School security. The Legislature is looking at a range of school security proposals, including allowing teachers to carry concealed weapons on school grounds and allowing local voters to hike taxes to pay for school security measures, reports the Tampa Bay Times. Palm Beach Post columnist Frank Cerabino offers his take on the latter. Orlando Sentinel offers more on the latter. More from the Tallahassee Democrat.
School rankings. Asked whether they will be forthcoming this year, Gov. Rick Scott says he's working on it with Education Commissioner Tony Bennett. SchoolZone.
School closings. Tensions rise over Superintendent Kurt Browning's plan to close an alternative school, reports Gradebook. Then he changes his mind, reports the Tampa Bay Times.
School enrollment. Flagler and Volusia counties are seeing enrollment declines, reports the Daytona Beach News Journal.
School rezoning. The latest from Seminole. Orlando Sentinel.
School spending. The Brevard school board approves $30 million in cuts. Florida Today.
School prayer. Some in St. Johns County want it back in graduation ceremonies. St. Augustine Record.
School boards. The Lee County School Board asks the Department of Education to investigate ... the Lee County School Board. Fort Myers News Press.
Charter schools. The traditional media overlooks the good news in the state's new charter school report, writes EdFly Blog. The Pinellas school district is planning to sell a shuttered middle school building to a new charter school group, reports Gradebook. Two well-regarded charters that serve students with disabilities are expected to be renewed in Orange, reports SchoolZone. (more…)
Charter schools. Brooksville's first charter school, one with a STEM focus, will open this fall, reports the Tampa Bay Times. Competition from charter schools is forcing the Palm Beach County school district to think harder about its needs and priorities, reports the Palm Beach Post. Charters are also sparking debate among Palm Beach school board members about how much help they should give struggling charters, the Post also reports. An op-ed in the Miami Herald raises concerns about charter schools' diversity and financial incentives. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune profiles the principal of the Imagine charter school that is trying to break free from the parent company.
Magnet schools. The Tampa Tribune applauds the Hillsborough school district for creating a magnet tied to the maritime industry.
Alternative schools. Troubled girls get a fresh start at a sheriffs' youth ranch in Polk County. Orlando Sentinel.
Tax credit scholarships. Great back-and-forth between scholars Kevin Welner at NEPC and Jason Bedrick at Cato, with Florida's program a big part of their debate. Cato at Liberty.
School choice. It's often partisan. Sunshine State News.
Parent trigger. Education Commissioner Tony Bennett raises a constitutional question. The Florida Current. (more…)
School funding. Gov. Rick Scott proposes to spend $1.2 billion more on public schools next year. Coverage from Tampa Bay Times, South Florida Sun Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Lakeland Ledger, Associated Press, News Service of Florida, Naples Daily News, StateImpact Florida, Panama City News Herald. More money will prove lawmakers care, writes Tampa Bay Times columnist John Romano.
Teacher evaluations. Senate President Don Gaetz reiterates his concerns about the new system: "We have to be able to win this debate at the PTO meeting and the school advisory council, and we haven't won the debate." News Service of Florida. Gaetz is right about taking more time with teacher evals and other reforms, editorializes the Panama City News Herald.
Vouchers and creationism. SchoolZone notes a new website: Say No to Creationist Vouchers.
Jeb conspiracy. Exposed!!! Orlando Sentinel. Gradebook. The Answer Sheet. The Nation.
ALEC. Its latest annual report card gives Florida an education policy grade of B+ and a performance rank of 12.
Educator conduct. A former Palm Beach County principal gets 10 years in prison for soliciting sex from a minor, reports the Palm Beach Post and South Florida Sun Sentinel. After a four-year battle, a Palm Beach County teacher accused of harassing and threatening fellow employees may finally be fired, reports the Sun Sentinel. (more…)
From The Philadelphia Inquirer:
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia plans to close four Catholic high schools and 44 elementary schools will be closed or partnered with other schools, officials told school administrators and priests at a close-door meeting at Neumann University this morning.
West Catholic, St. Hubert, Monsignor Bonner-Archbishop Prendergast in Drexel Hill and Conwell-Egan in Fairless Hills will be shuttered in June, according to Rita Schwartz, president of the union that represents the high school teachers and attended the session.
"It was a very sad meeting," Schwartz said.
While officials from the archdiocese attempted to be upbeat and talk about how the changes would strengthen Catholic education in the region, she said that the school administrators and others need time to grieve.
The news came as members of a 16-member commission presented the recommendations from their yearlong study of Catholic education.
In 1981, sociologist James S. Coleman made the claim that tuition barriers to private schools are "certainly harmful to the public interest, and especially harmful to the interests of those least well-off." He was referring particularly to Catholic schools and to his just-completed research identifying the social capital that families invested in Catholic education and the benefits that investment yielded in even the most disadvatanged youth.
Last week, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York announced that it planned to close 27 schools, ejecting 4,700 students. While the New York archdiocese has been aggressively consolidating some schools and converting others into charter schools in recent years, the announcement signals a further strain on a mission-driven style of education that has suffered from more than 1,600 school closings and consolidations nationwide in the last 10 years alone.
Coleman was urging policymakers to consider ways to expand the role of private schools in American public education. While state and locally facilitated vouchers and tuition tax credit plans have helped urban, inner-city families by the hundreds obtain a Catholic education in ways that didn't exist during Coleman's time, that has happened in only a handful of regions. Most Catholic schools depend on tuition revenue to stay afloat, and this trend of school closings and enrollment declines threatens the mission of an institution that has long reached out to impoverished neighborhoods. As RiShawn Biddle recently noted on his blog, Dropout Nation, that mission continues today, "with blacks, Latinos, Asians and American Indians making up 26 percent of its students."
Future posts on this topic will be frequent on redefinED. For now, here's a brief look at the trends in Catholic education, by the numbers (according to the National Catholic Educational Association):
