H.B. 7069: The Duval County School Board votes 4-2 to join at least 10 other districts in a lawsuit challenging the state's controversial new "schools of hope" legislation. “This is not about taking choices away from kids,” school board member Becki Couch says about the challenge to H.B. 7069. “This is not about disliking charter schools." Florida Times-Union. Florida Politics. WOKV. WJCT.
Third-grade retention: A new study in the Journal of Public Economics examines Florida's policy requiring most third graders to show basic reading proficiency before advancing to fourth grade. It finds mixed results. Students held back under the policy went on to perform better in high school, the study finds. But they still completed about the same number of credit-hours as their peers. They also graduated at roughly similar rates. Education Next.
School grades: Twenty-four of 33 south Florida schools that initially received incomplete grades from the state finally get their grades. Five receive A grades, and three alternative schools get an F. Sun-Sentinel. Nine Pasco County schools also finally get grades. Two improved, and seven maintained their 2016 grades. Gradebook.
DeVos visit: U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos visits two Tallahassee schools today. This morning she's at a private school, Holy Comforter Episcopal School. In the afternoon she will tour the Florida State University High School, a developmental research charter school. Tallahassee Democrat. Miami Herald.
