NAEP scores down: The average U.S. 13-year-old scored the lowest in decades on the National Assessment of Educational Progress math and reading tests this year, according to the latest results released today. Math scores were at levels last seen in the 1990s, and average readers scored lower than they did in 1971, when the test was first given. Achievement gaps between children of different backgrounds also continued to widen. Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, which administers NAEP, said the test scores “should remind us that this is a huge scale of challenge that faces the nation today. Certainly the pandemic has made things worse and made things more challenging for us. But these troubling trends that we’re seeing date back a decade, particularly for our lower-performing students.” The 74. Education Week. Chalkbeat.
Around the state: Leon Superintendent Rocky Hanna reached a settlement with the state on a “lesser” punishment after he was accused of having “a history of defying the law or failing to follow the law with fidelity” and making “politically charged statements,” Flagler school board members reject a proposal to arm teachers and other school workers, the authors of a book about two male penguins raising a chick are suing Lake schools and the state for restricting access to it for students in grades K-3, Hillsborough’s school board chooses an interim superintendent and approves a sweeping rezoning plan, and the Pinellas teachers union has filed a grievance against two school board members over what they call the harassment of a teacher. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Hillsborough: Van Ayres, who has been a deputy superintendent overseeing the district’s five-year strategic plan with special attention to graduation rates, chief of innovation and then chief of strategic planning and partnerships, has been selected by the school board as the interim superintendent for the next year. He replaces Superintendent Addison Davis, who announced last week that was resigning July 14. Ayres, 48, is a Tampa native and 1992 Jefferson High graduate who joined the district in 1997. School board members meet again June 27 to discuss the search for a permanent replacement for Davis. Tampa Bay Times. WUSF. WTSP. WTVT. WFTS. WFLA. School board members voted 4-3 on Tuesday to stick with a plan to rezone school boundaries for the 2024-2025 school year and close six schools to save $13.4 million, even though Davis, the architect of it along with a consultant, is leaving the district next month. New boundaries are expected to affect about 15,000 students. Tampa Bay Times. WFLA. WTSP. WTVT. WFTS. The school board has approved the appointments of six new principals to five elementary schools and a middle school, effective July 1. Tampa Bay Times.
Duval: School board members announced their intention Tuesday to reach an agreement to have the Florida School Boards Association help the district find a superintendent to replace the retiring Diana Greene. The board hopes to save time by avoiding the process of requests for proposals used for awarding many competitive government contracts. “The RFP (process) is cumbersome and will take time,” member Lori Hershey. Last week, an official with the FSBA estimated a search could cost $30,000 to $65,000 and take about six months. Until a successor to Greene is found, deputy superintendent Dana Kriznar will act as the interim leader. Florida Times-Union. WJXT. WTLV. WJAX. Several options as a new home for the district’s administrative building were presented to school board members Tuesday. The board is considering selling the current headquarters and some other properties and using the funds from the sales to either build or move into a new facility. WJXT. The district is offering free meals this summer to students 18 and younger at locations throughout the county. WJAX.
Pinellas: Officials of the teachers union have filed a grievance against two school board members for allegedly harassing a Dunedin High School history teacher who offers courses in black history and has been an outspoken critic of the conservative activist group Moms for Liberty, which the board members are affiliated with. The grievance contends that Dawn Peters and Stephanie Meyer violated several sections of the district’s teacher contract, board-adopted policy, Department of Education rules and state law in their public criticism of Brandt Robinson, and the Florida’s Sunshine Law by discussing an employee in a forum that is not publicly accessible. School board attorney David Koperski said the complaint is not valid because individual board members are not party to the district’s collective bargaining agreement with teachers and, therefore, cannot violate it. Tampa Bay Times.
Collier: An 8-year-old student with special needs was mistakenly put on the wrong school bus at the end of the first day of a summer program at Mike Davis Elementary School in Naples. When Tiffany Mohr did not get off the bus, her mother Lacie called the school, then 911. Deputies found the bus Tiffany was on and reunited her with her mother after two anxious hours. School officials said it was “important” to note that the child was safe and had been supervised the entire time. WINK.
