The wild debate about Common Core veered into unexpected territory Tuesday, with the board that governs education in the nation’s fourth largest state having a lengthy debate about whether to actually use the term. In response to mostly-Tea Party-driven objections, Florida Gov. Rick Scott directed the Florida Department of Education to take public input on… Read more »
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Florida schools roundup: Charter and magnet schools, Common Core & more
Charter schools: Nearly a dozen employees sue a shuttered Fort Lauderdale charter school, saying they are owed $40,000. Sun Sentinel. University Preparatory Academy’s assistant principal tells a community group that most of the 69 students who have withdrawn from the school came from Pinellas County fundamental schools, but the Tampa Bay Times finds that’s not so…. Read more »
Private school operator polishes diamonds in the rough
Kat Crowell-Grate was leading Sunday school classes in her hometown of Ocala, Fla., when she discovered many of her students couldn’t read. So the retired accountant started a tutoring program. That led to a substitute teaching job where she caught the eye of a local principal, who told her, “You missed your calling.’’ The principal… Read more »
Florida schools roundup: Charter and magnet schools, Common Core & more
Charter schools: Charter Schools USA plans to fight to add schools in Orange County, where district officials are critical about the chain’s outcomes locally. Orlando Sentinel. Since August, 69 children have withdrawn from University Prep in St. Petersburg, and four teachers and the curriculum director have quit. Tampa Bay Times. Magnet schools: Hernando County school leaders push for… Read more »
Reporting on school choice lacks nuance, perspective
Politico has built an impressive audience by bringing intellectual heft to pinched political debates, but Stephanie Simon’s treatment of school vouchers followed a more predictable narrative: left vs. right, public vs. private, us vs. them. Not surprisingly, the result was tendentious. Though the original headline’s claim that vouchers offer “no proof they help kids” was… Read more »
Single-gender charter schools on rise in Florida
Twenty-three second-grade boys sit cross-legged on the lunchroom floor in diagonal rows known at this Bradenton, Fla., charter school as the “rays’’ formation. That’s because the boys are considered little “SUNS,’’ radiating Selflessness, Honesty, Integrity, Niceness and Excellence – or SHINE. It’s the Let Your Light Shine motto at the new Visible Men Academy, where… Read more »
Faith, school choice & moral foundations
If one wishes a profound historical-dialectical account of the fate of religion in our governmental schools – all in 200 pages – make Craig S. Engelhardt’s new book, “Education Reform: Confronting the Secular Ideal,” your primer. Engelhardt’s guiding principle is constant and plain: If society wants schools that nourish moral responsibility, it needs a shared… Read more »
Next week: A live chat about Florida ed reform with Sen. John Legg
If Florida’s education system was a big airport runway, John Legg would be one of its top air traffic controllers. Legg is the influential state senator who chairs the Senate Education Committee. Last year, in noting how many sweeping changes to Florida’s education system were happening all at once, he likened the policy changes to… Read more »
Florida schools roundup: Common Core, SAT scores, teacher raises & more
Common Core: Gov. Rick Scott should have stood up and said that Florida won’t back away from Common Core because it’s the right thing for students, writes Beth Kassab for the Orlando Sentinel. The push is on from opponents aiming to halt Florida’s implementation of the new standards. Ledger Media Group. Jeb Bush has dismissed those who protest Common Core’s increasing federalization… Read more »
Rick Scott defends decision to abandon tests tied to Common Core
From the News Service of Florida: Gov. Rick Scott defended his decision to withdraw from tests linked to setting up a national set of educational standards, while a state lawmaker filed a bill addressing a common concern about the standards. In his first public comments on the move, Scott on Tuesday explained why he ordered… Read more »
