Closing for storm: Schools in 28 of Florida's 67 counties are shuttered today as Hurricane Michael moves closer to making landfall somewhere in the Panhandle. State officials say it could be the worst storm to ever hit that area of the state. Associated Press. Florida Department of Education. Panama City News Herald. Pensacola News Journal. Tallahassee Democrat. Education Week. Gainesville Sun. Bradenton Herald. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. WFSU. Tampa Bay Times. Miami Herald. Orlando Sentinel. Daytona Beach News-Journal. WLRN. WTSP.
High ranking for Florida schools: Florida is ranked third among the states in K-12 educational quality and No. 1 in educational efficiency, according to rankings by Reason magazine. The rankings are based on National Assessment of Educational Progress reading, math and science test scores. Reason's rankings closely mirror those by Education Week, which recently ranked Florida fourth among U.S. states for K-12 achievement. “Overall, our results demonstrate that existing state education rankings aren’t to be trusted. When those scores are corrected, the conventional narrative is turned on its head,” say study authors Stan Liebowitz and Matthew L. Kelly. redefinED.
Big raises for administrators: Eleven Broward County School District administrators received pay raises during the 2017-2018 school year ranging from 7 percent to 21 percent -- far above the average 2.2 percent that most of the district's 27,000 employees received. Six of the 11 raises were given after the massacre of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, when the district was complaining it didn't have enough money for resource officers and teachers. Superintendent Robert Runcie defends the raises as correcting pay inequities, though he has adjusted one downward. Sun-Sentinel.
Creation of a crisis: The crisis of escalating problems with school air-conditioners in Hillsborough County is a creation of declining funding from the state and school officials' decisions to emphasize teaching positions over maintenance during the recession and years of devoting fewer of their funds toward maintenance than any other large district in the state. In the past decade, Hillsborough spent about $122 per student on maintenance, compared to neighboring Pinellas County's $217 and Orange County's $179. Now, the district is asking voters to approve adding a half-cent to the sales tax to raise $1.31 billion over the next 10 years to fix the A/C problems and tend to other deferred repair projects. Tampa Bay Times. (more…)
Teacher bonuses: A legal challenge to the state's Best & Brightest teacher bonuses program is scheduled for a mediation session Nov. 13 in Tallahassee. Teachers and a teachers union sued the Florida Department of Education over the program, claiming it discriminates against teachers by age and race in part because it relies on college entry exam scores, which many teachers don't have. If no settlement can be reached after mediation, the case could go to trial in early February. Gradebook.
School security: Schools in Florida are bolstering security with a mixture of new technology and old-school personal relationships. School resource officers chat with students and give fist bumps, rattle door handles to make sure they're locked and mentor struggling students, but also use apps to follow leads about threats and monitor social media. Orlando Sentinel. Charlotte Sun. Alan Hall, a charter high school principal in Jacksonville, is one of the first school employees to graduate from the Duval County sheriff's guardian training program and is now carrying a gun in the halls of San Jose Academy & Preparatory High School. “I’ve always worried, 'Oh my gosh, what would happen?' How am I going to put myself in those principals’ shoes that have actually had to live this? And I say, now, I at least have a chance to do something about it,” Hall says. WJAX. (more…)
Mental health services: The mental health provider that determined accused Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz shouldn't be Baker Acted in 2016 has been hired by the Florida Consortium of Public Charter Schools to provide mental health services for students at their schools. Henderson Behavioral Health will provide assessments, diagnoses, interventions, treatment and recovery services for students in the 500 state charter schools that belong to the consortium. Henderson has been criticized for recommendation to not hospitalize Cruz after a suicide assessment, and is being sued for wrongful death by the parent of a student who was killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14. Miami Herald.
Private school safety: Private schools are safer for students than public schools, according to a report published recently in the Journal of School Choice. Researchers Danish Shakeel and Corey DeAngelis say students at private schools were 8 percent more likely to have never experienced physical conflicts, 28 percent more likely to have never experienced another student possessing a weapon on campus, and 13 percent more likely to have never experienced racial tension between students. redefinED.
Charter schools: Included in the Florida Board of Education's budget wish list for the Legislature is a request for an extra $10 million for charter school construction. If it's approved, it would boost the amount available for charter schools to $155 million. The money comes from Public Education Capital Outlay (PECO), whose collection is expected to total $1.18 billion this year. But money is still tight because that total has to cover debt payments on bonds issued by public school districts and universities, universities have already requested an extra $64 million, and there are unfinished projects totaling $732 million. redefinED. A group of Okaloosa County parents are making plans to build a charter high school in Destin. "We are moving full steam ahead right now. We are looking for donations to actually put our money where our mouth is and get this school built," says Prebble Ramswell, a member of the committee. The anticipated opening is August 2020. WMBB.
Pregame prayer case: A federal appeals court will hear arguments Wednesday about the constitutionality of religious schools broadcasting a prayer on a stadium loudspeaker before playing a football game. Three years ago, before a state championship game between Tampa Cambridge Christian and Jacksonville’s University Christian School, Cambridge asked permission to use the public broadcast system to pray. The Florida High School Athletic Association denied the request, prompting a legal challenge from Cambridge Christian. Last year a federal judge backed the FHSAA, which argued state law did not require or permit the organization to promote a "sectarian prayer through its state-run public-address system.” Cambridge Christian argued the denial was a violation of its free speech rights. News Service of Florida. (more…)
Education and politics: Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis unveils his education goals for the state that include more school choice, more support for career and technical training, incentives for teacher retention, an increase in the cap for tax credit scholarships, an end to Common Core, an emphasis on civics education and a requirement that 80 percent of education funding go into the classroom. Meanwhile, Democratic candidate Andrew Gillum touts his plan to raise corporate income taxes to increase education spending by $1 billion, including starting salaries of $50,000 for teachers and $100 million for construction, and vows to end “the voucherizing of the education system.” News Service of Florida. Tampa Bay Times. Orlando Sentinel. Florida Politics. GateHouse. Florida Phoenix. Education Week. Associated Press. WFSU. Tallahassee Democrat. Politico Florida. WUSF.
