Testing. More districts cut back end-of-course exams. Gainesville Sun. Bradenton Herald. Some Tampa Bay districts hesitate to follow suit. Tampa Bay Times. Others try to reduce testing stakes for students. Orlando Sentinel. Fort Myers News-Press. A Senator proposes amendments to a school choice bill that would cancel the state's education standards and testing contract. Orlando Sentinel. One district gets approval for extra testing time. Orlando Sentinel.
Charter schools. The state, not districts, should fund charter school facilities, the Tampa Tribune argues in an editorial.
Magnet schools. Hillsborough's ousted superintendent wins a national magnet school award. Tampa Tribune.
Superintendents. Hillsborough's new superintendent outlines his goals. Tampa Tribune. Manatee's Rick Mills gets school board approval to step down. Bradenton Herald. Palm Beach's incoming superintendent will likely start his real job early rather than begin with a $40,000 consulting contract. Palm Beach Post. Sun-Sentinel.
School boards. A dissident Volusia school board member says district officials harassed his family and associates as he mounted his campaign. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Special needs. A student's injury at a district ESE center prompts formal complaints. Lakeland Ledger. College opportunities for special needs students are among the likely casualties of the Florida House's abrupt departure from Tallahassee. Times/Herald. (more…)
School boards. Volusia County's school board chairwoman says she plans to join new organization of pro-school-choice school board members. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Charter schools. A long-shot bill could dramatically slow the growth of Florida charter schools. Naples Daily News.
Testing. School district superintendents raise computerized testing concerns. Gradebook. Palm Beach Post. Lawmakers are under pressure to address testing issues in the upcoming legislative session. Associated Press.
Black history. Hillsborough schools plan to revamp their black history curriculum. Tampa Bay Times. A Manatee County school honors its namesake during Black History Month. Bradenton Herald.
Superintendents. A Georgia superintendent wins a national award over Hillsborough's MaryEllen Elia. Tampa Bay Times. Tampa Tribune.
Performance. Pasco schools aim to set a holistic set of school performance goals. Tampa Bay Times.
Ousters. Both the president and presdent-elect of the Florida School Boards Association are ousted in elections in which school choice figures prominently. Indian River Press Journal. Central Florida News 13. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Charter schools. A pair of charter school supporters seek Collier school board seats. One prevails. Naples Daily News. A charter school administrator defeats a Walton incumbent. Northwest Florida Daily News.
Incumbents. Sitting school board members have good Election Nights in Alachua County, Tampa Bay and South Florida. Gradebook. Miami Herald. Sun-Sentinel. Palm Beach Post. Gainesville Sun. A Broward incumbent overcomes an N-word controversy. Miami Herald.
Runoffs. School board races aren't over in Hillsborough, Marion, Putnam and Manatee Counties. Tampa Bay Times. Ocala Star-Banner. Florida Times-Union. Bradenton Herald.
Gestures. Two Volusia school board candidates pledge to donate their salaries. Orlando Sentinel.
Budgets. School tax referenda pass in Orange and Volusia Counties Orlando Sentinel. WKMG.
Testing. A standardized testing critic wins a school board seat in Lee County. Fort Myers News-Press.
Labor. Meanwhile, Brevard approves a new teacher contract. Florida Today.
Security. The Manatee school board delays a vote on hiring a private security firm. Bradenton Herald.
Adult education. A 79-year-old woman earns a high school diploma. Panama City News Herald.
Charter schools. A split Bay County School Board gives an extension to a financially troubled charter school. Panama City News Herald.
Class size amendment. The Sarasota district utilizes more mixed-grade classrooms this year in an effort to comply. Sarasota Herald Tribune.
School closings. Broward Superintendent Robert Runcie announces the district will close one special needs school but keep another open. Miami Herald and South Florida Sun Sentinel. Port Canaveral may come to the rescue of three Brevard schools slated for closing, reports Florida Today.
School safety. The Bradenton Herald offers its thumbs up or down on this year's raft of school security bills, but doesn't mention the one that would require safety alerts for private schools.
School choice. The St. Lucie County district makes changes to its student assignment plan, including limiting choice options to some students in an effort to keep down cost, reports TCPalm.com.
Teacher conduct. A Clearwater teacher is accused of abusing two special needs students, reports the Tampa Bay Times. More from the Tampa Tribune. A Pinellas Park High School teacher is arrested in a teacher conduct case for reportedly having a sexual relationship with a students, the Times also reports. A parallel story involving teacher conduct in Orange County, reports the Orlando Sentinel. (more…)
There are times when it’s appropriate for a journalist to boil down a story into a he-said, she-said. And there are times when it’s just lackluster reporting.
As Jon East has noted in this blog post and this op-ed, Florida’s Amendment 8 – the “religious freedom amendment” – is not about private school vouchers. It’s clear if you look at the legal history for private education options in Florida. It’s clear if you look to see who is and isn’t bankrolling the campaign.
And yet, one news story after another has allowed the Florida Education Association, the Florida School Boards Association and other school choice critics to posit that it is about vouchers – and to let those assertions go unchallenged. Often it’s in terms so deep into an alternate reality, they beg for a little scrutiny. According to the Gainesville Sun, for example, an Alachua County School Board member described Amendment 8 as “the very death of public schools.”
With six weeks left before the vote, statements like these are surfacing in major newspapers nearly every day. Here are a few examples, along with how the story captures the legislative intent of the amendment, the constitutional underpinnings of school vouchers, the lack of a campaign or financial support by school voucher advocates, the factual history of private options in a state that now provides them to more than 200,000 students, or just some form of a statement from those with an opposing view:
From the South Florida Sun Sentinel (Aug. 21):
“Amendment 8 would remove the long-standing restriction in the Florida Constitution that prohibits the expenditure of public funds to support religious programs," the resolution (from the Broward County School Board) reads. "Passage of Amendment 8 could result in state funds being awarded to non-public schools, instead of allocated to support public and charter schools.”
The resolution stops short of saying whether those would be good or bad outcomes, but it was obvious where board members stood.
"We have a limited amount of resources, and you would continue to strain the resources for public and charter schools," board member Robin Bartleman said.
Response from other side: None
Supporting evidence: None
***
From the Daytona Beach News Journal (Sept. 15):
The title and wording of the amendment were the subject of a lawsuit in which Ormond Beach school principal Susan Persis and Palm Coast rabbi Merrill Shapiro were plaintiffs.
They and other representatives of school-related organizations and clergy tried to get the amendment thrown off the ballot, but a judge allowed it to go before voters after Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi rewrote the proposal.
Persis said she fears passage of Amendment 8 would divert money from public schools to religious ones. "This would further reduce funding for public education," said Persis, who's principal of Pine Trail Elementary. "Any further reduction will be devastating to our schools." (more…)
