Statewide races: Republican Ron DeSantis, who strongly backs school choice, wants 80 percent of all education spending directed into the classroom and pledges to expand the state's K-12 scholarship programs and career and technical education opportunities, narrowly wins the governor's race over Democrat Andrew Gillum. In other statewide races, Gov. Rick Scott defeats incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, Republicans win all three Cabinet seats, and 11 of the 12 constitutional amendments are approved with the required 60 percent majority. Associated Press. Politico Florida. Orlando Sentinel. The 74.

Tax initiatives: Voters approve all eight tax increases for education in the state. Sales tax hikes for construction and repairs of schools pass or are renewed in Alachua, Hillsborough, Lee, Martin and Polk counties. In Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Charlotte counties, voters approve higher property taxes to pay for school safety and teacher salaries. Politico Florida. (more…)

English-only tests: Florida is asking the U.S. Department of Education for a waiver from giving statewide assessments tests in any language other than English. The Every Student Succeeds Act requires states to make every effort to test students in their first language. About 12 percent of all K-12 students in Florida - almost 300,000 children - are considered English-learners. The waiver request points to the state constitution, which declares English as the state's official language. Education Week.

Board group's agenda: The Florida Coalition of School Board Members' agenda for the 2018 Legislature includes expanding school choice by creating a scholarship for bullied students to attend private schools, using paper and pencil testing through the 8th grade, allowing SAT and ACT scores to be used in place of state assessments as a requirement for high school graduation, and more. Gradebook.

Financial questions: How will the finances work for the company that is managing the first charter takeover of a public school district in Florida? Members of the House Education Appropriations Subcommittee have questions about Somerset Academy's ability pay the district's administrative overhead of about $421,000 when it's receiving just $254,000 to pay a superintendent, another employee and five elected Jefferson County School Board members, and still raise salaries for teachers significantly. Rep. Manny Diaz, R-Hialeah Gardens, says Somerset’s budget is still a “work in progress,” and says legislators are trying to get an accurate assessment of the district's assets. redefinED.

(more…)

When a charter school organization runs all the local public schools, what does that mean for the district? Key members of the Florida Legislature are grappling with that question after the unprecedented takeover of a tiny North Florida district last spring.

The Jefferson County School Board approved the Somerset Academy conversion with a unanimous vote. The charter school organization, based in South Florida, officially took over July 1 and rehired many district teachers and brought in others from Georgia and Jacksonville.

To attract top teachers, Somerset officials said they rewrote the district's salary schedule to provide the most generous pay plan in the state. The Tallahassee Democrat reported some teachers received raises as high as $16,000. The newspaper published salary information showing a Jefferson teacher would earn roughly $7,000 more than a colleague with similar qualifications in neighboring Leon County.

In other words, the charter organization steered more resources into the classroom.  But lawmakers had questions about the flip side of that investment. State law requires charter schools to pay administrative fees for their district authorizers. For most newly opened charters, including Somerset, those fees are worth 5 percent of the schools' core per-pupil operating funding.

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Naples, is the vice chair of the House Education Appropriations Subcommittee. During a committee meeting Wednesday, he asked how the district could afford salaries for five elected school board members, the elected superintendent and one other employee. (more…)

Teacher pay: School districts should stop paying teachers by a rigid formula that is calculated solely by degree obtained and experience, Rep. Manny Diaz, R-Hialeah, tells a group of charter school leaders. “They’re treated in a fashion as if they were labor workers in a technical industry," says Diaz. "They’re not. They’re professionals.” He says pay considerations should take into account classroom skills and field of expertise. Otherwise, he warns, good teachers will continue to pursue administrative jobs to raise their salaries. redefinED.

Education choices: Advocates of charter schools and public schools find little to agree about in a forum sponsored by the Tampa Tiger Bay Club. Public schools advocates say funding is being diverted to charter and private schools that aren't required to meet the same standards as public schools. "When systems are set up that are unequal and have different sets of accountability, in a way that the competition isn't fair, that's what brings out the negativity," says Melissa Erickson of the Alliance for Public Schools. Charter and private school supporters say choice must be necessary, since it's popular with parents. "It should be a matter of great public policy to provide every alternative possible," says Lincoln Tamayo, head of school at Academy Prep Center of Tampa. Tampa Bay Times. Florida Politics.

Hostile workplace? Two black Pinellas Park Middle School teachers request transfers, saying their workplace has become "hostile and racially charged." The two were among nine minority teachers who started an after-school tutoring program that specifically aimed to help minority students improve their reading, but was open to all students. A letter to the district from NAACP officials claims those teachers were harassed and accused of being racists because they didn't do the program for white students too. Tampa Bay Times. Bay News 9.