Achievement gap: The Pinellas County School District improves in five of six categories in its plan to close the achievement gap between black and white students by 2027, according to a report from the minority achievement office. Still, no progress was made between the groups in state English and math exams results, with the gap steady at 33 percent. "It's good; it's not great," minority achievement officer Lewis Brinson tells the school board. "But good is acceptable and encouraging that we will become great … if we continue to keep the focus." Gradebook. Alachua County School Board members approve an equity plan to close the achievement gap between white and black students, over the objections of some community members who say it needs more accountability and inclusion. The plan has been developed over the past year by Valerie Freeman, director of equity for the school system, who says commitment to the plan is necessary even as changes can be made later. Gainesville Sun. (more…)
Board's budget request: The Florida Board of Education's formal budget request to the Legislature asks for a $673 million boost in funding for the 67 school districts that includes $200 more in per-student funding and a $100 million increase in the safe schools initiative. Of that total, $170 million would be new funding from the state and the rest would come from increases in local school property tax collections. The board also is asking for $67.5 million for the school guardian program, and ignored one member's call to let districts use unspent funds from the program for other security measures. The budget request now goes to the Legislature for consideration. News Service of Florida. Politico Florida. Gradebook. Meanwhile, the Joint Legislative Budget Commission officially rejects requests to make $58 million in unused funds from last year's school guardian program available for districts to spend for resource officers and other security measures. TCPalm.
Charter rejection overturned: The Florida Board of Education overturns the Leon County School Board's rejection of a charter school's application. The decision means the Tallahassee Classical School will be allowed to open in the 2019-2020 school year. Leon school board members unanimously denied the charter's application because they felt the school did not reflect the community's diversity and that it would discriminate against disabled students. But the state BOE sided with the Florida Department of Education's Charter School Appeal Commission, which ruled that the Leon board did not have good cause to reject the application. It's the second time this summer that the board has overruled local decisions to deny charter schools' applications. redefinED. (more…)
Safety panel: Florida schools are underreporting crimes by students, painting a false picture of school safety, and skimped on security tests before the Feb. 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, according to members of the state commission appointed to investigate the shootings. The panel suggests penalizing schools for underreporting crimes in their annual reports. The security assessments, which were optional until this year, were rarely performed. Stoneman Douglas never did one, and in 2017 only 16 of the state's 3,900 public schools did. Sun-Sentinel. Associated Press. WFOR. Former Brevard County School Superintendent Desmond Blackburn isn't able to convince his peers on the state panel that a sworn police officer belongs on every school campus, including at elementary schools. Florida Today.
Amendment 8: The Florida Supreme Court will announce its decision today on whether proposed constitutional Amendment 8 will stay on the Nov. 6 ballot. The amendment, put forward by the Constitution Revision Commission, would create an entity other than local school boards that can approve charter and public schools, set term limits for school board members and require civics education in schools. The League of Women Voters is objecting to the charter school provision, and is asking the amendment be removed from the ballot because it’s “misleading.” Tampa Bay Times.
Sales tax hikes: The Martin County School Board is asking residents to approve two tax hikes. In August, voters will be asked to approve a half-mill property tax increase to boost teacher pay and development and pay for school security and extra mental-health services. The tax would raise about $11.2 million a year for four years. In November, voters will consider a seven-year, half-cent sales tax increase that would generate about $112 million for school construction and upgrades. TCPalm. Okaloosa County School Board member Dewey Destin wants to district to reconsider a ballot initiative to increase the sales tax by a half-cent to raise money for schools. If approved, the tax hike would raise about $17 million a year for the district, which could spend it only for capital projects such as construction and upgrades. Northwest Florida Daily News.
School security forces: Brevard County School Board members brush off a protest against arming school employees, and the advice of the superintendent and county sheriff, and say they will proceed with gathering information on the state's marshal program. Board members say they'd prefer to have school resource officers, but the district doesn't have the money and they aren't interested in tapping reserves or raising taxes. Three town hall meetings are scheduled to discuss the best way to protect schools, and the board will decide next month whether to approve the marshals program. Florida Today. Switching to an internal police department will save the Sarasota County School District up to $1.5 million in the 2018-2019 school year, officials say. There is some question whether the district can put together a department of two administrators, a detective, two sergeants and 24 deputies before the next school year begins Aug. 13. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Education amendment: A proposed constitutional amendment that bundles three education issues will appear on the November ballot. The Constitution Revision Commission, in a 27-10 vote, approves Proposal 6003, which calls for eight-year term limits on school board members, gives the authority to approve charter schools to an entity other than local school boards, and requires civics to be taught in public schools. It was one of eight amendments approved on Monday. Another education proposal, which would have allowed “high-performing” public school districts to apply for an exemption from following some state laws and regulations, as charter schools can now, was rejected by the CRC. There will be 13 amendment proposals on the ballot. Each must be approved by 60 percent of voters to take effect. Miami Herald. News Service of Florida. Gradebook. redefinED. Orlando Sentinel. Associated Press. Politico Florida.
Education funding: The state's school superintendents say that if legislators are going to be called for a special session on gambling, they should also reconsider funding for education. The Florida Association of District School Superintendents wants the Legislature to increase the base allocation by $152 per student, which would cost the state about $300 million. It also wants to be able to use money from the program that calls for arming school employees to instead hire school resource officers. A previous request by the group for a special session to take another look at education funding was denied. Gradebook. (more…)
