Vouchers: Jewish leaders speak in support of school choice and the expansion of the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship. Jewish Journal. Senate President Don Gaetz’s call for more accountability through expanded testing is the right call and a good place to start, writes the Sun Sentinel. Taxpayers fund both public and private schools in Florida, and they deserve accountability from each, writes Russ Kesler for the Orlando Sentinel. A lot of parents complain their children aren’t getting that high-quality education right now, and lawmakers could be about to give them the opportunity to make a choice. Bay News 9.
Common Core: How can two Sarasota County schools – one for the gifted and the other for disabled students – fit in with the standards that 45 states have approved? Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Ed reform: The 10th annual College Board Report to the Nation ranks Florida once again among the top five states in the percent of high school graduates who have passed an Advanced Placement test with a score of 3 or higher, writes Patricia Levesque. Gainesville Sun.
Teacher evals: Palm Beach teachers score well on the controversial evaluations. Sun Sentinel. The data shows that Broward is among more than three dozen school districts that had lower-than-expected student gains over a one-year period last year, but Miami-Dade and Palm Beach have higher-than-expected student gains. Sun Sentinel. Teachers unions and school districts criticize the release of teacher performance evaluations. Times/Herald. Reactions to the release of Florida’s Value-Added Model (VAM) scores for teachers compiled by the Florida Times-Union. School districts reassure teachers. Tampa Bay Times. More from Palm Beach Post, Fort Myers News-Press, Miami Herald, TC Palm and The Tampa Tribune.
Grades: Pinellas school board members consider making honors classes worth less than those in IB and AP. Tampa Bay Times. The student progression plan also could include longer grading periods, and fewer report cards. The Tampa Tribune.
