hurricane Irma moved through the state. Fort Myers News-Press.
H.B. 7069 lawsuit: The Martin County School Board decides not to join 14 other school districts in a lawsuit against the state's new education law, H.B. 7069. The vote was 3-2, and board members say the suit would be counterproductive and waste money. They say they hope to find another way to influence legislators. The districts saying the state say the bill is unconstitutional because it favors charter schools and strips power from local school boards. TCPalm.
Magnet schools. A Pasco magnet school principal tells students it's OK to fail, as long as they learn from it. Tampa Bay Times. A Palm Beach magnet school celebrates its 25th anniversary. Sun-Sentinel.
Charter schools. A successful conversion charter elementary may grow into the middle grades. Bradenton Herald.
School choice. Tax credit scholarship recipient-turned-grad-student Denisha Merriweather writes in the Tampa Tribune that she's living proof school choice can work. Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog and employs the author of this post, helps administer the program.
Failure factories. Pinellas schools officials are working to address problems in South St. Petersburg, and parental choice may be part of the answer, Superintendent Mike Grego writes in the Tampa Bay Times.
Weather. Hendry County closes schools Monday amid flooding concerns; other districts remain open. Fort Myers News-Press.
Testing. A testing validity study is expected this week, after a delay. Sentinel School Zone. Gradebook. Orlando Sentinel columnist Beth Kassab weighs in on lawmakers considering changes.
TFA. The organization's new Orange County operation brings 18 recruits to schools. Orlando Sentinel.
Back to school. A school with lots of low-income students gets help with supplies. Bay News 9. A Methodist church extends a helping hand in Brevard. Florida Today.
STEM. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune profiles a teenage science whiz.
Safety. A Tallahassee high school student works to improve relations between students and police. Tallahassee Democrat. A woman under the influence tries to pick children up from school. WKMG.
Lawsuits. A judge decides parents of children on Florida tax credit scholarships can have the status of a full-blown party to a lawsuit challenging the program's constitutionality. redefinED. News Service of Florida. Palm Beach Post. Times/Herald. The program is administered by organizations like Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog.
Career education. A collaborative effort between schools and industry groups is expected to launch new manufacturing career academies in five Northwest Florida school districts. Panama City News Herald.
Tax credit scholarships. The program is a "win-win" for public education, a Sarasota school board member writes in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Class size. A rule giving schools of choice more flexibility under state class-size mandates helps Brevard schools comply. Florida Today.
Teach for America. The organization plans to bring recruits to Orange County schools next year. Orlando Sentinel.
Testing. State lawmakers are already floating ideas to address concerns about excessive testing. Tampa Bay Times.
Public records. A group that picks hundreds of public-records fights has targeted charter schools, including one in Southwest Florida. Naples Daily News.
Aspirations. Charter schools and high school sports culture figure into a Tampa Bay Times feature on the football-fueled hopes of children in the tiny town of Pahokee in interior South Florida.
Catholic schools. A Tampa Catholic school student takes part in a mission trip to help Indian tribes in South Dakota. Tampa Tribune.
Tax credit scholarships. Will the program drain $3 billion from public schools? Mostly false. PolitiFact.
Politics. Orlando Sentinel columnist Beth Kassab chides a local school board candidate who attacked the "toxic culture of education" for over-the-top political rhetoric.
Philanthropy. Teach for America recruits appear to be helping Miami-Dade students in math but not reading, a study shows. Miami Herald. An alumna of the program from Brooksville is now an "education superstar" in DC public schools, a Tampa Bay Times columnist writes. A prep school student raises money for laptops at a nearby Title I school. Tampa Bay Times. A Gates Foundation program aims to help more Jacksonville students receive full scholarships. WJCT.
Testing. Some superintendents question falling FCAT writing scores. Tampa Bay Times.
Administration. Administrators reprimand a Hernando County band director who rallied parents behind his program. Tampa Bay Times. The Palm Beach school baord approves hires. Palm Beach Post.
Labor. Collier County teachers say if they're required to be on annual contracts, their principals should be, too. Naples Daily News.
STEM. A UF project aims to help students improve in algebra. StateImpact.
Facilities. Escambia County school district sells off the last of its vacant property. Pensacola News-Journal.
Summer. The City of Jacksonville runs camps for at-risk kids. Florida Times-Union. Libraries in the city aim to help students over the summer. Florida Times-Union.
Employee conduct. A Hillsborough teacher faces criminal charges after leaving the scene of a car wreck. Tampa Bay Times.