Lake: The authors of a book the school district has barred students in grades K-3 from accessing are suing the school board, Superintendent Diane Kornegay, Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. and State Board of Education members. In the suit, And Tango Makes Three authors Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson contend, “They barred students from accessing Tango because of its content — namely, the story of a same-sex animal couple with an adopted child — and its expressed viewpoint — namely, that same-sex relationships and families with same-sex parents exist; that they can be happy, healthy, and loving; and that same-sex parents can adopt and raise healthy children.” They also said they’re suing “to vindicate their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights and to stop the abhorrent and discriminatory practice of restricting access to books based on partisan, non-pedagogical motivations.” Sherri Owens, a district spokeswoman, said the book was restricted due to the state’s Parental Rights in Education Law, which prohibits instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity through the 3rd grade. USA Today Florida Network. Politico Florida. New York Times. Associated Press. WKMG.
Sarasota: A group of educators and historians has been teaching African-American history to students who live in the Newtown community on Saturdays at what the group is calling the Freedom School. It’s run by the Manasota Association for the Study of African American Life and History, which said its intention is to counter the restrictions the state has placed on teaching about race in public schools. “When we lie about our history, we miss stories like Juneteenth and many others. There are great stories all Americans need to know. These hidden stories and truths need to be told,” said the group’s president, attorney and historian, David Wilkins. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
St. Lucie: An administrative law judge is recommending that a teacher at an alternative school keep his job after the school board moved to fire him for having a gun in his truck in the school parking lot. School board members moved to fire Joel Potts last September after it was discovered he left an AK-47 on the center console of his truck in the Dale Cassens Education Complex parking lot. It was unloaded, but 39 rounds were in a plastic bag in the console. In his recommendation, Judge Robert Kilbride, pointed to a law that gives authority over gun regulations to the state and an “unenforceable and infirm” school district policy. Kilbride’s recommendation now goes back to the school district, which issued a statement saying it did not agree with the decision and is “exploring its options.” Potts “was non-reappointed and is not eligible for rehire,” the statement also said. News Service of Florida.
Escambia: Members of the Brownsville community have created a free summer tutoring program to help early elementary school students stay on track. Sheila Green, who owns the Personal By Sheila clothing store in Brownsville, said she was inspired to start the volunteer tutoring program after talking to a 1st-grader in her shop who struggled to read. “We could do more to help our children and I’m not talking about my children. I’m talking about all the children,” she said. “I don’t know these parents but I love their children and I want to see them have a chance.” Pensacola News Journal.
Leon: Superintendent Rocky Hanna has reached a settlement with the state Department of Education, which had threatened him with punishment for what it called his “history of defying the law or failing to follow the law with fidelity” and making “politically charged statements.” Hanna, who has been critical of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ education policies, said the charges were politically motivated retribution and that he has done nothing wrong. But he agreed to the “lesser” settlement, he said, to avoid his possible removal and giving DeSantis the opportunity to appoint his successor. Hanna is expected to be officially reprimanded, fined and have his educator certificate put on probation. Tallahassee Democrat. Politico Florida. WFSU. WTXL. WCTV. Tallahassee Reports.
Flagler: School board members voted 3-2 Tuesday against arming teachers and other district employees in a proposal to improve security in schools by supplementing sworn resource officers. School board chair Cheryl Massaro and colleagues Colleen Conklin and Sally Hunt voted against the guardian program, saying they still had too many questions and doubts, and that school staff hadn’t bought in to the idea. “I really don’t think we’re there yet,” said Massaro said, though both she and Hunt said they might reconsider their decisions at some future date. Flagler Live. Daytona Beach News-Journal. WKMG. WOFL. WFTV. WESH.
Colleges and universities: Florida State University trustees have approved a $2.62 billion budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, an increase of 11 percent over last year’s spending. Included in the budget are 4.2 percent raises for faculty and at least six construction projects of $10 million or more. Tallahassee Democrat. This fall, the University of West Florida will launch an online Master of Science in Administration degree with a specialization in sport administration. Pensacola News Journal. Aeronautical students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will be working over the next year with 500 Volusia middle school students to help set up an amateur radio hookup so some students can speak to an International Space Station crew member. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Opinions on schools: U.S. students may need more time in school. But in many places, an enormous amount of school time— potentially something approaching half the academic year — is not being used effectively. Policymakers should insist on seeing real progress on all this before considering costly, intrusive calls for longer school years or school days. Frederick Hess, Forbes. A new study from England suggests that the most effective use of class time may depend on the subject. The results should encourage educators to think more about what works best for each subject. Jill Barshay, The Hechinger Report.
