Teacher tests: The Florida Department of Education says a historically high percentage of people who want to be teachers are failing the Florida Teacher Certification Exam, which was recently toughened by the state. And now fewer people are taking the test, as many as 10 percent fewer for some subject areas. "We have a real crisis," said Dr. Gloria Pelaez, St. Thomas University dean of the school of arts. "This is turning people, good intelligent people away," said Wendy Mungillo of the Manatee County School District. Melissa Smith, for example. She's taken and failed the test seven times, and has decided to leave the state and get a master's degree. Department of Education officials defend the tougher exams, saying they're in line with more rigorous tests students now take. WFTS.
Minorities and AP classes: A Palm Beach County School District analysis shows an "implicit bias" is in part responsible for lower minority participation in Advanced Placement classes. Minority students with comparable scores to white students are excluded from AP classes at a much higher rate than whites. That so-called "opportunity gap" also favors girls over boys, according to the analysis. “Students who have potential, why are they not in the courses?” Deputy Superintendent David Christiansen said. “There’s a significant gap there that we want to start to close.” Palm Beach Post.
Days lost to testing: Orange County teacher Peggy Dominguez tells a Senate committee meeting this week that she loses 37 days of her 180-day school year to preparing her students for the Florida Standards Assessments tests. Dominguez teaches English at Timber Creek High School. She and others testified about the downsides of the testing process. The Senate is considering a bill that would, among other things, push all testing to the final three weeks of the school year and authorize a study to see if the ACT or SAT tests can be used as a replacement for the FSA. Orlando Sentinel. (more…)
Education goals: The head of the Senate’s K-12 appropriations subcommittee wants to raise teacher pay by changing the state's teacher bonus plan, cut standardized testing and keep offering longer school days to the state's lowest-performing schools. State Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, outlined his 2017 legislative session goals during the subcommittee's first meeting. Politico Florida. News Service of Florida. WOFL.
Budget problems: Voters just approved a sales tax increase that will provide the Palm Beach County School District $1.4 billion over the next 10 years. But school officials say it isn't enough to offset cuts in funding from the state, and they expect to have to cut budgets for at least the next three years. Sun-Sentinel.
Pot dispensaries: Florida legislators should protect children by adopting laws that ban medical marijuana dispensaries within 2,500 feet of schools, forbid any products that look like candy, and ban the products on school property without supervision, members of the Miami-Dade County School Board say. Miami Herald.
Superintendent favorite: Diane Kornegay emerges as the consensus favorite to become the next Lake County school superintendent. Kornegay, who is deputy superintendent at the Clay County School District, is the only one of the six finalists who will be interviewed further Monday and Tuesday. If she's hired by the school board, Kornegay will succeed the retiring Susan Moxley. Orlando Sentinel. Daily Commercial. (more…)
Superintendent elections: Rocky Hanna soundly defeats incumbent Leon County School Superintendent Jackie Pons. Tallahassee Democrat. WFSU. Addison Davis is elected superintendent in Clay County. Florida Times-Union. Putnam County voters choose Rick Surrency as superintendent. Florida Times-Union. Kathy Burns is elected superintendent of Nassau County. Florida Times-Union. Malcolm Thomas wins a third term as Escambia County superintendent. Pensacola News Journal. Russell Hughes is elected superintendent for Walton County schools. Northwest Florida Daily News. Bill Husfelt is re-elected superintendent in Bay County. Panama City News Herald.
School board elections: School board results from around the state. Pinellas. Hillsborough. Hillsborough. Hernando. Miami-Dade. Orange. Lake. Lake. Palm Beach. Duval. Brevard. Lee. Polk. Polk. Indian River. Martin. Manatee. Manatee. Manatee. Flagler. Citrus.
School tax elections: Results of state school tax initiatives. Pinellas. Osceola. Palm Beach. Palm Beach. Manatee. Manatee. Alachua.
Retention rules: The Florida School Boards Association is lobbying legislators to clarify the law regarding the retention of third-graders. The group wants clearly defined promotion alternatives for students that consider both testing and achievement, an end to the reliance of a single testing result to determine retention, and local control over promotion decisions. Gradebook.
New superintendent: Tim Forson is picked by the school board to be the new superintendent of the St. Johns County School District. Forson, who retired last spring as deputy superintendent of operations after 36 years in the district, was the unanimous choice over Vickie Cartwright, who is the senior executive director for exceptional student education for the Orange County School District. Forson takes over Jan. 4 for the retiring Joe Joyner. St. Augustine Record. Florida Times-Union. (more…)
Middle school suicide: For the first time, suicide is claiming more U.S. middle school student lives than car crashes, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2014, 425 students between the ages of 10 and 14 killed themselves. The rate doubled in the years between 2007 and 2014. WUSF.