Tax credit scholarships. Expansion of the program (administered by Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog) is one of 10 "issues to watch" during the upcoming legislative session. News Service of Florida. It's also a potential land mine for Gov. Rick Scott's re-election campaign, the News Service writes. House Speaker Will Weatherford, a leading supporter of program expansion, tells the Tampa Bay Times editorial board it's a way to help the poor. Gradebook. The Fayetteville Observer in N.C. editorializes that N.C. would be wise to follow Florida's model.
Charter schools. Gov. Rick Scott or someone in his office suggested that MacDill Air Force Base go to Charter Schools USA, whose CEO Jon Hage is a Scott supporter, if it wanted a charter school. Tampa Bay Times. The Times editorializes that the state Board of Education should deny the proposed charter school's appeal because "that would be best for military families, local control and the integrity of the charter school process."
Florida Virtual School. Former Orange Superintendent Ron Blocker will be interim leader while the board searches for a replacement for Julie Young. School Zone.
Common Core. Opponents are hopeful now that there are bill in both the Senate and House to stop it. Gradebook. More from School Zone.
Regulatory accountability. A bill filed by Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee (and head of the state superintendents association) seeks to ease the state into a new standards, testing and accountability system, including a three-year pause for school grades. The Buzz. More from The Florida Current, the Palm Beach Post and Extra Credit. A Senate Education Committee bill, meanwhile, would tweak school grades. Gradebook.
Teacher quality.Value-added scores for Florida teachers look "messy and absurd." Hechinger Report. The Gates Foundation didn't want them released. Answer Sheet. (more…)
Teach for America. It's looking at Tampa Bay for expansion. Gradebook.
Charter schools. The Orange school board renews four charters and accepts the voluntary closure of another, reports SchoolZone. A charter school's plans to move in Miami-Dade don't make its parents or potential new neighbors happy, reports the Miami Herald. A judge rules the principal of an Imagine charter in Sarasota - seeking a split with its parent company - won't be banned from campus, reports the Sarasota Herald Tribune.
FCAT season. Underway, notes SchoolZone. But some schools in some districts put off the writing test because of bad weather, reports Gradebook. Some worry that tougher writing standards could result in lower school grades, reports the Naples Daily News.
Literacy. A third-grade retention policy like Florida's would help students in New Mexico. EdFly Blog.
Settlement. The U.S. Justice Department settles with the Palm Beach school district in a case involving complaints of discrimination against immigrant children in enrollment and discipline cases, reports the South Florida Sun Sentinel. More from the Palm Beach Post.
Sequestration. Would hurt low-income and special needs children the most, Palm Beach district officials tell the Palm Beach Post. More from the Florida Times Union. (more…)
Grad rates. Not good for Florida, according to this new report from the U.S. Department of Education. In 2009-10, the state’s rate was 70.8 percent, putting it No. 44 among all 50 states and Washington D.C. And unlike other estimates, the federal numbers show modestly improving trend lines rather than strong gains.
For what it’s worth, the U.S. DOE says the formula used for this report isn’t as accurate as others – and, in fact, is being phased out and replaced by a more precise formula. Coverage from Gradebook and StateImpact Florida. Nationally, the rate reached its highest point in decades. Coverage from Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Huffington Post.
Teacher pay raises. Gov. Rick Scott will seek them in his budget proposal, with an announcement set for today. Karen Aronowitz, president of United Teachers of Dade in Miami, tells the Tampa Bay Times, “Tell him to send the money, but no one is fooled by this. He’s just restoring money that was already stolen from teachers." More from South Florida Sun Sentinel and News Service of Florida.
Teach for America. EdFly Blog: “Teach for America recruits bright, motivated university graduates and puts them in classrooms with low-income, disadvantaged kids. Normally, liberals would latch on to such a notion – think Peace Corps in urban neighborhoods.” But no.
Teacher evaluations. The new system is on the right track, but it needs more work to be meaningful, editorializes TCPalm.com.
Guts. Somehow, Florida’s decision to participate in PIRLS and other international assessments is being spun in some circles as a negative. The Quick and The Ed blog credits Florida for not shying away from what could be unflattering comparisons.
Tony Bennett. He'll be in the spotlight this legislative session. Sunshine State News.
Parent power. Florida still ranks No. 2 in the Center for Education Reform’s revised Parent Power Index. SchoolZone.
Charter schools. After two F's in a row, Lee Charter Academy in Fort Myers will have to close. Fort Myers News Press. (more…)
