Teacher bonuses: Each Florida school district will be responsible for determining the eligibility of teachers for state bonuses under the "Best & Brightest" teacher bonuses program, the Department of Education says. The program was redefined as part of the new education bill, H.B. 7069, which also calls for $1,200 payments to teachers rated "highly effective," up to $800 for those rated "effective," plus bonuses for those teachers who scored in the top 20 percent on the SAT or ACT test. Teachers are expected to receive the bonuses April 1. Principals are also eligible for bonuses for the first time, but the state has yet to say how that program will work. Miami Herald.
H.B. 7069: Orange County School Board members informally say they are likely to join the lawsuit against the new state education law, H.B. 7069. All eight members support the suit, saying the law infringes on the authority of school boards and could hurt students. The board expects to take an official, binding vote next week. Orlando Sentinel. WMFE. Florida Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, has removed state Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, from his assignment as chairman of a Senate budget subcommittee for pre-K-12 education. Replacing him is first-term Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples. Simmons angered many Republican leaders by voting against the House's top priority, H.B. 7069. Negron denies the change was made as punishment. Gradebook. Naples Daily News. News Service of Florida. Politico Florida. Simmons says he plans to remain involved in education issues. Gradebook.
Eclipse schedules: School districts around the state are deciding if their students will be permitted to view the solar eclipse Monday, and if they will be, how they might do so safely. Sun-Sentinel. Gradebook. WPLG. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Bradenton Herald. Ocala Star-Banner. Daytona Beach News-Journal. Flagler Live. WFTV. Florida Today. WQAM. Panama City News Herald. Lakeland Ledger. WJAX. WFLA. WTSP.
S.B. 374 veto: Gov. Rick Scott vetoes the Legislature's higher education bill, S.B. 374, saying it shortchanges community colleges. "While the bill makes positive changes to several State University System programs, and there are many provisions I think would be good for students, it does so at the expense of the Florida College System," Scott wrote in his veto letter. The bill, the top priority for Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, also includes a significant expansion of the Bright Futures scholarship program. That and other programs that expand financial aid won't be affected this year because they're also embedded in the overall budget bill, says Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton. Scott is urging legislators to make the Bright Futures changes permanent during next year's session. Miami Herald. Orlando Sentinel. News Service of Florida. Florida Politics. Politico Florida. Sunshine State News. The governor signs 28 other bills, including a measure to study school crossings for potential safety improvements. Palm Beach Post.
H.B. 7069: Despite reports that Gov. Scott will sign H.B. 7069 today in Orlando, State Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, is holding out hope that the bill will be vetoed and reworked. Gradebook. Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, a Republican candidate for governor, says he remains troubled by the secret process used to put together the education bill. Tampa Bay Times. Here's a summary of some of the things that will happen if H.B. 7069 is signed. Palm Beach Post. Brevard County school officials say they're behind in the budget process because they still doesn't know how much money they'll be getting from the state. Florida Today. The Volusia County School District should receive about $4.5 million more than expected from the state, after the increases approved in the legislative special session, but school officials say they still face a $2.42 million budget deficit. Daytona Beach News-Journal. The Charlotte County School District will receive about 1.7 percent more per student than originally expected from the state. Charlotte Sun.
Charters win in court: A circuit judge rules that five charter schools in Indian River County are entitled to their fair share of a tax approved by voters and collected by the school district for operations. The charters have received about 5 percent of the tax since the 2013-2014 school year, as determined by the school board, but contended they deserved 12 percent. The judge agreed, saying the charter schools should receive a proportional amount based on enrollment. The school board will have to decide whether to appeal. TCPalm. The ruling could have implications for Palm Beach County. Palm Beach Post. (more…)
Education bill: The Florida Senate votes to override Gov. Rick Scott's veto of the K-12 education bill. Senate Appropriations chairman Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, says the vote is "an insurance policy" to keep schools operating after June 30 in case no agreement can be reached on education spending during the special session. That seems increasingly possible, as Senate and House leaders continue to bicker over details of the bill and other issues. Miami Herald. Orlando Sentinel. Palm Beach Post. News Service of Florida. Florida Politics. Miami Herald. Associated Press. Politico Florida. Tallahassee Democrat. State Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, proposes using $215 million earmarked in H.B. 7069 for teacher bonuses and charter schools to increase funding for public schools. Miami Herald. Politico Florida. redefinED. School officials in Volusia, Flagler, Lee and Levy counties like some aspects of the education bill, but are urging Gov. Scott to veto it primarily because of the additional money that would go to charter schools. Daytona Beach News-Journal. Fort Myers News-Press. Cedar Key Beacon. Manatee County school officials worry about the education bill's restrictions on how districts can spend federal Title I money. Bradenton Herald.
