House tax package: The Florida House is expected to introduce a $332.7 million tax relief package today. About 46 percent of the total - $154 million - would come in the form of credits for companies that contribute to the tax credit and Gardiner scholarship programs. Another $74.5 million would be for a 10-day sales tax holiday for back-to-school purchases of clothes, school supplies and technology, and three separate seven-day periods for buying hurricane supplies. Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog, helps administer the tax credit and Gardiner programs. News Service of Florida.
Medical marijuana: The Broward County School District is working on a policy to deal with students who are approved to use medical marijuana. Students would not be allowed to carry the drug or store it at school, but parents or a caregiver could come to campus to administer it as long as they have medical clearance. School staff would not be permitted to handle the drug. Palm Beach County allows the drug to be administered by nurses, who are supplied by the county health department, while Miami-Dade prohibits medical marijuana on campus, citing the conflicts in state and federal laws. Sun-Sentinel.
Turnaround schools: Polk County school officials choose a Kentucky company to begin operating six persistently struggling schools this fall if they don't get a school grade of C or above from the state this year. Educational Directions would charge the district at least $387,500 per school for the first year, then $225,000 to $250,000 per school for each additional year. The school board will vote on the recommendation Feb. 27. Bartow Middle, Garner Elementary, Griffin Elementary, Kathleen Middle, Lake Alfred Polytech Academy and Lake Marion Creek Middle have each received grades of D or F for the past three years, prompting the state to require the district to close them, turn them into charter schools or hire an outside company to operate them. Lakeland Ledger.
Charters get payments: Under protest, Broward and Orange school districts distribute about $15 million in local construction funding to charter schools after being ordered to do so by the Florida Department of Education. The districts wanted to hold the money in escrow until their lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the law requiring the payments is decided. DOE officials said the pending decision was not a basis to withhold payment. Both districts allege the state threatened to withhold regular school funding if the payments were not made, a charge the DOE denies. WLRN.
Gay teacher fired: A Miami Catholic school 1st-grade teacher says she was fired from her job after marrying her girlfriend. Jocelyn Morffi was apparently asked to resign after officials at Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic School found out about her marriage. When she refused, she was fired. Now her story is being turned into an issue in the Democratic primary for Florida’s 27th Congressional District, according to Politico Florida. Miami New Times. Miami Herald. Associated Press. WPLG.
Baker Act policy: A widely seen video of a 7-year-old boy being taken away from a school in handcuffs prompts a change in the way Miami-Dade County schools will handle children with behavior issues. School officials have been instructed to exhaust all options in dealing with a student before calling police and using the Baker Act for an involuntary psychiatric exam. When called, police officers also will need clearance from a high-ranking officer before transporting a child under the Baker Act. Miami Herald. Children under the age of 18 were taken for an involuntary psychiatric evaluation under the Baker Act about 32,000 times between the summers of 2015 and 2016, according to a report by the Florida Department of Children and Families. WLRN.
Education budget: Battle lines are forming over the House's nearly 200-page education bill, H.B. 7055. The House Democratic caucus says it will oppose the bill, calling it an "attack on public education," and even some Republicans in the Senate are critical of the way the House has put so many issues into a single bill. The House could vote on the bill as soon as today, and the Senate is expected to begin considering its version today as well. Florida Politics. Tampa Bay Times. Politico Florida. News Service of Florida. The House Education Committee approves a proposal to create a scholarship for bullied students, called the Hope Scholarship, after hearing stories from parents whose children have been victimized. The program is part of the omnibus education bill. Step Up For Students, which publishes this blog, helps administer the tax credit and Gardiner scholarship programs and would help administer the Hope Scholarship program if it is created. redefinED. WZVN. WFLA. News Service of Florida.
Funding for charters: The House's education bill would set aside $120 million in state funding for charter schools' capital needs, lifting the burden off school districts and undercutting one of the reasons many of them are suing the state over last year's education bill. The benchmark amount would increase annually with inflation and the growth of charter school enrollment, and school districts would have to chip in with local property tax money only if the state funding fell below that benchmark. redefinED. WLRN.
Turning over schools: Six struggling Polk County schools will be turned over to an outside operator in August, district officials have decided. Bartow Middle, Garner Elementary, Griffin Elementary, Kathleen Middle, Lake Alfred Polytech Academy and Lake Marion Creek Middle have all received grades of D or F from the state for three straight years, which requires the district to close them, reopen them as charters or turn over their operation to an outside company. Three companies have submitted proposals, and school officials expect one will be chosen to manage all six schools. Lakeland Ledger.
