Charter schools. Struggling charter schools present improvement plans to the Hillsborough County School Board to comply with a new requirement in state law. Tampa Tribune. Tampa Bay Times. An effort to create a new charter school for the City of West Palm Beach may be on hold, as a deadline passes. Palm Beach Post. Two new charters are proposed for Pasco. Gradebook. A group of Walton charter school students win an international award. Walton Sun.
Lawsuits. An ad aired during Florida's gubernatorial debate opposes the lawsuit challenging Florida's tax credit scholarship program. Saint Petersblog. redefinED.
Digital learning. It matters how teachers go about teaching courses, especially in areas like math and science. Bridge to Tomorrow. Treasure Cost districts ease their mobile device policies. Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers. Devices are becoming more common in Hillsborough schools. Tampa Bay Times.
Campaigns. PolitiFact checks a claim that 3,000 teachers lost their jobs when Charlie Crist was governor. The Tampa Bay Times profiles a Pinellas school board race.
Special needs. A program unique to the Volusia school district helps parents identify their children's autism early. Daytona Beach News Journal.
Virtual schools. A study shows they do not harm students' academic progress. Gradebook.
Testing. Parents at an emotionally charged meeting on testing and Common Core are told that opting out is not an option. Palm Beach Post. More from Extra Credit. Central Florida school board officials air complaints about state testing requirements. Orlando Sentinel. Marion teachers plan to rally against testing. Ocala Star-Banner.
Growth. Enrollment is rebounding in Tampa Bay-area public schools after languishing during the recession. Tampa Bay Times.
Campaigns and referenda. A political consulting group alleges the Broward school district created a "sham" political action committee to promote a tax referendum and skirt election laws. Sun-Sentinel. Brevard schools will soon name the schools slated for closure if a tax referendum fails. Florida Today. School board candidates debate in Collier County. Naples Daily News.
In the wake of a second scuttled application to open a charter school for families at Tampa's MacDill Air Force Base, the Hillsborough County school district signed off on a plan to expand one of its schools on the base.
The withdrawal of the charter application on Monday was the latest setback to an effort for open a charter school at families families who work at the home of U.S. Central Command.
It started last year with strong backing of the base's commander, whose two-year tenure ended in August. The ensuing saga, in which the district turned away one charter application and was poised to reject another, set off broader discussions about the educational needs of military families, drew the attention of state lawmakers and fanned a debate about charter school governance.
The Hillsborough County School Board closed the book on the latest chapter Tuesday, when it approved an expansion of Tinker Elementary School, which is located on the base.
Supporters of the charter school effort had cited, among other things, a desire for families on the base to have access to a middle school. The plan approved by the board would expand the district's elementary school to grades K-8.
John Schueler, the president of the Tampa Bay Defense Alliance, was on hand to support the district's plan. He told the school board after two and a half years of looking for ways to accommodate parents on the base, "we came to a conclusion that we are very supportive of."
"This has been one of those things that has not been easy, but the conclusion has been satisfactory for the students that will be at the MacDill Air Force Base," he said.
Charter schools. Citing a lack of space with a building unfinished, a Pinellas charter turns away students and holds a new lottery days before school starts. Tampa Bay Times. A charter school opens in a former airport facility. Panama City News Herald. The Tampa Bay Times editorial board weighs in the Hillsborough charter school conflict.
Private schools. A new private school will cater to children with autism and other special needs. Tampa Bay Times. Elite private schools in Miami-Dade get new leadership. Miami Herald.
School choice. Do private school choice programs obliterate public school enrollment? No, Matthew Ladner writes on Jay P. Greene's Blog.
Career education. A Hernando aviation program hopes to attract more students. Tampa Bay Times.
