Guns at schools: The Lee County School Board postpones a discussion about allowing licensed gun owners to keep firearms locked in their cars at schools. All firearms are currently banned from school property, but board member Steven Teuber is proposing the change in policy. Fort Myers News-Press.
School staffing: Lake County School Superintendent Diane Kornegay says the district's schools have 65 more teachers than they need, and it's costing the district $4.5 million. She will reassess the situation after Labor Day, when school enrollment starts to stabilize. Some teachers will be shifted to meet class-size requirements, but district spokeswoman Sherri Owens says layoffs have not been discussed. Daily Commercial.
School enrollment: Enrollment in Palm Beach County charter schools has dropped for the first time in a decade. Charter schools have an enrollment of 19,803, down 939 from last year. Charters still make up more than 10 percent of the district's 193,973 students. Palm Beach Post.
Call for choice: Leon County School Board member Rosanne Wood is calling for an expansion of school choice in the district. She wants school officials to set up a task force on magnet schools and choice. Wood writes on her website: "Americans love choice; walk through the cereal or toothpaste isle at any store if you’re not convinced. All parents want the very best for their children. Many are willing to make sacrifices of money and convenience to enroll their child in what they perceive as the best available school." redefinED.
Recently, Rosanne Wood, a member of the Leon County School Board, released a proposal to expand school choices in her community.
Americans love choice; walk through the cereal or toothpaste isle at any store if you’re not convinced. All parents want the very best for their children. Many are willing to make sacrifices of money and convenience to enroll their child in what they perceive as the best available school. The fact that this year Leon County Schools had nearly 3,700 new choice requests for a school outside of their home-zoned school proves this point. Another 1,000 parents are homeschooling their children and 5,000 are choosing our 41 private schools, not including FAMU or FSU Developmental Research Schools.
Education bills: House leaders are considering changing the so-called "schools of hope" legislation to allow school districts to compete with charter school companies for part of the $200 million fund created by the bill. Originally, the bill was conceived as a way to recruit highly regarded charter companies to open schools in areas with persistently low-performing traditional public schools. “What we’re arguing for is an equitable playing field, where we would have the ability to be able to compete for the dollars that are set aside,” said Broward School Superintendent Robert Runcie, who helped pitch the plan to legislators. Politico Florida. A Senate committee spent just nine minutes to describe, amend and approve its version of the "schools of hope" bill. “These issues have been discussed around here, and we’re just putting them in the conference posture,” says Senate Appropriations chairman Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater. Miami Herald. School officials expect the "education train" bill to continue to morph in the final days of the legislative session, which could mean further changes to the state's standardized testing. St. Augustine Record.
Budget discussions: Negotiations continue between Senate and House leaders on an $83 billion budget, and details are slowly emerging. The proposed deal allots $200 million for the "schools of hope" proposal and $200 million to expand the Best and Brightest teacher bonuses program, but won't allow increases in property tax revenue for schools. Per-student spending would be increased only slightly. But, says Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, "It would be a mistake to only count in the education budget what comes directly through the FEFP (Florida Education Finance Program, the formula that determine per-student spending). I think there are other educational opportunities that we'll give to our constituents, and I think that improves the overall quality of our system." Florida Politics. Politico Florida. News Service of Florida. The budget agreement comes only after extensive one-on-one talks between Negron and House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O'Lakes. Tampa Bay Times.
Title I concerns: School officials and educational consultants have concerns about the way the Florida House education bill would distribute federal Title I funds, which are intended to help low-income students. The House bill calls for Title I funds to be spread more evenly among schools, including charters. Cheryl Sattler, a Tallahassee consultant on federal education funding, says the bill would mean fewer dollars for children in low-income schools and fewer resources for preschools. "Low-achieving schools couldn't expect help," she says, "so they will stay low-performing." Gradebook.
Financial literacy: The Senate passes a bill requiring Florida students to take a financial literacy course to graduate from high school. Senators name it the "Dorothy L. Hukill Financial Literacy Education Act" to honor the Republican senator from Port Orange, who has missed the session as she has undergoes cancer treatment. “This has been a bill that Sen. Hukill’s worked on since the day she came to the Florida Senate. I can’t even count the number of conversations that I have had with her about this bill since she’s been here with us,” said Sen. Jack Latvala. Florida Politics. WFTV. News Service of Florida. (more…)
Class sizes: A bill that would allow schools to comply with the 2002 class size amendment by using schoolwide averages instead of specific classroom counts passes the Florida House PreK-12 Innovation Subcommittee. Schools would be expected to try to get math, reading, science and social studies class sizes to levels required by the constitutional amendment. But there would be no penalties if school averages complied with the law, even if some classrooms did not. Orlando Sentinel. WFSU.
Schools of excellence: A bill that would give top-performing public schools more freedom from state and district regulations passes the Florida House PreK-12 Innovation Subcommittee. Public schools with an academic performance among the state’s top 20 percent in their grade range at least two out of three consecutive years would become “Schools of Excellence.” At those schools, principals would have greater freedom to make budget and staffing decisions, teachers would get credit toward continuing-education requirements for their certifications, and the schools would be free from mandates on reading time and have flexibility on class sizes. The bill sponsor, Rep. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, says "it would encourage innovation." redefinED.
Religious expression: A bill that would ban school districts “from discriminating against students, parents, and school personnel on basis of religious viewpoints or expression” is passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, and is now ready for a full Senate vote. The Florida House PreK-12 Innovation Subcommittee passes a slightly different version of the bill. Florida Politics. Miami Herald. Politico Florida. News Service of Florida. Tallahassee Democrat. Sunshine State News.
Testing rollback: A bill that would put limits on the state's standardized testing passes the Florida House PreK-12 Innovation Subcommittee. The bill cuts the window of testing to three weeks nearer to the end of the school year, authorizes a study to see if the SAT and ACT tests could replace the Florida Standards Assessments, and require results to be returned to teachers in a "timely manner." Sunshine State News. News Service of Florida. (more…)
