Teacher bonuses program: The chairman of the Florida Senate K-12 education appropriations subcommittee says he wants to rewrite the bill authorizing teacher bonuses. Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, would remove the use of teachers' SAT or ACT scores from the formula for granting bonuses and replace it with a different measure of performance. He also said principals could get more authority in parceling out bonuses, and bonuses could be used to get better teachers to work in poorer schools. Officials hope these and other reforms will help recruit and retain teachers. Orlando Sentinel. Sun-Sentinel. Gradebook. Politico Florida. WFSU.
Achievement gap: Two Polk County legislators file bills that would approve a study to find out why the state's middle schools are performing significantly worse than elementary schools in reading and math. The bills are S.B. 360, filed by Sen. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, and H.B. 293, filed by Rep. Colleen Burton, R-Lakeland. Bridge to Tomorrow.
School arrests: Nearly 70,000 U.S. students were arrested in the 2013-2014 school year, and in 43 states and the District of Columbia black students were arrested at disproportionately high levels, according to an Education Week analysis of federal data. Florida was 11th in the number of arrests, with 1,768. About 39 percent of the arrests were of black students, who made up just under 23 percent of the student population. Education Week.
Unequal treatment? An assistant principal who was demoted when she became pregnant in 2010, then won a $350,000 settlement against the Palm Beach County School District, questions why the man who demoted her was never disciplined, reprimanded or even investigated by the school district. Anne Williams Dorsey says the continued employment of Darren Edgecomb, now principal of Palm Beach Central High School in Wellington, "raises eyebrows, to put it politely.” Palm Beach Post. (more…)
Class size violations: Fewer Florida schools are in violation of the state's class size amendment this year, according to Department of Education records. They show 1,433 of 125,159 public school classrooms in violation, 1 of 6 lab schools, 47 of 649 charter schools and 10 of 2,331 choice schools. The class size amendment, approved by voters in 2002, puts caps of 18 students in grades K-3, 22 in grades 4-8 and 25 in grades 9-12. A loophole approved in 2013 allows districts to use schoolwide averages to meet the caps if those schools were designated as choice schools. So the number of choice schools has grown from 1,193 in 2013-2014 to 2,331, and 29 of the state's 67 districts show no traditional public school classrooms. An attempt to close the loophole went nowhere in the 2016 legislative session. Gradebook.
Spending and education: A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that spending more on education improves achievement. The national study in 49 states broke down results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress testing, and showed a consistent pattern of improvement in low-income school districts where spending increased. The effect of the extra money also had a much greater impact than lower classroom sizes. New York Times.
Education leadership: House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O'Lakes, announces leadership assignments to education committees for the next legislative session, which begins in March. Rep. Manny Diaz Jr., R-Hialeah, will chair PreK-12 Appropriations. Rep. Chris Latvala, R-Clearwater, will chair PreK-12 Innovation, and Rep. Jake Raburn, R-Lithia, will chair PreK-12 Quality. Rep. Elizabeth Porter, R-Lake City, is the chair of Post-Secondary Education, and Rep. Larry Ahern, R-Seminole, will lead Higher Education Appropriations. The full committee membership lists are here. Gradebook. (more…)