Campaigns. Charlie Crist talks education on a statewide bus tour. Tampa Tribune. Naked Politics. WFTV. The Tampa Bay Times compares his positions with Democratic primary challenger Nan Rich. The Palm Beach PTA surveys school board candidates. Palm Beach Post. A crowded field vies for a Volusia school board seat. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Retirement. Experienced Sarasota teachers are headed for the exits. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Facilities. Hillsborough opens a new LEED-certified elementary school. Tampa Bay Times. Brevard schools upgrade their security systems. Florida Today.
Back to school. Hundreds of first-year teachers gear up in Volusia. Daytona Beach News-Journal. Miami-Dade bus drivers prepare for the new year. Miami Herald. School staring means less crowded beaches in the Panhandle. Northwest Florida Daily News. Bay County teachers collaborate. Panama City News Herald.
Teacher conduct. A teacher who came to school drunk resigns. Tampa Tribune.
Single gender. The Hillsborough District responds to an ACLU complaint. Tampa Tribune.
Tax credit scholarships.Sunshine State News reports on the latest evaluation of student results.
Digital learning. A Collier bring-your-own device policy proves popular. Naples Daily News.
Testing. The Lee County School Board discusses a district-wide testing boycott. Fort Myers News-Press.
Accountability. Brevard's superintendent discusses falling school grades. Florida Today.
Budgets. The Manatee school district faces an investigation into bond funding it could not account for. Bradenton Herald.
Campaigns. A "contract" between voters and five school board candidates stirs controversy in Collier. Naples Daily News. The Tampa Bay Times profiles a three-way race for an open school board seat in Pinellas while a columnist looks at a controversial incumbent in Hillsborough. The Tampa Tribune profiles a different Pinellas race, while the Bradenton Herald looks at one in Manatee.
English language learners. Pinellas looks to review its policies for students who need help learning English. Tampa Tribune.
Superintendents. Hillsobrough's MaryEllen Elia gets a contract renewal. Tampa Bay Times. Tampa Tribune.
Facilities. Polk County delays the release of impact fee revenue to the local school district. Lakeland Ledger.
Charter schools. Charters in conflict with the Hillsborough school district say they want the matter brought to a hearing. Tampa Tribune. Gradebook. Conflict is brewing over a proposed municipal charter school in West Palm Beach. Palm Beach Post.
Back to school. Frank Biden rallies charter school educators as they prepare for the new year. Palm Beach Post. Seminole, the third district to open for classes, sees a smooth start. Orlando Sentinel.
Acceleration. Alachua schools will allow some eighth graders to take Advanced Placement Physics. Gainesville Sun.
Graduation. New rules, including an online course requirement, take effect for the Class of 2015. Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers.
Campaigns. The Tampa Tribune looks at a crowded field and an ethnic attack in Hillsborough school board races. Brevard holds a forum on a tax referendum. Florida Today. The superintendent looms large in Clay County school board elections. Florida Times-Union. The Bradenton Herald profiles two Manatee County School Board races. Collier school board candidates take part in a forum. Naples Daily News. The Northwest Florida Daily News offers a voters guide.
Charter schools. Hillsborough's superintendent tells parents the district won't close charter schools it is scrutinizing, but may take over their operations. Gradebook. An Orlando TV station airs claims, but little evidence, that charter schools are promoting "resegregation." WFTV.
CAPE. The Hernando school district prepares to launch an aerospace career academy. Tampa Bay Times. The Okaloosa school district may be among the first in the country to combine an Advanced Placement course with an industry certification course. Northwest Florida Daily News.
Parental choice. Families should have access to options like Florida's Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts, the Tampa Tribune writes in an editorial.
Campaigns. A Manatee school board candidate is accused of mimicking a logo of a district facility in her campaign materials. Bradenton Herald. The Florida Times-Union profiles a four-way school board race in Duval. The Tampa Tribune profiles a four-way race in Hillsborough. Pinellas candidates' "claws came out" during a recent Tiger Bay meeting. Tampa Tribune.
Common Core. Gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist says the state should pause accountability measures while the new standards take effect. StateImpact.
Closures. The Palm Beach school board considers closing schools that are below capacity. Sun-Sentinel.
