Parent trigger. Another year, another defeat for the parent trigger. Coverage from Tampa Bay Times, StateImpact Florida, Orlando Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Tallahassee Democrat, Associated Press, Education Week, Sarasota Herald Tribune.
Marco Rubio. Visits a Tampa private school to tout his federal tax credit scholarship bill - and says nice things about public schools along the way. redefinED.
Teacher pay. Maybe teachers will get money for raises sooner rather than later after all. Miami Herald, Palm Beach Post, Orlando Sentinel, Associated Press.
School discipline. Hillsborough district officials are taking a closer look at the disproportionate number of suspensions for black males. Tampa Bay Times.
School turnarounds. Pinellas has five schools facing state intervention, but 11 other D schools may he headed that way, warns Superintendent Mike Grego, reports the Tampa Bay Times. Staff at the five must reapply for their jobs, reports the Tampa Tribune. (more…)
Legislature. The Senate Education Committee looks like it's done for the session, meaning bills like Sen. Jeff Brandes' micro-credits idea are stranded and maybe dead. Gradebook.
Charter schools. About 300 charter schools students lobby lawmakers for charter school funding, reports Naked Politics. Rep. George Moraitis, R-Fort Lauderdale, says he wants to remove a provision in his charter schools bill requiring districts to share unused facilities with charters, reports The Buzz. Pasco district officials debate errors in charter schools applications, reports Gradebook. The teachers at a closed-down Miami-Dade charter school earned state recognition money for an improved school grade, but district officials are having trouble finding them, reports the Miami Herald.
Magnet schools. The Polk school district is considering creating a K-12 arts system with an elementary and middle school in Lake Wales, where all the other schools are community-run charters. Lakeland Ledger.
Class size. Broward's progress in reducing class sizes to meet state law is resulting in some negative tradeoffs, like ballooning AP classes. Miami Herald. More from the South Florida Sun Sentinel. (more…)
Charter schools. Some big ideas on tap for today's discussion in the Senate Education Committee, including a proposal to let school districts start their own charter schools. Tampa Bay Times.
Tax credit scholarships. Jewish groups let lawmakers know much they value them. South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Parent trigger. Senate sponsor Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, crafts an amendment that would leave the final parent trigger decision to school boards, not the state Board of Education, reports the Tallahassee Democrat. Creative Loafing notes the parent trigger origins on the political left, but inaccurately writes that unlike California, "troubled schools singled out in the Sunshine State would be taken over by a for-profit corporation." Fund Education Now's Kathleen Oropeza pens an anti- parent trigger op-ed for the Gainesville Sun. Former state Sen. Paula Dockery pens one for the Miami Herald.
Virtual schools. SchoolZone writes up the proposed funding cut to Florida Virtual School.
Magnet schools. The proposed Senate budget includes $1.5 million for a proposed STEM magnet in Pasco. Tampa Bay Times. (more…)
Charter schools. Florida's first classical preparatory school, slated for opening this fall in Pasco, asks for a one-year delay so it can find better digs, reports Gradebook. A judge again rules in favor of allowing a Sarasota principal to temporarily stay as head of an Imagine charter school that wants to split from the parent company, reports the Sarasota Herald Tribune.
Magnet schools. Magnet Schools of America names Roosevelt Middle in West Palm a National Magnet School of Distinction. Extra Credit.
"Progressive" agenda. Self-styled progressive groups put forward a legislative agenda that includes "rejecting efforts to revive the so-called “parent trigger” bill and curtailing the use of private school vouchers, both of which slash public education funding while privatizing public education for corporate gain." Central Florida Political Pulse.
School recognition money. Gov. Rick Scott wants to increase the per-student amount from $93 to $125, notes Extra Credit. In Palm Beach, he hands out $14 million in checks to schools, reports the Palm Beach Post.
Sequestration. Potential effects on Head Start, reports StateImpact Florida. More from Naples Daily News.
Teacher evaluations. More than 100 people show up - including a number of upset teachers - to a Department of Education hearing about the new evals in Orange County, reports the Orlando Sentinel. A different take from the EdFly Blog. (more…)
Tutoring oversight. In the first part of a two-part series on a requirement initially mandated by No Child Left Behind, a Tampa Bay Times investigation finds at least 36 of 456 tutoring companies in Florida are headed by people with criminal records. In part two, the Times traces last year's last-minute legislative push to keep the mandate in place.
Educator oversight. Sarasota Herald Tribune: "As Bradenton police investigate allegations that a Manatee High School assistant football coach groped a female student, they are also trying to determine who knew about the girl's claims and why no one notified law enforcement as required by law."
Teacher bashing? A StateImpact Florida story headlined "Teachers Question Why Proposed Pay Raises Come Before Teacher Evaluations" quotes a single teacher who says, “For a while now we’ve been hearing how bad we are. [That] we need to weed out bad teachers, there’s so many bad teachers.” Ocala Star Banner editorial page editor Brad Rogers writes in this column: "There are so many wildly talented, caring and dedicated teachers in Marion County’s schools that unfairly take abuse and blame and criticism for what is wrong with our schools and our society, when in truth they represent what is most right and bright and promising about our schools and our society."
Teacher pay. Sen. Bill Galvano, chair of the Senate Education Appropriations Committee, suggests Gov. Rick Scott's proposal for across-the-board raises clashes with performance pay, reports the Florida Current. The South Florida Sun Sentinel also writes up the debate over proposals for higher teacher pay.
Strange bedfellows. The Florida Education Association plans to join the Florida Department of Education in fighting the Florida Times-Union's request for teacher evaluation data.
Tony Bennett. He talks to North Florida superintendents about teacher evals and notes he encouraged his daughter to become a teacher: "“I don’t want it written on my headstone: ‘Here lies the man that ruined the career his daughter chose.’ ” Tallahassee Democrat.
