Religious schools and vouchers: Two U.S. Supreme Court decisions this week could have implications for the constitutionality of vouchers for religious institutions. Monday, the court ruled that Missouri could not exclude private religious schools from a playground grant program. Tuesday, the court ordered the Colorado Supreme Court to reconsider a decision that the state’s Blaine Amendment… Read more »
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U.S. Supreme Court gives legs to anti-Blaine Amendment crusade
Speculation swirled after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday that Missouri could not exclude private religious schools from a playground grant program. Did justices signal they set their sights on a legal obstacle to school vouchers? Even informed legal scholars disagreed. But the high court sent a much clearer signal this morning. Justices granted a petition… Read more »
Florida schools roundup: What’s new next year, tax hike, D.A.R.E. and more
What’s new next year: The new school year will bring changes to schools in Florida, from kindergarten to college. Among them: 20 minutes of required recess every day for elementary students, an end to the algebra 2 end-of-course exam, some standardized tests done on paper instead of computers and conducted later in the school year, more… Read more »
Florida schools roundup: Administrators of year, Lauren’s Kids, charters and more
Administrators of the year: Sarasota Booker High School’s Rachel Shelley is named 2017 principal of the year by the Florida Department of Education. She was appointed principal at Booker in 2011, after being principal at a school for at-risk students. Kelly Stedman, of James Stephens International Academy in Lee County, is named assistant principal of the year…. Read more »
Florida schools roundup: Private and charter school growth, lawsuit and more
Private, charter growth: Private school enrollment is up 6.5 percent in Florida, the sixth straight year of growth, and now makes up 11.6 percent of all pre-K through 12th grade students. There are 368,321 school students at 2,663 private schools in the state, according to the annual report from the Florida Department of Education. Miami-Dade County… Read more »
Florida schools roundup: Fraud charges for charter founder, H.B. 7069 and more
Fraud, racketeering charges: The founder of a charter school company is charged with racketeering and organized fraud in connection with the operation of his schools in the Pinellas, Escambia, Bay, Hillsborough, Broward and Duval districts. According to a statewide prosecutor, Marcus May, who founded Newpoint Education Partners, took more than $1 million from the state, the six districts and… Read more »
Florida schools roundup: Cyberattacks on schools, education bill and more
Schools cyberattacked: A cyberattack launched last fall against the Miami-Dade County School District and three others ultimately failed, but it did show vulnerabilities of districts trying to protect the personal information of current and former students, their parents and school employees. Experts say school wifi networks are traditionally easy to connect to, and the proliferation of… Read more »
Florida schools roundup: S.B. 374 veto, charters, new report cards and more
S.B. 374 veto: Gov. Rick Scott vetoes the Legislature’s higher education bill, S.B. 374, saying it shortchanges community colleges. “While the bill makes positive changes to several State University System programs, and there are many provisions I think would be good for students, it does so at the expense of the Florida College System,” Scott wrote… Read more »
Virtual charters and the profit motive
For some charter school advocates, poor results in virtual charter schools are raising thorny questions about the role of the profit motive in education. A new study by Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes suggests for-profit schools slightly under-perform their not-for-profit counterparts. But it shows the differences are fairly small, and other factors… Read more »
Charter school advocates, including some notable Floridians, gather in DC
This week, charter school advocates are gathering in the nation’s capital in a turbulent political climate. Some luminaries of the movement have called out the Trump administration for proposing cuts to federal programs that support public education. Others see unprecedented political opportunities for the school choice movement — and specific initiatives like the federal Charter Schools… Read more »