Opening addresses: The governor, speaker of the House and president of the Senate all outline their goals for the 2018 legislative session, which began Tuesday. Gov. Rick Scott makes a pitch for his $87.4 billion budget, which includes raising more money for K-12 spending by allowing rising property values to boost tax revenues. Tampa Bay Times. Orlando Sentinel. Sunshine State News. Palm Beach Post. Politico Florida. Associated Press. House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O'Lakes, takes direct aim at Scott's property tax plan, saying the House won't allow taxes to go up directly or indirectly. "We have taken this moral high ground, and we will not give it up," he says. Corcoran also vows to protect bullied students by offering them state scholarships to switch schools. Gradebook. Sunshine State News. WFSU. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Politico Florida. WLRN. Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, says he wants to expand Bright Futures scholarships for college students and K-12 school choice, address the opioid crisis and crack down on sexual harassment. Tampa Bay Times. Sunshine State News.
School choice bills: There are at least 10 school choice-related bills to watch as the Legislature begins its 60-day session. Among them are the scholarships for bullied students, an easing of state requirements for homeschooled children, expansion of a personalized learning program, and more access for special-needs students to use the state's McKay Scholarships. redefinED.
Homeschool bill moving: The House PreK-12 Innovation Subcommittee unanimously approves a bill that would limit the authority local school districts exercise on homeschooled students, and increase those students' access to dual enrollment and career education courses. The bill now heads to the House PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee. redefinED. Gradebook. Politico Florida.
Private school oversight: A bill is filed for the legislative session beginning today that would tighten some standards for private schools receiving state scholarships. Under the bill, filed by state Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, private schools would be required to hire only teachers with at least a bachelor's degree. The proposal would also tighten financial accountability, ban school owners with recent bankruptcies from receiving scholarship money, increase school inspections by the state and make it more difficult for schools to submit falsified fire or health inspection reports. Simmons says his bill is an attempt to strike a balance between too much regulation and not enough. Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog, helps administer the tax credit scholarship and Gardiner scholarship programs. Orlando Sentinel.
Teacher merit pay: Two Republican legislators want to delete the requirement in state law that student test scores be used to evaluate teachers. The bills, filed by Rep. Rene Plasencia, R-Orlando, and Sen. Debbie Mayfield, R-Vero Beach, would give schools boards the option of using student test scores in evaluations. “We don’t think student test scores should be tied to our evaluations,” says Plasencia. “It’s frustrated many teachers, and it’s driven some really good teachers out of the profession, a lot of them early.” Orlando Sentinel.
Teacher test-taking: The rising numbers of teachers failing the state’s newly revised Florida Teacher Certification Exam prompts state Rep. Robert Asencio, D-Miami, to file a bill that would require the Florida Department of Education to appoint a task force to study whether the test is appropriately measuring teacher competency and other issues. “Whenever we have such a high failure rate we have to figure out what's going on,” says Asencio. WPTV.
Legislative session: Gov. Rick Scott delivers his final state of the state speech today at the opening of the legislative session. It's expected to contrast his first one in 2011, when he called for sharp cuts in education spending. News Service of Florida. Associated Press. Tampa Bay Times. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. WCTV. Politico Florida. The Senate is expected to pass a higher education bill Thursday that would permanently expand Bright Futures scholarships, and will consider a bill that would require high school students to complete a financial literacy course in order to graduate. News Service of Florida.
Schools of Hope rules: Rules have been proposed to implement the "Schools of Hope" part of the education bill passed in the Legislature earlier this year. The rules define what companies can be "hope operators," who can then open a charter school within 5 miles of a persistently low-performing public school. The law outlined three criteria for becoming a "hope operators" - that student achievement exceeds district and state averages in the states in which they have schools; that college attendance rates have to exceed 80 percent; and that at least 7 in 10 students at their schools are eligible for a free or reduced-price lunch. But the proposed rules would allow the state to choose operators that meet just one of the criteria, at least for the time being. Politico Florida.
Performance pressure: The pressure is on at Hawthorne Middle/High School in Alachua County. When the school got a D grade from the state in the spring, state officials gave school official three choices if the school's grade isn't a C or better next spring - close, transition to a charter school, or find an outside provider to run the school. School officials chose to close, which is reflected in the #AllIn slogan plastered on the walls of the school. The school is the heart of this rural community, and residents have rallied around the improvement plan. WUFT.
Tax bill and education: The final version of the federal tax bill retains the $250 deduction teachers can take for spending their own money on supplies for their classrooms, allows 529 college savings plans to be used for up to $10,000 in annual K-12 expenses, including private school tuition, and ends qualified school construction bonds, among other things. It also limits to $10,000 what taxpayers can deduct in either a combination of property and income taxes, or property and sales taxes. Some educators say that could pressure local government officials to lower property taxes, which would potentially lower revenue for schools. Education Week.
Test waivers request: Districts around the state that have seen spikes in enrollment due to this season's hurricanes are requesting waivers from the state of the testing requirements for graduation for those students. Without the waivers, officials from the districts say, many students will be held back even though they were on track to graduate from their island schools. “I think that if they were demonstrating on-grade proficiency in Puerto Rico, if they were on track in terms of credits necessary for graduation, if they have met the prerequisites for graduation, then I think a degree of compassion ought to be extended to them and provide them safe passage to the graduation stage,” says Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho. More than 8,500 students from the islands have enrolled in Florida schools, and more are expected. The 74.
