Bright Futures: State Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, files a bill that would make the expansion of Bright Futures passed in this year's legislative session permanent. Under it, more than 46,000 qualifying Florida students would have state university tuition and fees fully covered. Senate leaders say they also want to expand the payments to Medallion Scholars, the next scholarship tier down, to cover 75 percent of tuition and fees. Sun-Sentinel. Gradebook. Bradenton Herald. Politico Florida. Associated Press. Sunshine State News.
Board term limits: State Sen. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, files a bill that would limit school board members to two four-year terms. If the measure is approved in the Legislature, it also would need to be approved by 60 percent or more of voters since it would amend the state's constitution. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. WUSF. Monroe County School Board members are divided over the term limits proposal. Keynoter.
DeVos visit: On the second day of her visit to Florida, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos meets privately with education, business and advocacy group leaders to urge them to reshape the state's education system so it provides more choice for students and better prepares them for jobs. She also says the K-12 and higher education systems need to work better together. News Service of Florida. Miami Herald.
The sleep-in effect: A RAND Corp. study concludes that Florida would get a $9 billion economic boost over the next 15 years if schools adjusted their schedules to allow later starting times for students in middle and high schools. Later times would cut fatal car crashes and boost student performance, the theory goes, which in turn would boost the likelihood of students graduating and going to college. Miami Herald.
School choice: In a speech Monday night, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos says President Trump will offer the “most ambitious expansion of education choice in our nation’s history.” DeVos did not offer details, other than saying states would not be forced to participate. “Our cause is both right and just," DeVos said. "You and I know the fight will not be easy. The opponents of modernizing our education system will pull out all the stops. They will not go quietly into the night.” Washington Post. Education Week.
Education bill: Broward County teachers join other school officials and education leaders in urging Gov. Rick Scott to veto the education bill, saying the bill will hurt the district's ability to recruit and retain quality teachers. Sun Sentinel. News Service of Florida.
Reading test scores: Third-graders in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties show improvement on the Florida Standards Assessments reading tests. In Santa Rosa, 74 percent scored at Level 3 or high, an increase from 70 percent last year. In Escambia, 59 percent were at Level 3 or higher, up from 50 percent last year. Pensacola News Journal. Fifty-three percent of Polk County's third-graders scored at Level 3 or higher in the state reading test, up from 51 percent last year. Lakeland Ledger. Martin, Indian River and St. Lucie counties all had more third-graders reading at grade level or above than they did a year ago. TCPalm. Marion County third-graders improve their reading scores by 5 percentage points over last year. Ocala Star Banner.
Muslim school security: Studies show that Muslim students are increasingly being bullied in public schools. A 2016 Council on American-Islamic Relations report identifies “209 incidents of anti-Muslim bias, including harassment, intimidation, and violence targeting students,” and a 2015 report concluded that “55 percent of Muslim students aged (11 to 18) reported being subject to some form of bullying because of their faith.” For many parents, the solution is sending their children to Islamic schools. redefinED. (more…)
Charter schools plan: State Rep. Kionne McGhee, D-Miami, says the House proposal to turn over failing schools to charter schools "creates a separate but unequal system” that violates the Florida and U.S. Constitutions. The so-called "schools of hope" bill calls for traditional schools with D or F grades for three years to become charter schools. “These schools have failed these kids long enough,” said Rep. Manuel Diaz Jr., R-Hialeah. “These are kids trapped in generational poverty, and for us to create this illusion it [schools of hope] is a separate system? It’s not.” The House Appropriations Committee passed the bill, which now goes to the full House for a vote. Miami Herald. Politico Florida. redefinED.
Charter facilities funds: The House Appropriations Committee passes a bill that would nearly double the amount of money set aside from local property taxes for charter schools facilities. But a lobbyist for Charter Schools USA, Chris Moya, says the bill may actually reduce the money available for charters because districts can subtract the amount spent on debt service before the rest of the money is divided, and because sharing formula favors charters that enroll low-income students. Moya argues that the Legislature should “stop thinking about funding institutions or districts or even schools, and really think about funding the student.” The bill now moves on to the House vote. redefinED.