Teachers unions. The United Teachers of Dade will elect a new leader this week. Miami Herald. (more…)
New York: More than 1,000 charter school parents rally in Albany to convince the state to let charter schools compete for state funding for pre-K (Fox23 News).
Montana: Lawmakers hear from parents and other child advocates who want their state to open charter schools and support giving families more choices, such as tax credits (Great Falls Tribune). Bills to create a tax credit scholarship program pass out of committees on mostly party line votes (Helena Independent Record). More from the Billings Gazette.
Ohio: Half the students in the state would be eligible for private school vouchers under an expansion proposed by Gov. John Kasich to include all low-income children (ClevelandLeader.com).
Texas: House Speaker Joe Straus warns the Senate that it might not want to go "full bore'' on a school voucher bill, calling it an "exercise in futility'' (Dallas Morning News). Four groups aiming to open charter schools next year turn in applications that have material copied from other applications (Dallas Morning News).
Florida: The Florida House approved a bill that makes it easier for charter schools to grow, but calls for increased accountability (redefinED). The bill also gives charters greater access to district facilities, something one school official said would be a "logistical nightmare" (Palm Beach Post). More from Tallahassee Democrat. Private schools can apply to administer the FCAT, but, so far, only two have (Orlando Sentinel). (more…)
Charter schools. The Tampa Tribune writes up the latest report on charter laws from the National Association of Public Charter Schools and quotes Robert Haag, president and CEO of the Florida Consortium of Public Charter Schools: "You want choices for your child's education, just like anything else in life. You don't want to be stuck just going to Publix. You want to be able to go to Winn-Dixie or Whole Foods or any of those places."
The Pembroke Pines charter school system is battling the Broward school district for funding, reports the South Florida Sun Sentinel. An F-rated charter middle school in Orlando plans to ask the Orange County school district for designation as an alternative school, which wouldn't be graded, reports SchoolZone. The Orlando Sentinel editorial board doesn't like the idea of more construction money for charter schools - or the possibility of a parent trigger.
School spending. The Manatee school district's Fitch bond rating is downgraded from stable to negative, reports the Bradenton Herald. The district posts thousands of documents from the forensic audit into a $3.4 million deficit, the Herald also reports. The documents show a school board member forced former superintendent Tim McGonegal to resign after he learned of the deficit, reports the Sarasota Herald Tribune.
Following Florida: Nevada should adopt Florida's ed reforms, particularly its expansion of school choice options, says this op-ed in Nevada Business Magazine.
Rick Scott. As the governor woos teachers, the Tea Party scratches its head. Tampa Bay Times.
Exposed, again! Another news outlet gives space to the Jeb Bush corporate-connections-conspiracy story.
Teacher evaluations. The Tampa Bay Times offers an update on the Gates-funded effort in Hillsborough. A Flagler teacher will focus on teacher evaluations as a fellow with the Hope Street Group, a national public policy outfit, reports the Daytona Beach News Journal. (more…)
Rick Scott's proposed budget. Includes $1.2 billion more for public schools. Coverage from South Florida Sun Sentinel, Gainesville Sun, Fort Myers News Press, TCPalm.com, Associated Press, Pensacola News Journal. "A relief to educators," reports the Lakeland Ledger.
Digital education. Jeb Bush on CNN's Schools of Thought Blog: "Digital learning is just one important element of the overall school choice movement being celebrated during National School Choice week – and rightfully so. There is no silver bullet. There is no one-size-fits-all option. There can and must be only a proliferation of ever-growing options so that students and parents can embrace whatever educational scenario is best for them."
Exposed, day two! The Tampa Bay Times plugs the Jeb-Bush-corporate-connections-conspiracy "story" by offering a link from the front of its web site to The Buzz, which channels the "news" from, of all places, The Answer Sheet blog, which The Buzz curiously describes as merely "the Washington Post's education blog."
PTA activism award. The Florida chapter is honored for successfully defeating parent trigger legislation last year. Gradebook.
School spending. The Brevard school board considers a bus fee for students in choice programs. Florida Today.
Teacher pay raises. A constitutional amendment for that is a bad idea. Palm Beach Post.
ESE changes in Hillsborough. Latest from Tampa Bay Times and Tampa Tribune.
Concordant scores. They're out now. Tampa Bay Times.
PARCC. StateImpact Florida relays a DOE overview of the coming tests.
Superintendents. Manatee adds a sixth candidate, reports the Bradenton Herald and Sarasota Herald Tribune. Whoever he or she ultimately is "must have the skill set, character and strength to bring this district back from disaster," editorializes the Bradenton Herald.
Race to the Top. Florida is back on track a year after federal education officials warned it for falling behind on grant-funded projects. Associated Press.
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…)
No honeymoon for Bennett. Especially from the teachers union, reports WCTV. The new commissioner should resolve the bureaucratic limbo over concordant test scores needed for graduation, editorializes the Tampa Bay Times.
Pensions. It’s a political issue for 2014 now that the Florida Supreme Court has ruled against the teachers unions, writes the Sarasota Herald Tribune.
Writing. After last year’s reality check with FCAT writing, many schools changed their approach. Tampa Bay Times.
Teaching. Tampa Tribune columnist Steve Otto says the system is driving out good teachers like his wife.
Testing. Wendy Howard with the Florida Alliance for Choices in Education offers a defense of it in this Orlando Sentinel op-ed.
Scare tactics? How bleak is the budget situation in St. Lucie really? TCPalm.com
What really happened? A forensic audit of Manatee’s fiscal problems leaves unanswered questions. Bradenton Herald.
Perfect storm. A combination of factors led to Brevard’s budget crisis. Florida Today. (more…)