Students save bookstore: Third-graders at Tomoka Elementary School in Ormond Beach are credited with saving a Barnes & Noble bookstore that was in danger of closing. Students wrote a letter to the company CEO, asking him for help, and he intervened to get the Daytona Beach store's lease extended. “I thought it was very empowering for our students to learn that their voice can make a significant change,” says Tomoka principal Susan Tuten. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Mental health counselors: St. Johns County School Board members will consider a proposal to place a licensed mental health counselor at every school in the district. School officials say the cost would be covered through “defined member benefits” of individual insurance or government assistance plans. These counselors, also called motivational coaches, would be provided by the Motivational Coaches of America Inc. of Doral. If the board approves the plan, a pilot program will run from January to June at several middle and high schools. St. Augustine Record.
Textbook challenges: A bill is filed that would expand the law allowing anyone to challenge materials used in public school classrooms. H.B. 827, filed by state Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Naples, would give challengers the right to challenge books and also suggest replacements to both local school boards and the State Board of Education. Those boards would then be required to ask publishers of the suggested alternatives if they wanted to make a pitch for public school business. Right now, nearly every state school district buys textbooks for core courses from a state-approved list that is reviewed by teachers and experts hired by the Florida Department of Education. Orlando Sentinel.
School tax hike: The Palm Beach County School District is considering asking voters to raise their property taxes so the district can boost teacher salaries. School officials say the only way experienced teachers can expect significant raises is if voters agree to boost the current $25 tax per $100,000 of assessed property value to $45. That tax was approved in 2010 to provide money to hire teachers for arts, music, physical education and specialized choice programs, and generated about $43 million last year. The tax is up for renewal next November. Palm Beach Post.
Schools of Hope: House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O'Lakes, says charter schools opening under the state's "Schools of Hope" legislation must be innovative and go to the areas with the greatest needs. “For our movement, we need to be careful and continue to go out there and innovate and have the success … rather than go out there and there is money to be made opening up in this nice neighborhood,” Corcoran said at the Foundation for Excellence in Education’s national meeting in Nashville last week. redefinED.
Panel of experts, Colorado Sen. Angela Williams, D-Colorado, (far left) and House Speaker Richard Corcoran weigh in on Schools of Hope
With “Schools of Hope,” Florida is providing funding, facilities and regulatory freedom to roll out the welcome mat for high-caliber charter organizations that have often shied away from its big cities.
On Thursday, at the Foundation for Excellence in Education's national gathering in Nashville, state House Speaker Richard Corcoran joined a panel of charter school experts and Sen. Angela Williams to discuss the Hope law — one of his signature education initiatives. They talked about the program's potential, and also raised cautions.
The new law is intended to draw proven charter schools into academically struggling areas. The state Department of Education is still developing rules to carry out the program.
Recruiting the top charter school organizations from around the country is part of a broader strategy to transform the state’s 115 schools that have languished for four or more years with the lowest possible ratings on the state’s A-F system.
But in the same measure, Robin Lake, the director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, said after the panel that there are some caveats to keep in mind.
“You have to eliminate barriers for schools to operate,” she said. “That by itself doesn’t guarantee it will perform with quality and equity.”
Lake added during the panel discussion that it is important to look at the politics of the situation.
“There is a lot of that at both the national level and state level, especially around districts struggling with the reality of losing enrollment and the financial pressure of that,” she said. (more…)
Blaine Amendment: The Constitution Revision Commission's Declaration of Rights Committee approves a proposal to put repeal of the Blaine Amendment before voters in 2018. The amendment prohibits the use of tax money “directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect or religious denomination." In 2006, the Florida Supreme Court cited the amendment when it ruled that a state violated the law with its scholarship program for students to attend private schools. House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O'Lakes, has long called for a repeal of the amendment. The proposal now goes to the full commission, where 22 of the 37 members would have to approve it to put it on the November 2018 ballot. Sixty percent of voters would then have to approve the repeal to put it into effect. Tallahassee Democrat. News Service of Florida.
Education spending: Gov. Rick Scott continues a state tour to promote his education budget, which he says will boost spending on K-12 education to a record $21.4 billion. “We’re going to have historic funding for the sixth year in a row,” says Scott about his proposal to increase per-student spending from $7,297 to $7,497. But an analysis in Folio Weekly magazine questions that statement. Using the Consumer Price Index calculator, the magazine says it would take $8,377.89 per student today to match the $7,126 per student from then-Gov. Charlie Crist's 2007, pre-recession budget. Florida Politics. WJCT. Florida and 28 other states are spending less on education now than they were before the 2008 recession after an adjustment for inflation, according to a study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. And Florida and six other states each spent at least 15 percent less per-student in 2015 than in 2008. The 74.
Superintendent honored: Pinellas County School Superintendent Mike Grego is named Florida superintendent of the year for his work to close the achievement gap between black and nonblack students. Grego, 60, has been superintendent in Pinellas for just over five years. He now represents Florida at the national competition in Nashville in February. Gradebook. WUSF.
