A coalition of private schools which accept publicly funded scholarships for students with disabilities says a majority of their members would no longer take the scholarships if they were required to administer the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. In a letter posted on the redefinED blog, the Coalition of McKay Scholarship Schools says their member survey [...]
For the first time, a majority of experts surveyed by a Washington D.C.-based education consulting are concerned about the progress Florida and 21 other states are making developing the next generation of standardized test. A majority of “political and policy insiders” Whiteboard Advisors surveyed said the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers [...]
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was in Sarasota Thursday, laying out his ideas for improving the economy. Romney’s five-point plan included an education plank. Romney praised former Gov. Jeb Bush and borrowed a key idea. He also pledged to allow federal dollars to follow the student, which would let parents to better choose the best [...]
The Lumina Foundation hosted a panel discussion in Ybor City Tuesday discussing the importance of graduating students with a post-secondary degree. The foundation, which is an underwriter of StateImpact Florida, has one big goal: to increase the percentage of Americans with high-quality degrees to 60 percent by 2025. According to a report by the Georgetown University Center [...]
Gov. Rick Scott is drawing a line on tuition hikes this year. He wants state universities to find other ways to deal with budget cuts. At a contentious Board of Governors meeting in June, many universities asked for the maximum tuition increase. A few got it; most did not. But some colleges are heeding Scott’s [...]
Florida pays International Pearson Inc. millions of dollars to administer the FCAT during its current five year contract – $249 million dollars to be exact. But Pearson also spends money – up to $800,000 - to lobby state legislators, as central Florida’s WFTV reports. Public records show Pearson spent at least $580,000 on lobbyists since 2007. This [...]
How does a science lesson turns Kafkaesque? Blogger Robert Krampf got a taste of the absurdist ends to which author Franz Kafka used bureaucrats when he brought concerns about practice questions on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test science exam to the state Department of Education. Krampf found four of 25 practice science questions used inaccurate [...]
Florida has been holding back third graders who fail the state reading exam since 2003. Now Colorado, Iowa, New Mexico and Tennessee are trying to mirror Florida’s policy, according to The Wall Street Journal. But is Florida’s policy a good one? Jaryn Emhof, with the Foundation for Florida’s Future said third grade is the most important [...]
Florida lawmakers agree on one issue: Charter schools need more money for renovations, equipment and software. But House lawmakers have rejected a proposal that school districts say would take money from their traditional public schools and give it to charter schools. Committee chairman Rep. Marti Coley, R-Marianna, said lawmakers need to find a funding solution [...]
Some Tampa Bay lawmakers are reacting with anger and defiance to a Senate proposal to cut 58 percent of state funding for the University of South Florida. Those proposed cuts are more than twice as big as the proposed reductions for other universities, according to an analysis by USF. Senate Finance Chairman J.D. Alexander of [...]
StateImpact seeks to inform and engage local communities with broadcast and online news focused on how state government decisions affect your lives.
Learn More »