Extra reading narrowed: High-level readers at the 300 lowest-performing elementary schools in the state would no longer have to attend the extra hour of required reading under a Florida House bill that has been approved by the appropriations committee. Students who achieve Level 4 or 5 on the state language arts test would have the option of skipping the reading hour. Students who achieve Level 3 or below are required to attend. The bill would also give schools the option of fitting in that hour instead of requiring it to be an extra hour of school. The changes are at odds with the Senate version of the bill. Gradebook.
Class sizes: The House approves a bill that changes the way class sizes are calculated to meet the requirements of a 2002 voter-approved amendment. If approved, schools could use a schoolwide average instead of counting individual classes. A similar bill is moving through the Senate. Associated Press. (more…)
'Schools of hope': In Florida, 77,000 students attend public schools that have received grades of D or F from the state for three years or more. Those are the schools House Republicans plan to improve with their "Schools of Hope" legislation, which would set aside $200 million to bring in well-regarded charter schools to offer those students an alternative. Nearly half of the struggling schools are in south Florida and the Tampa Bay area. Critics say the legislation is a simplistic solution to a complex problem. Miami Herald. Backers of the bill find support in a ruling last year by a Leon County judge. Circuit Judge George Reynolds tossed out a suit claiming that the state's funding of public schools did not meet the constitutional requirement to provide a "high quality" education system. Reynolds' ruling also warned of school boards' seeming complacency in accepting long-term F schools, something the new bill aims to address. redefinED.
School testing: Most legislators share the opinion that the state testing system needs to be reformed. What's unclear is which of the competing bills will be chosen by the Senate to move forward. One compresses the testing schedule into the final three weeks of the school year and requires results back within a week. The other would also move testing later in the school year, eliminate some exams and allow districts to administer the tests in paper and pencil. School officials say either bill would present practical challenges. Tampa Bay Times.
Religious expression: The House will vote Tuesday whether to proceed with the original Senate bill guaranteeing students and employees freedom of religious expression in public schools or adopt the House's shorter and amended version. Gradebook.
Disappearing seniors: The Manatee County School District is among 10 districts that have drawn the attention of the state Department of Education for their high number of likely-to-fail seniors who transfer from public high schools to alternative schools. Since the 2013-2014 school year, at least 515 Manatee County seniors who would not have graduated have transferred to Smart Horizons, an accredited online private school. Manatee Superintendent Diana Greene says anyone who thinks the district is "cooking the books" to improve graduation rates doesn't understand the numbers. Bradenton Herald. (more…)
School construction funds: Florida will be $36 million short for school construction funding in the next year if legislators do not agree to borrow money. The latest revenue estimates suggest the Public Education Capital Outlay revenue for the 2017-2018 school year will be $337 million. But state education officials have requested $373 million for projects. Gov. Rick Scott has historically been averse to such borrowing, and House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, has spoken out against new PECO bonding. Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, has said he is open to a “reasonable” amount of bonding. News Service of Florida.
Bright Futures: A House education subcommittee approves a higher education bill that is substantially different than the one approved by the Senate. But both bills expand Bright Futures scholarships by covering full tuition and fees for qualifying students plus $300 for textbooks and other costs. Both would also allow recipients to use scholarship money for summer classes, though the Senate version restricts use to "academic scholars" while the House bill offers it for all Bright Futures recipients. Politico Florida. News Service of Florida.
Making tests available: The House PreK-12 Quality subcommittee approves a bill that would require the Florida Department of Education to post state assessment exams online after they are taken. "So much is driven around these tests," says Rep. Randy Fine, R-Palm Bay. "I think it makes sense for us to know what we're evaluating." The committee also approved a bill that would allow students to satisfy graduation requirements for an arts or elective credit with a trade apprenticeship. Gradebook. Politico Florida.
PTA praises Scott budget: The Florida PTA jumps into the legislative battle over education budgets by praising Gov. Rick Scott's. In a statement, PTA officials said: "Florida PTA applauds the governor's request to increase total funding for K-12 education to $20.99 million, and state funding to $11.55 million, both historic highs. We likewise consider his proposed record $7420.99 in per-pupil funding a good first step toward bringing Florida closer to the national average. Equally welcome is the governor's commitment to increasing the budgets for early learning, voluntary pre-kindergarten, and school readiness." Gradebook. (more…)
Trump's school choice push: President Donald Trump's first budget calls for $1.4 billion to be set aside to expand school choice, even as it cuts the overall Department of Education budget by $9 billion, or 13 percent. The federal Charter Schools Program would be boosted by 50 percent, and Trump also calls for an increase of $1 billion in Title 1 spending for high-poverty schools to provide services for low-income students. Notable cuts are in teacher training, after-school and extended-day programs, and programs for students on military bases, Native American reservations and other federal lands that are not on local tax rolls. redefinED. U.S. News & World Report. Huffington Post. Education Week. THE Journal. Miami-Dade County schools would lose about $40 million under the Trump budget, says Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, and he figures Broward County would lose about $25 million. WTVJ.