Dropout prevention: Intensive tracking of student progress is fueling a rapid rise in the graduation rate at Homestead Senior High School. In the 2010-2011 school year, 54.2 percent of seniors graduated. In 2014-2015 the rate was up to 68.4 percent, and school officials think they'll hit 72 percent this year. Frequent use of data is helping to identify students in trouble, and prompts the dropout prevention team into quick intervention. Miami Herald.
Dress code: A 16-year-old Ridgewood High School student who has had cancer twice was told last week that the cancer survivor t-shirt he wore to school violates the dress code. The code forbids wearing a shirt with a logo that takes up more than a quarter of the design. Tim Powers says he's disturbed the school wouldn't let his son Tyler wear the shirt. Daily Mail.
Bathroom rights: A lawsuit challenging the Duval County School District's policy allowing students to use the bathroom aligned with their gender identity has been dismissed. A lawyer for the challengers says the suit may be refiled, pending the results of other similar cases. Florida Times-Union.
Cutting costs: About 225 Hillsborough County support teachers and perhaps administrators are being assigned to classrooms as part of the district's cost-cutting plan. General fund reserves have dropped by more than $200 million since 2011. Tampa Bay Times. (more…)
Retention policies: The Orange County School District is considering having teachers build portfolios for all third-graders throughout the school year. Doing so would address a Leon County judge's concern that districts provide options for promotions to students who do poorly on state tests or opt out of them. The move comes even as the district appeals Judge Karen Gievers' decision that the state and six districts wrongly based promotion solely on state testing. Orlando Sentinel. The Pasco County School Board plans to adjust its student retention policy for third-graders to follow a judge's recent ruling even as it, too, appeals the decision. Pasco Superintendent Kurt Browning's memos says: "If teachers have evidence that a student who has refused to take the third grade (test) should be promoted based on IRLA (independent reading level assessment) evidence documented through SchoolPace and other independent performance samples, then the student should not be required to take an alternate assessment or attend reading camp." Gradebook.
Help for children: The Miami-Dade County School District is joining with other agencies in using data to identify children most at-risk of getting involved with violence. The coalition, named Together for Children, has identified 2,000 students who will get extra attention and guidance. The students are identified using six benchmarks: poor school attendance, behavioral issues, low test scores in math and reading, and math and reading skills that are below grade level. Miami Herald.
Teacher certification: Two influential south Florida legislators are advocating changes in the criteria for teacher certification. House representatives Manny Diaz of Hialeah and Michael Bileca of Miami, both Republicans, say altering the requirements could lead to more teachers with expertise in specific fields. Both say these types of teachers need more guidance with planning lessons and managing classrooms than with educational theory. redefinED.
District spending: The Hillsborough County School Board approves a $2.78 billion budget. Board members do have questions about the details, and Superintendent Jeff Eakins says he will provide answers later. When Eakins became superintendent, the district faced a $100 million shortfall. The budget would keep the district's reserves at $146 million. Tampa Bay Times. The Manatee County School Board unanimously approves a $692 million budget. Bradenton Herald. Major construction projects push the Indian River County School District budget to $51.9 million, an increase of more than $13 million from last year. TCPalm. The Marion County School Board approves a $522 million budget that includes about $150 million for building repairs and debt. The district plans to boost salaries by 3.6 percent. Ocala Star Banner. The Bay County School Board approves a $357.6 million budget, a $30 million increase over last year. Panama City News Herald. (more…)
Pledge problems: After some parents protested when their children brought home a waiver to opt out of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at school, the Leon County School District is removing the form from the student handbook. The district apologized for the confusion, and now will simply ask parents to sign a form confirming they have read the handbook, which describes the process to opt out of saying the Pledge. WTXL. WTVT. Tallahassee Democrat. WFSU. WCTV.
School testing: Scores on the most recent ACT tests show that many graduating seniors are unprepared for college-level classes. The average test score dipped from 21.0 to 20.8, and only 38 percent of students achieved the benchmark in at least three of the four core subjects tested - reading, English, math and science. In Florida, 81 percent of graduating students took the ACT, and the average score was 19.9. Associated Press. The Lee County School Board reluctantly passes a testing schedule for the school year. "Is it what we want? Probably not. Is it the best that staff said it could come up with, where it would be approved by the state? Yes, at this time," said board member Jeanne Dozier. Fort Myers News-Press.