Superintendents. Hillsborough's superintendent gets high ratings from the school board. Tampa Tribune.
Charter schools. The Tampa Bay Times follows up on a simmering dispute between Charter Schools USA and the Hillsborough County school district. More from redefinED. The Palm Beach County School Board chairman comes out against a proposed municipal charter. Palm Beach Post.
Private schools. Title I services for Palm Beach County private schools hit a snag. Palm Beach Post.
Virtual schools. Florida Virtual School's new rule relaxing must-pass end-of-course exam requirements irks some school district officials in Pasco County, home to one of its largest district-run competitors. Tampa Bay Times.
Teacher quality. The Florida Times-Union takes a deep dive on Duval County's efforts to lure top-rated teachers and administrators to schools where they are most needed. Perhaps the program will get more districts to take pay incentives seriously for teachers in sought-after math and science fields, Paul Cottle writes at Bridge to Tomorrow.
Tenure. The Panama City News Herald takes a critical look at Florida's switch to annual contracts for teachers. More here.
Campaigns. A Pinellas school board candidate is behind on her property taxes. Tampa Bay Times. Eight candidates are running for three Orange County school board seats. Orlando Sentinel. The Palm Beach Post makes its school board endorsements. Collier candidates discuss concealed weapons in schools. Naples Daily News. Common Core is an issue in a Sarasota race. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. A teacher is challenging a longtime incumbent in Leon County. Tallahassee Democrat.
A group that backed an earlier effort to open a charter school at Tampa's MacDill Air Force Base is back - this time with a retooled application intended to address an issue at the heart of its rejection by the Hillsborough County School Board late last year.
The new application, submitted Thursday afternoon, calls for a school of up to 875 students in grades K-8. It would be aimed at the thousands of students whose parents work on the base but may live in school zones farther away. Its programs would be tailored to the needs of military families, who have to cope with combat deployments and frequent moves.
Under the revised plan, the proposed MacDill Charter Academy would be overseen by a local organization of the same name. The previous proposal, which the school board rejected, called for a local advisory board, but the school would have been governed by an organization based in Fort Lauderdale.
"Our local board was an advisory board and they had some concern about that, so we have corrected that," said Stephen Mitchell, chairman of the MacDill Charter Academy. "Our local board is no longer the advisory board. It is the board."
After supporters withdrew their initial application, the Hillsborough school district began raising questions about the governance of three other schools that, like the proposed MacDill charter, are run by Charter Schools USA.
This week, around the same time the new application was being submitted, the district again began raising questions about the schools' governing boards in letters obtained by a local TV station and later the Tampa Bay Times.
Perhaps the timing is purely a coincidence. District officials have not responded to a request for comment. (more…)
Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts. Florida's incoming Senate President criticizes a lawsuit against school choice legislation, writing that empowering parents has helped special needs students improve achievement. Tampa Tribune.
School choice. More Southwest Florida parents are seeking out alternatives to traditional public schools. Fort Myers News-Press.
Dual enrollment. Hillsborough Community College plans to open a satellite location at a high school to give students more access to college-level courses. Tampa Tribune.
Performance. Pinellas looks to improve performance at some of the state's most struggling schools. Tampa Tribune. Manatee County improves its performance relative to other districts. Bradenton Herald.
Campaigns. Manatee's superintendent fears an upcoming election could affect his future with the district. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. The Manatee teachers union weighs in on races. Bradenton Herald. The Tampa Bay Times recommends an incumbent Hillsborough school board member be replaced. Political consultants get involved in school board races. Orlando Sentinel. A teacher and son of Palm Beach County's first black board member challenges an incumbent. Palm Beach Post. Gubernatorial hopeful Nan Rich continues to mention vouchers in her primary challenge against Charlie Crist. Tampa Tribune.
Facilities. A K-8 magnet school is building a new outdoor learning center. Winter Haven News Chief. School playgrounds will have to stop using beach sand. Panama City News Herald.