Mandatory recess: The Senate Appropriations Committee approves a bill that would require 20 minutes of daily recess in the state's elementary schools. The bill now moves to the full Senate for a vote. The House's identical bill has yet to get a committee hearing. Gradebook. Florida Politics. Tampa Bay Times.
Charter district: The Jefferson County School Board votes Tuesday on a charter school company's application to take over the operation of the struggling district schools. Somerset Academy was the only company that made a presentation that had “a record of effectiveness with similar student demographics” to Jefferson County, where most students are low-income minorities, according to the Florida Department of Education. Somerset is a nonprofit network associated with the management company Academica. It runs 50 schools with nearly 17,600 students. redefinED.
District audit: A state audit finds fault with the Brevard County School District on four points: paying $150,000 over three years to the Brevard Schools Foundation for administrative expenses, not performing routine background checks on 27 teachers, awarding state teacher bonuses to eight ineligible teachers, and allowing transportation employees unsupervised access to inventory. Superintendent Desmond Blackburn says state law does not prohibit payments to the foundation, and the other three items are being corrected. Florida Today. (more…)
As President Trump looked with favor on Florida’s 15-year-old tax credit scholarship last week, some of the reviews seemed to suffer a form of interstate transference.
The formulation went something like this: If Arizona, then Florida.
Take Kevin Carey, the able director of education policy at New America, as one example. After Trump on Tuesday introduced a graduate student who attributed her academic turnaround to the Florida scholarship program, Carey responded in the New York Times with an extended discourse not on the Sunshine State but on the Arizona Tax Credit Scholarship. Carey is troubled that Arizona’s Senate president runs one of the largest scholarship-granting organizations, thinks 10 percent is too much to pay the organizations to administer the program, criticizes the state for allowing scholarship students with higher household incomes, and is worried about the lack of testing and financial accountability requirements.
Those are all reasonable concerns, but none of them apply to Florida. (more…)
Legislative session: Vouchers, recess and capital funding for charter schools are among the hot education topics in this year's legislative session, which begins Tuesday. Sunshine State News. School testing will again be a prominent issue during the session. Several bills have been filed to cut back on the number of tests, and to give options to the Florida Standards Assessments. News Service of Florida. Teacher bonuses are among the key education issues that will be debated by the Legislature. Tallahassee Democrat. The way the state calculates school funding may get another look from lawmakers this year. Daytona Beach News-Journal. Lake County school leaders say they oppose school vouchers, worry about recruiting and retaining teachers and don't like the state's current standardized testing process. Superintendent Diane Kornegay, school board member Kristi Burns and teachers union president Stuart Klatte made the remarks at an education forum last week. Daily Commercial. The Polk County School District is asking legislators to close the gap in per-student funding among districts. Polk ranked 64th out of 67 in per-student funding from the state this school year. Winter Haven News Chief. Senate and House leaders come to an agreement on the rules for the budget-making process for the legislative session. Tampa Bay Times. Politico Florida.
Trump's visit: President Donald Trump praises students and educators at St. Andrew Catholic School during a visit Friday. Trump used the stop to promote school choice, and urged members of Congress to pass a bill to fund school choice for disadvantaged young people, including minority children. Orlando Sentinel. Catholic News Agency. Associated Press. WCSI. WFTV. Fox News. New York Times. News 13. redefinED. A profile of Denisha Merriweather, the University of South Florida graduate student who was held up by the president as an example of how school choice can help struggling students succeed. Washington Post.