Defining participant: The act of participating in the Florida Standards Assessments testing is defined by the state as answering a single question, deputy education commissioner Juan Copa said this week in a court hearing over the state's third-grade retention policies. Answering one question allows a school to count that student in the participation rate, which is important because schools must have a rate of 95 percent or lose money from the state. Copa also said the definition of participating may change from year to year. Gradebook. Both sides are awaiting a ruling by a Leon County judge on the retention case that is narrow in focus but could have a huge impact on the state's accountability system. Orlando Sentinel.
Education poll: Support for charter schools, school testing and merit pay for teachers is rising among Americans, but declining for Common Core standards, school vouchers and teacher tenure, according to an annual survey by the journal Education Next. Orlando Sentinel. Politico. (more…)
School budgeting: The Pinellas County School Board approves a preliminary budget of $1.5 billion that includes a slightly lower tax millage rate. But higher property values will raise tax revenues by more than $4 million. Tampa Bay Times. The Lee County School Board approves a $1.4 billion budget. It set a lower tax millage rate, which are more than offset by higher property values. The district expects 92,000 students. Fort Myers News-Press. The Polk County School Board approves a $1.2 billion budget that keeps the reserve fund at 5 percent. Lakeland Ledger. The Manatee County School Board approves a $608 million tentative budget. Bradenton Herald. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. The Collier County School Board tentatively approves a $972 million budget, an increase of $85 million from last year. Naples Daily News. The Leon County School Board approves a $498 million budget, which school officials are calling tight. Tallahassee Democrat.
New school programs: Fourteen Duval County schools are getting new programs for the upcoming school year, the district announces. The goal, says Superintendent Nikolai Vitti, is to give neighborhood children a reason for choosing their local schools instead of going to private schools. Florida Times-Union.
Virtual school ads: Florida Virtual School nearly doubles its advertising budget in an effort to bring in more students. The system is adding $1 million to its advertising budget for TV and radio spots and billboards. About 5,600 students are now enrolled. Orlando Sentinel.
Strong sales tax: St. Johns County School Superintendent Joe Joyner says the extra half-cent sales tax is on track to bring in $17 million this year - almost $4 million more than originally forecast. The tax helps the district with construction, technology upgrades and security improvements. St. Augustine Record. (more…)
School budgeting: Property owners in Orange and Seminole counties can expect to pay more in school taxes this year. The millage rates for the districts will be slightly lower, but increases in property values will more than offset the millage declines. Orange County is projecting a school budget of more than $3.5 billion. Seminole County's budget is set at $951 million. Orlando Sentinel. The Volusia County School Board will consider a budget of $847 million that still leaves the district $9 million short of what it had hoped to spend. Daytona Beach News-Journal. The Manatee County School District will use about $4 million from its general reserves to balance its $608 million budget. But its reserves will still meet the state minimum of 3 percent, officials say. Bradenton Herald.
School suspensions: Bay County School District suspensions hit a seven-year high, even as state suspensions are at a three-year low. More than 3,000 students - 1 in 10 - were suspended in 2014-2015 school year. School officials say they are working on alternatives. Panama City News Herald.
School construction: School construction projects could be moved up under a Broward County School District proposal that will be reviewed by the school board this week. The projects originally scheduled for 2018 and 2019 would be undertaken in 2017. Voters approved a bond proposal in 2014 to repair schools. Sun-Sentinel.
Gifted program: The Duval County School District plans to expand the number and type of gifted middle school programs. But so far, the school board has called for revisions to the district's plans. Florida Times-Union.
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LGBT policies: The Brevard County School Board approves a non-discrimination policy for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender staff and students. The debate took six hours and the vote was 3-2 on the controversial measure, which would also ban discrimination on the basis of pregnancy. Florida Today. The Hillsborough County School District is planning a universal bathroom in every school in order to accommodate transgender students and others who don't wish to use communal bathrooms. Administrators also undergo training for sensitivity. Tampa Bay Times. WFLA. WTSP.
Charter schools: University Preparatory Academy becomes the fifth charter school to close in Pinellas County this year. The school's governing board was expected to present the district with a new operating plan, but instead announced it would close. Pinellas officials will try to keep the school open as a district school. Tampa Bay Times. The Pasco County School District is recommending to the school board that the Athenian Academy of Pasco be given a five-year contract extension. The charter school has clashed with the district in the past, but the school has no financial issues and received a passing grade from the state (a D). Gradebook.
School uniforms: The Pasco County School Board tentatively approves dress codes for Ridgewood High School and Hudson Elementary School. At Ridgewood, students would wear collared polo shirts and khaki, blue or black pants. Hudson's students would wear red or blue polo shirts and khaki or blue pants, shorts or skirts. Gradebook.
Educational politics: While Florida's education policies have been designed largely by the Republicans who dominate the state Legislature, there are several differences between them and the policies in the Republican Party's national platform. Politico Florida. (more…)
