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Polk teachers who march threatened with firing, bills on aid forms and parental rights and more

Marching teachers threatened: The top attorney for the Florida Department of Education says teachers who are taking today off to join the rally for education in Tallahassee could be fired for striking illegally. “A concerted failure to report for duty constitutes an illegal strike under Florida law,” Matthew Mears wrote Friday in an email sent only to Polk County Superintendent Jacqueline Byrd. Byrd said she asked the department for “guidance” and simply forwarded the email to employees to make them aware of the law, and “not as a threat from me to fire staff.” DOE officials had no comment,  but teachers and their union leaders said they took it as a veiled threat…

More education bills: Several bills were filed just before Friday’s deadline to be considered by the Legislature. Among them are one that would require all high school students to file a Free Application for Federal Student Aid form to graduate, another spelling out parental rights in their child’s education and health care, and one that would make temporary funding increases to 29 school districts permanent and require districts to share any future voter-approved tax hikes with charter schools…

Students and suicide: Florida’s youth suicide rate has increased by 50 percent in the past 10 years, an epidemic that school and other officials say is hidden in plain sight online. There are 632,000 Instagram posts with with the hashtag #lifesucks, and another 550,000-plus tagged with #hatemyself…

High school graduation rate up slightly, bill would boost teacher pay, early learning bills and more

High school graduation rate up: Florida’s high school graduation rate improved slightly during the 2018-2019 school year, to 86.9 percent from 86.1 percent in the 2017-2018 school year, according to the Florida Department of Education and Gov. Ron DeSantis…

Teacher pay hikes: A bill that would boost teacher salaries a specified amount this July and again in 2021 and 2022 has been filed in the Florida House. H.B. 1223, sponsored by Rep. Kionne McGhee, D-Miami, would raise teacher salaries to $47,500 or by 5 percent, whichever is greater, on July 5…

Early learning bills: The state’s early learning programs would be placed under the direction of the Florida Department of Education under bills (H.B. 1013 and S.B. 1616) that have been filed in the House and Senate. The bills, sponsored by state Rep. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, and state Sen. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart, would create a Division of Early Learning to replace the Office of Early Learning and the school readiness program for state-subsidized child care…

Nonprofit charter school company to open four schools in Jacksonville

At least 900 more students in the Jacksonville area will get an additional education option  when IDEA Public Schools opens four schools in 2022. “We are excited that IDEA Public Schools is expanding to the Jacksonville area,” said Jose Luis De Leon, executive director of IDEA Jacksonville. “Our mission is to prepare students for success… Read more »

Are teacher unions putting profits before people?

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Securities and Exchange Commission is examining the for-profit business practices of Florida’s teacher unions and their for-profit business partners. The Journal reported recently that teacher union leaders are pushing teachers to purchase retirement investments from union-owned, for-profit companies that charge unusually high management fees. These higher fees are… Read more »

School threats and the toll on students, potential solutions, the politics of teacher raises and more

The toll of school threats: False school threats have become so commonplace that the lockdowns they provoke often can get overlooked by most people in a community…

Addressing school violence: Lawmakers and educators are responding to recently published reports of threats to schools from emotionally unstable students with a variety of possible solutions. Among them: revising laws that protect disabled students but also restrict the ability of school officials to deal with threats they pose, improving mental services in schools and integrating them with family counseling, training teachers on ways to better handle special-needs students, improving tracking of violent students and boosting spending to support disruptive students and provide the therapy they need…

Politics and teacher raises: Gov. Ron DeSantis has called 2020 the year of the teacher in Florida, is proposing to raise pay for starting teachers and wants a new bonus program. Florida is buzzing about the moves, and they’re attracting attention nationally. But what can actually get done? Legislators are pointing at the sheer cost — more than $900 million — and equity issues as serious obstacles to DeSantis’ plans…