Commission choices: Gov. Rick Scott appoints 14 people to the state Constitution Revision Commission. Several of the appointees have ties to education: Pam Stewart, Florida education commissioner; Marva Johnson, state Board of Education chairwoman; Nicole Washington, a trustee at Florida A&M University; Belinda Keiser, vice chancellor of Keiser University; Darlene Jordan, a member of the state university system’s Board of Governors; and Jose “Pepe” Armas, a trustee for Florida International University. Politico Florida. Gradebook. Orlando Sentinel. News Service of Florida. Miami Herald. (more…)
Trump's visit: President Donald Trump visits St. Andrew Catholic School in Orlando today to promote his support for broader school choice. St. Andrew is part of the Notre Dame Alliance for Catholic Education academies, a national network working to revitalize urban Catholic education. About 85 percent of the 340 students in the pre-K through eighth-grade school use tax credit scholarships. Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog, helps administer the program. redefinED. WFTV. Politico Florida. Myrna Saint-Juste, who sent two children to St. Andrew Catholic School, and her son Marcus Millien, now a student at Bishop Moore High School, were asked to meet with President Trump today when he visits the school. She declined, but Marcus accepted. Orlando Sentinel.
Legislature and education: Legislators want to reduce testing, change the teacher bonuses program and improve the higher education system, among other things, during the legislative session that begins Tuesday. Here are previews of some of the issues being debated. Tampa Bay Times. Orlando Sentinel. Sun-Sentinel. The major players in the legislative session are profiled. Tallahassee Democrat.
Bills about teachers: Two bills filed by legislators would change the criteria by which teachers are eligible for bonuses from the state. A bill filed by Sen. Keith Perry, R-Gainesville, would lower the SAT and ACT test scores level a teacher would need to be eligible for the state's teacher bonus, and add several other tests that could be used. A bill filed by Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, would expand eligibility requirements to college GPA and to those graduates who commit to teaching in critical teacher shortage areas. Both would also allow school administrators to be eligible for bonuses. Gradebook. A bill introduced by Rep. Rene Plasencia, R-Orlando, would expand the path to teacher certification, including allowing charter schools to set up their own training programs that would have to be approved by the Florida Department of Education. Legislators want to make it easier to hire people who have expertise in a subject and can prove competency in the classroom but don't have an education degree. redefinED. Sen. Debbie Mayfield, R-Vero Beach, files a bill that would prohibit teacher retirements during the school year. Exceptions would be made for illnesses and disabilities. News Service of Florida.
Charter district: Three charter schools companies are competing to take over operations of the Jefferson County School District. They are: Somerset Academy Inc., which operates 16 charter schools in Miami-Dade and Broward counties; Lake Wales Charter Schools Inc., which runs six schools in Polk County; and EdFutures, which runs two schools in Volusia County. Superintendent Marianne Arbulu said the school board could make its selection by next week. Politico Florida. (more…)
Trump and choice: President Donald Trump called education "the civil rights issue of our time" during his speech to Congress Tuesday. He urged legislators to "pass an education bill that funds school choice for disadvantaged youth, including millions of African-American and Latino children. These families should be free to choose the public, private, charter, magnet, religious, or home school that is right for them." Education Week. Los Angeles Times. Florida's Denisha Merriweather is cited during Trump's speech as someone whose life was turned around because of school choice. redefinED. The 74. President Trump will visit Saint Andrew Catholic School in Orlando Friday, where he is expected to talk about school choice. Saint Andrew has 295 students who use the tax credit scholarship. Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog, helps administer the scholarship. Orlando Sentinel.
Testing debate: Standardized testing will again be a focus of the legislative session that begins Tuesday. Critics want to cut back on the exams, or give students the option of taking different tests. Others think the testing system in place is necessary and needs to be preserved in some form. News Service of Florida.
Voucher study: A new study finds little evidence that school voucher programs significantly improve student achievement or school district performance. The study, written by Martin Carnoy, a Stanford University professor and research associate at the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute, included evaluations of Florida programs. He wrote that the lack of evidence “suggests that an ideological preference for education markets over equity and public accountability is what is driving the push to expand voucher programs.” Washington Post.
Teachers honored: Evangeline Aguirre, who teaches in the English for Speakers of Other Languages program at Palm Beach Central High in Wellington, is named the Palm Beach County School District's teacher of the year. Palm Beach Post. Sun-Sentinel. Maria Torres-Crosby, a sixth-grade English teacher at Memorial Middle School. is named the Hillsborough County School District's teacher of the year. Tampa Bay Times. (more…)
