Charters get payments: Under protest, Broward and Orange school districts distribute about $15 million in local construction funding to charter schools after being ordered to do so by the Florida Department of Education. The districts wanted to hold the money in escrow until their lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the law requiring the payments is decided. DOE officials said the pending decision was not a basis to withhold payment. Both districts allege the state threatened to withhold regular school funding if the payments were not made, a charge the DOE denies. WLRN.
Gay teacher fired: A Miami Catholic school 1st-grade teacher says she was fired from her job after marrying her girlfriend. Jocelyn Morffi was apparently asked to resign after officials at Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic School found out about her marriage. When she refused, she was fired. Now her story is being turned into an issue in the Democratic primary for Florida’s 27th Congressional District, according to Politico Florida. Miami New Times. Miami Herald. Associated Press. WPLG.
Baker Act policy: A widely seen video of a 7-year-old boy being taken away from a school in handcuffs prompts a change in the way Miami-Dade County schools will handle children with behavior issues. School officials have been instructed to exhaust all options in dealing with a student before calling police and using the Baker Act for an involuntary psychiatric exam. When called, police officers also will need clearance from a high-ranking officer before transporting a child under the Baker Act. Miami Herald. Children under the age of 18 were taken for an involuntary psychiatric evaluation under the Baker Act about 32,000 times between the summers of 2015 and 2016, according to a report by the Florida Department of Children and Families. WLRN.
Test-subbing questioned: Florida's plan to let school districts decide whether to substitute state standardized assessment tests with the SAT or ACT probably won't work, according to a report prepared by the Assessments Solutions Group and presented to the Florida Department of Education and the Legislature. The study's authors say neither of the college admissions exams meet all of Florida’s academic standards for algebra 1 or for 10th-grade language arts. And because the two national exams would produce different results than the Florida Standards Assessments, it wouldn't produce fair results for the school grading system, they argue. The $420,338 study was mandated by H.B. 7069, the education bill that passed the Legislature last year. Orlando Sentinel.
Teacher bonuses: State Rep. Loranne Ausley, D-Tallahassee, files a bill that would end the state's Best and Brightest bonus program for teachers and principals. She also has objections to using SAT and ACT tests to help determine if teachers are eligible, and to giving principals bonuses based on the number of teachers in their school qualifying for the bonuses. "I have a problem with this Legislature's focus on one-time bonuses vs. annual salary increases," she says. "It's not a responsible way for people to be able to plan their lives." Gradebook.
Contract negotiations: The Brevard County teachers union is encouraging its members to work only the hours and duties required by the contract as a way of protesting the latest pay raise offered by the district. The district is offering a 1.3 percent pay raise, or $600, for teachers rated "effective," and a 1.8 percent raise, or $875, to "highly effective" teachers The union wants $200 more than the offer for each set of teachers. Florida Today.
Support for DeVos: Gov. Rick Scott and former Gov. Jeb Bush lobby for support for Betsy DeVos, whose confirmation hearing to become U.S. education secretary is today. Both call her a champion for school choice and for families. Democrats and teachers unions oppose DeVos, with one union official calling her severely underqualified and the “most anti-public education nominee in the history of the department.” Sunshine State News. Tampa Bay Times. Associated Press.
Union election: A Palm Beach County teacher has been told he cannot run for the union presidency because he let his union membership lapse while taking a semester leave to care for a dying relative. Justin Katz, a 32-year-old social studies teacher at Park Vista High, renewed his membership when he returned to the classroom, but says he was told by the union that the lapse makes him ineligible because the union rules require two consecutive years of membership prior to running.. The union's outgoing president, Kathi Gundlach, declined to comment. Palm Beach Post.
Teachers honored: Four finalists are named for Miami-Dade County teacher of the year. They are: Nadia German, Ojus Elementary; Rodolfo Diaz, Miami Senior High; Laura Ortiz, Robert Morgan Educational Center & Technical College; and Alfreida Dianne Joseph-Goins, Dorothy M. Wallace C.O.P.E. Center. The winner, and the winner for rookie teacher of the year, will be announced Jan. 26. Miami Herald. Longtime Bay County educator Daurhice Gibson is the winner of the first teacher of a lifetime award from the district. She retired in 2003 after 40 years of teaching. Panama City New Herald.
School boundaries: Despite facing intensive lobbying from parents, Pasco County school officials are not changing the recommendations for the rezoning of two school attendance zones. "While I wish there was a perfect solution, I have not seen one yet," says school board chairman Allen Altman. The board will hold public hearings on the proposed changes to middle and high schools attendance zones tonight. Tampa Bay Times. (more…)
