Homework fight: Miami-Dade teachers and parents spar at a school board meeting over the amount of homework students are being given. Parents say too much is being assigned, cutting into family time. Teachers say the homework is needed because testing takes too much instruction time away from students. Miami Herald. Testing transformation: Pinellas County school… Read more »
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Florida schools roundup: Teacher bonuses, construction, testing and more
Teacher bonuses: Broward County’s decision to offer bonuses for highly rated teachers to work in at-risk schools is paying off, school officials say. At 28 low-income county schools, only 2 percent of teaching positions were vacant at the start of the school year. Before the bonuses program started four years ago, 30 percent of the jobs… Read more »
Florida schools roundup: Capital funds, pay raise delay, medical pot and more
Capital improvements: The Florida Department of Education will lobby legislators for a change in the way school capital improvements projects are funded. Department officials want the law to allocate money based on the age of buildings and square footage. Right now money is distributed based on a percentage of the past five years’ average funding. Tampa Bay… Read more »
William N. Sheats and pitfalls of democratic control of public education
William N. Sheats was, in many ways, the father of Florida’s public school system. He was also an ardent racist who declared war on a racially integrated private school in North Florida, which he referred to as a “nest of vile fanatics” in an episode that subjected the state to national ridicule. But perhaps the… Read more »
Florida schools roundup: Open enrollment, teacher shortage and more
Open enrollment: Central Florida school districts are beginning to talk about how open enrollment will work. But school officials are already warning that there aren’t a lot of schools with openings, and they expect plenty of confusion for parents when the new law goes into effect for the 2017-2018 school year. Orlando Sentinel. Teacher shortage: About three… Read more »
Florida schools roundup: Election-related events, test concerns and more
Trump-related rhetoric: A Wesley Chapel High School teacher is placed on leave after approaching a small group of black students in a hallway, asking them what they were doing and then telling them “Don’t make me call Donald Trump to get you sent back to Africa.” John Sousa, who is also the golf coach, reportedly apologized to one… Read more »
Florida schools roundup: Youth suicide, dropout prevention and more
Middle school suicide: For the first time, suicide is claiming more U.S. middle school student lives than car crashes, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2014, 425 students between the ages of 10 and 14 killed themselves. The rate doubled in the years between 2007 and 2014. WUSF. Dropout prevention: Intensive… Read more »
Florida schools roundup: Open enrollment, alternate tests and more
Open enrollment rules: Open enrollment for students in Palm Beach County will be an option only when a school is 10 percent under capacity, the school board decides. A state law going into effect next year allows students to move to any public school that has room for them, but allows each district to set its… Read more »
Florida schools roundup: Testing exemption, superintendents and more
Testing exemption: A Florida court orders a hearing into a testing exemption granted to a Sarasota student with multiple disabilities. Maddie Drew’s mother Paula lobbied the Department of Education for the exemption, which was denied but later approved after a suit was filed. But Drew wants the formal review, hoping to set a precedent for… Read more »
Florida schools roundup: Protests, academic goals, evaluations and more
Dress code protest: A student protest of Ridgewood High School’s new, stricter dress code results in more than 60 referrals for violations on Tuesday. Students and parents say the code is taking students out of class for sometimes minor infractions, such as logos being too large. Tampa Bay Times. WTSP. A student is turned away from the Braden… Read more »