Blaming abuse victims: The Palm Beach County School District isn't the only one that's used a "blame the victim" legal defense in lawsuits involving sex abuse of students by district employees. A review of public records shows that attorneys for the Broward and Miami-Dade school districts have also claimed in court that abused students were "negligent" or "culpable." Sun-Sentinel.

(more…)

Student-funding bill: House PreK-12 Appropriations chairman Manny Diaz, R-Miami, files a bill that details the specific amounts the Legislature would allocate for per-student funding and other education initiatives. H.B. 3A would boost the base student allocation by $43.24 over the amount legislators initially approved, and slightly cut the required local tax effort for districts. Most of the other amounts for projects align with Gov. Rick Scott's proposals. Gradebook. Several school superintendents continue to call Gov. Scott privately to lobby for a veto of H.B. 7069. Politico Florida. Volusia County school officials say the extra money for education Gov. Scott is proposing will help, but still isn't enough to meet the district's needs. Daytona Beach News-Journal. An education analyst discusses the pluses and minuses of the charter schools funding provisions in the education bill. WUSF.

School schedules: Lake County School Superintendent Diane Kornegay proposes an extension of the school day by an hour, and the school year to 11 months. She's also asking for a boost in college-readiness efforts and for more opportunities for associate degrees and industry certifications. Kornegay is urging school board members to shift funding from existing resources to pay for the changes.  “Everyone wants to hold onto everything,” said Kornegay, who began her job in January. “And we can do anything we want — but we cannot do everything we want.” Orlando Sentinel. The Brevard County School District is sticking to its spring break schedule for 2018, from April 2-6, despite complaints from parents and students. Forty-four percent of those who took an online survey voted for that week because they think it will have a "lesser impact on testing" and allow "more instructional time in classroom prior to testing window." Florida Today. (more…)

Education bill: The Florida Association of School Boards has already urged Gov. Rick Scott to veto the Legislature's education bill, H.B. 7069. Now the group says it wants Scott to also veto the proposed Florida Education Fund Program, which sets per-student spending. The board says 90 percent of the the $240 million increase in the program will go for school enrollment growth and increased retirement plan contributions, and what is left is not enough to "adequately serve our students." Gradebook. News Service of Florida. House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O'Lakes, praises Rep. Roy Hardemon, D-Miami, for being the only Democrat in the Legislature to vote for the education bill. Miami Herald.

Bright Futures: The boost in money for Bright Futures scholarship winners in the education bill would expand the program significantly, but it also renews concerns about fairness in who qualifies. In 2015, about 51,200 students were eligible. Less than 4 percent were black, and 20 percent were Hispanic. "When you pour most of your money into your top-tier scholarship, you are giving that money to upper-middle-class white kids," says Bob Schaeffer of FairTest, a nonprofit advocacy organization. Tampa Bay Times.

Certification tests defended: Florida Education Commissioner Pam Stewart says the state's teacher certification exams are useful and appropriate, despite failure rates of 30 percent on some portions and the escalating costs to the test-takers. "We have a lot of research that shows the exams are not flawed," said Stewart. "I think it’s a reflection of we’ve raised standards for students and, consequently, we need to raise standards for teachers and make sure that they are experts in the content area that they’re teaching." WFTS.

Daily recess: All public K-5 elementary school students in Marion County will get 20 minutes of recess every day, starting in the fall. Superintendent Heidi Maier made recess an issue in her campaign for the job last fall, and in following through, she wrote: “It is the right thing to do. We have the research which shows recess is needed for kids to retain information.” Ocala Star Banner. (more…)

Education bill: A national school choice group is urging Gov. Rick Scott to sign H.B. 7069. The Center for Education Reform, based in Washington, D.C., says the Legislature's education bill would "help successful charter schools to grow and to serve more low-income students" and "ensure equitable distribution of Title I funds." The bill would give charter schools a share of local property taxes, offer financial incentives for charter companies to start schools in areas with persistently low-performing traditional public schools, and more. Miami Herald. House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O'Lakes, says he hopes the governor doesn't veto the education bill. Rep. Manny Diaz, R-Hialeah, who helped put together the bill, is urging Scott to read the bill, independent from misleading “rhetoric” critics have used, before making a decision. Miami Herald. More local districts, political leaders and groups are urging Scott to veto the bill. Sun Sentinel. Orlando Sentinel. Florida Today. Lakeland Ledger. Port St. Joe Star. Associated Press. Creative Loafing Tampa.