Early-release days: Brevard County school officials want to move early-release days from Wednesdays to Fridays. They say the proposal would help students who are dual-enrolled at Eastern Florida State College, which doesn't hold classes on Fridays. The district and the teachers union must agree on the proposed change. Florida Today. WKMG.
Ex-principal defended: Pinellas County School Board member Linda Lerner defends a principal who made racially charged comments and has since retired. Lerner says Christine Hoffman, formerly the principal at the mostly black Campbell Park Elementary School in St. Petersburg, made a mistake by telling the staff working on student class assignments that the school's "white students should be in the same class." Lerner said: "Sometimes white people say something racially insensitive. ... One mistake should not ruin a career." Gradebook. (more…)
Education budget debate: Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, says he wants additional property tax money to provide two-thirds of the extra $215 million Gov. Rick Scott has proposed for K-12 schools. The proposal is opposed by the House, which has been adamantly against higher local property taxes for education. Negron has several other items on his agenda for the session that appear to be outside of the agreement reportedly reached Friday among him, Scott and House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O'Lakes. Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times. Palm Beach Post. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Associated Press. Politico Florida. Senators have been assured that there will be a "full and open" discussion about the proposed education bill during the Legislature's special session today through Friday, says Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, who is chairman of the Senate PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee. Simmons, who voted against H.B. 7069, says improving the bill would be better than killing it, though he also says "it's got to be gotten rid of unless we can improve it." Gradebook. Sen. Rene Garcia, R-Hialeah, says he's "not comfortable supporting any compromise" on boosting K-12 funding for 2017-18 that fails "to address the erosion of Florida's commitment to public education that is contained in H.B. 7069." Garcia joined Simmons and Sen. Denise Grimsley of Sebring as the only Republicans voting against the bill. Miami Herald.
Charter schools: Sarasota County School Board members heatedly debate the charter school provisions in the state education budget. It began when one member asked others to sign a letter to Gov. Scott asking him to veto H.B. 7069, which drew objections from other board members and finally provoked this comment from board chair Caroline Zucker: "If you can’t sit here and vote for public school children, then you don’t belong on this board. Because this is what we are — public school advocates.” Sarasota Herald-Tribune. The Duval County School Board approves two charter schools, renews contracts for three others and approves the merger of two charter schools into one. One of the new schools was approved despite concerns from some board members. "It is very frustrating having to sit here and approve a charter school ... when the (district) schools around them are not failing; they are performing well," said board member Warren Jones. Florida Times-Union. The Atlanta School Board rejects an application from the SLAM Academy of Miami to open a charter school. The board cited the school's over-reliance on an outside management company. SLAM (short for Sports Leadership and Management) is known for its connection to Miami rapper Pitbull. Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Money for Jewish schools: Among the bills Gov. Scott has signed is one that provides $654,000 to boost security at Jewish schools. The schools and community centers were the target of threats earlier this year. Orlando Sentinel. (more…)
Secret budget meeting? A Democratic legislator says six senators hashed out a deal on the K-12 education budget last week in secret in a separate room at the back of the Senate chambers. Sen. Oscar Braynon, D-Miami Gardens, disclosed the meeting while speaking at a meeting of Democrats on Monday. Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, disputed Braynon's account, saying no such meeting took place. Miami Herald. The Palm Beach County School Board website urges parents to lobby Gov. Rick Scott to veto the state budget. Palm Beach Post. Bay County School District officials say they'll have to eliminate eight programs if the education bill becomes law. Panama City News Herald. St. Johns County school officials say they'll lose $1 million under the education bill. St. Augustine Record. Hillsborough County School Superintendent Jeff Eakins says the state budget could force the district to initiate a hiring freeze. Tampa Bay Times. State Rep. Jason Fischer, R-Jacksonville, a sponsor of the education bill, defends it in an interview. WJAX.
