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.
No special session: There won't be a special legislative session to reconsider education funding, according to the latest polling results from Department of State officials. Polling doesn't end until Thursday, but already 52 Republican members of the House have voted against having a special session, while 36 Democrats voted for it. Three-fifths of each chamber must support the request, made by two Democratic representatives, to require a special session. So supporters needed 70 votes in the House, and the most they can now get is 65. Eleven senators have voted yes, and nine have voted no. Associated Press. News Service of Florida. Politico Florida.
H.B. 7069 lawsuit: Ten members of the 1998 Constitution Revision Commission are asking to file a friend of the court brief on behalf of the school districts challenging the constitutionality of the Legislature's 2017 education law, H.B. 7069. The 10 say they are the framers of the 1998 ballot measure that inserted a clause into the constitution that requires the state to provide a high-quality system of public schools, and they want to convey their intent behind the amendment to the Florida Supreme Court. Among the 10 are former attorney general Bob Butterworth, former Supreme Court justice Gerald Kogan and former speaker of the House Jon Mills. The state is objecting. News Service of Florida.
School taxes: The Orange County Commission approves a request from the school board to place a special school property tax referendum on the Aug. 28 primary ballot. The tax has been approved by voters in 2010 and 2014, and a yes vote in August would keep it in place another four years. School officials estimate the tax would raise $622 million through 2023, and the money would be used for teacher raises, academic programs, the arts and extracurricular activities. Orlando Sentinel. Martin County commissioners approve the school district's request to put two tax measures on upcoming ballots. A half-mill property tax hike for teacher pay and security goes onto the Aug. 28 ballot, It would raise about $11 million a year for four years. A half-cent sales tax increase for school construction will go to voters Nov. 6. It would raise about $112 million over seven years. TCPalm. (more…)
By Lloyd Dunkelberger
News Service of Florida
A ban on state support for religious groups would be removed from the Florida Constitution under a proposal approved Wednesday by a Constitution Revision Commission panel.
In a 5-1 vote, the commission's Declaration of Rights Committee endorsed a measure (Proposal 4) that would eliminate the Constitution's so-called “no-aid” provision, which prohibits public funding “directly or indirectly” for any church, religious group or “sectarian institution.”
The no-aid provision, which dates to Florida's 1885 Constitution, has been invoked in recent years in legal fights over using publicly funded vouchers to send students to private schools. A state appellate court in 2004 cited the provision in striking down a voucher program, though the Florida Supreme Court later found the program unconstitutional on other grounds.
Charter denials upheld: An appeals court rules that the Florida Board of Education overstepped its authority by overruling the denial of two charter school applications by the Indian River County School Board in 2015. The 4th District Court of Appeal judges ruled that Indian River County board had “clear and convincing evidence” to support the denial of the proposed Somerset Academy Inc. charter schools, and that the board had "painstakingly pointed out how Somerset’s applications patently showed that Somerset’s intended budget was financially unrealistic and untenable.” Backers of the Somerset schools had appealed the denial to the state Board of Education. The state board has lost similar cases at the appellate level in Seminole and Polk counties. News Service of Florida. Florida Politics. Sunshine State News. Politico Florida.
Constitutional review: The education committee of the Constitution Review Commission meets today, and one of the proposals it could consider is an amendment that would invalidate any current or future legal challenges of state education laws by local school districts. At least 14 districts have already decided to join forces to challenge the constitutionality of the state's new education law, H.B. 7069, which requires local districts to share property tax revenues with privately run charter schools. The commission meets every 20 years to propose changes to the state constitution. Capitol News Service. Gradebook.
Recess time: The Alachua County School District is adding five minutes to the end of each elementary school day to meet the state-required 20 minutes of daily recess. Gainesville Sun.
State testing: The Miami-Dade County School District is asking the state to push back the dates standardized testing to allow schools to recover the time lost to Hurricane Irma. District students were out of school seven days, and Superintendent Alberto Carvalho is asking for a week's delay in testing. WLRN. Duval County school officials are warning that the Florida Board of Education's plan to raise the standards for some tests required for graduation will result in steep declines in the graduation rate. Kelly-Coker Daniel, Duval's assistant superintendent of accountability and assessment, says graduation rates in the county could fall 10 percent if the changes are approved. Florida Times-Union. The Hernando County School District announces a cutback in the number of tests it will require students to take. WTVT.
