This week the controversial parent trigger bill died in the Florida Senate on a tie vote — for the second year in a row. Supporters quickly announced they wouldn’t give up on the bill, but their attempts to fire up an online campaign didn’t quite work out the way they planned.
The session’s most controversial education bill — the parent trigger — hits the Senate floor today. The bill would allow the majority of parents at a school earning a failing grade to choose how to restructure the school. The options include closing the school, firing the principal or staff and converting to a charter school. [...]
Supporters of the parent trigger bill held a briefing with reporters today near the Capitol. The briefing was hosted by Patricia Levesque, executive director of the Foundation for Florida’s Future. The foundation was created by former Gov. Jeb Bush. The group is staunchly behind proposed legislation titled Parent Empowerment in Education (SB862/HB867). It’s much better [...]
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook Michelle Rhee, the education firebrand/lightning rod who is the former chancellor of Washington, D.C. public schools, sat down for an interview with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show last night. Rhee founded education advocacy [...]
California-based StudentsFirst has released a report card grading states on their education policy. Florida earned the second-highest grade in the country, a B-, behind only Louisiana. No state earned an A. The biggest reason Florida scored well? The 2011 Students Success Act, which requires teacher evaluations partially based on test scores, eliminates long-term contracts for [...]
Gov. Scott has been talking about education a lot recently. Analysts say it’s an issue that might play well for his reelection. But there’s a conspicuous absence from the education agenda he released Thursday: The parent trigger. Last year the parent trigger was the most devisive education issue of the Legislative session. The bill died [...]
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will attend a screening of a new movie dramatizing the national debate over so-called parent trigger legislation during the Republican National Convention. The screening of “Won’t Back Down” is sponsored by StudentsFirst, a national advocacy group which has pushed states — including Florida — to adopt parent trigger laws. The [...]
Betrayed. That’s how regional StudentsFirst organizer Catherine Robinson felt when an email she sent to a small group of supporters wound up published on education blogs. The email announced a contest awarding gift cards for the best comments left on online education stories. (Two StateImpact Florida stories were among included links). Robinson says the $5 [...]
Bob Sikes over at Scathing Purple Musings got his hands on an email from Florida’s StudentsFirst rep urging allies to get out and comment on blogs. The email from StudentsFirst regional outreach manager Catherine Robinson says there’s a contest for the best “rapid response” and included links to some recent stories. The winner gets a [...]
The Olympics kick off in London today (yes, soccer kicked off a couple days ago), and former D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst is out with an Olympics-themed ad criticizing the U.S. education system. The ad shows a chubby man ineptly competing in rhythmic gymnastics while a commentator observes “the once-proud U.S. program has been [...]
StateImpact seeks to inform and engage local communities with broadcast and online news focused on how state government decisions affect your lives.
Learn More »