Charter schools: Charter school advocates are celebrating the education bill passed by the Legislature. Naples Daily News. Chris Moya, a lobbyist for a charter school company, calls the education bill a victory for students, but thinks it will end up in court. WFSU.
Teacher honored: Vanessa Ko, a math teacher at Palm Harbor Middle School in Pinellas County, is named one of five finalists for the 2018 Florida teacher of the year award by the Department of Education. Ko was awarded $5,000. The winner will be announced July 13. Gradebook. (more…)
Sen. Aaron Bean
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved two bills today aimed at providing aid for struggling schools and attracting nationally recognized charters to their neighborhoods.
Together, the bills are similar to the House’s ‘Schools of Hope,’ a $200 million plan to move students from struggling public schools into new schools operated by nationally recognized charter school operators.
But at the same time, the Senate bills have key differences — including an uncertain price tag.
The committee approved SB 796, by Sen. Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, which aims to attract “high-impact” charter schools to Florida.
The legislation requires charter school organizations to prove to the state Board of Education they have a track record of achieving results with low-income students. (more…)
Leon County parent Jeanne Boggs testifies before the Florida Senate Education Committee.
SB 902, by Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, would expand eligibility for the program to include children who are deaf or visually impaired, as well as those with rare diseases or traumatic brain injuries. It defines rare diseases as those affecting populations of fewer than 200,000 in the United States.
In what became a theme for the meeting, Simmons said the program does not hurt public schools but assists them.
“The Gardiner scholarships have shown that there is no one size that fits all to helping these children and these families with these kinds of challenges,” he said. “These are extreme challenges, challenges which those who have faced them, most have stood up and met those challenges. This is one tool that we as a government can, in fact, help these children and these families.”
The scholarships are worth approximately 90 percent of the amount the state would spend to educate a child in public schools. Parents are able to use the money to pay for private-school tuition, homeschool curriculum, therapies, public-school courses, college savings and other approved education-related expenses.
Step Up For Students, which publishes this blog, helps administer the program. It serves more than 7,700 students this school year, which makes it the largest education savings account program in the nation.
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Education budgets: Leaders in the Florida House and Senate may be $538 million apart in their proposed education budgets, but both seem optimistic there's enough middle ground to strike a deal. House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O'Lakes, says talks are collegial and he expects the differences to be "smoothed over." Senate PreK-12 Appropriations chairman David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, praised several programs in the House budget, particularly the $200 million proposal to create "schools of hope" - charter school options for persistently low-performing schools. "We are all on the same team," Simmons said. Meanwhile, the Senate passes its $85 billion spending bill. That's $4 billion more than the House budget, which is expected to be approved in that chamber today. Gradebook. Politico Florida. Support for the "schools of hope" program are divided along party lines. Leading Democrats are blasting the proposal, saying it will shortchange struggling schools that are already burdened by Legislature-imposed restrictions the charter schools do not have. Republicans dismiss the objections, saying the state cannot be content with 70,000 students stuck for years in persistently low-performing schools. Miami Herald. redefinED. Florida Politics. Sunshine State News. Politico Florida. Capitol News Service. WFSU.
Facilities funding: Two groups with different constituencies are lining up to fight the bill that determines how much state funding traditional public schools and charter schools get for facilities. Democrats are trying to amend Senate Bill 376, which would require school districts to share facilities funding with charter schools. They want to allow local districts to raise more money through property taxes, cap the amount charter schools can get and give local school boards the authority to decide on sharing. Meanwhile, charter school companies are fighting a clause denying funds to charter schools that receive D grades from the state for two straight years. Politico Florida. redefinED.
