Tax credit scholarships. A vote to take up the House's school choice bill fails, leaving the issue to the final day of Florida's legislative session. Scripps/Tribune. Associated Press. RedefinED. It's one of five bills that could shape the sessions final hours, Gary Fineout writes.
Textbooks. The state adoption process remains alive in re-worked legislation bound for Gov. Rick Scott. Times/Herald. Scripps/Tribune. Reuters. Associated Press. School Zone. Palm Beach Post.
Whistle-blowers. A Leon County Schools administrator becomes a whistle-blower in an ongoing saga involving district construction contracts. Tallahassee Democrat. A Palm Beach County whistle-blower faced retaliation from the school district. Palm Beach Post.
Common Core. Supporters of the new standards tout their flexibility. Tampa Tribune.
Facilities. Broward schools consider an $800 million bond issue. Miami Herald.
Teachers. A Broward County man at the forefront of desegregation decades ago returns to the classroom to teach. Sun-Sentinel. Orange County teachers prepare to vote on raises. Orlando Sentinel.
Graduation. An FAU student could graduate before receiving her high school diploma. Sun-Sentinel.
Retention. Other countries have higher stakes than Florida's third-grade retention policy. StateImpact.
Budgets. The Pasco school district looks to rebuild support staffs after years of cutbacks. Tampa Bay Times.
Tax credit scholarships. The House passes legislation expanding access to the program to students with higher incomes. Associated Press. News Service of Florida. It's among a host of issues lawmakers expect to tackle after a week-long holiday break. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. The Daytona Beach News-Journal scrutinizes the program in an article that states, incorrectly, that a failed 2012 state constitutional amendment would have "cleared the way" for private school vouchers. A second article also deals with religious schools. The program is administered by Step Up for Students, which co-hosts this blog.
Testing. Parents complain that FCAT conflicts with Passover. Tampa Bay Times. Students prepare to tackle the test one last time in English and math. StateImpact. Lakeland Ledger. Daytona Beach News-Journal. Tampa Tribune. Palm Beach Post. The stakes are high at an F-rated Miami-Dade middle school. Miami Herald. Collier schools are in a race against time to create new end of course exams. Naples Daily News. Lawmakers should get an earful from constituents on testing, including for students on tax-credit scholarships, Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell writes.
Virtual schools. A new blended learning model debuts in West Boynton Beach. Sun-Sentinel.
Magnet schools. A Montessori magnet in Fort Lauderdale marks a milestone. Sun-Sentinel. What was once a last-chance home for struggling students is now a career-education magnet program. Gainesville Sun.
Textbooks. A bill aimed at paring back the state's role in adopting instructional materials survives a narrow vote in the Senate. Associated Press. News Service of Florida. Gainesville Sun. Gradebook. Scripps/Tribune.
Student Privacy. A bill banning the collection of biometric data and other sensitive information is headed to Gov. Rick Scott. Scripps/Tribune. Ocala Star-Banner. Associated Press.
A Florida Board of Education member proposed today that the state end its textbook adoption process, saying teachers and principals are best equipped to decide which materials are needed to help students.
Roberto Martinez of Miami said the time is right for that step, given Florida’s education reforms - tough standards, a tough accountability system and big changes to the teaching profession – as well as digital learning advances that are easing access to high-quality instructional materials.
“It seems we’re now at the stage - and certainly will be at the stage in the next couple of years - where the teachers and principals working with the districts should then be able to have the freedom to do as they deem appropriate, based upon the exercise of their professional judgment, to use whatever materials they want,” Martinez said at a board meeting this morning. “If they want to use textbooks, let them use textbooks. If they want to use primary source material, fine. Digital? Fine. Whatever it is. But I think we’re at that stage where we can give them that kind of freedom to accomplish the outcomes that we want.”
Martinez said he wanted the board to add elimination of textbook adoption to its legislative priorities for next year. He did not offer a timeline for ending the process, but in a letter to board members Monday he wrote that the Department of Education needed to work with school districts to develop “an effective transition plan.”
“These changes would get rid of the expensive and unnecessary burdens that impede the ability of our teachers and students from accessing the latest, most advanced, and best educational materials, many of which are, or will become, available through digital learning,” he wrote.
Martinez’s proposal isn’t entirely new; last year, the board discussed a plan to make Florida classrooms all digital within five years. Nevertheless, Tuesday’s comments drew an enthusiastic response from fellow board members and two superintendents in attendance. (more…)
