Extra reading results: The extra hour of reading the state requires each day at the 300 lowest-performing elementary schools appears to be paying off. In Duval County, two-thirds of the schools that have the extra hour show reading gains, and improvements among the 300 designated schools are greater than at other schools, according to data and the Florida Department of Education. “There are some dramatic results that are material and recognizable,” says state Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, who wrote the state’s extra reading law. Despite the gains, there's a lot of ground still to be made up. Last year, only 34 percent of the students at the lowest-performing schools passed the state's reading test, while almost 61 percent of other students did. Florida Times-Union.
Amendment proposals: Erika Donalds, a member of the Collier County School Board and the Florida Constitution Revision Commission, is proposing an amendment to the Florida constitution that would make all district school superintendents appointed rather than elected. Forty-four of the state's 67 districts now elect superintendents. "Our communities deserve school leaders that are focuses on excellence and not politics," Donalds said. "The nature of elected superintendents ensures the majority of applicants have no experience." Gradebook. Donalds is also proposing to make school board membership an unpaid position. Pay for Florida board members ranges from $25,546 a year (Liberty County) to $44,433 (Miami-Dade, Hillsborough, Broward, Palm Beach and Orange counties). Under the proposal, board members would still be entitled to per diem and travel reimbursements. Gradebook.
Start times petition: More than 2,000 people have signed an online petition to change the starting times for Pinellas County high schools to 8:30 a.m., as neighboring Hillsborough County is doing. Supporters point to research that suggests later start times better align with the lives of high school students, and could improve students' health, safety and academic success. Among those signing is school board member Eileen Long, who has a junior at high school and will have a freshman at another next year. Gradebook.
Children play outside on Franklin Academy's new campus in sunrise, Fla.
Sophia Salazar tried for nearly two decades to get her children into one of Broward County's most sought-after school choice programs.
Her oldest, now 26, didn't win the lottery for the district's Nova schools. She sent her second-oldest to private school. But when one of her children finally gained admission to the district's highly regarded partnership with Nova Southeastern University, she'd found a new first choice.
She started sending her three youngest children — a first grader, a fourth-grader and a sixth-grader — to the newest Franklin Academy charter school, which opened this fall in Sunrise, Fla.
"Franklin gave them a little more," Salazar said. She drives he children daily from Hollywood, in southeastern Broward, to the suburb near the western edge of the county. The commute, she said, is worth it. "If my kids are happy to wake up in the morning and be the first one here, that's how I know."
At a time when national charter school advocates are wondering how their movement can attract more suburbanites, Franklin Academy charter schools managed to thrive in the already-choice-heavy school systems of South Florida. In five years, the network overseen by the Florida Charter Foundation has grown to enroll more than 6,000 students on five campuses in Broward and Palm Beach Counties. Its combined waiting lists stretch into the thousands. Plans are in the works to add a sixth campus — its first for high school grades — and to roll out International Baccalaureate programs.
The relatively young charter school network has gotten some high-profile help, including a facilities investment backed by retired tennis star Andre Agassi. It's caught on in part because it hits a sweet spot for parents like Salazar, providing a private-school feel with public-school oversight.
Daniel Sandberg, the principal at the new Sunrise campus, said parents come looking for one thing above all else.
"They're looking for rigor," he said. Sometimes, he added, they tell him: "School seems a lot harder here." (more…)