Interim superintendent: The Duval County School Board chooses Patricia Willis to be interim superintendent. Willis is a former Duval deputy superintendent who retired in 2012. She takes over for Nikolai Vitti, whose last day is Friday, and will be paid $22,916 a month through Jan. 31, 2018, if necessary. Florida Times-Union. WJAX.

State of the schools: In her annual state of the schools speech, Orange County School Superintendent Barbara Jenkins says two of the biggest issues the district faces are the rapid growth of student enrollment and the shortage of teachers. WFTV.

Testing troubles: Pasco County students are not doing well in district-designed course finals, and teacher say the reason is that the tests do not reflect what the students have learned this year. The district is calling for a deeper look at the criticism to see if a new approach is warranted. Gradebook. (more…)

The Florida House Education Committee revised a testing bill today to include an amendment that would help charter and virtual schools.

Rep. Manny Diaz, R-Hialeah, filed a 76-page amendment to HB 773, adding certain aspects of several education bills.

The amendment includes a portion HB 7101 by Rep. Bob Cortes, R-Altamonte Springs that would allow high-performing charters to replicate more than once per year if they open in an area served by a persistently low-performing school.

It also includes provisions from HB 833, by Rep. Jennifer Sullivan, R-Mount Dora, allowing all students to have access to online courses.

Sullivan’s bill -- and the companion bill by Sen. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala -- would give students in second through fifth grade who did not attend public school the ability to enroll in part-time virtual instruction.

Diaz also added terminology from HB 1111, which would give charter schools more freedom to train teachers and get them certified. The bill would create a new mentorship-based path to a Florida teaching certificate, and allow charter schools and charter school management companies to create their own teacher mentorship programs.

Rep. Larry Lee, D-Port St. Lucie, joined colleagues from both parties who approved the revised bill.

"I am going to be supporting this bill," he said. "It needs a little bit of work. I am of the opinion that let's not let perfect get in the way of good." 

Two key architects of the Florida House’s "Schools of Hope" plan said a compromise with the Senate might be within reach.

But at the same time, they said continuing to simply pour money into struggling schools will not yield results. They argue Schools of Hope present a new approach.

“These kids that are sitting in schools that have failed five, seven, and 10 years,” Rep. Manny Diaz, R-Hialeah, said in an interview. “We can’t wait anymore. Some of the solutions are going to work for particular communities. Let’s provide all of the solutions. Let’s not say ‘No,’ just because we don’t like who is providing the solution.”

Diaz, the chair of the PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee, said the state needs to address the issue immediately, calling it an “emergency.”

The Florida House and Senate are wrangling over the House’s $200 million plan to move students from struggling public schools into new schools operated by nationally recognized charter school operators. (more…)

Construction funds: Gov. Rick Scott and the Cabinet approve issuing up to $233 million in education construction bonds. Now legislators have to reconcile their differences on the amount they'll commit to the Public Education Capital Outlay (PECO) program. The Senate bill uses bonding and calls for $617 million for PECO, including $75 million each for public and charter schools. The House bill does not use bonding and allocates lower overall PECO spending, including $100 million for charter schools and $20 million for public schools. News Service of Florida. The Volusia County School Board considers ways to catch up on deferred school maintenance. District officials say many of the problems that have been temporarily fixed over the past 10 years now need a permanent solution, but they're not sure they'll have the money needed. Daytona Beach News-Journal.

Title I spending: An amendment recently added to a bill that revises charter schools regulations would limit the amount of Title I funding school districts can spend on administrative overhead and required services for specific groups of students. Rep. Manny Diaz, R-Hialeah, says the change aligns the bill with others that push more authority to school principals and away from centralized administrations. “We need to figure out how to get those dollars down to the school site, where the student is,” he said. redefinED.

Vouchers' hidden costs: Many parents who accept state vouchers to help their special-needs children attend private schools are unaware that by doing so, they lose lose some or most of the protections of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). One of them, Tamiko Walker of Port St. Lucie County, whose son has a speech and language disability, found this out after accepting money from Florida's McKay scholarship, the largest of 10 disability scholarship programs in the United States. “Once you take those McKay funds and you go to a private school, you’re no longer covered under IDEA — and I don’t understand why,” Walker said. New York Times.

ELL success story: English language learners (ELL) at High Point Elementary School are bucking the national trends by equaling or surpassing their peers at other struggling schools in Pinellas County on tests that are considered predictors of how students will perform on the Florida Standards Assessments. ELL students make up about a third of High Point's enrollment, and about 80 percent of them are Hispanic. "They're defying some national trends, which is pretty exciting," said Joyce Nutta, a world languages professor at the University of Central Florida who has been developing teacher training methods at High Point. Tampa Bay Times. (more…)