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…)
Bright Futures: The Senate passes a higher education bill that would allocate $151 million to restore Bright Futures funding to 100 percent and allow recipients to use the scholarships for summer classes. Also in the bill are a scholarship program for migrant workers and their children and an expansion of benefits to National Merit Scholars. Miami Herald. Sunshine State News. Politico Florida. News Service of Florida. The bill is a top priority for Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, but he somehow missed the vote even though he was present in the chamber. He said he intended to vote after the roll call, but it was locked down before he could. Miami Herald.
Education budget cuts: Rep. Manny Diaz, Jr., R-Hialeah, says he will release details next week on a pair of House education budget-cutting exercises. One of the plans trims higher education and K-12 spending by $232.7 million, while the other cuts $485 million. Diaz says specific cuts under the plans may or may not be part of the House's final education budget. Politico Florida.
Guns in schools: Two Republican senators from Miami-Dade can control gun bill votes on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and one of them has publicly stated she opposes the guns in school zones proposal. Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, also opposes several other gun-related bills, but says that doesn't mean she would oppose any gun bill. Sen. René García, R-Hialeah, says he can't support any gun bill that doesn't include a mental health component. Miami Herald. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
AP test improvements: Florida is fourth among U.S. states in the percentage of graduating seniors who passed at least one Advanced Placement exam, and more than half the growth came from low-income students, according to the Florida Department of Education. The percentage of low-income graduating seniors in Florida who passed an AP exam went up 500 percent from 2006 to 2016. redefinED. (more…)
Recognition money: The Florida Department of Education is handing out 36 percent less recognition money to schools this year. Last year, 1,673 schools received $134.58 million. This year, 1,226 schools are getting $85.7 million. State officials say the decline is due to the number of schools with A grades falling from 1,184 to 754. Officials attribute to decline to harder Florida Standards Assessments tests and higher standards for individual school grading. Florida Times-Union.
Testing cutbacks: Another bill is filed in the Florida Senate that would push most state-mandated testing to the end of the school year, but this one also calls for an end to five specific exams, state oversight of teacher evaluations and the rules that tie teacher evaluations to student test scores. It also wants a written alternative to computers and allow districts to use national tests like the ACT or SAT instead of the 10th-grade language arts section of the Florida Standards Assessments. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee, and Sen. Rene Garcia, R-Hialeah, would kill the ninth-grade language arts Florida Standards Assessments test and end-of-course exams in Algebra 2, civics, geometry and U.S. history. Orlando Sentinel.
House vs. feds: The Florida House Education Committee will consider a resolution Tuesday that asks Congress to "end all current, and prohibit any further, interference by the United States Department of Education with respect to public school governance." The resolution also asks Congress to turn Title 1 funding for low-income children and IDEA Part B funding for disabled students into block grants controlled by the states. Gradebook.
Teacher evaluations: There are more than 2,800 teachers in the Manatee County School District, and only three received unsatisfactory evaluations. Two others were told they needed to improve. "Highly effective" was the evaluation 48.1 percent of the teachers received. Fifty percent were judged to be "effective" and 8 percent weren't evaluated at all, according to Florida Department of Education statistics. Teachers with highly effective ratings in other state districts ranged from 97 percent in Okaloosa County to 6 percent in Putnam County. Teachers suggest the disparity in the numbers points to the pointlessness of the evaluation process. Bradenton Herald. (more…)
