Eclipse schedules: School districts around the state are deciding if their students will be permitted to view the solar eclipse Monday, and if they will be, how they might do so safely. Palm Beach Post. Fort Myers News-Press. Northwest Florida Daily News. St. Augustine Record. Gradebook. WFTX. WJAX. Jackson County Floridan. WCJB. WPEC. Gradebook. Florida Today. Lakeland Ledger. Bradenton Herald. Washington Post. U.S. News & World Report. Fox News. Education Week.
Sales tax revenue: The half-cent sales tax voters approved in 2014 for the Brevard County School is bringing it almost 30 percent more money than projected. The district expected to collect about $78 million from the tax by now. Instead, it has collected $101 million. The money is used for building repairs, security upgrades and technology purchases. Florida Today.
Confederate school names: Duval County School Board members say they have no plans to rename any of the district schools bearing the names of Confederate leaders. A couple of years ago, the board changed the name of Nathan Bedford Forrest High School to Westside High School. Forrest was a Confederate lieutenant general. WJAX. A study by the Southern Poverty Law Center says there are at least 109 schools in the United States named after prominent members of the Confederacy, and many of the schools have a significant number of black students. Cox Media Group.
Back to school: More from districts around Florida that have returned to school or will soon. Naples Daily News. Panama City News Herald. Miami Herald. The kindergarten and 1st-grade wing at Osceola Magnet School reopen today. It had been closed since Monday for mold contamination. Air quality tests on other parts of the Vero Beach school are due Friday. TCPalm.
Budget problems: State Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, who is chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, says Florida schools are probably going to have to raise local property taxes to close a $426 million gap in funding. Latvala said the state is unlikely to close that financial gap with state funds for a second year in a row. Latvala's position contradicts House Speaker Richard Corcoran's. The Land O'Lakes Republican has vowed not to raise taxes for schools. Naples Daily News. News Service of Florida.
Charter suit dismissed: A lawsuit challenging the state's rule that withholds money for construction and repairs from charter schools that got consecutive D grades from the state has been dismissed. The case was ruled moot when the state withdrew the rule last week. But just days after that rule was dropped, another was adopted that kept the restrictions but delayed implementation for a year. Charter school advocates say they will fight the revised rule. redefinED.
Fake address query: An investigation into address fraud at Calusa Elementary School in Boca Raton is concluding, and school officials say they have found at least 11 students whose families may have lied about where they live so the students could attend the school. Final checks are being made, but officials say there won't be enough changes to avoid the proposed rezoning that would move 372 Calusa students to other schools next year. Sun-Sentinel.
Class sizes: Lake County is the only school district in central Florida to violate the class-sizes rules, and it missed the standard by just two students. Lake officials say they will appeal the Department of Education findings. Orlando Sentinel. (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…)
