New education laws: More than 100 new state laws go into effect Sunday, including several related to education. H.B. 7055 will allow public school students who are bullied or harassed to be eligible for state scholarships to go to private schools. The Hope Scholarship will be funded by motorists who agree to contribute the sales taxes they would normal pay for vehicle transactions to the scholarships. The bill also boosts funds for Gardiner scholarships for students with disabilities. Other new laws set a back-to-school sales tax holiday in August, and authorize the placement of a statue of famed black educator Mary McLeod Bethune into the National Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C. News Service of Florida.
Budget problems: Budgets analysts for the Hillsborough County School District now project a $70 million gap between revenues and expenses for the 2019-2020 school year. The district will get $41 million extra from the state, but about $36 million of that goes for growth and state mandates. The extra $5 million is swallowed by higher expenses for school security, insurance and employee raises. Tampa Bay Times. Pasco County school officials are projecting a $1 million deficit in next year's budget, but are reluctant to ask voters for additional revenue. "It sounds great," says Superintendent Kurt Browning about the $28 million a year a 1-mill property tax hike could raise. "But when people get accustomed to having that additional money in their paychecks, and the voters don't approve it again, that just stops. I am very hesitant." Gradebook.
Bright Futures: The Florida Senate unanimously approves a higher education bill that includes the permanent expansion of the Bright Futures scholarships program. S.B. 4, which was sponsored by Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, would provide full funding of tuition and fees for the 41,000 students who qualify for the Academic Scholar award. Those students must have a grade point average of 3.5 or higher and a score of at least 1,290 on the SAT or 29 on the ACT. Another 50,000-plus students who qualify for the Medallion Scholar award would receive 75 percent of tuition and fees. The bill also expands the Benacquisto Scholarship awards, which are full scholarships for out-of-state National Merit Scholar award winners. Sunshine State News. Associated Press. News Service of Florida. Tampa Bay Times. Politico Florida. WFSU.
Schools of Hope: The Florida Board of Education is expected to start working next week on the rules that will determine how charter school networks can qualify to be "hope operators" under the state's new "Schools of Hope" law. The draft rules would designate charter school organizations as a hope operator in any three ways: They have received a federal grant for the expansion of high-quality charters; received financial backing from the Charter School Growth Fund; or been chosen by a local school board to turn around a struggling district public school. Hope operators can apply to open charter schools within 5 miles of persistently struggling public schools. If the rules are approved, the process could be opened to charter school companies in February. redefinED.
Bethune statue: A Senate committee approves a bill that would place a statue of famed educator Mary McLeod Bethune in the U.S. Capitol. Her statue would replace the one of Confederate Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith. The bill now moves to the full Senate for a vote. Associated Press. Florida Politics.
Teacher pay: Prospects for a statewide $200 million raise in pay for teachers have dimmed after proponent Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, says he is no longer pursuing the hike. Instead, Simmons says, he is backing an expansion of the teacher bonuses program, known as the Best and Bright Teacher Scholarship. Both the Senate and House are considering bills that would increase the money for bonuses and widen eligibility. Naples Daily News.
Public education spending: The true cost of educating one public school student in Florida for a year is $10,308, according to a report from Florida TaxWatch. The Florida Education Finance Program funding formula expenditure was $7,178 per student for the 2015-2016 school year. But TaxWatch says other tax dollars spent by districts take the total spending per student to more than $10,000. redefinED.
Protecting undocumented: The Miami-Dade County School Board declares its district a safe zone for undocumented immigrant students, and will review what else it can do to protect those students from U.S. immigration officials. The intent, says board member Lubby Navarro, is “to ensure that our schools are safe havens for all students and that this message resonates throughout entire communities, our neighborhoods, our barrios, so that everyone knows that our schools are safe for our children and our families.” Miami Herald.
Teacher program: The Palm Beach County School District and Nova Southeastern University will partner to create a teacher-training program that promises students jobs in the district after graduation. Students will be paid substitute teachers during their senior year at Nova, and will be offered fulltime teaching positions when they graduate as long as they meet certification and other requirements. Nova is hoping to enter into similar partnerships with Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Sun-Sentinel. (more…)
Retention lawsuit: A group of parents has filed suit against the Florida Department of Education and seven school districts over the retention of third-graders who score poorly on the Florida Standards Assessments reading tests or opt out of taking the test. Sarasota attorney Andrea Mogensen filed the suit in Leon County on behalf of 14 parents. She argues that more factors should be considered if a student doesn't do well on the test, and that students who are doing well should not need a test score at all. Tampa Bay Times. Orlando Sentinel. Tallahassee Democrat. News Service of Florida.
Zika and schools: When classes begin Aug. 22 in Miami-Dade County schools, Florida Department of Health officials will be stationed at each of the six schools closest to the area just north of downtown Miami where Zika cases have been reported. The officials will check for standing water, answer questions and supply insect repellent. Miami Herald. Leon County school officials are taking preventative measures to fight the Zika virus. WFSU.
Mass transfers: About one-third of the 900 students at Daytona Beach's Campbell Middle School decide to transfer. They were given that option through the Department of Education's Opportunity Scholarship Program, which allows students to transfer from underperforming schools. Campbell has received D grades from the state for the past four years. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Day 1: Scenes from the first day at school for a majority of Florida districts. Pensacola News Journal. Beth Kassab, Orlando Sentinel. Florida Today. Fort Myers News-Press. Bradenton Herald. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Ocala Star Banner. Daytona Beach News-Journal. Northwest Florida Daily News. St. Augustine Record. Daily Commercial. Citrus County Chronicle. Highlands Today.
Planning time fight: Palm Beach County teachers are criticizing the school district after discovering they'll lose an hour of planning time each week for required staff meetings. Union officials say it's a violation of their contract. But district officials defend the meetings, saying collaboration among teachers boosts student achievement. Palm Beach Post. (more…)
