Voucher expansion: The Florida House Education Committee files a bill that would expand the use of state money to pay for scholarships so students can attend private schools. In the House's version of a bill to cut the list of 14,000 students waiting for a tax credit scholarship, about 28,000 Florida students would be eligible for the Family Empowerment Scholarship. That's twice as many as the Senate's bill proposes. The House bill would also allow a families of four with incomes up to $77,250 to be eligible, which is about $10,000 higher than the threshold in the Senate's version. Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog, helps administer the tax credit scholarship program. Orlando Sentinel. Gradebook. redefinED.
Arming teachers: A new poll shows a majority of Floridians oppose the arming of teachers and other employees at schools. The Quinnipiac University survey discloses that 57 percent of Floridians oppose arming teachers and 40 percent approve. About 58 percent say stricter laws would do more to reduce gun violence in schools, while 32 percent say arming teachers would. Sun Sentinel. Florida Politics. (more…)
Runcie's job on line: The Broward County School Board will consider firing Superintendent Robert Runcie at its meeting Tuesday. Board member Lori Alhadeff, whose daughter Alyssa died in the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, requested the item to be added to the agenda. She cited his "many failures of leadership," specifically his handling of the tragedy and the district's slow progress in carrying out the $800 million bond program for schools approved by voters in 2014. “The urgency to do this now is because the district is spiraling out of control," Alhadeff said. Five of the nine board members have publicly expressed support for Runcie in the past few weeks. “As board members, we need to be accountable to the public," Alhadeff said. "I am bringing it forward regardless if I have five votes or not.” Sun Sentinel. WPLG.
Hope Scholarships: Pasco County school officials are considering testing the state's Hope Scholarship law by requiring that bullying reports from students be verified by the district before students are awarded a scholarship. Legislators and Department of Education officials say the law requires the complaining student be awarded a scholarship out of the school and, possibly, into a private school regardless of proof. But Pasco officials say the definition of bullying includes substantiation of the complaint, and a board attorney is doing further research. Gradebook. (more…)
Education funding: The Florida House PreK-12 Appropriations is preparing to take a closer look at how state money is divided among school districts, including hiring a consulting group to make recommendations on adjusting the school-funding formula. That formula, known as the Florida Education Finance Program, uses several factors to decide how the $21 billion-plus is distributed among districts. The focus may begin with the price-level index, which tries to factor in the cost of living differences of districts. Some districts have complained that the current formula shifts money from poorer districts to wealthier, urban ones. News Service of Florida.
Bright Futures boost: The Legislature's Joint Legislative Budget Commission added $25.3 million to the Bright Futures scholarship program on Thursday. Last spring, lawmakers budgeted $520 million for the program, which offers full and partial college scholarships for high-achieving students. But a study in November indicated an increase in students eligible would push the amount needed to about $545 million, prompting the increase approved for the fund. News Service of Florida. (more…)
School security criticized: School districts across the state are "not moving fast enough" to comply with the law passed last year that requires specific measures to improve security in schools, says the chairman of the state commission that investigated the Parkland school shooting. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri told the House Education Commission that school districts have "no sense of urgency" to have an armed guard in every school or to prepare for a potential attack, as required by the law. He suggested that districts that are slow to comply should be penalized by the Florida Department of Education. Tampa Bay Times. Florida Politics. Politico Florida. The Broward County School District is struggling to create safe "hard corners" in 20,000 classrooms. Finding one safe spot in a room that's big enough for all students is one problem, and principals say they aren't the safety experts who should be choosing the safest corner. Sun Sentinel. The Broward County School District is named one of six American K-12 districts to watch this year. As the site of the 2018 Parkland school shooting, Broward is at the center of the discussion on security in schools. Education Dive.
DOE counsel named to court: U.S. Department of Education general counsel Carlos Muniz has been appointed to the Florida Supreme Court by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Muniz, 49, has no judicial experience but has been a lawyer for U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, former Gov. Jeb Bush and former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. This is DeSantis' third appointment to the court since he took office two weeks ago. Associated Press. News Service of Florida. GateHouse. Orlando Sentinel. Tampa Bay Times. Education Week. WPLG. Sunshine State News. (more…)