Chronic absenteeism: Kindergartners have the highest rate of chronic absenteeism of any grade in the Sarasota County School District. Students are judged to be chronically absent if they miss 21 or more days of schools. In the 2015-2016 school year, 8 percent of the district's kindergartners had at least that many absences. “It really matters because kindergarten is where they’re really learning to read rather than reading to learn,” said Sarah Mickley, a kindergarten teacher at Bay Haven School of Basics Plus. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
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Education budget plans: The Senate appropriations subcommittee approves a plan to increase preK-12 education spending by $535 million. The panel chairman, Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, says retaining current property tax rates would let localities collect hundreds of millions of dollars more as property values increase. “We don’t consider the additional amount of taxes they pay to be a tax increase. We consider it incidental to the increase in value in the property,” Simmons said, as a response to the House's insistence that it is a tax increase. The Senate and House education budgets are now almost $540 million apart. The Senate budget also includes no money for the teacher bonuses program. Simmons implied the program would become part of negotiations between the Senate and House, which has $214 million set aside for the bonus program. News Service of Florida. Politico Florida. Miami Herald. Naples Daily News. WFSU.
School improvement: The House Education Committee takes up a school improvement bill today that would set aggressive requirements for districts to turn around academically struggling schools. Turnaround plans would be required for schools receiving D or F grades from the state just a few months after the grades are issued. If the plans do not raise the school grade to a C within three years, the schools would be labeled "persistently low-performing" and districts would have to close them, convert them to a charter, or bring in an outside operator. Districts would no longer have the option of carrying out their own turnaround plans. redefinED. Gradebook.
School HQ evacuated: An infestation of vermin and blow flies has forced the evacuation of the Okaloosa County School District Administrative Complex in Fort Walton Beach. The administration and school board members will work from the Niceville Central Complex until further notice. "I'm not going to have them stay some place that I'm not going to stay in," says Superintendent Mary Beth Jackson. "We've tried to put Band-Aids on and fix it, but I'm afraid we may be a bit past that now." Northwest Florida Daily News.
Charter school laws: Florida ranks eighth in the nation in a recent analysis of states' charter school laws, according to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. Indiana was rated No. 1. Florida ranks highly on autonomy and accountability, for not having caps on the number of charter schools allowed, and for providing a strong appeals process for applicants that are denied. The report notes that state still provides inequitable funding to charter schools. redefinED. (more…)
Teacher pay: Prospects for a statewide $200 million raise in pay for teachers have dimmed after proponent Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, says he is no longer pursuing the hike. Instead, Simmons says, he is backing an expansion of the teacher bonuses program, known as the Best and Bright Teacher Scholarship. Both the Senate and House are considering bills that would increase the money for bonuses and widen eligibility. Naples Daily News.
Public education spending: The true cost of educating one public school student in Florida for a year is $10,308, according to a report from Florida TaxWatch. The Florida Education Finance Program funding formula expenditure was $7,178 per student for the 2015-2016 school year. But TaxWatch says other tax dollars spent by districts take the total spending per student to more than $10,000. redefinED.
Protecting undocumented: The Miami-Dade County School Board declares its district a safe zone for undocumented immigrant students, and will review what else it can do to protect those students from U.S. immigration officials. The intent, says board member Lubby Navarro, is “to ensure that our schools are safe havens for all students and that this message resonates throughout entire communities, our neighborhoods, our barrios, so that everyone knows that our schools are safe for our children and our families.” Miami Herald.
Teacher program: The Palm Beach County School District and Nova Southeastern University will partner to create a teacher-training program that promises students jobs in the district after graduation. Students will be paid substitute teachers during their senior year at Nova, and will be offered fulltime teaching positions when they graduate as long as they meet certification and other requirements. Nova is hoping to enter into similar partnerships with Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Sun-Sentinel. (more…)
